The Seven Extraordinary Powers Of Prayer

THE SEVEN EXTRAORDINARY POWERS OF PRAYER

Ex. 17:8-13

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: Children’s Prayers. “Dear God...”

1. "Could you please give my brother some brains? So far he doesn't have any." Angela, 8.

2. "Thank you for the nice day today. You even fooled the weatherman." Hank, 7.

3. "I need to raise my allowance. Could you have one of your Angels tell my father? Thank you." Dave, 7.

4. A five-year-old said grace at family dinner, "Dear God, thank you for these pancakes...." When he concluded, his parents asked him why he thanked God for pancakes when they were having chicken. He smiled and said, "I thought I'd see if He was paying attention."

B. TEXT

8 The Amalekites...attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.” 10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

C. THESIS

1. There are many powerful forces in the universe;

a. the power of the atom;

b. The atomic power of fission; how stars burn;

c. Gamma rays - almost unstoppable & deadly;

d. Gravitational forces that hold galaxies together;

e. Dark matter & black holes.

2. But one force is more powerful than all those of the cosmos – Prayer! Prayer has the power to sway the Creator of the Universe into altering the course of nature/ history.

3. Today we're going to look at The 7 Extraordinary Powers of Prayer. These 7 should open our eyes to what prayer can do and give us encouragement to pray. The 1st of the 7 extraordinary powers of prayer:

I. POWER TO CONTACT HEAVEN’S THRONE

A. EXAMPLES OF CLOSENESS TO GOD

1. THE O.T. TEMPLE, by its very design, indicated the difficult steps necessary before one could come into the presence of God. Cleansings, special garments, repentance, and sacrifices had to be offered even for the Priests to enter God's presence.

2. ONLY A FEW CLOSE ANGELS. Only the seraph’s (which means “burning ones), a few cherubs, archangels (Lk. 1:19), & the 24 elders (poss. angels) could come into close proximity to God, in Heaven.

3. The book of Job says that all the Angels came before God (1:6), but that doesn’t mean they were close to the throne of God, because even Satan came with them.

4. But what’s remarkable is that, through prayer, WE can come before the very throne of God & into His presence!

B. SCRIPTURAL BASIS FOR OUR CLOSENESS

1. Heb 10:19-20 says, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body.” This shows that our access to God was established by the blood of Jesus.

2. Heb. 4:16 tells us, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

C. HOW CAN WE ENJOY SUCH CLOSENESS?

1. If we were appearing before the King of England, we would have to address him with formality and titles, such as, “Your Majesty.” You can’t talk to a king without permission.

2. But in speaking to the Lord of the Universe, it’s a completely reversal. Why? BECAUSE WE’RE NOT “SUBJECTS,” WE’RE ADOPTED CHILDREN! Jesus said, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father, who is in Heaven’” (Luke 11:2). No formal titles! No official words of introduction!

3. In prayer, we come to God as His children. God knows us by name and He always wants to talk with us. We don’t need an invitation; we have the right to come any time!

4. And God is never too busy to listen, He’s never too involved to answer. Praise God for the blood of Jesus that gives us access to God! Next is the…

II. POWER TO ENFORCE GOD’S WILL IN THIS WORLD

A. DOMINION OF THE WORLD LOST

1. In Gen 1:26, God gave US (humans) dominion over this entire world & its creatures. We were its rulers by right.

2. But when Adam & Eve yielded to Satan and sinned, we turned that right over to him. The Lord Jesus said, “Whoever sins is the SLAVE to sin” John 8:34. Sin & Satan became our masters.