PRAYER IS THE ONLY ANSWER EX 32:7-10, DT 9:7-11, 17-19
In DT 9 Moses is recounting how God has brought them to where they are. More than once he
refers to them as a rebellious people. It was because Moses was a man of prayer that these
people were still alive. I want us to recall what these people did that caused them to be a
people that God was not pleased with. I want us also to realize it was because of prayer that
God moved in their hearts. Many of these people had seen God deliver them from Egypt with
a mighty. They were taken out of Egypt but failed in following God as He desired. Horeb and
the golden calf, 3,000 lost their lives. Taberah- The people complained and God sent fire out
of heaven and many burned to death because of God’s anger. Masseh- “Is the Lord among us
or not?” They complained again. They wanted to kill their leader. Moses asked them why they
were tempting the Lord? Moses stuck a rock and they had water to drink. Kibroth- Complained
because they had no meat to eat. God sent them quails. They ate this meat for a month and it
became loathsome to them. Their craving made them eat so much that it came back up
through their mouths and noses. It says that many of them were buried from this craving.
Kadesh Barnea- 12 spies. Many died of this. These people it seemed just did not learn and
were rebellious. Yet our scripture tells us that Moses prayed for them and his prayers changed
God from destroying them. My heart says to you are you praying for those who are lost and
rebellious? Are you praying so that God will save them? Moses spent two times it says in
prayer for this people. 40 days and 40 nights. How is your prayer life?
WHY PRAY TOGETHER? Do you pray together? a member of a church missions committee asked
a couple who were being examined for possible support. After an awkward pause the husband
replied. “We both pray but we do not pray together.” They are not alone. Many pastors and veteran
missionaries do not pray together. Nine out of ten Americans say they pray, but only about 14% pray
together with their family, close friends, or their church. Many do not understand why they need to
pray together. An elder who faithfully attended prayer meeting asked his pastor, “Why don’t you just
give us a list of prayer requests so we could pray for them at home instead of coming to prayer
meeting?” We need to pray together to establish our family, our Christian friendships and our church
under the authority of our God.
I. God CREATED US TO PRAY TOGETHER. You see Praying together began in the
garden of Eden Our first parents were created in the image of God, and they could talk with
God and He with them. God and the first couple were in one accord, In Their home they
were in touch with heaven
II Their SIN DESTROYED THEIR UNITY WITH GOD AND WITH ONE ANOTHER. All of a
sudden they decided to go alone and not believe in what God had told them. Their home
became a place of discord. Their offspring shared their ruined image. Cain murdered Abel,
By Noah’s day there was not a man but their thoughts were to do evil continually. Are we
better off today?
III. GOD’S CHURCH BEGAN AS A HOUSE OF PRAYER. Christ is the Head of the church
and believers are members of His one body. The church began in Acts 1:14They all joined
together constantly in prayer in one accord” Acts 2:44 “They devoted themselves to the
apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Christ prayed
that His followers would be one as He and the Father are one "My prayer is not for them alone. I
pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one,
Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe
that you have sent me.” Our unity of love with Christ and one another is essential to our witness.
The church assembly is God’s temple. God’s temple is a house of prayer. Jesus promised to meet
with His people united in prayer to settle conflicts in the church. The church must live under Christ’s
authority by devoting ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word.
IV. TODAY OUR WAR IS WITH SATAN AND HIS ARMY OF DEMONS
This war can only be won by united prayer in our homes and churches. Satan’s strategy
is to deceive, divide and destroy. We have an epidemic of church fights in North
America. Satan objective is to blind our minds from believing the gospel. What is your
mission? From Acts 26:18 it is to turn people from the power of Satan to God. Satan
has had thousands of years to learn how to deceive and defeat us. We must be strong
in the Lord and in the power of His might through praying together
V. OUR BOND IS BY PRAYER
After the church prayed together in one accord the multitude of believers were all filled
with the Spirit and were all of one heart and one soul. Bowing down together before
the Lord is like winding the cords of divine love around us until we are bound tightly to
God and one another. Someone wisely said, “It is only when a husband and wife pray
together before God that they find the secret of true harmony: that the difference in
their temperaments, their ideas, and their tastes enriches their home instead of
endangering it.” Another wrote, “When you come together into God’s presence,
somehow your guard comes down …… God reassures us that he’s in charge, that he’s
working out his purposes in our lives and in our marriages. And that frees us to let go
of our need to control people or circumstances.” The same is true when the church
unites in prayer. Dr. Louis Evans, said that he never knew a couple who went ahead
with a divorce after first praying together, on their knees, every day for a week. “After
years of praying with my wife I experienced the bond of love that binds us to God and
one another. One Sunday I had some cross words with her before I went to the church
to pray. When I tried to pray the words would not come. I remembered my cross words
to my wife. Finally, I got up, went to the phone and asked her forgiveness. Then I was
ready to pray. When churches engage in intensive prayer the members often begin to
ask one another’s forgiveness. The bond of prayer on our knees unites us in submission
to God and to one another.”
VI. THE LORD EXPECTS A SPECIAL UNITY AND FRUITFULNESS FROM HIS CHILDREN.
We are His body. He reproduced His life and His unity in His praying church. Christ is
the vine. We are the branches. The branches must abide in Him and consequently with
one another. He expects the fruit of the Spirit to be produced in our relationship to
Christ and to one another. The fruit of the Spirit cannot be reproduced in branches that
do not abide together in Christ, the living Vine. To those who abide in Christ and in His
words there is a powerful promise that you can ask what you will and it shall be done
unto you. John 15:7
VII. IT WAS JESUS WHO GAVE POWER TO THE PRAYING CHURCH TO TOUCH THE
WORLD
After His resurrection Jesus received all power and authority in heaven and earth to
empower His church to make disciples of all nations. Acts 1:8 is the first time the Lord
promised that an assembly would receive power after the Holy Spirit came upon them.
This is in contrast with the Old Testament era when the Holy Spirit came with power
upon individual leaders who delivered Israel from bondage to heathen nation. The
church waited ten days in one accord in prayer to receive the Spirit with power. In Acts
2:1-4 and 4:23-35 the Holy Spirit came upon the praying assembly with power and
created a Christ-centered community that witnessed with power. Paul had a powerful
ministry. What was his secret? His letters to the churches reveal how much he needed
on their prayers. We can’t have power in prayer if they isolate ourselves from our
Commander in Chief and His army, the church.
How is your prayer life? Moses lived in the midst of a rebellious and unbelieving
people. He did not give up on God and prayed and God answered His prayer. Are your
prayers being answered?
