HOW TO PREVAIL IN PRAYER
TEXT: Isaiah 62:1; 62:6-7
Isaiah 62:1 KJV For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.
Isaiah 62:6-7 KJV I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, [7] And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
I. INTRODUCTION—NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS
-The tradition with some people at the end of the old year and the beginning of the New Year is to make some effort at changing their life.
-Here are some of the top things that have been identified as New Year’s Resolutions:
• Lose Weight
• Volunteer to Help Others
• Quit Smoking
• Get a Better Education
• Get a Better Job
• Save Money
• Get Fit
• Eat Healthy Food
• Manage Stress
• Manage Debt
• Take a Trip
• Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
• Drink Less Alcohol
-Many do their best but often fail at making the necessary changes to be successful at them. In fact some researchers have pointed out that within less than 20 days most of the resolutions have fallen by the wayside.
-It takes great effort to change!
-The greatest need for change is that which is in the spiritual life of people.
II. TO PREVAIL IN PRAYER REQUIRES TIME
-The passage in Isaiah serves as a leaping off point for us as we lead up to our prayer revival.
-There may be times that prevailing prayer is a fierce but brief battle but normally the type of prayer that will be effective is going to take time. There are few instant answers that we find in prayer. Certainly there are moments when God has performed instant miracles in prayer but those are few and far between.
-Prevailing prayer will require a commitment of time. It is important to understand that we are not speaking of a commitment to the clock but a commitment to purpose in prayer. Those who are immature in their prayer life will watch the clock but those who are mature in prayer find that they are more concerned with a purpose in their prayer. Find purpose in your praying and the time will take care of itself.
-Listen to Isaiah’s testimony:
• I will not keep silent!
• For Jerusalem’s sake, I will not remain quiet!
• The purpose in the prayer was for righteousness to shine like the rising sun and salvation to be a brilliant blazing torch!
• Purpose in prayer will put a watchman on his wall!
• Purpose in prayer will keep that watchman from silence in prayer!
-You who call on the Lord. . . give yourselves no rest. Furthermore by your commitment to prayer, the Lord will never cease to listen to you.
-That means that a man ought to be a praying man and that a church should be a praying church.
-Nehemiah prevailed in his praying:
Nehemiah 1:6 KJV Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.
-The record of Scripture tells us that Daniel set aside a routine in prayer. . . Three times a day with his windows opened toward heaven. . . But there came a time when he spent as much as three weeks prevailing in a time of special need.
Daniel 10:2-3 KJV In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. [3] I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
-Paul also found a commitment to time in his prayers. He was prevailing for new converts and for the new churches that he had established.
1 Thessalonians 3:10 KJV Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?
-We live in a generation that implies that pastors, ministers, and preachers should be doing everything but prevailing in prayer for their congregations. . . Organize. . . Administrate. . . Plan. . . Manage. . . Design. . . Have staff meetings. . . Figure out widgets. . . Do everything but pray and preach!
-Jesus gave himself to this when he prayed all night!
Luke 6:12 KJV And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
-We learn how to pray by praying. . .
• A singer will spend hours practicing to sing.
• An athlete will spend hours in training to play the game.
• A soldier will spend hours in drill to work at his discipline.
-There is only one way to learn how to pray and that is to spend time in prayer!
-By the very nature of things, prayer victories will require a sacrifice of time. When I am willing to invest myself in a time of prayer, it literally changes my will.
-A commitment to specific and regular times of prayer builds up a spiritual force within a man that literally will sweep away the attack of worldliness, apathy, and lukewarmness.
-We prevail in prayer by spending time with it. The most unanswered prayers are those that are never prayed!
III. TO PREVAIL IN PRAYER REQUIRES PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT
-If prevailing prayer requires time, it also requires praying in the Spirit.
E. M. Bounds—The secret of feeble praying everywhere is the lack of God’s Spirit in His mightiness.
-You must be filled with the Spirit to pray effectively. But you also have to live in the Spirit. Feeble and ineffective praying is caused by a shallow experience in the Holy Ghost. If you are filled with the Spirit, you are controlled by the Spirit.
Ephesians 6:18 KJV Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Romans 8:26-27 KJV Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. [27] And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Ephesians 2:18 KJV For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
-The Holy Ghost:
• Enables us to pray.
• Creates a partnership in prayer.
• Helps us to be sensitive to prayer needs.
• Causes us to feel the checks, the promptings, and the moods of the Spirit.
• Keeps us awake and aware of the spiritual battle we are in.
• Helps us to walk in the Spirit.
-Prevailing prayer has a requirement that we pray in the Spirit.
IV. TO PREVAIL IN PRAYER REQUIRES URGENT PERSISTENCE
-Prevailing in prayer requires time. . . Requires praying in the Spirit. . . Requires an urgent persistence.
-The Bible uses a word that describes great need. It is called importunity. It is an old word that means insistence, begging, clamoring, and pleading for a specific need. All throughout the Bible there is a repeated pattern that shows the importance of holding on in urgent prayer and not fainting or giving up even when the answer seems to be a million miles away.
-Jesus told his disciples a parable to illustrate that truth:
Luke 18:1-8 KJV And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; [2] Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: [3] And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. [4] And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; [5] Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. [6] And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. [7] And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? [8] I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
E. M. Bounds—Few things give such quickened and permanent vigor to the soul as long, exhaustive seasons of importunate prayer.
-These seasons of praying when it seems like nothing is occurring, trains men and women in the life of prayer. It will add grace and spiritual maturity to your life.
-The reason it adds to our walk is because it involves everything in your soul and being. It is literally a might movement toward God.
Jeremiah 29:12-14 KJV Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. [13] And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. [14] And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
E. M. Bounds—Heaven is too busy to listen to half-hearted prayers.
-God cannot tolerate lukewarmness and the greatest prayers are those that feed off of the flames of the Spirit. It is the fiery intercessors who will conquer in their praying. That burning desire in prayer makes intercessory prayer literally invincible.
-This kind of praying. . . urgent. . . persistent prayer will set the soul on fire! This kind of prayer will burn through the obstacles without to gain the throne of God within.
-If there ever was a time that the church and the world needed saints to prevail in urgent prayer it is now!
Philip Harrelson
May 31, 2015
