The Power of Prayer

Mother Alston

quick witted with a sharp tongue

throw you off when you first meet her, but as you got to know her . . . you found a heart of kindness and a comedian

over the course of time became my mother cousin, especially after the passing of my mother

one of her last acts as a member was sending money to the youth

we Thank God for her and we mourn her passing

Intro - God has caused us to put more of an emphasis on prayer since about 11 weeks ago

we have talked about the importance of prayer

necessity of prayer

being steadfast in prayer

How to pray (Lord’s prayer)

today God wants to remind us about the power of prayer

1 Chronicles 4:9–10 NASB95

9 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother named him Jabez saying, “Because I bore him with pain.” 10 Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!” And God granted him what he requested.

back to verse 9

1 Chronicles 4:9 NASB95

9 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother named him Jabez saying, “Because I bore him with pain.”

You can help your prayers - Jabez was more honorable,

Jabez was an honorable man: man of integrity and good character/noble character, trustworthy

how honorable? . . . how noble? enough to be mentioned by the Bible

You can help your prayers

Now, you can’t earn a blessing, anything good we receive is because of God’s grace, but you can help your prayers

For In this scripture, we see that being honorable will help your prayers

even as humans we understand that it’s easier to help someone of good character than it is to help a no good scoundrel

Proverbs 3:3–4 NLT

3 Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. 4 Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation.

be loyal, be kind, . . . that’s good character . . . that’s honorable . . . and this scripture says that you will find favor with both God and people.

you can help your prayers

Commercial: to the young people, when older people see a young person trying to do right, friendly, not lazy, respectful . . . we tend to do as much as we can for them (try it at school, church, family) . . . and this scripture lets us know that God does the same

we are doing a lot of praying, but we to make sure that we are giving our prayers some help

be honorable, be loyal, be kind, be a person of good character, have integrity in your daily living, treat people right

back to our main Scripture

1 Chronicles 4:9 NASB95

9 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother named him Jabez saying, “Because I bore him with pain.”

Not only can you help your prayers . . .

You can hinder your prayers - Jabez was more honorable than his brothers

The Bible takes the time to mention his brothers, so his brothers must have been dishonorable . . . not of good character

too many people live with the idea that with God, what I do doesn’t matter . . . They think their prayer life is separate from the rest of their life: God will answer my pray if I only just believe

God will forgive you of anything, if you are truly repentant, but that’s separate from God doing you a favor . . . separate from sending a special blessing your way . . . that’s separate from the consequences of living any kind of way

now God is so good that you still might receive some mercy drops blessings, but this scripture is showing us that how you carry yourself can hinder your prayers

Here are Just a few things that the Bible says will hinder your prayers

if husbands treat their wives wrong, their prayers will be hindered - 1 Peter three

unconnfessed sin hinders prayers - Isaiah fifty-nine

praying with wrong motives hinder prayers - James

unforgiveness in your heart hinders prayers - all the Gospels

idolatry hinders prayers (horoscopes, ancestor worship, crystals) - Ez 14

being prideful hinders prayers - parable of the pharisee praying

Oppressing people hinders prayers - Isaiah, chapter one

you can hinder your prayers

We don’t want to do all this praying, thanking, scripture meditating and following it up with acting crazy . . . that will hinder you prayers

that’s like putting air in your tires and then driving over nails on purpose

it’s like a woman spending hours in the beauty salon and coming home and diving into a swimming pool

So help your prayers, do not hinder them because there is power in prayer

let’s look at the power of prayer

prayer can overcome bad starts - and his mother names him Jabez saying, “Because I bore him with pain”

your mother calling you pain and sorrow, that not a good start

but prayer can overcome bad starts

prayer can overcome bad family history

past experiences

starting off with a disadvantage

being written off

being denied a fair chance

anything in your past

that’s the power of prayer

1 Chronicles 4:10 NASB95

10 Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!” And God granted him what he requested.

Now Jabez called on the God of Israel

for prayer to be powerful, you have to call on the right God because the power comes from God

allah, buddah, mother nature, ancestors, good vibes don’t have power

The God of the Bible is the source of the power, help, strength, miracles, supply

and Jabez prays to this God

so if we are praying to the right God, prayer can change things that are supposed to be impossible to change - Oh that you would bless me indeed and enlarge my border

that’s why we see the two words - oh and indeed; this is a big ask

borders were fixed from generation to generation

every tribe, clan, family, had an allotment . . . portion, this so that no matter what happened every family had a means of survival

borders and territories were set . . . so something drastic would have to happen for your territory to increase!

God can change things that we thought were fixed

God can change things that people think are set in stone

improbable

impossible

are too late to change

that’s the power of prayer

so don’t forget that you can ask for big things

things that make you say “Oh and bless me indeed”

don’t get stuck at only asking for car note, peace at my job, good day, a week with no problems

also ask for the “Oh’s” . . .”if you would do this for me!”

ask for the “bless me indeed”

life changing blessings

generational changing blessings (bigger terrirotry)

sthat’s the power of prayer - it can change things that seem impossible to change

prayer can keep a blessing a blessing - and that your hand might be with me

blessing without God’s hand on you, is no good to you

Jabez understood that he needed more than stuff, he needed God to go with him, guide him when he got the stuff

too often we want God’s hand to give us stuff but we don’t want his hand to guide us

we think . . . “just give me the stuff and I will take it from here”

and what started off as a blessing can turn into a curse . . . in the first 10 years of WMBC, I am reminded of a member who built his dream house but lost his family . . . he had a house but no home

we need more than the blessing, we need God’s hand upon us . . . we need to remember to hold onto God’s unchanging hand

so as you look forward to the next blessing, pray over the blessings you have now, blessings need prayer

you blessed me with shelter - guide me, be with me so that it will continue to be a blessing

car

spouse

children

job

better health

church family

that’s the power of prayer - prayer can bless your blessings

prayer can protect - and that you would keep me from harm that it may not pain me

prayer for protection is a good prayer

God can protect

God ca defend

God can build a wall of security around you

I am not saying something bad is going to happen to you if you don’t pray “God protect me today”

I am not saying that nothing bad will every happen to you if you pray that everyday . . .it’s not a magic spell . . .but it is a good prayer

too many of us have set times to ask for protection

movie theater - shootings

church - shootings

take a vacation, long drive, or flight

large gathering (game, concert)

if you’re home alone

nothing is wrong with that, but some times that indicates that you think that you don’t need the Lord’s protection at other places and at other times.

but guess what, you need God’s protection everyday and everywhere

movie theater - or netflix at home (car crash into your house)

church - or if it’s me just praying in the kitchen at home

vacation to New York - or trip to corner store

large gathering - small gathering

if you’re home alone - or with the whole family, could be someone in the family you need protection from

The songs says, “Jesus be a fance all around me . . . everyday!

I need protection

my family need protection

be my strong tower

There is power in prayer and prayer for protection is a good prayer

God answers prayer - And God granted him what he requested

we have gone to this new level of praying for 11 week - be encouraged that God answers prayer

there is power in prayer because God answers prayer

The Bible doesn’t tell us how or when but God answered Jabez’s prayer

Did God control a set of normal events or did he do the miraculous . . . we don’t know . . . but we do know that God answered his prayers

Did God do it in weeks, months, or years . . . we don’t know . . . but we do know that God answered his prayers

be encouraged that your praying is not in vain

prayer makes a difference because God answers prayer!

you will be better off praying than not praying

you will be stronger praying that not praying

you will be wiser praying that not praying

you will be more blessed praying that not praying

you will be better protected praying that not praying

There is power in praying!

it will make a difference, just use school as an exmaple

starting in kindergarten - how far did you go in 11 weeks? . . . you made progress, but not much

but as you stayed in school, and were steadfast, it was life changing

you have that job, shelter, knowledge

so blessed that some of you are taking care of other people

there is some power in education

and there is sho’nuff power in prayer

Jesus

One of the great things about being saved is our prayer life

The Bible teaches that because of Jesus’ sacrifice, that we can go boldly before the throne of grace . . .access to the throne room of God!

Because of Jesus we have an hotline to the Father

why would you not use it?

and if you are not saved . . you are hindering your prayers

it’s like turning down a VIP invitation . . . i rather just wait in line with the regular folks

there is power in prayer

Commercial

Do not go home and try to use this as the magic formula for prayer . . . use it as a reminder of the power of prayer, let this build up your faith as you pray