How To Pray Through It All

Matthew 7:7-8 (NKJV) 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Have you every prayed for a thing and watched it go from bad to worse? It looks like the more you pray, the worse it gets. In those moments, you have to learn a prayer strategy. You have to learn how to pray through it. It is in this time that your faith level will be stretched. During this time, you can’t let the devil come in and make you think it is not going to happen.

Jesus gives us a word, regarding prayer. God is at work, and he will respond to your prayer. David said, “I waited patiently on the Lord…” The report from the doctor is not what you want to hear, but God brought you here to tell you to pray through it!

This concept of praying is about understanding that there is a need for a provider.

This process produces 3 images:

1. Asking for something that another may be able to provide.

2. Seeking for what has been lost.

3. A person knocking on a door to gain admission to a building.

When you are praying, you are in pursuit of something. While pursuing something, you have to pursue someone. God might not come when you want him, but he is always on time. What then do we do when things don’t happen when you want them to?

I. Be willing to pray

The willingness to pray must be present in the life of a Child of God. God is able.

1. Prayer must be your first response not your last resort. – Prayer should be something we rely on, not a chore we resort to. Everyone finds religion, but prayer is something else. Jesus wants you to find him both when you are on the top and when you are on the bottom. Proverbs 8:17 (NKJV) says 17 I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me. – God wants to be first on your list. He is a first responder. For him to respond to your situation, you got to call him. He never sleeps or slumbers. God wants to know if you are going to turn it over to him. What you are going through is too big for you to handle.

a. God wants your prayer. He wants constant communication with you. Once you receive God in your life, achievement is a part of the deal. Matthew 6:33 (NKJV) says 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

2. You can’t get what you don’t ask for. Understand the power of your spoken word. There is power in the words you speak. If you speak it, then it means you saw it in the spirit first. Luke 11:2 (NKJV) says 2 So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven,[a] Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.[b] Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. – Like this model prayer demonstrates, you got to give reverence to Him (i.e. …hallowed be Your name…) in your prayers. You have to communicate your adoration with an audible express. Next you ask for it (i.e. Give us this day, our daily bread…).

a. The world around you might be empty, just because you haven’t asked for it to be filled. James 4:2 (NKJV) says 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet[a] you do not have because you do not ask. – When you approach God, do so with boldness and ask him for what you need. Go to God and tell him what you want.

3. Know that:

a. He hears you.

b. He responds to your faith.

c. He has an unlimited supply. This is why we can’t get upset when he blesses our neighbor. It is not like He is going to run out of blessings.

II. Work the process

I must now work the process. Some of us hate this, because we want things on our own time table.

When you seek God, know that this is not the elevator process. Sometimes, things come by the stairs.

When seeking God:

1. Seek God’s will for your life. Seek comes from the Greek word, Zeteo ( ??t??), meaning to seek by thinking, meditating, reasoning, to enquire into, or demand something from someone for your life. When you ask, you must seek and you will find. Know that God is not going to bless you with something that doesn’t line up with his word. When you pray, ask God, “What is your will for my life”?