Great & Mighty Prayer
Jeremiah 33:3
Great things are coming for this church.
Above everything else, we should pray for the Power of God.
A missionary on furlough told this true story while visiting his home church in Michigan¡K"while serving at a small field hospital in Africa, every two weeks I traveled by bicycle through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies. It was a journey of two days and required camping overnight at the halfway point. On one of these journeys, I arrived in the city where I planned to collect money from a bank, purchase medicine and supplies, and begin my two day journey back to the hospital. Upon arriving at the city, two men were fighting, and one was seriously injured. I treated his injuries and told him about Jesus Christ. I then traveled two days, camped overnight, and arrived back home without incident. Two weeks later I repeated my journey. When I arrived back at the city, I was approached by the young man I had treated. He told me he knew I carried money and medicines. He said "Some friends and I followed you into the jungle, knowing you would camp overnight. We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs. But just as we were about to jump your camp, we saw that you were surrounded by 26 armed guards!"
At this I laughed and said that I certainly was all alone out in that jungle campsite. But the young man pressed the point, saying, "No Sir, I was not the only person to see the guards. My five friends also saw them, and we all counted them. It was because of those 26 armed guards that we were afraid and left you alone."
At this point in his message, a man in the audience jumped to his feet and interrupted the missionary and asked the exact day that incident happened. The missionary told him - and the man excitedly told THIS story - "On the night of your incident in Africa, it was morning here, and I was preparing to play golf. I was about to tee off when I felt the urge to pray for you. In fact, the urging of the Holy Spirit was SO STRONG, I called men to meet me here to pray for you. "If you were here with me that day to pray please stand up?" The men who met together to pray stood up. The missionary wasn¡¦t really concerned with who they were - but he wept as he counted their number -You guessed it - there were 26!
Jer 33:3 ƒ®Call unto Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you knowest notƒ
I. He Promises the POWER OF GOD
The Lord said: ıCall unto Meġ Jeremiah knew that he could call on God and God would answer.
Do you know that God can answer our prayer?
Isaiah 58:9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.
Realize - Jeremiah live in tough times:
1. Jeremiah was a prophet called by God living in the midst of a sinful nation. Sound familiar?
a. He preached to the Jewish nation and itƒs people about their sin but they wouldnƒt listen to him.
2. He had prophesied that if the Nation of Judah wouldnƒt turn from their sin and turn back to God, they would fall into the hands of the Babylonians. (Exactly what happened)
3. His message was rejected. People didnƒt listen.
4. Today, people hear the message of the Gospel but turn a deaf ear and reject the Lord when the Lord has said ¡§Hey! I came that you might have LIFE¡¨
So Jeremiah prayed and Called out to God.
1. Call= Hebrew ƒ±qaraƒ° means to ƒ®cry outƒ, call aloud, roar, summons, to call together
2. This is a powerful word with a powerful meaning.
3. When we ƒ®callƒ on God, when we ƒ®cry outƒ to God, we are summoning the Power of God in our lives.
A. We acknowledge that He alone is God and that we can¡¦t accomplish in our own strength all that He is able to accomplish
B. Many times, we try to handle out lives under our own power. (I can do it myself today)
C. I heard the song the other day ¡§I did it my way...¡¨
D.The world wants to do it their way-just like the people of Judah but we need to be doing it God¡¦s way
C. It¡¦s time to rely on Christ, CALL UPON THE LORD so that HE can show us great and mighty things that only He can get the credit for.
A small congregation in the foothills of the Great Smokies built a new sanctuary on a piece of land willed to them by a church member. Ten days before the new church was to open, the local building inspector informed the pastor that the parking lot was inadequate for the size of the building. Until the church doubled the size of the parking lot, they would not be able to use the new sanctuary. Unfortunately, the church with its undersized lot had used every inch of their land except for the mountain against which it had been built. In order to build more parking spaces, they would have to move the mountain out of the back yard.
Undaunted, the pastor announced the next Sunday morning that he would meet that evening with all members who had "mountain moving faith and believed in the power of God." They would hold a prayer session asking God to remove the mountain from the back yard and to somehow provide enough money to have it paved and painted before the scheduled opening dedication service the following week.
At the appointed time, 24 of the congregation’s 300 members assembled for prayer. They prayed for nearly three hours. At ten o’clock the pastor said the final "Amen". "We’ll open next Sunday as scheduled," he assured everyone. "God has never let us down before, and I believe He will be faithful this time too."
The next morning as he was working in his study there came a loud knock at his door. When he called "come in", a rough looking construction foreman appeared, removing his hard hat as he entered. "Excuse me, Reverend. I’m from Acme Construction Company over in the next county. We’re building a huge shopping mall. We need some fill dirt. Would you be willing to sell us a chunk of that mountain behind the church? We’ll pay you for the dirt we remove and pave all the exposed area free of charge, if we can have it right away. We can’t do anything else until we get the dirt in and allow it to settle properly."
The little church was dedicated the next Sunday as originally planned and there were far more members with "mountain moving faith" who believed in the Power of God on opening Sunday than there had been the previous week!
It¡¦s not our great faith in God that can move mountains but faith in a GREAT GOD!!!
Folks, we need to place our Faith in a LIVING GOD who has the power to answer our prayer!!!
4. As a Christian we have Power within us to:
1. Overcome satan
a. Satan is Aggressive in today¡¦s world.
b. There is a lot of opposition in this world.
c. Just like there is a personal God, there is a personal Devil ---
d He is aggressive (TV, Newspaper)
e He is behind every evil thing and aggressively moves against Christians today
i. Where God is seeking to love, satan is seeking whom he may devour.
f. We can overcome satan and all of his forces thru the Power of God.
2. As a Christian we have Power within us to: Stand against the world and the sin it has to offer
a. People need to realize that preaching the blood of Jesus Christ and the cross is offensive to the world.
Example: Taking out the 10 commandments in front of the courtroom in Georgia... because it is offensive
b. When the Word is preached today, people think they are being scolded and they resent it.-- (Conviction of sin)
c. But in many of today¡¦s churches, we deny the problem of sin.
d. But some people will act upon that conviction and receive the forgiveness that only Christ can give.
e. Unfortunately, most will not and will continue to live in a world of sin just like Judah.
f. But God has given us the power to overcome the world!
1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
3. As a Christian we have Power within us to: See lives changed
Mark 9:23 If thou can believe, all things are possible to him that believeth
a. God will change your life if you believe He can.
i. Maybe you are here this morning and you say ¡§but you don¡¦t know how bad it is or how bad I am.¡¨ Could be......but I know how good God IS !!
b. Maybe God is saying to you this morning ıCall unto MEġ
c. What an invitation.
i. An invitation to come before a living God who is able to transform your life.
ii. An invitation to receive eternal life thru His Son and be saved.
iii. An invitation to receive the power that only God can give.
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
d. Power to: Move mountains, Part the sea, Change lives, Save your soul from hell.
e. Jesus said ¡§I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by Me¡¨
f. He is not a good, great, wonderful, awesome, way.......Only way!
Matt 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
g. When we seek the Lord with all of our hearts, ask the Lord to come into our lives, He opens a new and exciting life.
****How much more great and mighty can it get??????
h. When we call upon God, our lives become new....
i. He makes us into a new creature ¡V old things are passed away behold all things become brand new.
Eph 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Call unto me and I will answer thee
II. He PROMISES TO ANSWER PRAYER
1. In order for God to answer our prayer, we should understand:
#1. That we serve a LIVING God.
#2. He is ABLE to answer our prayer
Ps 145:18 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in prayer.
In the Bible we see many times prayer was answered:
Abrahamƒs son Isaac
Gen 21:2 For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
Elijahƒs prayer for fire:
1 Kings 18:37 38 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again." 38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench
Davidƒs prayer for freedom from fear
Ps 34:4 I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.
2. God is ready to answer our prayer.
3. But we have to pray and ask.
a. Ask for Renewal in your own heart.
b. Ask for healing in our lives
c. Ask for the Power of God to manifest itself in such a way that He can get the glory.
4. The power of prayer is not in the not who prays but in the one who hears our prayer.
Conclusion:
A tavern was being built in a town that had previously been dry. In opposition to the tavern, a group of Christians began an all night prayer meeting and asked God to intervene. Lightning struck the tavern and burned it down. The owner then brought a lawsuit against the church and held them responsible. The Christians hired a lawyer and denied responsibility. In response to this unusual scenario, the judge said, "No matter how this case comes out, one thing is clear. The tavern owner believes in the power of prayer, and the Christians do not."
C. He says He will show us ƒ±Great and Mighty Things which You donƒt even know aboutƒ°
3. God says Matt 17:20 if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ’Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
4. There are no limits with God.
Do you want to see Great and Mighty things???
Accept Godƒs invitation today
1. Pray for your homes
2. Pray for our church
3. Pray for your own life
4. Pray for our revival in this place
5. Pray for those who are lost without Christ.
If You donƒt know Christ, pray for your own salvation: God will answer.
Rom 10:9 10 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
13 For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."
