Praying With Power

PRAYING WITH POWER

1 John 5:14-15

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: BE CAREFULL HOW YOU SAY IT

1. George Arnold says, "I'm not the easiest guy in the world to get along with. So when our anniversary rolled around, I wanted my wife to know how much I appreciated her tolerating me for the past 20 years.

2. I ordered flowers and told the florist to enclose a card that read, "Thanks for putting up with me so long."

3. When my wife got the delivery, she called me at work. "Where are you going?" She asked. "What do you mean?" I said.

4. She read the card aloud as the florist had written it: "Thanks for putting up with me. So long." (RD, 9/13)

B. IDEA & TITLE

1. I know that most of you are saved & born again and have been praying for years. However, Peter said he wanted to stir up their remembrance (2 Pet. 1:12-13; 3:1).

2. So God led me to share about the MOST TALKED ABOUT, but the LEAST PRACTICED thing in Christianity – PRAYER!

3. Prayer establishes a connection between you and God it ushers you into His presence. Prayer changes our view of GOD, changes our view of circumstances, and changes our view of ourselves and others.

4. One time, in the newspaper cartoon, Family Circus, someone asked what the greatest power in the world was. The little boy and girl envisioned rockets, waterfalls, and tornadoes. But the mother’s conception was more accurate: she saw her kids down on their knees!

5. So today we’re going to talk today about “Praying with Power.” This is answering the question, “How can I pray successfully?” First, let me outline some...

I. PREREQUISITES OF PRAYER

YOU MUST HAVE A...

A. A PLACE OF PRAYER

1. All the original pioneers of faith in the Bible had places where they prayed regularly. They picked places where they felt closer to God and built altars there.

2. The Lord Jesus told us to go into our prayer closet (Matt. 6:6 KJV). The Msg Trans. says, “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.”

3. One stay-at-home Mom chose her kitchen to pray in. She put a clothes-line across part of it and hung cards on it with people’s names, whom she prayed for. Her ministry was so effective that many people requested she “hang them on her line!” [Paul Tan, Encyclo. Of 7700 Illus., #4549]

B. A TIME OF PRAYER

1. Next you need to schedule a regular TIME to pray. If prayer is not scheduled we usually don’t pray, because our schedules are generally full.

2. The morning is best because that puts us into God’s Spirit for the rest of the day, but some people prefer to pray in the evening. Paul told us to “pray without ceasing” – that is, pray all through the day, wherever we are.

3. In one African dialect, Karre, the word “thankfulness” means to “sit down on the ground before” a person. No word needs to be spoken; when one of that country sits silently before someone, it’s understood to be gratitude. Likewise, we should come before God and get quiet and focus on Him. God, like the Karre, will understand our love and gratitude! [Roger W. Thomas]

C. A PLAN FOR PRAYER

1. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He gave them the Lord’s prayer (Matt. 6:9-13; Luke 11:1-4). He told them how to address God, to pray for His will to be done, to ask for earthly provisions, to seek forgiveness and to be delivered from temptation. Lastly, He told them to acknowledge God’s eternal power & glory.

2. So whenever we approach God, we should praise Him, confess & repent of our sins, pray for others & for the lost to be saved, etc. That’s a good plan for praying! Jesus knows best!

II. HOW TO PRAY WITH FAITH, BELIEVING?

A. YOU MUST HAVE CONFIDENCE WHEN PRAYING

1. In order to pray with faith, you must know that you’re right with God and that He accepts your prayer. If, when you pray, there are any sins in your life, the devil will stand at your elbow and accuse you.

2. This is pictured in Zech. 3:1; “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him” as he was trying to intercede. Satan will do the same to us to hinder us from praying.

3. There is a small, weasel-like animal called the Ichneumon (Africa & S. Europe). It’s expert in killing large venomous snakes, but it never attacks them until they pass near a certain plant whose leaves contain an antidote for snake bite. If bitten, the Ichneumon will go to the plant, eat its leaves, and after recovery, will renew its attack on the snake [7,700 Illus., #4637]. That’s how we should resort to prayer, which will heal our wounds from the world and the enemy!