"Praying With Power”

Intro: Chorus: ”God answers prayer in the morning, God answers prayer at noon, God answers prayer in the evening, so keep your heart in tune.

Of all the disciplines of the Christian walk, perhaps the most important, the least practiced and the least understood is prayer. Prayer is absolutely key in or success as children of God—both in the way we overcome the devil in battles we face, and in the way we overcome our own flesh. If there is one thing the devil will try to undercut in your life—it is your time of prayer. He does not want you spending time with God—you become stronger, you better understand the purposes of the Kingdom, and you gain wisdom and courage to resist the devil in your life.

Satan will do everything he can to fill your life with people, circumstances and crisis to eat up your time and keep you from your life of prayer and important time with the Lord. That is why every child of God must decide what part of the day they will give to God. It should be the time with the least amount of distractions—a time that will be regular from one day to the next.

1. WHEN SHOULD I PRAY?

Don’t wait one minute. Don’t put it off. Often people look for someone else to tell them what the best time of the day is to pray No one must tell us when to spend time with our best friends—we look for every opportunity to be with the ones we love.Furthermore, when we meet with loved ones, we want no distractions. It should be the same with the Lord Be driven to prayer by your desire. Look for the times that give you the most freedom in your schedule and are virtually distraction-free.

My wife is a morning person. She loves to get up early. Usually, I will wake to find her with her Bible, because she is most alert at the first part of the day. For me, things are different. I tend to be more of a late night person. My study and prayer times are in the afternoons . The time to pray is when you are alert and have the least distractions.

Now, I’ve heard many say, “I’m busy all the time—kids, work, house duties; there is no time for prayer. Well, if you are too busy to talk to God—you are on a pathway to spiritual and emotional collapse You will be drained in your emotions, and the roller coaster of life will begin to speed out of control. Find time. Make time. You decide whether to get up early, or go to bed later. You know when your mind is most alert. Put down the remote control; hang up the telephone; unplug from the voices of our generation and make time to get alone with God. If you don’t, you will be committing spiritual suicide.

ILL: The words of an old chorus comes to mind. Shut in with God in a secret place, there in the Spirit beholding His Face, finding more power to run in lifes race, for I long to be shut in with God.

2. HOW LONG SHOULD I PRAY?

Pray until you break through—until you know you have touched God. (Push) Pray until something happens. Remember, prayer is an important part of keeping our friendship and relationship with God alive. When you call your best friend on the phone, or spend time with a close family member, you don’t stop to think, “How long should this call be; or how much time should I spend visiting my mother?” You relax, spill out your heart; laugh a little, cry a little; talk seriously—and when you are ready—you finish your visit. That’s the way it should be with God. If we look at Biblical examples, Daniel prayed three times each day. David rose early in the morning to talk with God and communed with Him on his bed at night; he praised the Lord all day long. Paul “prayed without ceasing” (See Romans 1:9).

These great men enjoyed relationship with God. For Daniel it was regimented and disciplined; for David it was like a continual song all day long; and Paul was so active in the work of the Lord, his prayer life remained constant and regular because of the intensity of his ministry battles. When you spend time with God; as you get to know Him, your hunger and desire to know Him more will increase. At first you may pray only fifteen minutes then one day you will look up from your time of prayer and find an hour has passed and you didn’t even know it.

Don’t make one or three hours your goal in prayer—make touching God your goal. When you have enjoyed sweet communion with the Father, you have reached your goal for the day.