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THE
ADVENTURE OF PRAYER
If the Holy Spirit is
leading you to learn more about prayer, you are
about to embark on a wonderful adventure. Fellowship
with God, trust, confidence, peace, and relief
these are wonderful feelings that will be
yours as you learn how to pray.
Gods power can
change circumstances and relationships. It
can help us face lifes daily struggles.
It can heal psychological and physical problems,
meet financial needs, in fact, it can handle any
kind of difficulty, dilemma or discouragement.
When we pray, God works. If you are willing
to invite God to involve himself in your daily
challenges, you will experience his prevailing
power wherever it is most needed. It may
come in the form of wisdom, an idea you
desperately need and cant come up with
yourself, it may come in the form of courage
greater than you could ever muster. It may come
in the form of confidence or perseverance,
uncommon staying power, maybe even outright
miracles. However it comes, Gods
prevailing power is released in the lives of
people who pray.
Prayer less people cut
themselves off from Gods prevailing power,
and the frequent result is the familiar feeling
of being overwhelmed, overrun, beaten down,
pushed around, defeated. Prayer is the key
to unlocking Gods prevailing power in your
life.
GOD IS WILLING
The following is
something to think about. We are not
abandoned; we are Gods adopted sons and
daughters, Jesus brothers and sisters.
We are in Gods family, and we matter to
him. God is righteous and just, holy and
tender, responsive and sympathetic. Gods
Word teaches that God loves to bestow blessings
on his children. Its his nature; its
who he is, a giving God, a blessing God, an
encouraging God, a nurturing God, an empowering
God, a loving God. The Bible teaches that
we serve a God who is simply looking for
opportunities to pour out his blessings on us.
Just give me a reasonable amount of cooperation,
and I will pour out my blessings on you. All
these blessings will come upon you and accompany
you if you obey the LORD your God.
GOD IS ABLE
If you could ask God for
one miracle in your life, knowing that he would
grant your request, what would you ask him?
To heal your body?
to straighten out your
finances?
to bring a loved one to
Christ?
Whatever your request
might be, do you regularly and diligently, every
single day, bring it to God in prayer, trusting
that he will intervene in your situation?
Many of us have pressing
personal needs and serious problems that ravage
our lives, but we dont believe God has the
power to do anything about them. Nothing is
too difficult for God to handle, but hes
waiting for us to recognize his power and ask for
his help. Perhaps if we find our prayers
weak it is because our faith is weak. We
must have strong faith, faith is trusting and
believing that God does have the power and can
answer our prayers. We must remember that
Gods ways and thoughts are not ours. We
are to learn Lord, not my will but your will.
Malachi 3:6 I the LORD do not
change Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is
the same yesterday, today and forever.
The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of
the ends of the earth He will not grow tired or
weary Isa 40:28 You wont be able to
persevere in prayer until you know in your heart
that God is able.
A PRAYER WARRIOR IS:
a person who is convinced that God is omnipotent,
that God has the power to do anything, to change
anyone and to intervene in any circumstances.
A person who truly believes this refuses to doubt
God.
You can pray about
anything: Do not be anxious about
anything, but in everything, by prayer and
petition, with thanksgiving, present your
requests to God Phil 4:6 You do
not have, because you do not ask God: James
4:2
WAITING FOR YOU
TO CALL
God is interested in your
prayers because he is interested in you. Whatever
matters to you is a priority for his attention.
Nothing in the universe matters as much to him as
what is going on in your life this day. Come
into my presence, says God. Talk
to me. Share all your concerns. Im
keenly interested in you, because Im your
Father. Im able to help, because all
power in heaven and earth is mine. And
Im listening very closely, hoping to hear
your voice.
JESUS
PRAYER PRINCIPLES
He taught his disciples
how to pray. See Matt6:5-13
- Pray
secretly
- Pray
sincerely
- Pray
specifically
We
dont have to ask for Jesus to be with us if
we are members of his family as he tells us in
Matt 28:20, Heb 13:5 and John 14:18. Instead, we
need to pray that we will be aware of his
presence.
The following is an
example of one mans prayer: Father,
he said, I love being alive today. And
I love sitting down with brothers in the Hole in
the Wall, eating good food and talking about
kingdom business. I know youre at
this table, and Im glad. I want to
tell you in front of these brothers that I love
you, and Ill do anything for you that you
ask me to do. Pour out your heart to
him. Talk to him. Say, Lord, this is
how I feel today. Ive been thinking
about this recently, Im worried about this.
Im depressed about that. Im happy
about this. Talk to the Father sincerely.
Praying Specifically
The following is the meaning of the Lords
Prayer: Our Father. Never forget that
if you are Gods child through Jesus Christ,
you are praying to a Father who could not love
you more than he already does. Who art in
heaven, is a reminder that God is sovereign,
majestic and omnipotent. Nothing is too
difficult for him. He is the mountain
mover; he is bigger than any problem you could
bring to him. Fix your eyes on his ability, not
on your worth. Hallowed be thy name. Dont
let your prayers turn into a wish list for Santa
Claus. Worship God and praise him when you come
to him in prayer. Thy kingdom come, they
will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Submit
your will to Gods. Put His will first
in your lifein your family, money, body and
relationships Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread. Paul wrote, In everything, by
prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present
your requests to God (Phil 4:6) .Lay out
all your concerns, whether big or small. If
you need a miracle, ask for it without shrinking
back. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive
our debtors. Be sure youre not the
obstacle: confess your sins, receive forgiveness
and begin to grow. Live with a forgiving spirit
toward others. Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Pry for
protection from evil and victory over temptation.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the
glory forever. End your prayer with more worship.
Acknowledge that everything in heaven and earth
is Gods. Thank the Lord for caring
about you, for making it possible for you to talk
to him through prayer Amen.
Make your prayers
private, sincere and specific. Remember
that Gods prevailing power is released
through prayer. He is interested in you and your
needs. He is able to meet any need and he has
invited you to pray.
A PATTERN FOR PRAYER:
Remember the word ACTS: Adoration, confession,
and thanksgiving. In addition, supplication Start
with Adoration. First, adoration sets the tone
for the entire prayer It reminds us
whom we are addressing, whose presence we have
entered, whose attention we have gained. How
often our problems and trials and needs seem so
pressing that we reduce prayer to a wish list.
But when we commit ourselves to beginning all our
prayers with adoration, we have to slow down and
focus our attention on God.
Second, adoration reminds
us of Gods identity and inclination. As we
list his attributes, lifting up his character and
personality, we reinforce our understanding of
who he is. Often the author says he starts
his prayer by saying, I worship you for
being omnipotent. When I say that, Im
reminded that God is able to help me, no matter
how difficult my problem seems to me. I
also worship him for his omniscience. No mystery
confounds God; he will not have ti scratch his
head about anything I say. I worship God for his
omnipresence. I know he is present with me
wherever I am. You can praise God for being
faithful, righteous, just, merciful, gracious,
willing to provide, attentive, unchanging. Soon
you will be saying, I am praying to a
tremendous God!
Third, adoration purifies
the one who is praying when praising God your
spirit is softened and your agenda changes. As
you focus on Gods greatness, you can truly
say, I am enjoying you, God; it is well
with my soul. Fourth, God is worthy of
adoration. It should be hard to get past the
Our Father in your prayer without
falling back in awe at that incredible miracle,
How great is the love the Father has
lavished on us, that we should be called children
of God! (1 John 3:1). A God who is
omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent and yet
who loves us, watches over us, gives us good
giftsthis is amazing! Our heavenly Father
is worthy of our worship. How to Adore God.
What better way than to list his attributes.
CONFESSION: Confess each
sin specifically. The benefits of Confession:
Your conscience will be cleansed. Im
honest with God. Next, you will be flooded with
relief that God has a forgiving nature. Knowing
that as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from
us (Ps 103:12) You will begin to learn the
meaning of peace.
TALKING TO A
LOVING FATHER
He wants us simply to
talk to him as a friend or father, authentically,
reverently, personally, earnestly.
A PATTERN FOR PRAYER
START WITH ACTS: 1. Adoration 2. Confession
3. Thanksgiving, 4.
Supplication.
Expressing thanks psalm
103 1Thess 5:18
The author of this book
says he thanks God for four kinds of blessings 1.
Answered prayers, spiritual blessings, relational
blessings and material blessings. Now it is
time for supplications Phil 4:6. The
author says sometimes I wonder if my requests are
legitimate. So Im honest with God. I say,
Lord, I dont know if I have the right
to ask for this. I dont know how I
should pray about it. But I lift it to you, and
you will tell me how to pray, Ill pray your
way.
Faith comes from looking
at God, not at the mountain. Dont
spend a lot of time describing your mountain to
the Lord He knows what it is. Instead,
focus your attention on the mountain mover, his
glory, power and faithfulness. Then start
walking in faith.
THE MYSTERY OF UNANSWERED
PRAYER the following is a little outline of why
sometimes our prayers are unanswered:
- If
the request is wrong, God says,
no.
- If
the timing is wrong, God says,
Slow.
- If
you are wrong, God says, Grow
- But
if the request is right, the timing is
right, and you are right, God says,
Go!
See Matt 17:1-8, Mark
9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36, Matt 20:20-23, Mark 10:35-40
for no answer.
Before bringing a request
to the Lord, we would do well to ask: If
God granted this request,
- Would
it bring glory to him?
- Would
it advance his kingdom?
- Would
it help people?
- Would
it help me to grow spiritually?
By
forcing us to look closely at our requests,
prayer can purify us.. If you have been
praying diligently about a matter and have sensed
resistance from heaven, I challenge you to review
your request. It may be the problem. Maybe
your request is a cop-out on your part, an
unwillingness to face the real issue. Maybe
it is destructive in ways you do not understand.
Maybe it is self-serving, shortsighted or too
small. God may have something better in
mind.
We need
to remember that, despite the victory that God
has achieved over Satan in the ministry and
resurrection of Christ, everything is not yet
submitted to God. The enemy is still
active. His years are counted and his end
is sure. But, in the meantime, he
still remains the prince of this world, and he
opposes the ways of God. He causes much
suffering, and he often seems to have the upper
hand. However, God will have the final say,
and he will assert his universal sovereignty in
salvation and judgment at Christs second
coming. Because of this ultimate victory,
Christians have the assurance that those prayers
that remained unanswered in this life will
receive spectacular vindication in eternity.
1. MOUNTAIN MOVING
PRAYER: If we pray with believing,
faith-filled hearts. That is the kind of pray
that moves mountains. Faith comes from
looking at God, not at the mountain. Mountain
moving faith will be given to us as we step out
and follow the Lords direction.
PRAYER BUSTERS
Two major reasons prayers go unanswered: The
request may be inappropriate, and the timing may
be off. A third reason there may be a problem in
the life of the person who is praying. Its
more likely that malfunction in your life is
blocking your prayer, even the appropriate,
well-timed ones. The most common cause of
unanswered prayer is prayerlessness. James 4:2
say, You do not have, because you do not
ask God. Why isnt God
answering your prayer? Because you
havent yet prayed purposefully, fervently
or expectantly. When was the last time you prayed
diligently over a period of time for someone to
come to know Christ? For peace in the
war-torn parts of our world? For God to bring an
end to sin? For food and healing to the people
who live in dire poverty? For abused animals and
children? For the second coming of Jesus? That
we will be ready to meet him? Also,
unconfused sin cuts off our communication with
the Father. Isa 59:2. Another prayer
buster is unresolved relational conflict. Most of
us grossly underestimate God is to building and
maintaining a loving community, a family. He
adopts us into his family, and he wants us to
carry our relationship with him into our
relationships with others. If we do good to
our brothers and sisters, it is like doing good
to Jesus himself (Matt 25:31-46) Since God has
forgiven us, we should forgive others (Eph 4:32,
Col 3:13) Prayer buster four selfishness
James 4:3 says you do not receive, because you
ask with wrong motives. Selfishness in the
heart is a very common barrier between the
Christian and God. Prayer buster five
uncaring attitudes. Proverbs 21:13 God is able,
He is omnipotent. If your prayers have
clouds of doubt hanging over them, they
wont get anywhere.
God says, Go!
If the truth were known, often you and I are the
only obstacles standing in the way of us
receiving a desperately needed miracle. Our
requests may be right. The timing may not be a
problem, But when our lives are wrong God days,
Before I grant your request, I want you to
grow. Put that sin away. Change your attitude.
Stop that practice, end that pattern, get off
that merry-go-round, reconcile that relationship,
soften up your spirit, repent, receive
forgiveness, Growand Ill throw open
the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much
blessing that you will not have room enough for
it. Mal 3: 10 When our request is right, when the
timing is right and when the person is right, God
says, Go!
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