The Power Of Prayer, Faith, And Praise

The Power of Prayer, Faith, and Praise

2 Chronicles 20:4-12

Prayer

Introduction

Jesus taught that we should “always pray and not give up”

· Not because God is hard of hearing

· Not because God needs to be pestered into answering

our requests

· Not because God doesn’t want to answer us

NO… Jesus taught us always pray and not give up because, when we pray, our prayers carry weight. EVERY TIME you and I pray we unleash more and more power from the throne of God

· Are you praying for someone in your family to become a Christian?

Every prayer you pray puts more and more pressure on that person to listen to God…

· Do you pray for your friends in their daily struggles

Every prayer you pray imparts to them more and more power from God

· Do you have difficulties with someone at work

Every prayer you lift up to God’s throne brings God’s power to bear on difficult people and situations.

Prayer is not a passive act on our part

Prayer is AN AGGRESSIVE, ACTIVE MINISTRY. You are putting your shoulder to the wheel and moving the forces of heaven.

Prayer is our way of communicating with God. We have a direct phone line to Him and we rarely use that phone line unless we are in a dire situation. But I want to tell you there is power in prayer. Many saints have found that power. Much power comes to those who spend much time in knee work. Charles Spurgeon the great Preacher of the 18th century was once asked how he could deliver such great sermons and his reply was by being on my knees.

Prayer is not something that you do because people expect it of you prayer is something that you do because you want to talk with your father, to have that close personal relationship with Him. Prayer is answered sometimes the answer is no, others it is wait, and still others it is answered powerfully right then. For instance I want to share with you this true story.

50 Christian truckers got together to pray to pray that somehow the

sniper terrorizing the Washington, DC area would be caught. Ron Lantz

would be retiring as a driver in a few days and didn’t even live in the

area, but he felt sure that God would answer their prayers. In fact, he

told the others there that God was going to use him to catch the sniper.

A few days later he was listening to the radio as he was driving again

through the region and felt compelled to pull off the highway to a rest

stop. It was just a couple of miles from where the prayer meeting had

taken place. As he pulled in, he was shocked to see a car similar to

what was being described on the radio right there before his eyes.

Carefully trying to read the license plate, a chill went up his back as

the numbers matched. He quickly called 911 and remained there for what

he said were the longest 15 minutes of his life until the police

arrived. He even pulled his truck across the exit, there would now be no

escape for these elusive murderers. The rest is now history-the snipers

were taken into custody without incident.

Ron’s testimony is being beamed around the world today. It shows the

power of prayer. And in a class act, showing his true character, when

asked what he would do with the award money, he said the half million

dollars would simply be given to the victims’ families.

The snipers killed 10 and wounded 3 around our nation’s capital over a three week period, leaving the entire region in a state of terror. Yet

out of the great darkness has also come a great beam of light as the

world has heard a clear testimony of the power of prayer.

I. When we are beset by problems or temptations what are we to do?

a. We are to turn to God

i. Instead of solving problems ourselves we are to turn to for the answer.

ii. We are to call on God to bear our problems

iii. We are to depend on God to get us through our problems and temptations.

II. How are we to pray

a. We are to pray with faith

b. We are to pray as if it has already happened

c. We are to tell God what we want

d. We are to praise God for what He has already done, what He is about to do and what He will do in the future

e. We are to pray without ceasing.

III. Why are we to pray

a. We are to pray because as Christians we are to be dependent on God. We are to trust Him in all things