SUCCESSUL PRAYER

James 4:1-10

Know this, successful prayer is communication with God, where you and I are able to talk to God.

Of all the things a believer can learn to do in this life, the most important thing is to learn to pray! One day, the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him for some instruction. They did not ask Him how to heal the sick. They did not inquire about how to raise the dead. They were not interested in Jesus’ secret for walking on the water, or in His recipe for multiplying the loaves and the fishes. When they came to Jesus, they asked for a very simple, elementary thing. Look at Luke 11:1. They said, “Lord, teach us to pray.” These men knew that prayer was central to everything else in their relationship with God. They wanted to have a prayer life like the one they saw in Jesus!

Folks, we need to learn how to pray! Everything in our personal walk with God, as well as our corporate walk as a church, depends on our ability to pray prayers that are heard and answered.

We need to learn how to pray prayers that “avail much”, prayers that prevail with God, prayers that are heard and answered. To have success in prayer.

I. THE DANGER OF NOT PRAYING v. 1-2

A. We won’t receive some things we need

James tells them that they lack the things they are after in life simply because they do not ask for them!

B. We get used to working in our power

How many times have we been guilty of the same thing? We operate within the realm of our own power, striving in our own energy to obtain the things we want and think we need, but we fail to get them because we do not take the time to ask God!

There is no problem in your life, the life of this church, this city, this county, this state, this nation or this world that cannot be solved via the avenue of prayer! When God’s people begin to call on His name in the right way, they become partakers of his power, His peace and His glory. It is prayer that links our lives with God’s omnipotent power! We need to learn to utilize His power, and that can only be done through prayer!)

(Ill. A little boy was trying with all his might to move a large stone. His muscles were straining, sweat covered his face and brow as he tried with everything he had to move that stone. His father sat nearby watching all this with mild amusement. After a while he said to his son, “Son, are you using everything you’ve got?” The little boy answered, “Yes, I’m using all the strength I have!” His father said, “No, you really aren’t son. You haven’t asked me to help!”

How many times is that true in our lives? We struggle and strain, we war and wrestle, but we cannot achieve what we want to. Could it be that we have failed at a very obvious point? Could it be that we have failed to call on the Father and enlist His help in the situation? He wants to bless you. He wants to move in your life in power and glory, but often He doesn’t because we do not ask!)

C. Prayerlessness is a sin

Because we are commanded to pray – 1 Thes. 5:17; Luke 18:1. To fail to pray is to commit sin! Many need to repent of their prayerlessness!. There is no substitute for a strong prayer life! Your greatness and success in your public life and ministry are directly tied to your prayer closet! What we are on the stage of life is not as important as what we are in the closet of prayer!

There is so much to be done here at Maineville Baptist! There are souls that need to be saved; wayward brothers and sisters that need to be reclaimed; work that needs to be done in this building; lives that need to be changed for the glory of God; and a community that needs to be reached for Jesus. Beside that, there is a great need for the manifest presence and power of God!

God sees the needs and He knows all that we need to do here, but He expects us to pray! Prayer unlocks the storehouse of His blessings and allows Him to move in our hearts and lives in a profound and powerful manner. God has so much that He wants to give us, but if we do not ask, we will never have it!

II. The Danger of Foolish Praying – vv. 3-4

A. Wrong motives

Now, James tells them that there are times when they do pray and they still don’t get what they ask for because they ask from a wrong motive. They are asking for things that promote and satisfy self. They are praying unacceptable prayers and God simply will not answer that kind of praying! We are kidding ourselves if we think

God says be careful for nothing - but let’s make sure the small things are God’s will. The right kind of prayer always seeks the will of the Lord first and foremost!

B. Wrong friendships

Notice what James says in verse 4. He tells us that being the friend of the world violates our fellowship with God and hinders our prayer lives. He uses the terms “adulterers and adulteresses.” He is using the metaphor of marriage.

(Ill. Imagine a man and a woman get married, they are in love and things go well for a while. After a time, the wife develops a roving eye. She finds her another man and begins to spend her time with him and to give him her love. Now, suppose while living this way she goes back to her husband and asks him for things like money, a car to drive, a place to live, etc. What do you think his response will be? Most men would give her a loud, “No!”)

God loves you and He desires to meet your needs, but He expects you to walk with Him in a devoted love relationship. Anything else forfeits His power.

III. Successful Praying - vv. 5-10

We need to focus and refine our lives again.

A. Starving the Old man

v.5 The idea of the “spirit lusteth to envy” , that there is in man a strong inclination to get upset at the prosperity of others; to desire to make what they possess our own; or at any rate to deprive them of it

If we will learn to hear the voice of the Spirit, He will teach us to pray for those things which honor God. He knows the mind of God, 1 Cor. 2:11

B. Pray with Humility

v. 6 – One of the things the Spirit of God will do in our lives is make us more submissive to the Father.

Did you know that prayer is not about getting what you want from God?

Prayer is about God working in us to line our will up with His. When we get to the place where we want nothing but what God wants; when His will becomes our will; when we are willing to surrender all of our plans, goals, wants and wishes, then we are ready to see God move in answer to our prayers!

The model prayer says “Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.”, Luke 11:2.

When we come to the place where we are willing to come into His presence humbly and broken, God will answer our prayers.

C. Pray without ceasing v. 7

Be Steadfast – James tells us next that part of achieving a victorious prayer life is learning to stand against the devil. Did you know that prayer is warfare? That’s why most of our prayers are not answered. We see prayer as an opportunity to share our wish list with the Lord in the hopes that He will give us the things we desire. In fact, God has chosen to work through His people’s prayers.

D. Pray while separating yourself v. 8

No man can come to God with dirty hands, a divided heart and a double mind.

1. No unconfessed sin

No man can come to God with open sin in his life,

Psalm 66:18 KJV

If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

2. No split living

No man can come to God if his heart is divided between the world and the Lord, Matt. 6:24.

No man can come to God if he is trying to face two ways at the same time, 2 Chron. 7:14. Victory in our prayer lives demands that we come clean before the Lord and repent of our sins. It demands that we turn loose of the world and set our hearts and minds upon Him. God cannot and will not bless the prayer life of a person who wants the best of both the world and God’s kingdom. It is either or, but not both!

E. Pray Sincerely vv. 9-10

The whole point of these two verses is that we need to take this matter of prayer seriously!

In all honesty, much of our praying is done in a hurry. Many cannot even remember what they talked to God about this morning if the prayed at all.

When we get serious about prayer, there will be a broken heart over the lost sinner,

We need a return to brokenness before the Lord! We need a return to fervent prayers that ring the prayer bells of glory.