"LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY" Luke 11:1
WHAT IS PRAYER? Prayer, real prayer, is simply conversation
with God, our Father. Jesus didn't say, "Now, when you pray, say, 'My Father.'" No, He used the plural, "Our Father." He is
your Father, my Father, Jesus' Father -- "Our Father, who art in heaven." It's so simple. Just conversation with God.
PRAYER IS THE ANSWER
"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous [person] availeth much."
James 5:16
One day a pastor walked out of the sanctuary of his church and encountered
the custodian fairly dripping with perspiration. He was a giant of a Christian, but was gradually losing his ability
to think and work effectively because of hardening of the arteries. The pastor saw that he was struggling with the vacuum
cleaner and observed that the plug was lying on the floor. The dear man had vacummed the whole sanctuary and didn't have the
plug in the outlet.
ISN'T THAT WHAT HAPPENS TO MANY OF US? We work, we pull, we struggle, and
we plan until we're utterly exhausted, but we have forgotten to plug in to the source of power. And that source
of power is prayer -- the "effectual, fervent prayer" of a righteous person that avails much.
PRAY FIRST, PLAN AFTERWARD. God expects us to be orderly. He expects us
to manage our time, to discipline ourselves, to prepare well-planned programs, but if we could learn to pray first and plan
afterward how different would be our homes, our churches, our Christian women's clubs, our Bible studies, whatever we are
doing for Christ. Maybe, just maybe, we are planning in one direction and God's will is in another direction. God might say,
"Hold everything! Turn around and go this way. This is My will for you, not that way."
GOD WANT US TO MAKE OURSELVES AVAILABLE TO HIM, and to say before we start
to plan, "Lord, tell me what You want me to do, where You want me to go, how You want me to do it." Then our omnipotent God,
with all the abundance of Heaven at His disposal, will pour out His power upon us. Instead of following our tiny, tiny plans,
God wants to open Heaven and flood us.
For you to pray: "Dear God, teach me to plug in to Your
power. Amen"
"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Psalm
66:18
WHY ARE PRAYERS NOT ANSWERED?
The Prophet Isaiah gives a powerful description of someone in this
plight, "And He isn't too weak to save you. And He isn't getting deaf! He can hear you when you call! But the trouble
is that your sins have cut you off from God. Because of sin He has turned His face away from you and will not listen anymore."
Isaiah 59:1-2 LB
Your problem may not be sins, but sin. When our Lord was talking to His
disciples just before His crucifixion, He told them that He was going to send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who would convict
the world (those who were not Christ's followers) "of sin, because they believe not on Me." John 16:9 This
is the sin that will keep God from hearing intercessory prayer -- the sin of not believing in Christ as your personal saviour.
If this is your sin, the only prayer from you that God promises to hear is one of repentance and faith as you invite Christ
into your life.
After we become Christians we commit sins. Perhaps not the "dirty dozen"
sins, but maybe "little Christian sins" such as Pride, Pretense, or Divided Motives in serving Christ i.e.;
ego, self-fulfillment, self-satisfaction, or desire to build up your own worth in the eyes of your fellow church members.
What do we do with them? Do we live with them? The answer is that we get rid of them. God gives Christians the formula through
John, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"
1 John 1:9. This is written to Christians, and tells us how we may be cleansed and ready for an effectual intercessory prayer
life.
Even little sins can muddy up our communication system. We try to get through
to God and there's something in the way. It may be an attitude, a spoken word. God wants these things cleared up. He doesn't
want anything between Him and us. If there is, it's our fault, not His, when His ears are closed to our prayers.
This then if the first prerequisite to answered prayer -- nothing between
God and ourselves.
For you to pray: "Dear Father, bring to my mind
that sin or sins keeping You from hearing my prayers. I confess whatever You have
brought to my mind as sin. Thank You, Lord, for cleansing me as You promised in 1 John
1:9 and qualifying me for effectual, intercessory prayer. Amen"
PRAYING IN ONE ACCORD - (small
group praying)
"These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication,
with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren." Acts 1:14
"And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was
taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight ... Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet,
which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey. And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode
both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon
Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and
Mary the mother of Jesus and with His brethren." Acts 1:9, 12-14.
IN THE FINAL REFERENCE TO MARY, the mother of Jesus, in the New Testament,
she is on her face before God, praying with the disciples, the brethren, and the other women.
Jesus, their Lord, had just left Planet Earth. He had gone from their sight,
yet the 120 gathered in the upper room had the privilege of sensing His presence in their midst. Only a short while before,
He had told His disciples, "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them."
Matthew 18:20. Jesus was speaking of those who gather together in His name, not of just any group of people
who meet together on earth. It is only to His followers that He gives the promise of His presence. Small group praying, the
method of praying in one accord is based on the eligibility to pray in the name of Jesus, it pertains only to the followers
of Christ.
WHEN PEOPLE START PRAYING TOGETHER -- in one accord, to our Father in Heaven,
in the name of Jesus -- and practice praying together, things begin to change. Our lives change, our families change, our
churches change, our communities change. Changes take place not when we study about prayer, not when we talk about prayer,
not even when we memorize beautiful Scripture verses on prayer; it is when we actually pray that things begin to
happen.
For you to pray: "Father, teach me to pray in one accord
with other people, sharing their burdens, joys, and petitions. Amen"
PRAYER PLAN
1. Pray for every member of the family.
2. Pray for oneself for wisdom.
3. Pray for faith.
4. Pray for courage.
5. Pray for laborers for the harvest.
6. Pray for a soul-saving Church.
7. Pray for a Spirit-filled Church.
8. Pray for favor with God.
9. Pray for favor with the community.
10. Pray for specific needs.
POINTS OF PRAYER
1. Prayer must be the central focus of the Church.
2. Prayer is not just communication, it is cooperation.
3. Prayer is God's method of allowing us and delegating to
us the authority to enforce the agenda of Kingdom of God on Earth.
4. E.M. Bounds said, "Prayer is not preparation for the battle;
it is the battle."
5. Church growth is hard-core spiritual warfare.
6. A spiritual kingdom cannot be built apart from spiritual
work.
7. Personal Prayer is absolutely essential.
8. We must raise up praying people.
9. Prayer keeps your eyes on the One who called you, and He
helps close your eyes to the one who is trying to stop you.
10. The enemy will try to impact your life, to stop your spiritual
warfare.
