Prayer
When Hudson Taylor was sailing to China to begin his missionary work, his ship was in great danger. The wind had died, and the current was carrying them toward sunken reefs which were close to islands inhabited by cannibals—so close they could see them building fires on the shore.
Everything they tried wasn’t working. In his journal Taylor recorded what happened next: The Captain said to me, “Well, we have done everything that can be done.” A thought occurred to me, and I replied, “No, there is one thing we have not done yet.” “What is that?” he queried. “Four of us on board are Christians. Let us each retire to his own cabin, and in agreed prayer ask the Lord to give us immediately a breeze.”
Taylor prayed briefly and then, certain that the answer was coming, went up on the deck and asked the first officer to let down the sails. “What would be the good of that?” he answered roughly. I told him we had been asking a wind from God; that it was coming immediately. Within minutes the wind did begin to blow, and it carried them safely past the reefs.
One of the greatest privileges we have on this earth is prayer
There are many Christians who spend little or no time in prayer
We may often complain about the darkness of our day, but are we praying?
Prayer changes things
God has chosen to accomplish His will through the faithful prayers of His people
2 Objectives:
That you will come away with a greater desire to pray
That you will put that desire to action and your prayer life will grow
1. How
Matthew 6:9-13 ESV
9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name.[a]10 Your kingdom come,your will be done,[b] on earth as it is in heaven.11 Give us this day our daily bread,[c]12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.[d]
a. Begins with Worship and Praise
b. Praying according to God’s will
c. Praying for the needs that exist today
d. Praying to be forgiven and to forgive others
e. Praying to be delivered from the hands and schemes of the enemy
f. It is a model of how to pray, not something that is to be repeated rotely
1 John 5:14-15 NIV
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
g. According to His will
2. When
Mark 1:35 NIV
35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
a. First part of the day
b. Isolated place
Matthew 6:33 NIV
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
c. Principle of First in God’s kingdom
d. Praying to begin the day, places the day in God’s hands
3. How Often
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1. Called to pray without ceasing
2. Every day
3. Throughout the day
4. A continual conversation
James 5:16-18 NKJV
16 [a]Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, [b]fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
1. Elijah’s example is one of a ordinary man who never quit in the place of prayer
2. When God’s people pray with endurance and perseverance, supernatural results happen
4. Why
James 4:2-3 NIV
2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
a. When we ask it releases the power of God to accomplish His purposes
b. We must ask with right motives
c. God examines the heart
Matthew 7:7-11 NLT
7 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! 11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.
a. Jesus has told us to ask, seek, and knock
b. Asking, Seeking, and Knocking are continuous
c. When we pray it will accomplish the purposes of God
Matthew 18:18-20 NIV
18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be[a] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[b] loosed in heaven.
19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
a. Kingdom Authority is exercised in prayer and the will of God is accomplished through prayer
b. Think about these promises where two or three are gathered He is there
c. Where two or three agree on anything it is done
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