2003
If I told you that you would be meeting with Jesus, for 15 minutes today, and you would be able to make just one request…what would you ask for? $$…protection…healing…new job…
I Luke 11 the disciples got that kind of chance. They had been watching Jesus as He prayed and really were impressed.
Their request was simple…”Lord teach us to pray”
NOW isn’t that about the craziest thing you’ve ever heard!! Of all the things he could have asked for he ask Jesus to teach them about praying…
I really believe the disciples saw the results of prayer in Jesus’ life and they wanted that.
They saw Jesus pray and they saw what happened when and after He prayed…
What is amazing is that the disciples watched and listened as Jesus preached some of the most awesome messages you could imagine.
They watched as He performed miracle after miracle and yet they never asked how to do any of that.
They didn’t ask Jesus to make them great preacher…they didn’t ask Him to make them great healers…”Teach us to pray”
They recognized that prayer was the key to Life for Jesus.
Prayer brought with it the power to preach…the power to heal.
Prayer brought power into the ministry of Jesus and all those who dare to follow Him and believe…
BUT
Prayer is not some magic wand that you just wave around and demand that Santagod deliver your every wish…like some genie in a lamp…
Prayer, for many, is the last resort. They pray only after they have exhausted EVERY other option.
One day a deacon came to the pastor with a problem and the pastor said… “Well I guess the only thing we can do pray.”
The deacon says “Oh my, has it come to that?”
I believe the worst concept of prayer is that for too many, prayer is nothing more than our duty.
Our motivation for prayer is guilt… “I know we should pray…pray more.”
It worries me when I hear words like “Ought to pray or should pray” coming from fellow believers.
With this attitude, prayer becomes an obligation…a duty…a job.
I want to give you four purposes of prayer
1. Prayer is and act of dedication:
Prayer is an opportunity for us to:
1. Express our devotion to God…
2. Voice our dependence on God…
Prayer is a way of say to God… “I need You Lord”
Prayer is admitting to God that I can’t do life without Him…
Prayer makes you honest…
John 15:5-7 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.
6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.
7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!”
If you cut a branch off the tree it may live for a little while on stored nutrients but eventually the branch will die.
If we disconnect ourselves from Jesus we lose out source of power…our source of strength…
But if we are dedicated to the Vine we have the power and the promise that we can do anything.
2. Prayer is an act of communication:
If you need me to do something for you it will never get done unless we communicate.
You will never what God wants from you, unless you communicate with Him…
In John 15: 15,16 we read some wonderful stuff… “15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn't confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.
16 You didn't choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.”
Did you catch that!? WE CAN ASK BECAUSE JESUS IS OUR FRIEND
Too often we fail to pray because we fail to recognize the awesome privilege we have…
The God who spoke everything into existence…The God who, with His own hands formed man …really doe want to talk to me…
Did you know that God really is interested in
Your car payment…
Your house payment…
Your need for clothes…
That problem you’re having at work…
That health issue you are facing…
When we realize that God really doe love us and IS concerned about us
PRAYER BECOMES A “WANT TO” INSTEAD OF A “HAVE TO”
3. Prayer is and act of supplication:
Phl 4:6NLT “Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”
NKJV “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;”
Some may say that I don’t need to ask for anything because God knows what I need and He will only give me what I need…
John 16:24 says“Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
NLT “You haven't done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy. ”
A man arrives in heaven, and St. Peter is showing him around. After a while, they pass by a large warehouse, and the man asked what was inside.
"Oh, you don’t want to see that," protests St. Peter. The man’s curiosity is piqued, and he demands to see inside.
St. Peter opens the door, and they see a warehouse full of wonderful things, stacked to the rafters. "Why didn’t you want me to see this?" the man demands. "It all looks wonderful!"
"Well," says St. Peter, "I thought it might make you sad.
You see, those are all the things God had ready to give you, if you had only asked for them in prayer."
Have you asked lately?
4. Prayer is an act of cooperation:
I believe this could possibly the most exciting thing about prayer.
You/I cooperate with God, through prayer
John 14: 12,13 says “12 I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.
13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.”
How is it possible to do greater things than Jesus did? PRAYER
Jesus limited Himself to time and space, even though He was 100% God as well as 100%man.
Prayer is not limited to time or space.
With Believers scattered around the world praying the power of God is being released, unlike any other time in history.
DL Moody once said that “Every great movement of God can be traced back to a single praying, kneeling figure.”
Are you partnering with God?
