The Power of Prayer

Prayer, stop and think about how powerful this word is...when you look back through the Bible we see that when God's people prayed God moved and made things happen. Armies were destroyed, people were brought back from the dead,Nations were rebuilt all because God's people prayed.

What is disheartening is that we as a people don't take this power very seriously,we halfheartedly offer up prayers of selfish desires instead of Spirit led prayers, we come to God with an agenda when we need something instead of daily coming to Him with an open heart empty of selfishness.

We don't pray with any fervency or any kind of frequency today, we foolishly think we can do things without prayer because of our pride.

We have forgotten who we are speaking to,and the power that God our Father has.We have extravagant buildings,wonderful programs,excellent teachers great choirs,tremendous preachers and good fellowship and life is coasting along at a nice even pace. Our enemy the devil smirks at us when we get caught up in these things and we forget the power of prayer, he doesn't care if we go to church 7 days a week if we go only to enjoy these things, when we won't read the word or pray to God, the devil is at ease.

God waits on His children to pray,there's nothing that will bind the church together more than praying.

Jesus said "If any two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it will be done for them of My Father which is in Heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." Matthew 18:19-20

So how is your prayer life, I have to confess mine falls short of anything that would seem honorable to God. I read through the scriptures and I see how our Lord Jesus prayed, He prayed daily, He prayed with intensity, He prayed specifically, and He prayed reverently in the power of God.

Jesus prayed until His body bled, He prayed and wept over Jerusalem, He prayed for the apostles and He prayed for you and I. John 17:9-26 [9] "I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. [10] "And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. [11] "Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. [12] "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. [13] "But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. [14] "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. [15] "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. [16] "They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. [17] "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. [18] "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. [19] "And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. [20] "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; [21] "that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. [22] "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: [23] "I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. [24] "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. [25] "O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. [26] "And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

He passionately prayed for us, if the Son of God sought our Heavenly Father with such passion, how much more should we be seeking out God with passion, in His Spirit, to know His truths?

Prayer should be an act of worship, not a to do list for God our Father, look again at how Jesus prayed, Jesus prayed to His Holy Father, for His Father's people for His Father's ways, O Righteous Father Jesus Said. 

Oh how my prayers are not this way, Father forgive me.Jesus taught the Samaritan woman at the well that God our Father will seek those out who worship Him in Spirit and truth, that means that in all we do we should worship God that means our prayer life also. 

John 4:21-24 [21] Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. [22] "You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. [23] "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. [24] "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

It is time we as the body of Christ pray,pray like never before with passion, fervently stretched out before our Lord and Savior, seeking His face and His will,knowing God is Sovereign over our lives, we must individually and corporately start praying in the presence and the power of God, even if that means coming before His throne in silence and letting the Holy Spirit pray. Prayer is not a game, it is not a halfhearted to do list for God, it is a personal passionate act of worship to a Holy God who is pure, righteous and just.

Jesus gave us specific instructions on prayer, Matthew 6:7-13 [7] "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. [8] "Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. [9] "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. [10] Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. [11] Give us this day our daily bread. [12] And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. [13] And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Pray like never before, pray with intensity, pray without ceasing, pray to your Heavenly Father who waits for you.

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Colossians 3:17

In Christ

brian