I’ll Pray For You

In: 1. What are some things that you tend to say all the time?

a. Some people say Um, what not, you know

2. A Cliché’- phrase or expression, that is often overused and thus, loses its significance

3. Some of the top cliché’s people use

· Think outside the box

· Learning the ropes

· Barking up the wrong tree

· Elephant in the room

· Skin in the game

· Hit the nail on the head

4. Church can be one of the most dishonest places in the world

a. We want to act like we have it all together

b. We have a good walk with God, marriage, family

c. We are good at managing appearances

1) Social media- our Facebook like looks amazing

2) Church- smiles, clothes, family pictures (dressed up)

3) A preacher sees people at their best, a lawyer sees people at their worst, a doctor sees people as they are

4) The fruit on the tree in the garden looked good and smelled good but inside it was rotten

d. We don’t want to respond to the altar

1) Don’t want to admit we need help

2) Don’t want to bother others with our problems (time)

3) Don’t understand what the altars are for

a) Salvation, called to ministry, join the church, baptized

b) A place to meet God

c) A place for support, agreement- James 5:17

5. In this series we are looking at some of the Cliché’s we use in Church

a. Phrases that we love to use, but truths that we need

6. We value growing relationships

a. We are called to make disciples- Matthew 28:19 Go and make disciples

b. Discipleship only happens through relationship

c. Relationship only happens in allowing others inside our world (opening up)

d. The deeper the level of relationship, the deeper the level of discipleship

e. Nothing brings people together more than praying with each other

7. Cliché’ today- I’ll be praying for you

a. We need to pray for each other

1) 1 Samuel 12:23 Samuel to Israel- Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you

a) A person who doesn’t pray for others doesn’t have God’s heart

b. How do we make this a reality?

c. How do we pray for others?

8. F.R.I.E.N.D.- Acronym for how to pray for a friend

I. F- FOLLOW EXAMPLES

A. Example of Jesus- John 17

1. To understand my words 8-9

2. Give them joy 13

3. Keep them pure in the world 14:15

4. Sanctify them in the truth 17

5. Help them share the gospel 18-20

6. Unity 21-23

7. Know the love of God 26

B. Examples of Paul

1. Ephesians 1:15-23

a. Experience the Wisdom from God

b. Passion for the things of God

c. An eternal mindset

d. To know God’s power and let it work in us

2. Ephesians 3:14-19

a. Strong on the inside

b. Rooted and established in love

c. Comprehend God’s love for us

d. Full of God

3. Philippians 1:4-11

a. Love each other

b. Grow in our knowledge of God

c. We would have discernment/spiritual perception

d. Sincere

e. Blameless

f. Bear fruit

g. Glorify God

4. Colossians 1:9-10

a. Understand God’s will

b. Spiritual wisdom

c. Our lives would please and honor God

d. Bear good fruit

e. Be a kind person

f. Know God better and better

g. Filled with God’s strength

h. Have endurance and patience

i. Filled with his joy

j. Thankful

* Do we pray like this- use it as a guide

II. R- REMINDERS

A. For us (who did I tell I would pray for them)

1. Sticky Notes

2. Phone reminders

3. Bridge app- list of needs

4. Daily schedule- Monday/missionaries, Wednesday/Church staff, Friday/Family

B. For God

1. Remind God of His promises

a. Isaiah 62:6-7 You who remind the Lord, don’t be silent and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth

b. Psalm 119:49:50 Remember your promise to me; it is my only hope. 50 Your promise revives me; it comforts me in all my troubles.

c. Exodus 32:13 (Golden Calf) Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever”

d. Daniel 9:18-19 We are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion. 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name

* Remind ourselves and remind the Lord

III. I- INTERCESSION

A. To join in someone else’s battle

1. Advocate- defends or maintains a cause

a. If sinners be damned, let them leap over our bodies. If they must perish, let them go to hell with our arms wrapped around their bodies. Let no one go there unwarned or unprayed for - Charles Spurgeon

2. Holy Spirit is our helper/advocate who comes to our side in support, encouragement

a. Someone who walks in, when everyone else walks out

b. You ever been too tired, sick, drained to pray? We need others fighting for us

3. Acts 12:1-17 Church was praying for Peter in prison

B. Stand in the gap

1. Ezekiel 22:30-31 I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one. 31 So now I will pour out my fury on them

a. God has chosen to work through people

b. Sometimes it’s a spiritual battle to receive the answer

1) Daniel 10- Praying & Fasting three weeks. v12-14 Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. 13 But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. 14 Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future

2) That should change the way we pray, we persist

3) Could our prayers affect the heavenly powers?

2. Numbers 16:47–48 The plague had begun among the people. So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. 48 He took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was stopped

3. Joel 2:17 Let the priests, who minister in the Lord’s presence, stand and weep between the entry to the Temple and the altar. Let them pray, “Spare your people, Lord”

4. Hebrews 7:25 Jesus lives to make intercession for us

C. Fix the Gap

1. Jesus told us to pray for our enemies- Matthew 5:44

2. You can’t hate someone that you pray for. God will change our heart

C. Sometimes we don’t know what to pray for

1. Just a burden, awakened in the night, someone on your mind

2. Ephesians 6:18 Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people

3. Romans 8:26-27 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will

4. Pray until the burden lifts

5. Harold Carpenter story- daughter drowned, Mom praying for me

6. Call, send a text or scripture

* Stand in the gap and help fight spiritual battles for others

IV. E- EVANGELISM

A. Stop begging God to save them. He can’t do any more to save them

1. Jesus has already paid the price for their sins

2. The Holy Spirit is drawing them to Jesus

B. We pray for them to realize their need for the Savior

1. 2 Corinthians 4:4 Satan, the god of this evil world, has blinded the mindsof those who don’t believe, so they are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News that is shining upon them

2. Hosea 2:6–7 Therefore, I will soon fence her in with thorns; I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way. Then she will pursue her lovers, but she will not catch them; Then she will pursue her lovers, but she will not catch them; she will seek them, but she will not find them. Then she will say, “I will go back to my husband, because I was better off then than I am now

3. 1 Corinthians 5:5 Hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord

a. Whatever it takes prayer. That he would learn his lesson or something get his attention

b. The ultimate goal is for him to get saved (2 Corinthians 2:5-8)

4. Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons

C. Be the answer on this end

1. We ask God to send others to reach them

2. Volunteer to be the answer on this end

* Prayer prepares the way for the gospel to hit home

V. N- NEEDS

A. Don’t be a loner

1. John 5:7 Man at pool of Bethesda- “I have no one”

2. Mark 2- Paralyzed man’s friends- Jesus saw THEIR faith

3. Stop fighting alone

a. Share our needs with others

b. James 4:2 You have not because you ask not

4. Battle is too big for you alone

a. Daniel enlisted his friends. Daniel 2:17-19 Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. 18 He urged them to ask the God of heaven to show them his mercy by telling them the secret, so they would not be executed along with the other wise men of Babylon. 19 That night the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision

b. James 5:14-15 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well

1) v16 Confess your faults to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed

5. Hebrews 4:16 let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need

B. Help carry the burdens of others

1. Galatians 6:2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ

a. What is the law of Christ? James 2:8 Royal Law- Love your neighbor as yourself

b. When we pray for others, we help them carry their burdens and our faith is expressed through love

2. Job 42:10 The Lord restored the fortune of Job, when he prayed for his friends

a) Our needs tend to get met when we help meet the needs of others

* Don’t be afraid to share our needs

VI. D- DAILY PRAYER

A. Develop a consistent prayer life

1. Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful

2. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for all people

3. The greatest gift you can give another person is praying for them

4. You can’t delegate prayer

5. ‪When you pray regularly, irregular things happen- Mark Batterson

* Devote/Commit ourselves to prayer

Cn: 1. Prayer changes things

2. Prayer is powerful

a. Train tracks behind our house- ground shakes

b. Watchman Nee (Chinese church leader) Our prayers lay the tracks down so God’s power can come. Like a mighty locomotive, his power is irresistible, but it cannot reach us without rails

3. Let’s make time to pray for each other

Al: 1. Need prayer

2. Intercede- lost family