God's Power In A Darkened Room

"God’s Power in a Darkened Room"

By Sterling Franklin - October, 2001

Hey, we’re talking about prayer tonight, so let’s open in Prayer...

Lord, thank you for tonight, thank you that we can all be here to have a good time of fellowship in You and of learning more about You and Your Glory. Thank you for all that you’ve done in our lives, and make us more like Your Perfect Son, Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ Mighty Name, Amen.

I. Asking God in Faith...

Marcus was a young boy with a dream...to become the best BMX bike racer in the world. He saw a red Huffy Dirt Bike in the store and wanted his parents to get it for him. He thought a while and thought that maybe if he really asked with total hope in his parents getting the dirt bike, maybe, JUST MAYBE he would get it!

Well...Marcus never got enough courage to ask, so five years later, he finally asked his mom, "Yo mom, if I asked you for a dirt bike 5 years ago, would you have bought it for me?" His mom replied, "Yeah, why didn’t you ask?"

Same goes with Prayer...we need to converse with God and ask Him for what we really need...

Matthew 7:11 - "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"

Elijah was greatly used of God, and he was an earnest man of prayer. (Earnest as in faithful and diligent, not in [Ernest] Hemmingway ;) )

James 5:17-18 - "Elias (Elijah) was a man subject to like pa ssions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit."

Ok...let’s see...that was a much greater request than asking for a dirt bike, plus it showed God’s power in this case. Elijah asked God for rain, and he had full trust in God here, and PRAYED EARNESTLY. What happened? God granted exactly what Elijah asked for.

What does John say in 1 John Chapter 5?

I John 5:14-15 - "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, IF WE ASK ANY THING ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, WHATSOEVER WE ASK, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him."

Wow! Now that’s a promise! How can anyone have that come true?

You mustn’t waver (be shaky) in your faith when praying...

James 1:6-7 - "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord."

In common, everyday prayer, you should get right with the Lord and live a pleasing life for Him in order to be most blessed by God...

James 5:14-15 - "Is any sick among you? 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 shall SAVE THE SICK, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him."

God hears our prayers:

Psalm 5:3 - "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up."

Those trying to live a God-serving and God-pleasing life, especially...

Psalm 34:15 - "The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry."

James 5:16b - "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

II. How should we Pray?

We are literally talking to God when we pray to Him. Think of a conversation with one of your friends. Imagine 2 cases:

Jim: Hey, Dana!

Dana: Hey, Jim!

Jim: I want a dirt bike and I need to get an A on this next test, and I need to go to the beach. Bye bye.

Dana: {feeling a little dry and a bit dis’ed}

VERSUS.....

David: Hey, my good friend Moesha!

Moesha: Hey! What’s going on?

David: Well, Moesha, I want to thank you for being so faithful to me and sticking by me in such thick circumstances. You are great to have around! Hey, I have this one problem, though. I don’t feel that I’ve been friendly enough with you. Can you help me be a better friend to you?