WHY SHOULD BELIEVERS PRAY?
INTRODUCTION
If God is all powerful, if God loves me and He knows all my needs, If God knows what I want even before I open my mouth, then why do I have to pray?
MAN LOST DOMINION
Dictionary: Power, authority, control, rule, management, regime
Gen 1:26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
Illustration: The power given by factory owners to their managers.
God is the owner of the earth but God gave the administration to man. Man Lost this power and authority when the first couple fall into sin. Three things Man automatically lost after the fall: Eternal life, Prosperity and Good health. – Genesis 3
THE RESTORATION OF DOMINION THROUGH CHRIST
Jesus came down from heaven and became a man, suffered and died on the cross and rose again on the third day. Jesus defeated the enemy on the cross.
Col 2:13 You were once dead because of your failures and your uncircumcised corrupt nature. But God made you alive with Christ when he forgave all our failures.
Col 2:14 He did this by erasing the charges that were brought against us by the written laws God had established. He took the charges away by nailing them to the cross.
Col 2:15 He stripped the rulers and authorities of their power and made a public spectacle of them as he celebrated his victory in Christ.
Rev 1:18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Eph 2:4 But God’s mercy is so abundant, and his love for us is so great,
Eph 2:5 that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience he brought us to life with Christ. It is by
God’s grace that you have been saved.
Eph 2:6 In our union with Christ Jesus he raised us up with him to rule with him in the heavenly world.
1. We were made alive together with Christ
2. We were raised up to a new life together with Christ
3. We were made to sit together
THE 7 ELEMENTS TO THE POWER OF PRAYER
1. The power to contact heaven’s throne
Heb 10:19-20 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of
Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,
a. In appearing with the queen or king of England, you have to address them by formality such as your majesty. You cannot just talk without permission.
b. But in speaking to the Lord of the universe, this is completely reverse, Jesus said: Luk 11:2 And He said to them, When you pray, say: Our Father, who is in Heaven,… - No formal titles! No recommended phrase, No official words you are duty bound to use!
c. In prayer, we come to God as His children. No introduction from angels is needed because God knows us by name and He always want to talk with us.
d. In prayer, we don’t need formal appointment or any formal invitation to come to His presence. We have the right to come any time without and any legal obligation
e. God is never too busy to listen, he is never too involve to answer…
2. The power to enforce God’s will to our own world
1Jn 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
The example of Moses
Exo 17:8-14 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out to fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand. And Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it happened when Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. And when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands became heavy. And they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side. And his hands were steady until the going of the sun. And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people by the edge of the sword. And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
a. As Moses prayed, Israel won over enemy. But when Moses stop praying, the enemy was winning
b. God’s will can be enforced only by prayer. We can write the future history of our world through prayer
The example of Daniel
Dan 9:1-3 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the descendants of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood from the books the number of the years, of which the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
Dan 9:19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for your own sake, O my God: for your city and your people are called by your name.
a. Daniel knew the will of God by reading the book of Jeremiah
b. Daniel enforce the will of God by praying
c. Daniel is very bold in praying because he knew God’s will (v19)
The will of God for the salvation of men
1Ti 2:3-4 This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
God is powerful, He save all people without us. But he chooses to use us as His instrument and we can enforce his will to our own world through prayer.
3. The power to resist and defeat Satan
Mat 26:41 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.
1Pe 5:8-9 Be self- controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
a. Prayer can bring the presence of God into manifestation
Joh 18:6 As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.
b. Prayer can overthrow the plan of Satan (1Jn 3:8)
1Jn 3:8 …For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
4. The power to transcend the laws of nature
Luk 18:27 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
a. His normal ways of working we call law of nature
b. Lower laws can be transcend by higher laws (law of gravity and law of force)
c. When God overrides his usual way of workings – we call it a miracle.
5. The power to obtain angelic assistance
Heb 1:14 What are all the angels? They are spirits sent to serve those who are going to receive salvation.
a. They protect from danger (Elisha – 2 Ki 6:16)
b. They deliver God’s children (Paul Acts 27:23, Peter Acts 12:1-11)
c. They bring message to God’s children (Shepherd – Lk 2:9-13, Mt28:2-7 Women, Acts 10:1-7 Cornelius)
d. They renew physical strength (Lk22:43 – Christ in Gethsemane)
6. The power to move mountains
Mat 21:21-22 At sumagot si Jesus at sinabi sa kanila, Katotohanang sinasabi ko sa inyo, Kung kayo’y may pananampalataya, at di mangagaalinlangan, hindi lamang mangagagawa ninyo ang nangyari sa puno ng igos, kundi maging sabihin ninyo sa bundok na ito, mapataas ka, at mapasugba ka sa dagat, ay mangyayari. At lahat ng mga bagay na inyong hihingin sa panalangin, na may pananampalataya, ay inyong tatanggapin.
Prayer has the power to change mountains into highway
7. The power to bless
Gen 12:2 And I will make you a great nation. And I will bless you and make your name great. And you shall be a blessing.
Prayer is God’s gift of power to bless others
If you have been blessed, encouraged or inspired by this sermon then it’s your turn to be an encouragement too. You can do it by sending email to this contributor at spy2rb@yahoo.com or post comment on the discussion box below.
