Lets come pray together

Lets come together and Pray.

Text:

Acts 2:42 NKJV

42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

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2 Chronicles 7:14–15 NKJV

14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.

We need to be a praying church. But we need to intensify our commitment to prayer and continually renew the altar within our churches, within our homes and within our heart…we must acknowledge our total dependence on God or we cannot fulfill the mission to which He has called us. Nothing of any lasting value is going to happen through the church that isn’t first birthed and bathed in prayer. Prayer makes everything else happen and tells God we are dependent on Him.

I. The importance of corporate prayer.

Over a century ago the English preacher Charles Hadden Spurgeon had this to say in a sermon,

"The condition of the church may be very accurately gauged by its prayer meetings. So is the prayer meeting a grace-o-meter, and from it we may judge the amount of divine working among people. If God be near a church, it must pray. And if He be not there, one of the first tokens of His absence will be a slothfulness in prayer.” A. It’s important for the church to pray together. B. It’s important for the church to seek the face of God together. C. Corporate prayer is one of the things that our churches struggle with doing. We tell people we’re going to get together to pray and seek the face of God – and we might get a handful of people. D. Wednesday night prayer meeting. F. It’s hard to get people together to pray. Yet, there are some things that are never going to happen in churches unless God’s people pray, unless God’s people really learn to get hold of God.

G. Prayer meetings in a home.

h.Pray over your shoe box. We will pray over them as a church.

II. Churches are not praying.

A. The Early Church was not only born in a prayer meeting, but the Early Church prayed constantly. B. It was a part of the pattern of the church. C. It was what they did. D. It was what they were about. Acts 2:42 They were constantly about prayer.

Acts 2:42 NKJV

42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

The New Testament: An Expanded Translation Chapter 2

And they were giving constant attention to the teaching of the apostles and to that which they held in common with them, and to the breaking of the bread and to the gatherings where prayers to God were offered.

E. So if we’re going to have a New Testament church, if we’re going to model what we see happening in the New Testament, then we must pray. F. The Early Churches didn’t just talk about prayer, they just didn’t tell the people to pray; they were people who prayed. They were people who knew how to get a hold of God.

III. There’s one reason why a church ought to have a prayer meeting:

A. God has said He will hear from heaven and answer if we pray. And if we don’t pray, He’ll do nothing. That’s why we pray. B. Where else do we go to get our mountains moved? C. Where else are we going to receive what we need and could never accomplish in ourselves in a million years? D. Where else are we going to receive answers to situations that boggle the mind? E. Where else are we going to receive supernatural help that all of us need at different times in our life? F. Where else are we going to get the power that we need to touch our generation? It’s only going to come when we pray and call out to God. G. Everything we could ever want is found in prayer because God has said that He will hear from heaven when His people cry out.

IV. God has given us prayer as a wonderful provision by which we can receive absolutely everything we need.

A. Apart from it we can receive nothing or do nothing. B. The problem is, most of us don’t have that sense of desperation. C. We’re too self-sufficient. D. We pretty much know that if God doesn’t show up, we’ll get through. E. We know that if God doesn’t come down, we’re still going to have church. F. We as a society in the church today, operate like this: “God it would be nice if You would come down and help me in this situation, but if You don’t, the doctor will, the banker will, my friend will, or I’ll think of something.” G. The fact of the matter is that’s exactly how the enemy would like us to operate. H. Satan is not afraid of our cleverness. I. He’s not afraid of our ingenuity and he’s not afraid of our human efforts. K. He loves for us to rely on self. J. You guys are going to get tired of Jimmy Dean in a hurry. K. My best efforts will bore you after a while, but you’ll never get bored with Jesus. L. You’ll never get bored with His presence. M. You’ll never get bored of waiting on the Lord if God is really there

V. So what are we going to do? I’m not sure, but we’re going to pray! What would happen this year if every week we came together – 50, 75, 100 of us or more – to pray? What if we ALL prayed? What will this church look like a year from now? What victories will we have experienced? How many lives will be changed? How will it impact our city, our families, our marriages, and our individual lives? I’m asking you to commit with me to doing whatever it takes to find out.