Get Connected: A Daily Pattern for Prayer
"God Help Me Remember You’re All-powerful"
Week 6
Matthew 6:13
How has your prayer life been with the Lord over the last month? Are your growing in that area? Are there things God has been teaching you to include in your prayer life that you haven’t before? Are you growing in your intimacy with the Lord? My prayer for you is that you are applying God’s word to your life and are praying more and more and you are applying some of these principles and you are seeing God work and move in your life.
You have probably heard the saying…Little prayer, little power. I have to say if your not spending time praying to God your not going to see God do much at all in your life. Much prayer, much power. The principle here is that the more I pray the more power I will have and the more I’m going to see God moving and working in my life.
I have a sign on my desk that says…Prayer changes things. That is such a true statement. You want to know God better, you want more of His power, you want to see Him move mighty in your life. Then pray…because prayer changes things. Don’t be complaining to God about how bad things are in your life and how you would like things to change. Yet your not praying. You can do something about it, you can decide to pray like you have never prayed before in your life and I believe you will see God move in your situation.
God I praise you
God I want to do your will
God meet my daily needs
God forgive me of all my sins
God deliver me from sin
Matthew 6:13 "For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." NAS
“God help me to remember you are all-powerful.”
Earlier manuscripts did not have this as part of the prayer. Yet, every Jewish prayer ended in with a doxology.
Jewish custom was to end every prayer with a doxology.
Some people think it was taken from what David prayed to God in I Chronicles 29:11
I Chronicles 29:11 "Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things." NLT
The Jewish peoples response to prayer in the temple is said to have been ‘Blessed be the name of the glory of his kingdom for ever and ever’”
When we pray we need to close out our prayers. Today I want to talk to you about closing out our prayers properly and in the right manner and in the right frame of mind.
Doxology: How to close our prayers
1. It's all in God's control.
God is inviting us to come to Him and to cry out to Him in prayer and to ask Him for things. And tell Him exactly what we need. Spell it out. Make it clear. But at the end of crying out we understand that He is in control of it all.
Aren’t you glad God is in control of it all. When I am in control many times I blow it. But your know what…God never blows it. God is in control over everything in your life. And God knows your every need but He commands you to ask anyway. He wants you to cry out to Him and then trust in Him and His will and His plan and His control of the situation your in.
After you pour out your heart to God say…“God it's all in your control”.
There’s something about laying it all out there before God and then telling God… “I trust in you God and your will and plan for my life.”
"Yours is the kingdom." Everything is about God and Him building His kingdom not us building our kingdom. “It’s not all about me God it’s all about you.”
God is in control of everything. He is in control of everything that goes on in heaven that we don’t see and he’s in control of everything on earth that we can see and even those things we can’t see. He’s in actively at work everywhere always and He is in control of it all.
So when I approach God in prayer and ask Him for anything. We can’t forget that He is in control of it all. There is nothing that is not in His hands. He created it all and owns it all and controls it all.
Every person’s life is in the hands of God. God’s word says that He blesses both the righteous and the unrighteous. If there are two farmers and one is righteous and one in unrighteous. God says that he sends rain to both of their fields. Now the righteous person might acknowledge God and praise him for sending the rain and the unrighteous person might not acknowledge God for sending the rain. But nevertheless God sends rain for both the righteous and the unrighteous. God is in control over everything.
Whatever you are going through today, understand God is in control of it. You might have made wrong choices that placed you where you are. You might be where you are because of an act of disobedience. You might be where you are because God lead you there. Whatever it is God is still in control and He has allowed what has taken place in your life and He has a will and a plan in it.
So trust in the sovereign control of God over all of your life.
Sovereignty means – The one supreme ruler over everything. One who is in control over everything.
Don’t ever forget that your life is in the Lord's hands. Wherever you are today I want you to know that God is still in control
Even if you can’t see it God’s is at work in your life. He is at work behind the scenes. Some things God might reveal to us in this life but many things we might not know or understand until we get to heaven someday.
God’s will for our life is that we trust His control over ever area of our lives.
God wants us to cry out to Him daily and tell him specifically all the things we need. Then after we have cried out he wants us to leave the results to Him. To trust in Him after we have prayed that it will work out for good.
Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” NAS
Because God promises that all things will work together for good to those who love the Lord to those who are called according to His purpose. God wants us to trust in His control over all the circumstances of our life.
Let me ask you… Are you completely trusting in the Lord today? Are your acknowledging His control over everything in your life?
i.e. – Trust fall
Cry out to God daily to met your needs then wait on the Lord and trust in His sovereign will and plan to unfold in your life.
Jesus prayed… “Father if it is possible I don’t want to go to the cross of Calvary and die for the sins of the world. But I don’t want my will to be done I want your will to be done in my life.
That’s the way God wants us to pray. To cry out to Him and tell him what we really need. Then end our pray by telling God, not my will God but I want your will in my life. God will and plan for our life is far greater than our will and plan for our own life.
That’s the prayer of a mature believer. They pray like crazy to God to have their daily needs met and then they trust completely in God’s will and plan in that prayer.
Daniel 4:30-32 As he looked out across the city, he said, ‘Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.’ “While these words were still in his mouth, a voice called down from heaven, ‘O King Nebuchadnezzar, this message is for you! You are no longer ruler of this kingdom. You will be driven from human society. You will live in the fields with the wild animals, and you will eat grass like a cow. Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses.’ NLT
Nebuchadnezzar was a very prideful man. He made a statue unto himself to boast about His power and authority. At the time he was the most powerful king on the earth. Because of that he became very boastful and prideful.
He decided to throw a party in his own honor. When your the king you do what you want. He wanted a party, he threw a big party. Invited all the people Babylon and all the surrounding providences. All the other leaders - the governors, judges, etc...
He built himself an idol. It was 90 feet tall. Probably an image of himself but not sure. Had to worship this image if you didn't you would be killed.
This is a prideful man with lots of power gone bad. He is exalting himself above every living thing.
Neb. receives a vision from God about this dream he couldn't understand it. He sends for Daniel to interpret the dream. He does and Neb. doesn't like what he hears. Daniel tells him his kingdom was going to be torn out of his hands. He would lose everything including his mind. Now how does a man with so much power and authority and wealth lose his kingdom, his power, his wealth and his mind? Because God is in control and God gave Neb. his kingdom and wanted him to understand who really was in control. God was in control not Neb. God gave him his throne and God took it away. He did it so Neb. might understand that God is the one true ruler of everything and that He decides who is in power and who is not. Neb. didn't repent and do the right thing. He disobeyed what Daniel told him to do and he lost everything just like Daniel said. He lost everything, his throne was taken from him, his wealth, his possessions, and even his own mind. God took it all away just like He said He would. After the curse happened Neb. recognized his sins against God and gave thanks and praise to God that is all comes from Him and it's all in His control.
Daniel 4:34b-35 His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal. All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him. He does as he pleases among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth. No one can stop him or say to him, ‘What do you mean by doing these things?’ NLT
There is nothing that has happened in your life that hasn’t first gone through the hands of God. He is in control of everything.
i.e. - Dad passed away. Mom passed away.
Recognizing God's sovereign rule over everything in your life should cause you to thank and praise God.
God wants us each day to recognize His sovereign rule and authority over everything that is going on in our life.
I Thessalonians 5:18 “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” NLT
Praise God for where you are right now. (Have people bow and thank God for their present situation.)
You need to know that nothing ever surprised God or catches Him off guard. You'll never hear God say "Wow, I didn't see that one coming." “Wow that one got away from me.”
God is free to do as He pleases. He is not controlled or bound by anyone or anything. He has the freedom to choose to do what He desires.
A lot of people don't like that statement about God that He does as He chooses.
i.e. - boss at work is in charge and there were times I didn't like what he asked me to do. But he was the ruler. He had the power. He could tell me what to do. What I did with that knowledge was my choice.
Revelation 19:14 ‘On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords." NLT
There is no king with more power and authority than God. He is in control of all the kings and rulers. He placed them in positions of authority. It happens by His design. God already has predetermined who are next president of the United States is going to be.
A King rules. He is ruler over every other King. He is ruler over every other world leader.
He rules it all and because He rules it all He’s in control of it all.
Nothing escapes His notice.
i.e. - Hair on our head, sparrow fall to his death.
God is in control of everything. He’s even in control of Satan and his demons. They can’t do anything outside of Him, that can’t exercise any power without God allowing them to do it.
There was a time that Satan came to Christ to ask if he could test Job. Now we see here a number of things that point to God's control of everything. Satan cannot do just as he pleases. Satan has to get prior approval from God for anything he does. Satan's power comes from God. There will come a day when that power will be taken away. Satan is using his power for evil not good. God has a plan in everything that happens.
Job 2:6 “All right, do with him as you please,” the Lord said to Satan. “But spare his life.” NLT
Satan was given authority by God to lay his hand on Job and take everything from him but his life.
Job 42:1-2 Then Job answered the Lord and said, “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted." NAS
Job understood in all this that God can do as He pleases and that Gods purpose and plan cannot be thwarted.
God is in control of all things including Satan and his army. God is in control over everything in your life.
Cry out to God and say… “God it’s all in your control.”
2. It's all through God's power.
We cry out to God in prayer asking for great things in His name because we know that our God is all-powerful. There is nothing to hard for Him to do.
Cry out to God and say… “God it’s all in your power.”
You might be in a difficult place today and life might be hard for your now. But my challenge to you is not to lose hope in God. God is all-powerful and He is at work and everything that is so bad in your life, God can turn it around for you today. He has the power to do that.
i.e. – John 5 a man who had been crippled for 48 years. Pool of Bethesda. People believe that when the water bubbled up and the first person in the pool would be healed. This man had sat there for years waiting for his miracle to be healed. Jesus stopped by one day. Do you want to be healed? No one can helps me get into the pool. Imagine the years this man sat there and no one helped him get into the water. What a tragedy. Jesus told him to pick up his mat. It’s the Sabbath and religious leaders saw him carrying his mat. I love the humor in this story. You can’t carry your mat on the Sabbath.
Do you believe in the power of God? Do you trust in His power?
We cry out to God in prayer and then we tell God…"Yours is the power."
This is a powerful God we approach and we must never forget that He is all-powerful.
And when you come to God in prayer and you ask Him for anything you need to understand that there is nothing that you can pray for or ask God for that is too hard for Him.
We have to have the faith to believe because God is sovereign and in control of everything that he is also all powerful.
The sovereignty of God and omnipotence of God (God is all-powerful), go hand in hand.
To reign God must have power and to reign sovereignty, He must have all power.
Psalm 62:11 God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times: Power, O God, belongs to you;" NLT
The Psalmist understood that all power belongs to God.
Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai ‘God Almighty.’ NLT
When God first reveals himself to Abraham he tells him who he is and that he is almighty God. There is no one like Him in all the earth. Abraham needed to be able to hold onto and trust that this was the one true God over everything in heaven and on earth and that He was almighty.
Exodus 6:2-3 And God said to Moses, “I am Yahweh—‘the Lord.’ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty’. NLT
When God came to Moses, the first thing He did was to reveal Himself as God almighty.
Moses needed to know this before God could perform miracles through him.
Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come the Almighty One.” NLT
God is the bookends of it all. He is all-mighty God and there is nothing too hard for Him to do.
God wants us to know and grasp that he is almighty. When we approach God in prayer we He wants us to acknowledge him that he is all powerful. This an all powerful God I am praying too and if he is all powerful than there is nothing that he cannot do if he wants too.
There is no prayer too big that you can pray about that God can not answer.
Numbers 11:23 The Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not.” NAS
God wanted Moses and the people to understand that there was no limit to his power. They wanted meat and God rained quail from heaven just like he provided the manna for them.
There is nothing that you can ask God for that he can't do.
How did God create this world? Through his power.
Jeremiah 32:17 “O Sovereign Lord! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you!" NLT
Jesus has the power to cure any sickness or disease. There isn't a disease that God can't heal if he wants too. Never did a sick person come to Jesus and Jesus didn't have the answer for that person. "I have never seen this illness before. I'm going to have to do some research, run a few tests and I'll get back with you. Hopefully I can heal you."
If God wants to give us a cure for cancer or any other disease. It's in his power to do it.
Paul wanted us to understand the awesome power of God. Listen to what he writes in…
Ephesians 1:19-20 "I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms." NLT
Ephesians 3:20 "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us," NAS
Do you have faith in what God can do? When we approach God, God wants us to understand that there is nothing He can't do. There is no prayer request we can ask Him for that He can't answer.
God it’s all in your control. God it’s all in your power.
3. It's all for God's glory.
We come to God and we cry out to Him in prayer and we ask for great things in His name and we do it all so God might receive the glory.
We need to pray… “God it’s all for your glory.”
"Yours is the glory"
Throughout the O.T. when God reveled Himself to people He revealed to them His glory. Glory was a reference to people seeing God. Listen to this verse in Deut.
Deuteronomy 5:24 They said, ‘Look, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the heart of the fire. Today we have seen that God can speak to us humans, and yet we live! NLT
God showed the people His glory. God wants people to see His glory. Everything on heaven and on earth was created for the glory of God.
God’s will for your life is that it might glorify Him. Or show Him off. That's your purpose in life. We bring him great joy and happiness by glorifying him. We can glorify God by what we say, by what we do, and even by what we eat.
I Chronicles 10:31 "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." NLT
Everything is about His glory. So even in our prayers God wants to be glorified in them.
So we cry out to God and say…
God give me this job for the glory of your name.
God heal my marriage for the glory of your name.
God help me with my financial problems for the glory of your name.
God heal me of this disease for the glory of your name.
God free me from this sin for the glory of your name.
God bring my mother and father to Christ for the glory of your name.
"I'm praying for this for your glory God not my glory." That's a god honoring prayer. To pray for God to give you something that His name might be glorified.
God's goal is His glorification. He wants to glorify Himself.
It's all about God. It's not about me or me glorifying myself, it's about God and God being glorified.
“God I ask that your would answer this prayer for the glory of your name.”
That what God is after in our prayer life. That people might see His glory.
John 14:13 “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son." NLT
So God desires for us to ask great things in His name that He might be glorified. God wants to glorify Himself through our prayer life.
So that His name might be revealed. So that His name might be proclaimed. So that he might answer our prayers and we in turn will praise and thank Him and through that He is glorified.
I Chronicles 16:24 Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. NAS
God wants to answer our prayer so we can say to others. “Did you hear what God did in my life… Did you know what God saved me from… You not going to believe this thing God did for me…”
When we pray and God answers and then we share that with others. God is glorified.
i.e. - $4,500
When we ask God to answers our prayers it's not for us and our glory, it's for God and His glory.
When we close our prayer and with the word “Amen”. Which is an expression of faith. We close our prayers that we have given everything over to the Lord and we are trusting in Him for the outcome.
Amen… “I trust you with this God.” “Let it be done according to your will and plan and for your glory.”
My faith is in you God and in your power and authority over all things.
