“WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE PRAY”
Mark McCool
TEXT: Matthew 6:6-13
6 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.
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.
8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
14 For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
(KJV)
INTRODUCTION:
Jesus was quite thorough in his instructions on prayer… in fact much is said from the mouth of our Lord concerning prayer and praying to God.
In this dissertation concerning prayer, notice that Jesus says, “when thou prayest,” and “when ye pray.”
He did not say “if”, but rather “when” you and I pray…
In the when of praying, he tells us “what to do" in v. 6. And “what not to do" in v.7. Then in v.9 he tells us “what to say" in a basic outline of prayer to God.
But in my study of this text, I noticed that Jesus, in all of the “what to do”, “what not to do”, and “what to say”, he never ever said anything about what is happening in the “when” of prayer…
It was almost as though Jesus, in his wisdom, never felt the need to tell them what is taking place “when” we pray! It was as though, as far as He was concerned, that was the Father’s business about all the details!!
But if we could somehow look beyond the dark veil of the “when” and could see what God sees, and what the devil sees, and what causes demons to tremble and angels to rejoice over, I do believe we would never go to a prayer room to pray in a half-hearted fashion anymore… We would never question or wonder if God is going to even hear us… We would forevermore settle the issue and find a renewed effort and desire to pray and know that God is going to answer our prayers.
I. GOD PROMISES TO ANSWER OUR PRAYERS!
Consider the word of the Lord when Jesus said:
(read through these scriptures exhorting occasionally)
Mark 11:24
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Matt 7:7-11
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
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?
Matt 18:18-20
18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Matt 21:18-22
18 Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.
19 And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.
20 And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!
21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
John 14:12-14
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
John 15:7
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
John 15:16
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
John 16:23-24
23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
II. BUT WHAT REALLY HAPPENS WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE PRAY?
In all of these promises of the Lord to answer the prayers of God’s faithful people, Jesus never tells us about what is really happening in the "when" of prayer!
If we could just roll back the veil today, I believe God has shown us in His Word what happens when God’s people pray.
Consider with me that ...
Illustration:
One hundred lightning bolts blast the earth every second. These eight million daily surges of power provide more energy than all of the electric generators combined in the United States.
Even though three-quarters of the bolt’s energy is used up in heat (the surrounding air heats up to 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit), enough energy remains to deliver a full 125 million volts of electricity. Ironically, lightning is much more than what our eyes see.
With a lightning bolt traveling at 90,000 miles per second it’s hard to realize what is actually happening. The bolt gets its start from channels of pulsing electric energy two inches across, going from the ground to the clouds, not from the clouds to the ground.
In Luke 10:18, in response to the rejoicing of his disciples for the mighty works accomplished through prayer, Jesus declares, "’I saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven.’"
It was as though he was letting them know... "You have not seen anything yet as a result of when you pray and ask anything in my name!!"
Like the physical phenomenon of lightning, tremendous spiritual energy is released when the prayers of God’s children start pulsating upward to Heaven.
Job 36:32
32 With clouds he covereth the light; and commandeth it not to shine by the cloud that cometh betwixt.
(KJV)
but the Revised & Amplified Versions say it this way...
Job 36:32
32 He covers his hands with the lightning, and commands it to strike the mark.
(RSV)
To illustrate: It is a picture of how angels carry our prayers upon the wings into the throne room of God, and God is taking those prayers off of their wings, and when He gets ready to answer, He "commands it to strike the mark!"
A. II Kings 6:8-23 (Elisha vs. Syrians)
1. The king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.
2. Elisha would send word to the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down.
3. And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.
4. The king of Syria thought he had a spy in the camp but one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.
5. Therefore he sent men to take Elisha and surrounded the city of Dothan. And when Elisha’s servant got up early the next morning he saw that the Syrian’s surrounded the city.
6. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?
II Kings 6:16-18
16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
18 And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
7. And Elisha led them down to Samaria to the King of Israel.
8. God always has a way of putting your enemy into your hands if you’ll just keep your spirit right and trust God when you pray!
B. 2 Chronicles 20:1-24 (Jehoshaphat vs. Moab & Ammon)
2 Chronicles 20
1 It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
2 Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazon-tamar, which is Engedi.
3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
4 And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.
5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,
6 And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?
7 Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?
8 And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,
9 If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.
10 And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;
11 Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.
12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.
13 And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
1. Man! You talking about a prayer meeting.... They evermore had a prayer meeting!! Everybody got down to business with God and started praying!
2. Then the Spirit of the LORD came on Jahaziel and he began to prophesy:
15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
16 To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.
18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.
20 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.
22 And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.
24 And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.
C. 2 Chronicles 32:9-11 (Hezekiah vs. Assyrians)
1. Sennacherib the King of Syria laid siege against Jerusalem.
2. Rabshakeh his general came to taunt the Isrealites and sought to undermine their confidence in Hezekiah.
II Kings 19:3-8
3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
4 It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.
5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
II Kings 19:11-13
11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?
12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar?
13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?
14 And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.
15 And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.
16 LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.
17 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,
18 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.
19 Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.
3. Then the LORD answers Hezekiah’s prayer.
2 Kings 19:31-37
31 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.
32 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.
33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. (God was saying, "Don’t even worry about it... Cause I ain’t even gonna let Him come in town!)
34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.
35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
37 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
(KJV)
HEY SAINTS!! AWESOME THINGS HAPPEN WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE PRAY!!!
