Steps to a Powerful Prayer Life
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EG: Little Jack - Pray people Pray!
“To Be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” Martin Luther
Prayer is Vital to the Christian Life.
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
The most common word for prayer in the NT is the Greek word “Pros Ukay” PROS – meaning face to face. UKAY - means to make an exchange. My life for His; an act of commitment to Jesus. Being reborn gives us a solid basis for a real relationship with God.
Eg: the Greek Gods expected and offering.
EG: Me at 14
ROADBLOCKS TO A POWERFUL PRAYER LIFE
ROADBLOCKS TO A POWERFUL PRAYER LIFE
Business
Business
Ballgames… work schedules…
Lack of Self-Discipline
Lack of Self-Discipline
We don’t see the value; feel like we don’t see results.
Paula prayed for a friend from Beaumont whom she had not spoken with in over 40 years. The next day that friend called her.
TV, FB, Technology steals our time
Wrong Mindsets
Wrong Mindsets
Check your spiritual position. Where are you sitting?
1. Lazarus the Beggar –
1. Lazarus the Beggar –
a. under the table.
b. Many are spiritual beggars… not feeling worthy.
2. Prodigal Son – works mindset
2. Prodigal Son – works mindset
a. I’ll live in the bunkhouse trying to earn God’s Approval.
b. Human doing / instead of being.
c. Eg: over everything in church but men’s ministry.
3. Mary – sister of Martha and Lazerus
3. Mary – sister of Martha and Lazerus
a. sat at Jesus feet soaking in His presence.
b. Martha and Mary were friends of Jesus.
c. Jesus said Matha Martha, you are worried about many things, Mary has chosen the best.
STEPS TO A POWERFUL PRAYER LIFE
STEPS TO A POWERFUL PRAYER LIFE
Modeled after Jehoshaphat’s prayer in 2 Chron. 20.
Jill Briscoe – “Better to be sleep deprived than God deprived.”
Jehoshaphat had a problem – Many prayers begin with s problematic situation.
1. Pick a Time and Place
1. Pick a Time and Place
Problems often drive us to our knees.
1 After this, the armies of the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunites declared war on Jehoshaphat. 2 Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army from Edom is marching against you from beyond the Dead Sea. They are already at Hazazon-tamar.” (This was another name for En-gedi.) 3 Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting. 4 So people from all the towns of Judah came to Jerusalem to seek the Lord’s help. 5 Jehoshaphat stood before the community of Judah and Jerusalem in front of the new courtyard at the Temple of the Lord. 6 He prayed, “O Lord, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in heaven. You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and mighty; no one can stand against you! 7 O our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people Israel arrived? And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham? 8 Your people settled here and built this Temple to honor your name. 9 They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war, plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.’ 10 “And now see what the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir are doing. You would not let our ancestors invade those nations when Israel left Egypt, so they went around them and did not destroy them. 11 Now see how they reward us! For they have come to throw us out of your land, which you gave us as an inheritance. 12 O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.”
3 Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting.
Break Fast – No bible no breakfast
Jehoshaphat resolved to inquireof the Lord… NIV
Sally Ann – 3:30 am
Prepare Your Hearts Through Confession and Fasting
Prepare Your Hearts Through Confession and Fasting
Purifying our hearts through repentance.
18 If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
Take a spiritual inventory of your life. Psa 139.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Acknowledge Who God is and Our Relationship with Him.
Acknowledge Who God is and Our Relationship with Him.
6 He prayed, “O Lord, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in heaven. You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and mighty; no one can stand against you! 7 O our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people Israel arrived? And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham?
Remind ourselves of the times he has heard us in the past.
Remind ourselves of the times he has heard us in the past.
eg: I’m your God
2 Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.
Remember the Promises of God’s Word
Remember the Promises of God’s Word
… God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
Mother – I am healed by the strips that He bore…
Promise Book – Stand on the Promises
Look up Verses – The Word of God is our Firm Foundation. The wise man built his house on the rock. The foolish man on the sand
24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
Pray with Humility.
Pray with Humility.
12 O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.”
Our eyes are on you...
EG – Law Enforcement Chaplains Corp.
ICPC – 32 Chaplains
Pray with Expectancy.
Pray with Expectancy.
My eyes are on you…
Too often in prayer, we remember our faults, feelings of unworthiness or shortcomings. EG: going to church and feeling discouraged. The Lord spoke, “As long as you are looking at you…you are not looking at me
12 O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.”
Look to Jesus the author ansd finisher of our faith Heb 12:2
2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
Persevere in Prayer.
Persevere in Prayer.
Be persistent.
Be persistent.
12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.
17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: And he shall hear my voice.
V17 – Stand Firm & see the prophet told Jehosaphat. After they persevered, the prophet came with an answer.
Mother praying for Aunt Tiny for 30 years for Salvation and deliverance from Alcohol
1 One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. 2 “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. 3 A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ 4 The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 5 but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’ ” 6 Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. 7 Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”
This widow went to the unjust judge – he gave in to her requests. Jesus said how much more will a loving holy father give for his children.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF PRAYER
DIFFERENT KINDS OF PRAYER
18 And 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.
Prayers of Intercession.
Prayers of Intercession.
26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
EG: mother was a great prayer warrior and intercessor.
EG: Me driving to Baton Rouge
Prayers of Faith.
Prayers of Faith.
15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.
EG Me praying for Chip
Prayers for Deliverance.
Prayers for Deliverance.
o EG: Rivarde Girl – those that have been traumatized open themselves up.
o Oh the Blood of Jesus
Prayers of Proclamation & Praise
Prayers of Proclamation & Praise
17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords, And your pruninghooks into spears: Let the weak say, I am strong.
o God Spoke the worlds into existence …
o EG – My mother is coming home.
o Joyce Meyer’s for daughter
o Billy Graham Crusade – “I am strong in the Lord.”
o 2 Chron 20:21-22 The singers went out before the army… Praise the Lord for His Mercy Endureth forever. The opposing army turned on one another
