HEAVENS CALL TO PRAYER
“The Basis of A Powerful
Prayer Life”
One of
the most unfortunate occurrences of the spirit of religion taking over the
church is that people have been conditioned to believe that prayer is something
somebody else does for me. The reality is that prayer is very personal and
informal. Prayer is the missing link of the Christian experience.
To
increase and nurture your prayer life is to change your world physically,
emotionally and spiritually.
THE
BASIS OF A POWERFUL PRAYER LIFE:
1. PRAYER IS BASED ON SUPERNATURAL
COMMUNICATION
Supernatural
indicates that it is communication that transcends the natural realm. Prayer is
a privilege reserved for those who have a spirit that can connect and relate to
God. Dogs and cats can’t pray because they don’t have the capacity to connect
to God’s frequency, only man.
GENESIS 1:27 So God
created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and
female created he them.
In the
image of God speaks to the idea of man having the power to relate to God.
Because man was created like God he is the only part of God’s creation that has
the potential of interacting with God. Man is the only creation with a
relatable spirit to God.
JOB 32:8 But
there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them
understanding.
There is
a built in frequency within man that connects to God. This is why man is the
only part of creation that has a conscience. He feels bad when he does wrong
and he feels good when he does right. Unaware, man is in contact with God
before he knows it. Man is the only earthly creation that is also supernatural.
IMPACT POINT! God Created
Man for Communion; When Man Fails To Communicate With God He Forfeits the
Greater Part of His Purpose
ILLUSTRATION: In Will Smith’s movie
he was alone after all of mankind seemed to be extinct. He would talk on a
certain radio frequency in hopes that someone somewhere would be on that same
frequency and talk back to him. God too, is on the radio of our hearts waiting
for us to tune in and communicate with him through prayer.
Prayer
does not come easily to the individual because it is an exercise that calls for
one to step outside of your own abilities and to live above your common sense.
It’s the call to release from self-reliance and to throw your-self completely
into the care of God.
IMPACT POINT! The Only
Frequency That God Speaks On Is Faith; Faith Is the Supernatural Channel
The only
way we can answer the call to biblical prayer is to come to God in faitrh.
Prayer is not an exercise in hope; rather it is an action of confidence and
assurance
HEBREWS 11:6 But
without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
The text
outlines three areas where faith must be demonstrated to tap in to God’s
frequency through prayer.
“Must Believe That He
Is”
You must
have faith in God’s existence. If you truly believe that he’s there why so many
cares? A powerful prayer life begins where certainty of God’s presence is
absolute.
1 PETER 5:7 Casting
all your care upon him; for He careth for you.
You
cannot cast cares until you’re certain that God is there.
IMPACT POINT! You Must Pray To Know He’s There and You Have To Know He’s There To Pray.
The more
time you spend with God in prayer and worship the more sensitive your heart
becomes to God.
“Must Have Faith That
He Is A Rewarder”
To tap
into the supernatural frequency of God in prayer requires having a confidence
that God is benevolent in His nature; he will gladly bless those that petition.
1 JOHN 5:14-15
14 And this is the confidence that we have in
him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us.
15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever
we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
Prayer
moves to a different level when the one praying actually believes that God will
do what he promised.
TRUE STORY:
There’s a
pastor who allowed his youth department to sell pancakes to raise money for a
four thousand dollar missions trip. They worked for hours to raise half of the
money. God spoke to the pastor and asked him: “can I provide for my mission?”
The pastor told the church that they would no longer sell pancakes to fund the
trip. He also stated that he believed God for the other half of the money. That
weekend one family gave the other two thousand dollars. By trusting God he got
in a moment what took them many hours of manual labor to produce. It happened
when he believed that God would do it.
“Must Have Faith To Keep Trusting When It
Doesn’t Happen Right Away”
The text
says that we must believe that he is “a rewarder of those that diligently
seek him”. This means that prayer requires pressing in when things
don’t happen in your time. Can you stay the course and not get discouraged when
days turn into weeks and weeks months?
IMPACT POINT!
The
Supernatural Power Of God Often Calls For Pursuit
JAMES 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for
another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man
availeth much.
The term
fervent prayer speaks of a prayer that burns hot and does not cool or stop.
When prayer is burning and continuous it produces results.
ILLUSTRATION: In reading the miracles
of Jesus through the New Testament one will discover that most of Jesus’
miracles were worked as the result of people diligently pursuing him. He rarely
sought people and scarcely was he easily accessed.
Most
people had to overcome obstacles to tap into his power. We too must understand
that God calls us into fervent pursuit through prayer.
1. PRAYER IS PETITIONING THE ONLY SOVEREIGN
BEING
When we
pray effectively we put our lives and circumstances in the care of the only one
that actually has the power to do something.
IMPACT
POINT! We Often Make the Error of Putting
Our Confidence In People Who Really Don’t Matter When The One That Actually
Calls The Shots Is Available To Hear Our Petition
PROVERBS 29:25-26
25 The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso
putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.
26 Many seek the ruler's favour; but every
man's judgment cometh from the LORD.
IMPACT
POINT! You Can Save Yourself A Lot Of Time
By Going To God First.
God is the only one that can answer your prayers; in fact,
even when others seem to be your source it is really God using them to do his work.
EPHESIANS 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above
all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.
IMPACT
POINT! Because He Is Sovereign He Does What He Wants, When He Wants To and
How He Wants To
When it
comes to prayer God will only entertain our petitions when they are according
to His will.
1 JOHN 5:14-15
14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we
ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
15 And if
we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions
that we desired of him.
IMPACT
POINT! Since His Will Is Paramount In His Positive Response It Behooves Us
To Know His Will; The More Word We Know The More Effective Our Prayer Life
1. GOD HAS SERVANTS TO MANIFEST HIS WILL
In the
process of God answering our petitions it’s important to understand that God
uses certain agents to deliver his favor into our lives.
IMPACT POINT!
God Uses People As Agents Of Blessing
LUKE 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed
down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.
God will
use men to bless you monetarily and for other situations God has dispatched
angels to manifest his will in your life.
HEBREWS 1:14
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to
minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
