He Heard You
August 3, 2005 – Danny L Williams
1 John 5:11-15
Does Prayer Really Work?
Prayer is one of the most misunderstood arts of the human experience-yet it is meant to be one of the most exciting aspects of a life of faith.
Prayer is a lonely experience for many of us.
Although we have been taught that it is important to pray, we have been so disappointed and frustrated that our prayers haven’t been answered, we’ve almost given up on it.
We may pray when we are scared or sick, but it’s not a regular practice in our lives.
Outwardly, we agree that prayer is worthwhile, but secretly we wonder:
Does God really hear me when I pray?
Why does it seem as if my prayers just hit the ceiling and bounce back at me?
Is God mad at me? Is that why He doesn’t answer me?
Why is prayer so boring and fruitless for me? Shouldn’t I expect my prayers to be answered?
Unanswered prayer is a major obstacle that stands in the way of a life of true faith.
Certain people have lost their faith altogether because of unanswered prayer.
Some have turned to philosophy, metaphysics, or cults to find answers to life’s questions and problems.
Others have turned to horoscopes, psychic hotlines, and witchcraft.
Still others have rejected the spiritual realm completely and now focus on purely materialistic things.
Confusion about prayer also affects those who are committed Christians.
The greatest difficulty in most believers’ experience is their prayer lives.
But what does it mean,
What is it to pray with power! There’s not a more important subject in all the world for a Christian than to learn how to pray. Not only to learn how to pray but to pray with power, to pray in the Spirit, to pray to get prayers answered.
As Christians we must realize that nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the will of God.
Prayer can do anything that God can do, and God can do anything!
As we look at prayer tonight, I want you to understand that as you begin to pray there is no way you will not go to another dimension in your faith and walk with God.
1 John 5:11-15
my assignment is in vs. 14
1 John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
confidence is from the Greek word which means to be out spoken,
God says, I want you to be out spoken about your prayer life.
Where does that confidence lie?
In Him
The only way you will have confidence in him is
1. if you know him
2. and the only way to know him is to pray
I mean Know him,
Not about him.
Look at the rest
That if we ask anything, ……not just anything
But anything according to his will,
Because anything would take you into the land of manipulation and witch craft.
His will
What is God’s will?
It’s his word
The word of God is the will of God explained.
Why pray his word.
Because God cannot deny his word or his will or himself
The will ----- we will go deeper in this a bit later,
But I am mesmerized by the next phrase
{he heareth us}
To think we have an audience with God is absolutely mind shaking
audience in prayer
that as finite as we are and as infinite as he is and that he would allow us to speak to him is Just awesome
and you have to know that, If you don’t know that you have an audience with God you won’t enjoy prayer
and we have raised a generation of people who enjoy church, but don’t enjoy prayer
they enjoy preaching and praise, but don’t enjoy prayer
and its hard to get them to pray
When you call most church people to the altar, they come and pray about three minutes.
They quickly run out of things to say to God.
Late to work talking on the phone
But never late because you were caught up in the throws of prayer
People who don’t pray or who don’t pray effectively is because they are not cognizant of the fact that God is on the other end of the line.
You have to know God is listening
Because if you don’t you will replace prayer with other things Like Praise
Praise only.
And that is not to say praise doesn’t work
But,
Your praise will never replace your prayer
No matter how exuberant
No matter how boisterous
Your praise will never replace your prayer
And I am concerned and overwhelmed that this generation as a whole,
Even though we have made tremendous strides in praise and worship,
We have digressed in the area of prayer
They were not meant to compete against each other but to compliment one another
Because there are something’s that you get out of prayer that you don’t get out of praise
And I am so convinced by the Holy Spirit that what we are about to do for God in this next move will be manifest through the vehicle of corporate prayer
You will see God do marvelous things that will
not be preached up
nor praised up
but PRAYED out
Vs 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
Petitions: is from the Greek word that means a cause for which one is worthy.
God is saying that You asking and knowing that I heard you makes you worthy.
This is how we get answered prayer:
1. having confidence
2. asking according to the will
Pray is the key,
Prayer is a dying art
You would be shocked to see how prayer has died out of the church
You would be amazed how old folks would call prayer meetings,
There was no guest speaker, no special singing
Nothing but prayer, all night long
But we have replaced prayer with : counseling, programs and support,
And that is not to say that counseling doesn’t work, but
When you get through talking to me,
and I get through talking to you and we get through talking to each other,
And rehearsing and telling you privately what we told you publicly,
When its all done you have to get down on your knees and pray through and say yes to God, and surrender your self to the Holy Spirit.
Do we pray yes, have we prayed yes,
But I am talking about going to the next level in PRAYER
Everybody won’t be able to go, I understand that
Because some people purely want religious entertainment.
You would be surprised how few people can pray over five minutes, ‘
But can talk on the phone all afternoon
Why is that? Why is it that we can have a wonderful experience talking to someone who can’t do any thing about the problem, and yet we fail to talk to the one who can fix everything that is going on in our lives.
But we as a congregation have to turn our Faces toward prayer,
Even as Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed.
Four reasons we cannot go on with out prayer
The tragedy is that most Christians in this generation just want people to pray for us, everything is instamatic, served on a silver platter,
But each of us have to get on our faces before God on an individual bases and have a supernatural experience with him.
Proverbs 15:29 The LORD [is] far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.
Four reasons we cannot go on with out prayer
You can go on with out friends
You can go on with out money
You can go on with out company
You can go on with out support
You can go on with out benefits
But You cannot Go on with out PRAYER
1. Prayer empties the Heart of its cares.-
Without prayer you collect more baggage and weight, more problems more stress than can be relieved any where but prayer
Many of you are literally over flooded and over loaded with
Cares and frustrations because you do not pray.
And in a relief to get relief you turn to people,
And say I need to talk to somebody, and your right “ your just talking to the wrong Body.”
But the reality is Prayer empties the Heart of its cares
And until your heart is emptied of its care you will not see God moving in your life
The bible says: None but the pure in heart shall see God
The word pure comes from the Greek word catharsis – which means to clean out the heart
If you are going to see God, see his plan, You have to be pure in heart
Yet your heart is bombarded with
Frustrations
Issues:
Acts
Accidents
Attacks
And adversities
Look at
Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God [is] pure: he [is] a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
What does prayer do?
It gets your word out of you and gets God’s word in You….
1 Timothy 2:8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.
Mark 4:19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
How can you hear God with all that clutter, in your heart
Pray is when you empty your heart and begin to get a clear vision of what he is able to do.
Luke 21:33-36
2. Prayer acknowledges that the answer is beyond your human ability
When you pray you are telling God that there is something outside of you that has the answer
Prayer says I am not the conclusion to the matter and I can’t fix everything
Prayer cause you to be humble.
Psalm 10:16 The LORD [is] King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.
Psalm 10:17 LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:
Matthew 18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
You want greatness? Pray
This is focusing your heart in God
Not optimism
James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Prayer anchors it self in God and says If you cannot do it, it cannot be done.
3. Prayer give me divine direction-
You cannot get divine direction anywhere else like you can get it through prayer
Acknowledging God gives you the Purpose of Prayer
We need his directives
Before we do business
Before we build building
Buy property
Before surgery’s
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Proverbs 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
We have to consult God
We don’t go to court with out God
We don’t buy a house or a car without God
We don’t take a job without God
Acknowledging God-
In your money
In your marriage
With your children
He says at the moment you acknowledge me I will give you direction…..
Divine direction
You have to stop making decisions without God
You have to include him in the decision.
Even when you get in trouble,
Because if God got you in trouble, God will get you out.
When you seek God for divine direction you are responding to what Jesus said
Matt. 6 - Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven
The will of God is done in heaven,
the problem is the will of God is not done on earth.
Every action taken by God in the earth realm requires human involvement
To rescue humanity he needed Noah
To create a nation he need Abraham
To lead his people he need Moses
To defeat Jericho he needed Joshua
The salvation of Man He needed Jesus
And God needs you to Do His will on earth
Prayer is the umbilical cord with the will in heaven and the will on earth
When you pray it gives you a hookup so you can experience in your house what’s going on in God’s house
Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven
That means I don’t want anybody else’s will to be done in my life.
I want nothing but thy will,,,,,
Not just to be known,
Not to be sung about
Not to be preached about
Not to be shouted about
To be done
I want the will of God to be done.
I want to see the will to be done in my house
I want to see it happen with my children
I want to see it happen with my business
I want to see it happen with my marriage
I want to see it happen with my money
I don’t have time to stumble around in mistakes
I want the will of God to Be done
I want the purpose of God to be done…
On earth as it is in heaven,,,
That means if it isn’t in heaven I don’t want it in my house…
I divorce my self from my own opinion about my situation
That means God says what do you want?
I say what ever you want…..
Thy will be done
This shuts out other peoples opinions about my problems
Who want their will to be done….
Thy will
Thy will be done
Thy will
Will ---Testament – The will of the testator
According to the will----------
Healing,
Deliverance
Prosperity
Peace
Don’t be jealous --- it’s in the will
Is in the will -------------- It’s in the will
Jealousy and petty ,,,,,,, no devil in hell can stop me----
4. Prayer strengthens our intimacy with God
Not with church
Not with preachers
Not with doctrines and denominations
With God
Most people only perceive God through institutions
And what happens is you don’t have enough relationship to complete a conversation with God on your way home.
How is when we say God CHANGE me to be more like you
Prayer changes me-
It changes my attitude
It changes my perspectives
It changes my decisions
I need for God to do something in me,
Not Just for me.
Most people just pray God, do something for me
And not God do something in me,
Concept of Prayer:
There are two types of Prayer
1. Prayer that moves you
2. Prayer that moves God
Our prayers must mean something to us if they are to mean anything to God.
And when they mean something to God he will change You.
2 Chronicles 7:12-15
Matthew 17:20
Mark 11:22
