What Happens When The Church Prays
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
I tell you; he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” - Luke 18:1-8
Prayer
OKAY – let’s do this…
Today’s conversation is,
‘What Happens When The Church Prays,’
(Get Ready To Buckle Up and Hold On)…
NOW – the way I want to attack our time together this morning is by looking at 3 statements.
• What Prayer Is
• What Prayer Can Do
• When the Church Prays
I. What Prayer Is
Prayer is going beyond the veil.
AND – what I mean by that, is that prayer is entering the presence of God.
YOU SEE – in the Old Testament, under the Old Covenant – God’s people worshipped him first at the Tabernacle and then later at the Temple in Jerusalem.
AND LISTEN – when you look at the temple and how it was set up…. It’s design seems to have as it’s purpose keeping people from God’s presence… Court of Gentiles – Court of women – Court of Israelites (men) – Court of priests – Holy place (only 1 priest could go in here at the times of prayer (9 –12 –3)
AND - there was a huge thick curtain that separated this room from – the Most Holy Place and only the high priest could enter – once a year, on the Day of Atonement.
NOW - Matthew in writing about the crucifixion of Christ says the following;
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. - Matthew 27:50,51
QUESTION...
Why do you think that happened?
What do you think it meant?
Who do you think tore it?
HEY – checkout what Hebrews 10:19,20 says about this curtain...
So brothers and sisters, we are completely free to enter the Most Holy Place without fear because of the blood of Jesus death. We can enter through a new and living way that Jesus opened for us. It leads through the curtain – Christ’s body. - Hebrews 10:19,20
UNDERSTAND – the torn curtain, represents the body of Christ. AND BECAUSE – that body was ripped in two…
WE – are completely free to enter the most... Holy Place, without... fear.
AMEN?!
What is prayer? Prayer is...
• coming into the presence of God
• taking our concerns to the one who cares for us
• communicating with the Maker of heaven and earth
• bringing our hurts to the father of compassion and the God of all comfort
• reaching out to our redeemer
• crying out to the rock that is higher than we are
• touching the one who loves us with an unfailing and unquenchable love
• bringing our questions to the one who has the answers
• reaching out to the never: tired, confused, afraid or taken by surprise God…
• the trigger that launches the power of God
• coming near to God…
What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way our Lord is near us whenever we pray to him. – Deuteronomy 4:7
II. What Prayer Can Do…
Prayer can do a lot. AND MGCC - the reason that it can, the reason that prayer is powerful and effective...
IS BECAUSE - our GOD is powerful and effective…
CHECK OUT - what these scriptures say about God…
• When 90 year old Sarah doubted that she would finally have a son, God said to her; “Is anything to hard for the Lord…” Gen 18:14
• WHEN – Moses doubted that God could provide 1 million plus people with all the meat they wanted for a month God said to him; ‘Is there any limit to my power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!” Nu 11:23
• When God told Elijah that He was going to fill a valley full of water without any rain or wind, He said, “This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord.” 2 Kings 3:18
• In Jeremiah 32:17 when as the siege ramps of Babylon were being laid against the city walls – Jeremiah prays “Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.
• An angel from heaven says to a teenage girl who was told she was going to give birth to God in the flesh… “Nothing is impossible with God.” (Lk 1:37)
• AND Jesus who knows God better than anyone said, “With God all things are possible…” (Mt 19:26)
QUESTION – How powerful is our God? He is all powerful…
IS THERE anything that your God cannot do?
Our God can do anything... and anything means anything!
AMEN?!
• Restore what is broken, anything?
• Bring healing to the hurting, anything?
YES – God can do anything.
BUT MGCC – here’s the deal... In His wisdom
(and God is smarter than anyone of us)
HE has chosen to accomplish His will on this planet through the prayers of His people.
What I am saying is that God has decided not to arbitrarily move in and out of situations here on earth, even though he is able to do just that.
AND INSTEAD – He has chosen to limit what he does on earth… SO THAT – we can join him in the unfolding of His plan through prayer… B/L - God often waits for His people to pray… AND THEN – and then, HE pours out HIS power in response to those prayers.
FOR EXAMPLE...
• Moses prayed and God turned back his wrath…
• Jonah prayed and the great fish spit him out.
• Joshua prayed and God parted the Jordan
• Solomon prayer and God gave him wisdom
• David prayed and his enemies were defeated.
• Esther prayed and her people were saved from annihilation.
• Hannah prayed and she was blessed with a child.
• Samson prayed and the Philistine temple crumbled to the ground.
• Hezekiah prayed and God added 15 years to his life, and the Assyrian attack was defeated…
• Elijah prayed and the false prophets on Mt Carmel were destroyed.
• Young Josiah (a teenage king) prayed and revival swept across the land…
• Nehemiah prayed and the walls of Jerusalem that had laid in ruin for 150 years, were rebuilt in just 52 days.
• Believers prayed, the building shook and the church was born
• The church prayed and the Gospel (despite persecution) took the world by storm in just 30 years.
QUESTION – would God have responded if those prayers were not prayed? Maybe… BUT – we have no guarantee…
AND LISTEN - what we do know from those examples (and there are many more)… IS THAT - power of God was triggered by the prayers of His people…
AND UNDERSTAND B/S - there are things that God wants to see happen THAT – will not happen unless someone prays… AND – there are things that God does not want to happen that will happen, unless someone prays…
JAMES - said it this way… You do not have because you do not ask God…” - James 4:4
JESUS SAID…. ASK and it will be given to you; SEEK and you will find; KNOCK and the door will be open for to you. For everyone who ASKS receives; he who SEEKS finds and to him who KNOCKS, the door is opened. - Mt 7:7,8
BOTTOM LINE… BEFORE – it is given, BEFORE – we find, BEFORE – the door is open we must ask, seek and knock… (Get It?)
CHECK OUT – this incredible quote, it’s in your notes…
History belongs to the intercessors, those who believe and pray the future into being. - Walter Wink…
B/S – you have no idea how many people have been:
• strengthen because you asked God to encourage them
• have been healed because you prayed for their bodies
YOU - don’t know how many
• prodigals have come home; marriages have been restored
because you went to your knees in prayer!
LISTEN the – truth is that none of us will ever know this side of heaven the true effects of our prayers…
BUT – I guarantee that when we get to the other side, and find out it will blow our minds… BECAUSE – as Bill Hybels writes in his book, ‘Too Busy Not Too Pray’…
When we work, we work. But when we pray, God works. His supernatural strength is available to praying people, who are convinced to the core of their beings, that He can make a difference. – Bill Hybels
What is prayer?
going behind the veil, entering the presence of God
What can prayer do? anything that God can do!
NEXT...
III. What Happens ‘When’ The Church Prays
AND LISTEN – the reason I put the word ‘when’ in quotes, is because the church doesn’t not always pray…
UNDERSTAND - prayerlessness has been around for thousands of years. IN FACT - I think prayerless ness is why Jesus told the parable we read as we began this morning about the persistent woman and the unjust judge.
Do you remember the question Jesus asked at the conclusion of the parable on prayer…
When the Son of man comes will He find faith...
IN OTHER WORDS - when Jesus returns will He find people praying to The Father (like that persistent widow) believing that prayer really does make a difference.
Prayerlessness is why James wrote to believers in the first century… telling them that they have not because they ask not…
CHECK OUT – this quote from a guy named EM Bounds…
We have every reason to fear that we are doing more of other things than prayer. This is not a praying age; it is an age of great activity, of great movements, but one in which the tendency is very strong to stress the seen and the material, and to neglect and discount the unseen and the spiritual. Prayer is the greatest of all forces because it honors God and brings him into active aid. There can be no substitute, no rival for prayer; it stands alone as the great spiritual force, and this force must be imminent and acting..if any great movement is to be advanced… Few Christians have anything but a vague idea of the power of prayer; fewer still have any experience of that power. The church seems almost wholly unaware of the power God puts in her hand… It is astounding how little we use it, and how little we reap its benefits Prayer is our most formidable weapon, but the one in which we are least skilled and the most adverse to using. EM Bounds
HEY - do you know when he wrote those words?
170 years ago.
QUESTION... –
What has been your experience with prayer personally?
What has been your church experience with prayer?
NOW - my experience…
OKAY – I think we would all pretty much agree, that Jesus-followers and Churches do not pray nearly enough… WHICH – begs the question, “why don’t they?”
I THINK – there are basically 3 reasons…
1. satan does not want us to pray. satan’s main strategy with God’s people has always been to whisper, “Don’t call, don’t ask, don’t depend on God to do great things. You’ll get along just fine on your own…
2. We misunderstand the purpose of prayer… UNDERSTAND – the purpose of prayer is not to get what we want and to make our lives better…
INSTEAD - the purpose of prayer is to #1 - advance the kingdom of God and # 2 - to improve our relationship with God. Which actually will make our lives better.
3. We are not sure what to pray… (hopefully our deep dive into the greatest prayer ever prayed, is helping turn that around_
OKAY – I think we get it…
• Prayer is: awesome, powerful, and triggers the hand of capital G God…
• And we don’t pray nearly enough…
BUT B/S – what if we did?
I MEAN - what would happen… what would HIS church at 3210 Proffit Rd look like if the Jesus-followers here, really prayed?
LISTEN – I am convinced to the core of my being, that if we, the Jesus-followers in this room, prayed consistently and with understanding The Lord’s Prayer…
That we would look a lot like the church the Holy Spirit inspired a guy named Luke to write about 2000 years ago in the book of Acts…
AND MGCC - the church we see in the book of Acts was a praying church. IN FACT – we read in Acts chapter one that ‘the’ Church was literally born in a prayer meeting…
AND - what I want to do in our brief time remaining this morning is to ‘introduce’ you to 6 things that happen when the church prays…
ALL 6 THING – are found in the book of Acts…
When the church prays...
a) We Become United
YES - the church that Luke describes for us in the book of Acts was without a doubt, a united church.
IN FACT – 10 times in this book, Luke uses a Greek word to describe the early church that meant – that they were on the same page, that they had the same agenda, that they were of one mind – that they were together…
ALL – living for the same thing.
ALL – striving to fulfill the same mission.
OKAY – what I want to do now is to look at the VERY FIRST recorded prayer of the early church… BUT FIRST – let me give you a little background on the passage. Peter & John had just been released from jail. They were in the custody of the Sanhedrin (the Jewish supreme court – the same group of guys, who a few months earlier convinced Pilate to crucify Jesus.)
NOW - the reason for the arrest – was that Peter & John had healed a 40 year old man that had been crippled since birth, they healed him at one of the gates of the Temple and they healed him, in the name and through the power of Jesus.
NEEDLESS - to say, none this made these Jewish leaders happy... I MEAN – after all they hoped that they had gotten rid of this Jesus guy on the cross – but here, just a couple months down the road, his name comes up again… So the next morning they remove them from their cell and bring them before the Sanhedrin…
• The Jewish leaders… ask them, “by what power or what name did you heal this man.”
• AND - Peter thinks, “hey what a great opportunity to talk about Jesus,” And so he launches into His favorite 3 point sermon: you killed Jesus, God raised Him up and Jesus (because He is the Messiah) is the only one who can save you.
• Well, this ticks them off even more.
• Don’t talk about that anymore
• Thx for the suggestion – but no can do…
UNDERSTAND MGCC - the courage of Peter and John really frightened these guys. And since, the crippled guy was standing right there with Peter and John…
They decided all they could do was threaten them some more, and let them go…
AND LISTEN – in Acts chapter 4, we see a powerful snapshot of prayer uniting the church. AGAIN – this is the very first recorded prayer of the church.
23-30
On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.”
QUESTION...
On their release where did Peter and John go? (church)
Why? (because they were doing life together)
AND - what did the church do? (they prayed)
When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said,
"you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
God we want you to know, that we know exactly who it is, that we are talking to….
You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: (Psalm 2)
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.
Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.
IN – other words why do people think that they can mess with you…
They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
LORD – we know that no matter what it looks, no matter what we are facing, no matter how high the mountain, no matter deep the waters...
YOU - are always the One who is in control…
Now, Lord, consider their threats…
LORD – you know what we are up against… LORD – you know the difficulty that we are facing…
OKAY – and now is the part where they are going to ask God for something... QUESTION – what do you think they are going to ask God for?
NOW - I think we know what we as first world American Christians, would probably ask for if there were people in power who were threatening our very lives for following Jesus and honoring the authority of His Word.
Which seems a lot more possible today than ever before.
LORD...
• Keep us safe
• Protect us
• Don’t let them hurt us
Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
INCREDIBLE – I mean, it was boldness that landed Peter and John in jail… and it is boldness that could do the same to them... but yet they prayed for it.
AND – then they prayed…
Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
IN OTHER WORDS – unleash your power in our lives…
SO THAT – people will know...
• How great and powerful You are
• How kind and compassionate You
• That Your word is true, and
• That they could be saved.
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
NOW – I think it was the literal applause of heaven.
AND - check this out...
It’s right after this (God honoring) and (building shaking) prayer meeting... That Luke gives us an awesome snapshot of what unity in a church looks like…
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.
With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them.
For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. – Acts 4:32-35
UNDERSTAND – when the early church prayed they became united, they became one in heart and mind…
UNITED – not because...
• They all looked alike
• Thought alike
• They enjoyed the same kind of music
• Rooted for the same sports team
BUT BECAUSE – they were all part of the same family and were ‘sold out’ to the same God and to His Mission.
OKAY MGCC – here’s the deal... The more we pray together, the more united we will become.
NOW – this next 5 things, I am going to hit real fast…
NEXT... – when the church prays…
b) We Unleash The Power Of God
In Acts chapter 4 the early church prayed for God to stretch out His hand and unleash His power, and B/S that is exactly what God did!
UNDERSTAND – in the book of Acts we see God’s power being unleashed in some mind-blowing ways…
I MEAN - WE SEE…
• People being healed
• The lame walking
• Demons being cast out
• The dead rising
• An angel breaking Peter out of prison
• The shadow of Pete and the handkerchief of Paul healing people
• Prison bars shaking and chains falling off Paul and Silas as they prayed and sung in their prison cell…
MGCC – we see these, and so many other powerful things that cannot be explained a part from the power and movement of God!
AND LISTEN – I for one do not believe that God checked in His power at the close of the first century…
YES – I still believe that God wants to unleash his power and do things among us at MGCC that cannot be explained apart from the power and movement of God.
When the church (we) prays we…
• Become more and more united
• Unleash the power of God, and
c) We Receive Divine Guidance
UNDERSTAND – as the early prayed about...
• Who was to replace Judas
• The needs of the widows
• How to respond to persecution
• Where to send Paul on his first missionary journey
• As they prayed about to integrate all the Gentiles coming into the church with Jewish believers who had 1500 years of tradition to move beyond
AS THEY – prayed about these and other decisions they were given divine guidance, and God led them down the right path.
AND LISTEN – throughout Scripture we see God’s people coming to Him for guidance again and again, and we see God giving that guidance...
This is what the Lord says, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.
Isaiah 48:17
NEXT – when the church prays...
d) The Word Comes Alive
In Acts 4 the early prayed...
Now consider their threats and enable Your servants to speak Your word with great boldness.
AND MGCC – as you read the book of Acts it is obvious that the Word of God is alive and exploding on every page, in every city…
AND LISTEN – this explosion was without a doubt ignited by prayer…
Acts 6:7 – the word of God spread
Acts 8:4 – those who had been scattered (because of persecution) preach the word wherever they went
Acts 12:24 – the word of God continued to increase and spread
Acts 13:44 – the word of the Lord spread through the whole region
Acts 19:20 – the word of God spread quickly and grew in power
Acts 28:31 (the last verse in the book of Acts… Paul is a prisoner in Rome – Boldly and without hindrance he preached the Kingdom of God and taught
When the church prays...
• We become united
• God’s power is unleashed
• We receive divine guidance
• The Word of God comes alive, and
e) People Get Saved
UNDERSTAND – the bottom line, our primary mission, our one job... IS - redirecting the eternities of people, and B/S in the book of Acts we see this happening on every page…
• In Acts chapter two 3,000 people get saved….
• By Acts chapter 4 that number had climbs to over 5,000.
And after that Luke gave up counting and just tells us that the church is really growing
• In Acts 6:7 - Luke tells us that a large number of Jewish priests got saved
• In Acts 8:12 - we see Men and women getting saved
• In Acts 8:38 - an Ethiopian eunuch gets saved
• In Acts 9:18 - we see Paul get saved
• In Acts 10:48 - Cornelius a Roman Centurion the first Gentile getting saved gets saved
• And as Paul travels from city to city across the word we see people getting saved. IN – Antioch, Cyprus, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi, Athens, Macedonia, Rome…etc
THE EARLY CHURCH – saw the salvation of people – saw reconciling people to God – was their primary passion… And that passion for the lost, took the Gospel from Jerusalem to Rome and throughout the world in 30 years
As Jesus said, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
Lord gave me one person to share Your love with today.
Pray for One.
When the church prays...
• We become united
• God’s power is unleashed
• We receive divine guidance
• The Word of God comes alive, and
f) The Church Prays More…
UNDERSTAND - some things the more you do, the more you want to do…
LIKE – next Sunday either the Eagles or The Chiefs will be lifting the Lombardi as SB LVII champions.
QUESTION – if the Eagles win their second, or the Chiefs win their 3rd... do you think that will be enough or will they want more.
Prayer is the same way; the more you pray – the more you pray, WHY? because God moves through prayer; and His movement is so sweet.
HEY – check this out...
The church that we see praying in Acts 1 is still praying in Acts 28. AND as you read the letters written to the churches and people that we meet in Acts – you find prayer all over the place… IN FACT - prayer is mention over 100 times in the 21 letter of the NT.
It seems like everywhere you turn either someone is praying or is asking for prayer…
Praying The Lord’s Prayer
A – adoration
“Our Father who art in the heavens”
Adoration simply means adoring and praising God for
• Who He is: Great, Holy, Creator, Just, Merciful, Our Father…etc.
• What He does: parts seas, tears down walls, slays giants, saves, forgives, and makes us part of a family ‘our.’
C – confession
forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Confession during prayer is your opportunity to admit your sins to God (including unforgiveness) and to find the weight of your sin lifted.
T – thanksgiving
Though Jesus doesn’t instruct us to give thanks, other parts of scripture make it clear that God wants us to express our thankfulness to Him.
Pray constantly. Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. – 1 Thes 5:17,18
S – supplication
Supplication simply means asking God to move and act in our lives and in the lives of others.
Hallowed be Your Name...
Pray that God’s name will be honored in the world, and honored in ‘your world,’ by the way you live out your life.
Your Kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Pray that God’s will and rule will come to: His Church, this world, your life, and to the lives of other people that you know...
Give us this day our daily bread.
You need to daily acknowledge the truth that you are completely dependent on God. Therefore, ask Him to give you (and those you know and love) whatever they might need for ‘this day’... food, provision, strength, emotion stability, health, etc.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Here You are asking for God’s help so that you will not fall into temptation and find yourself doing evil things.
For Yours is the kingdom
Yes, there are many kingdoms out there LORD, but Your Kingdom is...
• ‘The’ Kingdom
• Majestic Kingdom
• An ever expanding Kingdom
• An unshakable kingdom (all earthly kingdoms rise and they all fall, but Your kingdom endures forever and ever)
And LORD, I am a part of that Kingdom!
Yours is the kingdom
and the power
LORD, You are ‘All-Power’
Nothing is too hard for You
In fact, all things are possible for You
LORD, You simply spoke, and the entire Universe came into existence out of nothing.
You hold oceans in the palm of Your hands
You breathe out stars
LORD, You are able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or even imagine.
You are able to...
Yours is the kingdom
and the power
and the glory forever and ever.
LORD, it is ‘all’ about You and all ‘for’ You!
My life and my dreams are about You.
You are the reason.
I want to close with this story.
A small boy was doing some work in the yard with his dad.
And they came upon a large rock.
The father asked his son to pick up and move the rock off to the side.
The boy tried, grunted and said, “Dad, I can’t lift it!
His dad said, “Yes you can.”
The boy tried again, “Ughhh. Dad I can’t lift it.” “Yes you can.” The boy went back again. Same result.
“Dad I can’t lift it!”
“Yes you can. You’re not using all your strength.”
This went on 2 or 3 more times, the boy insisting that he was using all his strength. Finally, the father put his arm around the boy and said, “Son you don’t understand. You did not use all your strength. You did not ask me.”
QUESTION - have you been using all of your strength?
Has MGCC been using all of her strength?
God can pick up any rock in your life, but you’ve got to ask him. He can move the heavy rocks in your marriage, your job, your family, you life, your ministry, and in this church… BUT we’ve got to ask him.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen!” - Ephesians 3:20,21
“…‘You will not succeed by your own strength or power, but by my Spirit.’ says the Lord All Powerful.”
- Zechariah 4:6
