Prayer

Introduction

English Standard Version (Psalm 145:18-20)

18  The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

19  He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.

20  The LORD preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.

My heart is burdened this morning with a very simple yet powerful message.

A message of returning to the basic fundamentals of our faith. Most specifically prayer.

I fear that many of us in the global church are losing our fire.

We feel like we are losing our first love and the zeal that came with it, but we have no idea how to get it back.

Life has a way of separating us from a heart that burns fresh for God and if we don’t learn to stoke the fires each day they will ultimately burn low and even die out.

We need to return to the fundamentals and enact the spiritual disciplines that keep our love fresh and our hearts burning within us.

While there are many spiritual disciplines, there are two that are the most important and fundamental.

without those 2 all the others are meaningless and won’t accomplish what we want them to.

Those two most fundamental spiritual disciplines are reading the word of God and prayer.

Ideally we should partake in both of these disciplines daily.

We’ve spoken a lot about the need to be spending time in the word of God.

We are even promoting a read through the Bile in a year plan again this year to try and encourage everyone to be reading their Bible.

But this morning I want to focus on prayer.

“No man is greater than his prayer life” - Leonard Ravenhill

Prayer is perhaps the single most important aspect of our Christian life and it is definitely one of our greatest privileges.

We have been given full access to the throne of grace and the all-knowing all-powerful God who sits on it.

Hebrews 4:16 ESV

16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

We serve a God who not only allows us to communicate with Him, but who delights in our doing so.

Basics of prayer

What is prayer?

Prayer is simply speaking to God.

There isn’t any one way to do it, but it is a personal and intimate form of communication that is likely a little different for everyone.

Some are more formal and others are more casual.

What matters isn’t your style but your heart.

God longs to speak to us and for us to speak to Him.

Communication is vital to any healthy relationship.

Prayer is not just relational, but it is the most powerful tool in the Christian arsenal.

Prayer either changes things or it changes us,

All prayer should be prayers of faith. Our faith is not in the prayers themselves. but in the one we are praying to.

Communication is vital to any healthy relationship.

1 John 5:14–15 ESV

14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

As we grow in Him and in His word we can be more confident in our prayers because we know Him more and are being conformed into His image and it is therefore more likely that our prayers will line up with His will.

We pray in His name. Not just the word “Jesus” but in His character and nature. When we do this our prayers have authority and power.

15 types of prayer

1. Adoration - worshipping the Lord out of deep love, respect, and adoration. Praising God for who He is.

2. Lament - Bringing our fears, doubts, and despair to Him.

3. Thanksgiving - Prayer of gratitude. Recognition of how good and merciful God is.

4. Petition - asking God for something, whether for yourself or for someone else.

5. Deliverance/breakthrough - prayer for deliverance when facing challenges, hardship, oppression, or bondage.

6. Contrition/confession - confessing our sins and repenting.

7. Consecration/vows- Prayers of dedication and commitment

8. Transformation - Praying to be transformed into His image.

9. Guidance - Seeking God’s will and direction.

10. Contemplative Prayer - Prayer of silence. Sitting quietly before the Lord and letting Him talk to you. Reflecting silently on Him. Basking in His presence.

11. Prayer for Healing - praying for the sick

12. Praying in the Spirit - Speaking in tongues or under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit.

13. Prayer of blessing - praying God’s blessing over others or seeking His blessing for yourself.

14. Corporate prayer - praying as a body.

15. Intercession - Standing in the gap for others.

Praying for the lost

Some years ago, a young girl was very sick and not expected to recover. Because of her love for Jesus, she was troubled that she had not been able to do more for Him in her short life. Her pastor suggested that she make a list of people in their little town who needed Christ and pray that they might put their faith in Him. She took his advice, made a list, and prayed often for each person.

Some time later God began to stir a revival in the village. The girl heard of the people who were coming to Christ and prayed even more. As she heard reports, she checked off the names of those who had been led to the Lord.

After the girl died, a prayer list with the names of 56 people was found under her pillow. All had put their faith in Christ—the last one on the night before her death.

Such is the power of definite, specific, fervent prayer. Do you have a prayer list?

“If we had more sleepless nights in prayer, there would be fewer souls to have a sleepless eternal night in hell.” ― Leonard Ravenhill, Revival God's Way

If time left discuss the state of our nation and the church.