Pillars (11)

Pray Continually.

In order to live differently we have to listen to different voices. We have to be able to pray.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV

17 pray without ceasing,

Now unless you’re Dominic and his endless streams of chatter many of us find it difficult to maintain a verbal conversation that will last forever. So what is prayer without ceasing.

Understand first: Prayer isn’t a continually conversations

Prayer is a continual connection

MY wife and I converse continually everyday. My actions speak, my face speaks, even the things I don’t do speaks volumes without ever uttering a word.

Continual prayer means having a continual connection with God.

Prayer is a wide topic and we don’t have time to discuss everything there is about prayer. I am hoping to be able to start a series on prayer because I believe it is that important, but currently I want to focus on praying in general.

The first thing we need to understand is that God is all powerful. We have a word for that in our faith and it’s called

Omnipotent.

Which means all powerful

Now here’s the Promise: God is all powerful, but he gives that power to you.

Point 1) God infuses, or gives, you His power

Luke 24:49 ESV

49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Acts 1:8 (ESV)

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you....”

Ephesians 3:20 (ESV)

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

If God is able to Far more abundantly than we can even think than why is our life lacking? Why are we not blessed more than we currently are? The answer is in the bold words.

ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKS IN US.

According the greek word is KATA which denotes distribution of.

If God gives us all his power than the distribution of the power is our Responsibility

So the question lies:

How much power are measuring/giving out?

If your situation isn’t seeing enough of God’s power than what is missing?

God’s unlimited power is limited by our prayers

Point 2) The mode of release is prayer

John 7:37–39 ESV

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Now in order to understand this we must must know what the feast was about. It was an annual feast praying for living water. These feast was based on 2 things:

Moses when he spoke and then also struck the rock and water came out-They referred to that occurrence as living water.

2. Zach 14:8 Prophesies that God is going to flow living water out of Jerusalem again.

So for 7 days they are prayed for living water. and then on the 8th day they prayed for rain. Here’s the issue: Then went from wanting Spiritual water to settling for natural water.

How many time do we pray for spiritual provision and than settle for natural provision?

The religious prayed for an outpouring of the Spirit, an endowment of power to flow through them. The issue is then they stopped and just wanted natural provision.

Don’t settle for natural when you can have the SUPERnatural.

So on the 8th day before the religious people prayed for physical rain Jesus stood up and said if anyone thirsts come to me to drink. Because whoever believes in my out of them will flow rivers of living water.Prayer is the mode of releasing the river of water and you are the

You are the Dam

When we pray continually your Dam is always open to allow God’s power to rush out of you and into your family, your situations, and to the lives around you.

Jesus says all those who believe in me will be given the Holy Spirit as a guide. And we will get to that next week, but if we are to let the power of God out we must be continually connected to the source and our dam must be open and flowing with living water.

What if your Dam isn’t flowing? How do we open a closed Dam?

Point 3) Revive the connection

If your Dam has stopped allowing water through it means you aren’t connected to the source that provides water.

So there are several things we need to check to insure an open Dam

Repent of Known Sin-

Isaiah 59:2 ESV

2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.

Isaiah is talking to Israel, but the same principal is true for us today. If you are actively sinning than you need to repent and stop sinning. You need to cut the source of that sin off from your life. Because Sin is an open door to allow Satan to work in your life.

2. Repent of Unknown sin

There is a such thing as unknown sin.

Psalm 19:12 ESV

12 Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.

Psalm 139:24 ESV

24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

If asked God can and will search your heart and let you know of the sins that are hidden from you. Or sins you accidently and unknowingly committed.

Men:

3) How are you treating your wife?

1 Peter 3:7 NKJV

7 Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

Mistreatment of you wife will separate you from God. It’s in the bible. We as men must be treating our wives with respect, love.

As far as being the weaker vessel, we aren’t going to dive into this morning, but if you research it the idea has to do with the physical body. Men’s anatomy ends itself to giving, women’s anatomy lends itself to receiving. and the picture is be careful about what you give to your wife because she was made to receive. She will take/recieve—even if that means abuse to a certain extent.

So it’s a call to be careful what you give out to your wife and the call is to give honor and respect because she is an heir with you of the grace of life or the power of God. Meaning what you do to your wife you do to God himself.

Then:

4. How’s your bible reading habits.

You can’t hear from God if you aren’t reading his word we covered that last week.

5. We can’t hear from God if we aren’t conversing with God.