Prayer – Part 4
(Rev. Barry Johnson and Rev. Rodney Johnson)
NOTE: New Light Faith Ministries and Barry Johnson Ministries, founded by Rodney V. Johnson and Barry O. Johnson, respectively, are partnering to offer Bible studies for Christians who are seeking to grow in their relationship with Jesus. This is a Bible study lesson, not a sermon. The Bible studies teach foundational truth that are designed to challenge, encourage and, most importantly, flame the fire of hunger in the Christian who wants to learn more about who they have become in Christ Jesus. The Bible studies you find on this site contains the written version of the lesson. However, these lessons also include a video and an audio file of the study, a PDF version of the lesson and a sheet for note taking. If you would like any of the additional resources for these studies, please email us at newlightfaithministries@gmail.com or bjteachingltr@gmail.com for more information or contact us at the email provided on both of our Sermon Central pages. Please visit our YouTube Channel (Barry Johnson Ministries; New Light Faith Ministries, Inc.) to watch or listen to these lessons as well as other available sermons. Be blessed.
Introduction
Hello everyone. This is Part 4 of our study on prayer. It is our prayer that this study has been a blessing to you and has given you some things to think about when it comes to prayer and how it impacts our relationship with our Heavenly Father. As with the previous three lessons, we will open this lesson with the two foundational passages of Scripture. But first, we must tell you again the story about Sis. Betsy because it has been an important part of the foundation for this study on prayer. Her “testimony” is one of our favorite stories about believing in the power of that prayer.
“Several years ago, there was a drought in one city and the pastor of the Church called for a prayer meeting to pray for rain. The prayer meeting was held on a hot summer evening. All of the members came out dressed in summer cool clothes since they would be there for a while praying. Well, when Sister Betsy arrived at the Church, everyone heard her approaching as her shoes were making a loud noise. As she entered the Church, everyone turned to see why she was making such a loud entry. What they saw tickled them and some of the members actually laughed softly. Here was Sister Betsy entering the Church wearing rain boots, raincoat, a hat and carrying an umbrella. She looked a sight in the sweltering heat. Some of the members thought Sister Betsy had finally lost her mind – that her elevator was no longer going to the top floor. The pastor looked at her with much concern. He comes down from the pulpit and approaches her. He asks her, “Sister Betsy are you all right – are you feeling okay?” Sister Betsy looked at him confused by the question and replied, “I feel fine.” Then the pastor asked her, “Well I must ask, why are you dressed this way? Didn’t you feel how hot it is outside? You must be burning up in this outfit. What possessed you to wear all of this tonight in this heat?” Again, some of the members continued to snicker and laugh under their breath while others now shifted to true concern for Sister Betsy’s mental state. Sister Betsy looked at her pastor and then scanned the faces of the rest of the members and made the following statement: “You know pastor, I too was confused when I walked into the Church. You see, I thought we were all coming here to pray for rain, and I expected there to be rain when we left. I am confused as to why none of you are dressed for rain since that is what we are supposed to be here asking from God.”
Sis. Betsy is the only one in the Church who came to the meeting that day expecting God to answer the prayer for rain. This is the type of faith we should have when we go to God in prayer – we believe immediately that He has answered the prayer and until it is manifested, we continuously thank Him for doing so. Now Barry and I are going to spend some time looking at the verses that have been the foundation for this study on prayer.
The Foundational Verses
The first passage is First Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing.”
We know that when the Bible tells us to pray, it’s telling us to come to God to ask Him for His help, advice, encouragement, and comfort. But the word also carries with it the understanding that not only are we coming to Him with our needs, but we are also coming to Him with our worship and adoration. So, “praying without ceasing” includes talking to our Father about what’s troubling us, but it also includes those times where our primary focus is simply expressing our love for Him because we know He loves us. We are God’s sons and daughters, and this verse tells us that our days should be days where we have continuous conversations with our Father that includes our worship and adoration. That’s what “pray without ceasing” means. We make a conscious decision to be constantly aware of God’s presence and we value the opportunities we have to talk to Him about the things going on in our lives. Yes, He is God, the Creator of everything. But for us, He is our Father and He wants to spend time with us and talking with Him throughout the day through prayer is His heart’s desire. We see how “praying without ceasing” includes worship and adoration in Romans 12:12, Ephesians 6:18 and Colossians 4:2. In Romans 12, verses 12 says, “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer.” In Ephesians 6:18 we read, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” And we see in Colossians 4:2 the following - “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.”
Before Barry looks at the next foundational verse in Philippians, I want to draw your attention to something that these three passages have in common. In Romans chapter 12 we see the phrase “continuing steadfastly in prayer,” in Ephesians chapter six we see the phrase “praying always,” and in Colossians chapter four we see the phrase “continue earnestly in prayer.” Each of these phrases communicates “lifestyle” – how God expects us to live every day. Our prayer life is to be one where we talk with our Father throughout the day, every single day about what’s going on in our lives, both the good and the not so good. The second passage that provided the foundation for our study on prayer was Philippians 4:6-7 and it says, “Be anxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
All of us have had times when something unexpected has caused us to become anxious, upset, or unsettled. If we are “praying without ceasing” – if we are being obedient to do what we read in First Thessalonians chapter five – when the trouble comes, we will bring them to God with hearts that are already thanking Him for the answer. And let me pause here. Our lives will never be free of troubles, so we need to get that settled in our hearts and minds right now. But we have God’s promise of deliverance, and we see one example of this in Psalm 86:7: “In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, For You will answer me.” Second Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “(3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, (4) who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” God says He will give our hearts and minds comfort in the midst of the storm. This is His promise to us!
The point we are making is this: we can have peace in any storm when we have a lifestyle of “praying without ceasing” and when we thankfully bring the things that are troubling us to God. This verse is a reminder of what Jesus tells us in John 14:27. “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” This is another promise, but it is not automatic. Jesus has left us His peace, but it is a spiritual peace that we must allow into our lives to calm our hearts and minds, and we see this in Colossians 3:15, which says “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.” The word “rule” means “to be an umpire, to decide, determine, to direct, to control.” We can accept God’s peace by “letting” it govern our lives, or we can reject God’s peace by not “letting” it govern our lives. The choice is ours.
Isaiah 26:3 is a verse that ties all of this together – “praying without ceasing” and not worrying about our troubles but instead bringing them to God with thankful hearts.” “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” We want to point out some things in this verse. It says “You (God) will keep him in perfect peace.” When God makes a promise, He makes a promise! In chapter 55 of Isaiah, verse 11 says, “So shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11) As we mentioned earlier, God can make a promise, but it will only manifest when we believe it and receive it. And in this case, how do we receive God’s promise of peace? We keep our minds on Him because of our faith in Him and His Word to us. Rodney and I are going to conclude Part 4 of this study on prayer with “Praying God’s Word” and “Believing When We Pray”. Rodney, will you get us started?
Praying God’s Word
Barry, getting our prayers answered is dependent upon us knowing how to pray and what to pray. For example, Second Peter 1:2-3 says, “(2) Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, (3) as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.” Peter identifies something that is crucial to knowing how to pray and what to pray. He uses the word “knowledge” twice in this verse. The word doesn’t just refer to knowledge, but a full and complete knowledge. Peter says that if we want everything that God has for us, we must have a full and accurate knowledge of Him and His Son Jesus. The primary way we increase our knowledge of Scripture is by studying it. Second Timothy 2:15 says “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
Another verse to consider concerning knowing how to pray and what to pray is Colossians 1:12-14. It says, “(12) Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. (13) He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, (14) in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” I want to draw your attention to the words “qualified”, “delivered”, and “power”. The word “qualified” means God is the One who has given us “the right” to receive our inheritance. The word “delivered” paints the image of a parent reaching out and pulling their child into their arms out of the danger. The word “power” means authority. Now that we belong to Jesus, Satan no longer has any authority in our lives.
Finally, Ephesians 1:17-20 tells us, “(17) That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, (18) the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, (19) and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power (20) which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.” These verses all identify what God has already done for us and notice that it begins with “the knowledge of Him”. If we don’t know what God has given to us, we cannot access it. He’s already given us access to all things related to life and godliness. He’s already made us active participants in our inheritance, and all things are already under our feet because we are the body of Christ. Everything God talks about in these verses are past tense. So, how should we pray if we want answers to our prayers? First, we begin with praise and worship. Second, we pray God’s word.
Rodney, let’s take a quick look at some examples of what we can pray for and then how to pray them. Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” “Father, you know that my mind is troubled right now but I thank you that through Jesus, you are supplying my need for peace in this situation.” In Psalm 107:20 we read the following: “He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions.” “Father, right now I am dealing with _______ but I say that because of your word, I am healed from _______ and completely delivered from it.” John 16:13 says, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” “God, I have a decision that I need to make regarding ________. I have been struggling thinking about what to do. So, I’m giving it to you, and I thank you for your guidance on what to do.” In John 17:20-21, Jesus says, "(20) I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word (21) that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” “Jesus, I want to be one with you and with our Father. What can I do to help you make that a reality in my life?” Rodney, how important is it to believe when we pray?
Believing When Praying
This could have been discussed earlier when we talked about requirements and hindrances to our prayers, but we wanted to keep this separate because of its importance. As we go through this section, we want you to remember the story of Sis. Betsy for the simple reason that we sincerely pray about things that we believe in and want God to change. And we all know when we are sincerely praying about something. It’s not a one and done. It’s not a prayer you pray and then forget about. When we are truly praying for something to change and we believe it’s going to change, we do not forget that we prayed! Like Sis. Betsy, we will look for and wait patiently for the change. If we don’t have faith attached to our prayers, then we are not doing what James said when he wrote, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (James 5:16) We must pray with the expectation that our prayers will be answered and that we are simply thanking God for the answer.
And there is a point that James makes that is very, very important. He identifies the “righteous man” or righteous person in this verse. A righteous person is a person who has a relationship with God because of time that they have spent and knows that their prayers will be answered. He needs mature righteous men and women in the Church who can help the less mature navigate their way through “the stuff” that they are facing. And here’s a point that is critical: a person should not seek the counsel of just any Christian when they are going through “stuff” because many are not mature enough to provide the wise counsel that they will need as they walk through their situation. James encourages us to have mature Christians in our lives who will not judge us or make us feel guilty, but who will encourage us and help us return to living right before God. We see this in Paul’s message to the Church at Galatia in Galatians 6:1. He writes, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.” I know that some of you might believe that your prayers are not being heard or acted upon, but that is a lie from the depths of hell. God hears every prayer. That is a fact. We must position ourselves to believe that He does and that He will answer. We must believe even as it appears time is running out. We want you to pay close attention to these Scriptures and let them burn in your hearts as you renew your prayer life. Barry will get us started with the twelfth chapter of Acts.
Let’s begin with verse five and we will read through verse 10. “(5) Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. We see again the principle of “praying without ceasing” in “constant prayer”. (6) And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. (7) Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, ‘Arise quickly!’ And his chains fell off his hands. (8) Then the angel said to him, ‘Gird yourself and tie on your sandals’; and so he did. And he said to him, ‘Put on your garment and follow me.’ (9) So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. (10) When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.” (Acts 12:5-10)
We believe the Bible was written so that we could know how to live in this world. What we read in the Bible should be what we are seeing in our lives. In this story, the Church prayed without ceasing for Peter. Because they prayed, an angel was sent to bust him out of prison. Now I have a question for you: If prayer was made without ceasing concerning all of the violence going on in this country, do you believe God would be able to move through those prayers to change things? Do you believe God would be able to reduce some of that violence? Do you believe God would be able to reduce some of the deaths because of our prayers? I believe so. The Bible says the church was praying for Peter. And because the church was praying for him an angel was sent to bust him out of prison. Listen, we will not always know how God will use our prayers to make a difference in our lives and in the lives of the people we are praying for. Our role is simple: pray and believe God will move through our prayers. If we are praying for our country, if we are praying for Satan and all his little minions to be neutralized, don’t you think God could get something done? We’re so busy looking at who did what and blaming that person instead of looking at the man behind the mask who is doing all of this. Satan. And Jesus already told us how he operates. Do you recall when Peter was getting into Jesus’ face and telling Him that He wasn’t going to die in Matthew chapter 16? Jesus didn’t say “Peter shut up.” What did He say? He said, “Get thee behind Me Satan.” Peter was not Jesus’ issue. Satan was Jesus’ issue. And the problem with the Body of Christ today is that we want people to be our issue. We want to blame people for what is happening when we should be on our knees and using the authority that we have in prayer to loosen Satan’s hands on those who have a sin nature so that he can’t continue the damage he’s doing.
In Matthew 18:18-20 Jesus says the following, “(18) Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. (19) Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. (20) For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” This is what we do when we pray together in our churches – we touch and agree! Now I do not want you to miss this. God said in Isaiah 55:11, “So shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” God said His word will not return to Him void – in other words what He says will happen. Jesus, the Son of God, now tells us that where two or three are gathered in His name He will be in their midst and when two come together and agree (in prayer) what they ask it will be done by the Father.
So, if whatever God speaks will happen, then the same applies to Jesus. And if the same applies to Jesus, then Jesus just told us that when we come together in agreement, those prayers are answered. God’s Word will not return to Him void! And to make this even better, John then tells us that this is the confidence that we should have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (First John 5:14) Now do you believe it is Jesus’ will that people are killing one another? Or that people are addicted to drugs? Or our families are falling apart? Absolutely not! So, when you pray about these things you have the confidence that your prayers are being heard and answered!!!
Final verse and Conclusion
Second Chronicles 7:14 says, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” We are His people. We are called by His name. We need to humble ourselves, pray, and seek God’s face. We do not have any other means to change what is happening in the world around us. I believe when we do this, God will act on our behalf!
Do not let Satan steal from you the power of your prayer. Reawaken your conversations with your heavenly Father knowing that He looks forward to spending that personal time with you. We have authority in this world, and we use our authority by the words that we speak, especially when we are praying to our heavenly Father. We will conclude this study on prayer by looking at the authority we have when we pray. Let us pray.
