Prayer That Packs A Punch

Prayer that packs a punch…John 17

1. Prayer that packs a punch comes from a pure heart

From the temptation in the desert…all through

his ministry

Jesus kept himself right with the Lord.

When we are not living for God we cannot

expect God to listen to our prayers.

Sin

Apathy

Neglect

It’s not just the outward activities, but the

condition of our hearts.

We must be striving daily to have a right

relationship with the Lord so that our prayer

lives might be effective.

James says “The prayer of a righteous man is

effective.”

God wants to pour out his blessings on us.

But we cannot expect him to do that if there

is sin in our lives that we are ignoring and

hoping God will choose to overlook.

Quote: “Prayer has divided seas, rolled up

flowing rivers, made flinty rocks gush into

fountains, quenched flames of fire, muzzled

lions, disarmed vipers and poisons, marshaled

the stars against the wicked, stopped the

course of the moon, arrested the sun in its

rapid race, burst open iron gates, conquered

the strongest devils, commanded legions of

angels down from heaven. Prayer has bridled

and chained the raging passions of man, and

routed and destroyed vast armies of proud,

daring, blustering atheists. Prayer has

brought one man from the bottom of the sea,

and carried another in a chariot of fire to

heaven.” (Sermon Central Illustration)

2. Prayer that packs a punch glorifies God and Jesus Christ.

We pray to God through Jesus’ name. Sadly

sometimes the only time we mention Jesus in our

prayers is at the end. We need to spend time in

prayer just praising God and Jesus Christ.

The day before I preached this sermon, I found out

that my son’s class was studying the Buddhist

faith. The teacher was going to have students

bring a mat to class and get in the position and

meditate like a Buddhist. When I raised concern

and objected to my son praying to any god besides

the one and only living God, I was seen as

intolerant and narrow minded. Jesus says in His

prayer in John 17, that eternal life is this:

knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom

he has sent.

Prayer that packs a punch glorifies God the Father

and Jesus Christ His Son, and it is done through

the power of the Holy Spirit.

3. Prayer that packs a punch builds up the Body of Christ

Not only pray for one another, but hold one

another accountable for our prayer lives.

In one region of Africa, the first converts to

Christianity were very diligent about praying. In

fact, the believers each had their own special

place outside the village where they went to pray

in solitude. The villagers reached these “prayer

rooms” by using their own private footpaths

through the brush. When grass began to grow over

one of these trails, it was evident that the

person to whom it belonged was not praying very

much.

Because these new Christians were concerned for

each other’s spiritual welfare, a unique custom

sprang up. When ever anyone noticed an

overgrown “Prayer path,” he or she would go to the

person and lovingly warn, “Friend, there’s grass

on your path!” – (Sermon Central Illustration)

I hear parents say “Yeah my daughter has 4.0 grade

point average” or “My son is averaging 10 points a

game in basketball.” Not very often do I hear

parents say “My child’s prayer life is really

growing into something wonderful.” What kind of a

dad am I, if I know my children’s grade point

average and scoring average, and yet I have no

idea what their prayer life is like? I love

sports, I love watching my kids play sports. But

I also realize that the most important thing that

I can do as a dad is to raise kids who love Jesus.

4. Prayer that packs a punch reaches beyond the here and now-

Most of our prayers are focused on health

problems, financial problems, relationships, and

immediate needs. These are not bad things to pray

for at all. God cares deeply about these things,

and we should lift every burden to God.

Prayer that packs a punch goes beyond the here and

now. It says “God, I want to seek your will for

today, and tomorrow and five years for now.”

We need to pray for the future of the church and

for our leaders of the church.

We need to pray for our community and the lost

souls that God will bring us in contact with.

We need to pray for our own spiritual maturity.

Jesus prayed not only for himself, but he prayed

for the disciples, and he prayed for those that

would believe through their testimony.

Jesus actually prayed for you and me.