Bible Reading:
Interesting is the New
Living Translation
"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.”
Persistence
Praying in His will? What does that really
mean? I used to get lost with this, how do we know all we pray is Gods will!
We do know that we should pray with faith,
believing prayer is effective.
He chooses to grant our petitions or deny our
requests. Whatever the answer to our prayers, God is the source of the power of
prayer, and He can and will answer us, but only and according to His perfect
will and timing.
We have the Internet, e-mail, global
meetings, we can see far into space with the Hubble telescope. All this but we
can pray anytime anywhere with the God of Heaven & Earth. What a wonderful
privilege that is. And yet do we do it often enough?
Praying in my bible says ‘talking to God’ I think its ‘Talking with God.
Praying is to share, to admit your weakness
and Gods greatness.
To admit to our sin and to repent, also to
praise God for everything.
Un-confessed sin hinders our personal
relationship with Jesus Christ, we should humbly submit ourselves and ask for
forgiveness in prayer. Another important element of prayer is asking God for the
strength to repent of our sins. Only God can help us turn from our sins and for
this to be so He needs to hear our plea to repent.
Prayer changes us into how God wants us to
be.
Prayer is a God given gift, by
the way of His son to us for the purpose of communication in a personal way with
God.
Prayer is the key, the masters key to open up
the treasure trove of God’s promises, to the over flowing cup of mystery that
we can’t see with our human eyes but that God opens the mystery of his works
in us. A treasure trove full of love, peace and abundant knowledge of God.
I have a PHD in prayer. PHD prayed, heard,
and delivered.
Have you ever written a love letter? It is
something about putting your feelings down on paper that makes them more real to
you. The same is true in your relationship with God. When you take time out to
just sit down and focus on Him, the reality of who He is to you expands.
Do this on a regular basis, and you will be amazed at how much deeper your
connection to the Lord will run.
You will be spending precious time in the
company of your Lord and the relationship will like any other time spent in
company will grow.
We should not under estimate
the devils schemes and evil ways, there is one thing the devil hates more than a
Christian, is a Christian who prays often and spends time with the Lord.
The
Puritan John Preston lays it out very plainly: Prayer is a privilege purchased
by the blood of Jesus Christ. Christ died for this end, it cost him the shedding
of his blood, so that we, through him, might have entrance to the throne of
grace. And will you let such a privilege as this lie still? If you do, so far as
is in you, you cause his blood to be shed in vain.
James
4:8 tells us to “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to
you.” God wants us to be close to Him at all times, at work, rest and
play.
"
That’s a most positive piece of scripture
today because it’s all there.
Promises: Divine Promises
So lets pray in God’s will, and they are
His promises, promises divine. These are not idle promises, or temporal ones.
These are not human promises that can be
broken!
These are God’s eternal promises that will
endure forever.
Let's take hold of all God’s promises in
prayer.
Why should we pray? Because prayer is
personal, developing a wonderful relationship. We are tapping into a resource
that’s Holy, powerful, & profitable.
1)
Positive:
A)
Ephesians 6:18 "Pray in the spirit."
B)
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Be joyful always; pray continually; give
thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”
C)
Jeremiah 34:18 "The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves
those who are crushed in spirit."
D)
(Isaiah 40:28-31) "... They that wait upon the Lord shall renew
their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and
not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."
E) In 1 Chronicles 16:34 we are commanded to “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."
2)
Profitable:
A)
James 5:13 Pray in trouble/ Sing songs of praise.
B)
Jeremiah 3;22 "Return faithless people; I will cure you of
backsliding, yes, we will come to you, for you are the Lord our God."
C)
John 12:46 "I have come into the world as a light, so that no one
who believes in me should stay in darkness."
D)
Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you
great and unsearchable things you do not know."
E)
Mark 11:24, "I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe
that you have received it, and it will be yours."
3)
Power:
A)
2 Corinthians 12:9 "For
my power is made perfect in weakness."
B)
Romans 4:21 "Being fully persuaded that God had power to do what
he had promised."
C)
(Psalm 27:1,3) "The Lord is the strength of my life...in this
will I be confident."
D)
Jeremiah 29- "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to
prosper-not harm, Plans to give you hope & a future. Then when you pray, I
will hear you, seek me and you will find."
E)
“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’— and you forgave
the guilt of my sin” (Psalm 32:5).
Prayer is a Privilege
Prayer is an absolute privilege given freely
by Jesus by way of the Holy Spirit.
If we don’t pray then how are we seeing God
in our lives? Do we realise his Love & Power, received through prayer.
Do we hold him as highly as we should, by
bringing everything in prayer to him, all our petitions etc.
Prayer is being obedient in our worship
towards our Lord.
Lets look at the significance of prayer right
back to Exodus.
The 'tabernacle' sometimes refers to the 'tent of meeting' and
sometimes to the actual tabernacle which was within the tent of meeting, Within
the walls of the tent of meeting were the altar of burnt offering, the bronze
'sea' (a big old basin of water resting upon 12 bronze, outward facing bulls),
and, of course, the covered tabernacle consisting of two rooms, the holy
place,(Holy of holies) wherein only priests were allowed to go in daily to offer
incense on the altar of incense, light the gold lamp stand, or put out the
showbread. The back room of the tabernacle was segregated from the front by a
veil, and only the High Priest was allowed to enter through that veil. From top
to bottom, heaven to Earth.
When Jesus was crucified, that veil was torn, opening up the
way for all to enter into the Holy of holies.
Priests only.
BC: Atonement through blood of animals.
AD: Through Jesus was the final atonement
BC: Specific instructions for the tent etc.
AD: New covenant and how to live.
BC: Turning away of false gods.
AD: Only through Jesus and not other false
gods.
BC: Guidance day & night, to lead them to
Israel (land of milk & honey).
AD: Guidance with and through the Holy
Spirit.
Does the importance of this show now how
‘meeting with your God means now’.
Moses prayed for the people and God listened.
The same God will now listen to all who call
on him.
God then was showing the people how to live
right, he will bless, but if you’re right with God he will bless you more.
See the importance now.
Coming together in prayer.
Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three are gathered together in my
name, there am I in the midst of them."
James 5:13-18
“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is
anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for
the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in
the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and
the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you
may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is
working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that
it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the
earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its
fruit.”
ACTS
A: adoration.
C: Confession.
T: Thanksgiving.
S: Supplication.
Luke 11:2-4 (King James Version)
“And
he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed
be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give
us day by day our daily bread. And
forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And
lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.”
Conclusion
Let me ask you some questions. Do you stop to
eat each day? Do you wash? Do you read the paper or watch the news? Do you have
time to watch the big game at the weekend? Do you have time to take a nap? Do
you take time to exercise? Which of these things is MORE important than building
your relationship with the Father? Which of those things has an eternal
dimension to it? If you really don't have time to pray . . . substitute prayer
for one of those things you DO make time for.
But in everything in prayer.