The Privilege Of Prayer

THE PRIVILEGE OF PRAYER

Prayer engages God, enables God's people, and enlarges His kingdom. Jesus said, "without Me, you can do nothing." Once we have prayed we are ready to do anything, until we have prayed we can do nothing, but once we have prayed we can accomplish anything.

1. PRAYER INVITES US INTO THE PRESENCE OF GOD.

Heb 4:16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

I love my children. For all of their lives they knew that no matter what I was doing, they could come to me with their problems and talk with me about it. And, it’s not that I merely tolerated these interruptions, I welcomed them. I greatly desired to be part of their lives, the highs and the lows. I want them to know that they are welcome any time. I want them to know that they are not a burden. Even today, when they need me, I will try to move heaven and earth to meet their needs. I didn’t dream this up myself. I simply try to be the Father to them that God has been to me.

** Your Heavenly Father loves you and He wants you to spend time with Him. He wants you to speak to Him about your hopes and dreams, your victories and also the fears and pain that you’re feeling.

* We are to “draw near with confidence” because we know that He loves us. And, this perfect love He has for us ought to remove fear from us. And, He offers us mercy when we have made our life a mess. And He offers us grace to empower us to live in victory.

Jesus gives us a promise about when His people pray together.

Mt 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Notice that He invites us into His presence, but He also joins us when we are gathered together. This is why worship is so important.

We need regular encounters with Holy God. We need our time with each other to worship God and pray together for “God inhabits the praise and the prayers of His people.”

2. PRAYER RELEASES US FROM WORRY AND FEAR.

Phil 4:6-7 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

JOB LOSS- In 1996, God was doing amazing things in our lives. I was in my 1st semester of Seminary and managing a pharmacy in Jackson that I loved. Out of the blue, the VP of the company told me that our company was bought out and the new company would be closing our store in a few weeks. I was offered a job from a person that I had no business working for, but I was considering it. Lana desperately wanted me to turn down the offer, but wouldn’t tell me what to do, so she prayed every day that I would say “no”.

I was so burdened for that 2 weeks but, finally, on the last day my store was open, I called and turned down the job. I immediately called Lana and told her, and she said “thank God”. I reminded her I was now unemployed and things might get difficult, she said “that’s ok”. We committed to pray and not worry, but to trust God to provide a new job for me. And we went to bed that night with perfect peace. The next day, I made a phone call to a nearby pharmacy to see about some fill in work to get us by, and he asked me to come to work full time for him.

* We can spend weeks in worry and fear, but when we pray and give it to God, the peace of God comforts us.

3. PRAYER DEFENDS US FROM SATAN’S ATTACKS.

In Ephesians 5, Paul list our spiritual armor and he closed out with our most effective weapon in the arsenal, Prayer!

* And, when Jesus taught the disciples how to pray, He specifically mentioned His protection for us.

Mt 6:13 Do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. (NKJ)

When your world is coming unraveled and Satan’s temptations are testing you strongly, Jesus says to you.... PRAY to Me to deliver you from the Evil one.

* His promise to you 2 Thess 3:3 the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.

This world we live in is filled with problems, persecutions, and temptations. If Jesus needed to pray in the Wilderness when Satan tempted Him, even more so do we need to fervently pray for our physical and spiritual protection.