Sermon Central
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Praying Your Family Into God's Family
Contributed by Pat Hodges on Feb 26, 2010 (message contributor)
Summary: This is a teaching on how to pray for loved ones and friends, specifically for the purpose of targeting them in prayer for salvation.
Praying Your Family Into God’s Family
Key scripture - Mark 2:1-5
2:1 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.
2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them.
3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.
4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."
• Jesus healed the paralyzed man, not because of the faith of the one who was healed, but because of the faith of the paralytics friends.
• We need to understand that we have the right and authority to bring others into the presence of God, to release the power of God into their lives.
There is a price that comes with this:
• It requires-
• time
• patience
• much love
• tenacity
• it may also cost resources
Our priestly role:
We are all called into the priesthood as believers. We have the God given responsibility to bring others into the presence of God.
Ex 28:15-20, 29-30
15 "You shall make the breastplate of judgment. Artistically woven according to the workmanship of the ephod you shall make it: of gold , blue , purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, you shall make it.
16 It shall be doubled into a square: a span shall be its length, and a span shall be its width.
17 And you shall put settings of stones in it, four rows of stones: The first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and an emerald; this shall be the first row;
18 the second row shall be a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond;
19 the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;
20 and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold settings.
29 So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart, when he goes into the holy place, as a memorial before the LORD continually.
30 And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron's heart when he goes in before the LORD. So Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the LORD continually.
The 12 stones that the priest wore in the breastplate represented the 12 tribes that he carried on his heart. Who are we carrying on our heart today? We should be carrying family members and friends.
Practical Ways to Pray for Your Family:
1. Pray for laborers
38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
2. Ask God to soften their heart
Ezek 11:19
19 Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh,
3. Ask God to bring to their remembrance any of the Word of God that they were taught from their childhood to this day.
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
Isa 55:11
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
4. Ask God for a spirit of conviction to be released in their lives to convict them of sin.
8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
5. Ask for the spirit of revelation to be released in their lives (dreams, visions, angelic visitations).
Eph 1:17-19
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
6. Ask that the love of God would overwhelm them (don’t pray for judgement on their lives).
