"God’s Power in a Darkened Room"
By Sterling Franklin - October, 2001
Hey, we’re talking about prayer tonight, so let’s open in Prayer...
Lord, thank you for tonight, thank you that we can all be here to have a good time of fellowship in You and of learning more about You and Your Glory. Thank you for all that you’ve done in our lives, and make us more like Your Perfect Son, Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ Mighty Name, Amen.
I. Asking God in Faith...
Marcus was a young boy with a dream...to become the best BMX bike racer in the world. He saw a red Huffy Dirt Bike in the store and wanted his parents to get it for him. He thought a while and thought that maybe if he really asked with total hope in his parents getting the dirt bike, maybe, JUST MAYBE he would get it!
Well...Marcus never got enough courage to ask, so five years later, he finally asked his mom, "Yo mom, if I asked you for a dirt bike 5 years ago, would you have bought it for me?" His mom replied, "Yeah, why didn’t you ask?"
Same goes with Prayer...we need to converse with God and ask Him for what we really need...
Matthew 7:11 - "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"
Elijah was greatly used of God, and he was an earnest man of prayer. (Earnest as in faithful and diligent, not in [Ernest] Hemmingway ;) )
James 5:17-18 - "Elias (Elijah) was a man subject to like pa ssions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit."
Ok...let’s see...that was a much greater request than asking for a dirt bike, plus it showed God’s power in this case. Elijah asked God for rain, and he had full trust in God here, and PRAYED EARNESTLY. What happened? God granted exactly what Elijah asked for.
What does John say in 1 John Chapter 5?
I John 5:14-15 - "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, IF WE ASK ANY THING ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, WHATSOEVER WE ASK, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him."
Wow! Now that’s a promise! How can anyone have that come true?
You mustn’t waver (be shaky) in your faith when praying...
James 1:6-7 - "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord."
In common, everyday prayer, you should get right with the Lord and live a pleasing life for Him in order to be most blessed by God...
James 5:14-15 - "Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the PRAYER OF FAITH shall SAVE THE SICK, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him."
God hears our prayers:
Psalm 5:3 - "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up."
Those trying to live a God-serving and God-pleasing life, especially...
Psalm 34:15 - "The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry."
James 5:16b - "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
II. How should we Pray?
We are literally talking to God when we pray to Him. Think of a conversation with one of your friends. Imagine 2 cases:
Jim: Hey, Dana!
Dana: Hey, Jim!
Jim: I want a dirt bike and I need to get an A on this next test, and I need to go to the beach. Bye bye.
Dana: {feeling a little dry and a bit dis’ed}
VERSUS.....
David: Hey, my good friend Moesha!
Moesha: Hey! What’s going on?
David: Well, Moesha, I want to thank you for being so faithful to me and sticking by me in such thick circumstances. You are great to have around! Hey, I have this one problem, though. I don’t feel that I’ve been friendly enough with you. Can you help me be a better friend to you?
Moesha: {smiles}, Sure, sounds great!
Exactly what David did to Moesha was how we should be to God. Prayer is a highly underrated method of Praise & Worship to our Awesome God. We should not only pray for what we need, but we should also thank and Praise God for the things He’s done in our lives. That’s HIGHLY pleasing to Him!
Any more ideas on methods of praying? How would we be wrong in praying? Any ideas?
We need to have the right intent when praying...
You can sin in prayer if you boast about it...
Praying in secret is a very good idea. I know you can pray for your food in public, that’s great, and that can serve as a good testimony to others, but if you pray in public just to brag about ’WOW, I’M SO SPIRITUAL -- I’M PRAYING!’ then you better reconsider...
Matthew 6:5-6 - "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."
So...if you pray just for the bragging, your reward has already been paid...by the acknowledgment by others. If you pray with a good intent, you’ll be rewarded in Heaven.
People actually are being sent out to do that in other countries now. It’s where people walk around a town, praying about what they’re seeing. Yes, they can have the right motive, but yes, also, they can be thinking that their prayers are more powerful when they see what is exactly going on.
Same principle: Why don’t you pray for a random country and its people? I mean, really? God knows what is happening there. If you truly want God’s will for their lives there, just pray for them!
UH OH!!!! Hey, I haven’t been to Mozambique, but I think my glasses were made there. I’ll pray for them.
How ’bout you research their land this week a little bit and pray for the people there? :)
You can also mess up your prayers with ’vain repetitions’ or chants...
Matthew 6:7 - "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking."
A lot of rituals in different churches are wrong in that they are just vain repetitions. God hears the first time and doesn’t add more weight the 2nd time you pray it in a row...
Matthew 6:8 - "Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him."
WOW! God is All-Knowing! He knows what we need BEFORE we even ask Him! So why pray, then?
1 Thessalonians 5:17 - "Pray without ceasing."
Now, what do you think that means...pray without ceasing?
Praying without ceasing is NOT where you lock yourself in your room for 24 hours a day, with only a gla ss of lemonade by your side. It’s more of being in a ’state of prayer’, where you can pray whenever need be and where you have an attitude of reverence for God, with full trust in Him.
Besides, what would the Great Commission mean to ANYONE if they just sat and conversed with nobody else?
The Great Commission is still applicable to all Christians!
Cool expression to remember: "The only way UP is DOWN on your knees!"
I personally have noticed about prayer that when I’m feeling down or angry about something, if I pray for help, I’ll ALWAYS always always feel TONS better after I pray!
Remember that God is both our Provider (Jehovah Jireh) and our Comforter...
Psalm 46:1 - "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
(Just a note there, Psalm 46 is a GREAT chapter for comfort in tragedies such as the World Trade Center terrorism.)
III. Things to Pray For...
We need to pray for many things. Any ideas?
a) SALVATION!!!!!
Romans 10:9-10 - "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
All right, whomever has ever seen a ’John 3:16’ sign at a football game or WWF or WCW wrestling match, type in ’YEEYUH’.
I’m feelin that!
Accepting Christ is the most important decision we could ever make in our lives!
b) Wisdom, Knowledge, and Understanding
James 1:5 - "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."
Proverbs 2:3-6 - "Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding."
c) Fruits of the Spirit
Galatians 5:22-23 - "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."
We ain’t talkin bout no lemon-lime, boyee!!!
d) God’s Will, even in our lives...
Matthew 6:10 - "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."
Jesus, in the famous prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, said (as recorded in Matthew 26:42), ’O my Father, if this cup may not pa ss away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.’
God’s Will is the best way, no matter what.
e) Others and ourselves
- Leaders
- Warring Nations & Enemies
- Each other
- People you know
- People you don’t know, but have heard about
- People you don’t know AT ALL!
I Timothy 2:1-4 - "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for ALL THAT ARE IN AUTHORITY; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth."
Yep, prayers should be given for everyone! Hope not individually, eh? 6.1 Billion a night would be tough! WHICH ONE WAS SUSAN DAVIS AGAIN?!??!?! ;)
Paul prayed that others did not fall into sin:
I Corinthians 13:7 - "Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates."
- FORGIVENESS OF SINS!!!
I John 1:9 - "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
- Our Needs {example: Lord’s Prayer - ’Give us this day our daily bread.’, in Matthew 6}
- Opportunity to Witness
Colossians 4:2-4 - "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak."
Prayer is extremely powerful, and MAN...I didn’t even skim the surface, really. Pray for your friends and family and yourself, and even those who you don’t know very well. The Lord knows what is needed in every human being’s life and will honor a prayer of anyone with a good heart for serving Him.
Jesus, Elijah, David, Solomon, and even Jabez were just a few to name who used prayer as a huge means of strength.
Matthew 7:7-8: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."
Let’s pray...
Dear Lord, thank you for Your Awesome Word that we can read every day to find out more about who You are and what we are to do for You. Lord, let us pray in the right way and frequently, remembering that You are the Strength that we must live by. The joy of the Lord is our strength, and we praise You for all You’ve done in our lives. Bless our weeks, make them safe and smooth. Thank You, Lord, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Any questions, just ask. God bless, hope it was helpful in Jesus’ Name. He loves You Greatly!
