Our theme today is We believe in the power of prayer.
In order to believe in the power of prayer, you first have to believe in the power of God to answer prayer.
Before we look at the question of the power of prayer, we must answer two vital questions:
- Why do we pray?
- Why is prayer important?
For many people, prayer is a last resort in a crisis. Something somewhere deep inside of them calls them to pray in those darkest moments. I believe that this call comes from our deep need to connect with the God who created us. We may not understand it, we may even believe it, but it happens.
For others is a matter of duty, a matter of ritual. Sometimes this is a positive thing, others times less so. Praying the same prayers in adulthood that you prayed as a child is surely a sign that growth has been held back for some reason or another.
And then there are those who pray because it’s the most natural, compelling and satisfying thing they do. To bring all their concerns, worries, joys and desires to the God who loves them is purpose enough for their prayer life. As they pray they record wonderful answers and can see the hand of God moving in and through all that they do.
This is surely not only a great reason to pray, but also a great expression of the importance of prayer.
Prayer, powerful prayer is prayer that changes me as much as it changes things around me. Powerful prayer deepens my knowledge of God not just my knowledge about God. And none of us would surely argue with our desperate need to know God better.
Prayer is also important because some things can only be changed through prayer. Some great act of self-control won’t do it, or some great act of personal sacrifice won’t be enough. Sometimes only a miraculous answer to prayer from the God who can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine as Paul puts it, can solve the problem, answer the need or close the gap.
The simple truth is this: God’s power is released through and in the lives of those who pray.
God’s power can change circumstances and relationships. It can help us face life’s daily struggles. It can heal psychological and physical problems, remove marriage obstructions, meet financial needs–in fact, it can handle any kind of difficulty, dilemma or discouragement.
Too busy not to Pray Bill HybelsA pattern for prayer
In Matthew 6 Jesus offers us a pattern for prayer and some principles for prayer.
The principles
Pray in secret. Jesus uses the example of the man who stands on the street corners to pray. His prayers are probably clever and articulate. They are the prayers of a proud man, not a humble person.
Jesus says pray in secret not because prayer is not meant to be done in public but that it’s not meant to done to impress anyone. Prayer is about you and God, not about you and the crowd of people around you. Even when we pray together in church or in a small group, we should be praying in the secret place.
Pray sincerely. One of the most crucial things we need to learn about prayer is simply this: be honest with God. God loves an honest prayer. Remember the story Jesus told about the Pharisee and the sinner who both prayed? It was the honesty of the sinner that brought justification through prayer and the grace of God.
Don’t try and muster up faith, express your prayers in the context of your faith as it is. If you’re unsure of your motives in prayer, tell God you’re unsure and trust that he will take you in the right direction. To say” Lord if it is your will” is not a cop out for those who lack faith, but an expression of our inability to have 20/20 vision when it comes to prayer. My favourite expression is to say to God, “This is the desire of my heart, if it’s wrong change my heart.”
Pray specifically. Sometimes we take this to mean pray for a red bicycle with 26” wheels and those little things in the spokes that make a noise when they go round.
Well that’s a pretty specific prayer, but praying specifically doesn't always mean giving an exact description. If we go back to the pattern Jesus gives us in Matt.6 we see that specific prayer is focused prayer.
- Honours appropriately
- Worships authentically
- Submits willingly
- Asks clearly
- Confesses openly
- Seeks protection humbly
The challenge of prayer is to abandon self-reliance, autonomy and selfish choices.
Understanding how God answers prayer
In Too Busy, Bill Hybles uses a simple three word explanation of how God answers prayer:
- Go
- Slow
- No
How to improve our prayer lives?
Time: If prayer is ever going to be more than something you squeeze into your schedule you will have to work out how to set aside sufficient time to pray. You alone can answer the question as to whether 10 minutes a day is more valuable to building your prayer life than an hour a week.
Focus: On your relationship with God more than getting answers to your prayers. Answers are good, answers encourage, but if your relationship with God is not growing, if you are not changing then I;d suggest there is something wrong with your prayer life. Prayer is an intimate connection between you and God. That should change you.
Content: Think about what you are praying. Draw up a plan, follow a pattern. You can use the pattern of Matt.6, you can uses the ACTS pattern. As you read through the Bible, make a note of those verses that encourage you to pray and what to pray. Recently in my reading I found this verse in 1Tim.
First of all I urge you to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.
That’s impacted how I pray for people and who I pray for in recent weeks.
Record:Write it down. Simply record your prayers and record answers too. I’m not so good at this, but I do, form time to time, write my prayer down.
Conclusion
When we pray remarkable things happen. We change, circumstances change, people change. Not because we pray, but because God responds. He’s not a puppet under our control, tug his strings correctly and he dances to our tune. No, prayer is what aligns us with him, with his purposes, with his plans.
Yes there are times when God says no, there are times when he doesn’t appear to answer or even hear us. But at those times we need to remember that he hears all our prayers. What we need is the patience to wait and listen and learn.
