POWERFUL PRAYERS to a Mighty God
How many times in your life have you prayed?
I’ve been a Christian for about 27 years now, and if we assume I’ve prayed just once a day for 27 years, that’s 9855 prayers.
I’ve probably prayed more than that,
I start and end my day with prayer
I often pray for people during the day,
I go to prayer meetings and still say a prayer of thanks before eating.
Prayer is a natural part of my day and I hope it is a part of yours too.
Prayer is simply talking to God.
If you are like this In my opinion, there have been times when you have prayed short prayers and other times when you have prayed long prayers.
You have probably prayed for circumstances and situations in your own life and in the lives of others.
You have prayed prayers of praise and prayers of petition. Prayers of pain and prayers of joy.
Sometimes you have prayed in public and you have prayed in private.
Perhaps there have been times when you have thought long and hard about how you should pray for something specific.
and maybe there have been other times when you just opened your mouth and the words flowed straight from your heart.
All those different prayers and different ways of praying.
As I thought about that in preparation for this post, it led me to think of 2 other questions:
How often have I experienced the power of prayer in my own life?
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How often have I prayed a powerful prayer?
I think we have all experienced in one way or another the power of prayer in our lives.
God answering prayer in the perfect way at the perfect time.
We know that when we pray, we pray to a God who hears and answers according to His perfection. will and purpose.
Christians through the centuries have experienced prayed the POWER OF PRAYER.
But perhaps too many of us have assumed for too long that powerful prayers are always said by someone other than ourselves…
The truth is that prayer is one of the greatest blessings that God has given to every believer.
Prayer is a powerful weapon.
Prayer is one of the most important things in a life of faith. .
It is often said that prayer changes things,
And I believe that God wants prayer to change us too!
I believe that God wants each one of us to move forward in our prayer life – individually, collectively God wants us, His people, to be Mighty Pray ERS who pray powerful prayers.
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The Bible teaches that God is the same yesterday, today and forever, right?
God has not lost His power. But sometimes our prayers seem powerless.
Friends, the miracle-working God we read about in the Bible still works miracles today and will continue to work miracles tomorrow, too.
We need to expect God to answer prayers with power.
And maybe we need to trust God more because He can work a miracle in our own lives and in the lives of others today.
Perhaps we need to really trust the power of prayer.
Each and every one of us has the potential, in faith,
to pray a powerful prayer.
A prayer like the prayer of Moses that saved Israel,
A prayer like the prayer of Elisha who raised the dead,
A prayer like the prayer of the Church that rescued Peter,
a prayer like the Pentecost prayer that led to the salvation of 3,000 people.
Prayers of people who had the faith to believe in the power of God and the promises of God.
Powerful prayers to a powerful God.
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This morning I want us to briefly consider three powerful prayers from people who had the faith to believe that God could and would act in a powerful way.
Abraham’s Prayer
Joshua’s prayer
Jabez’s prayer
ABRAHAM’S PRAYER
Life was not easy for Abraham, Abraham had times when his faith wavered.
Abraham had the faith to go to a new land but did not believe that he and Sarah could have a child.
But, if there is something that Abraham teaches us,
it is sincerity.
There are times when God tests us to see how sincere we are in what we are asking of him.
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In Genesis 18 is the account of when God appeared to Abraham, and they talked to each other.
Remember I told you before that praying is talking to God, imagine what a difference that would make in our prayer lives. if we too would speak face to face with our Lord.
There are two parts to Genesis 18, in the first part the Lord tells Abraham that Sarah, at the age of 90, would give birth to a son.
Something that Abraham and Sarah found hard to believe could happen, but God showed that even the seemingly impossible is possible to God.
Then, in the second part of Genesis 18, God reveals his plan for Sodom and Gomora to Abraham, and Abraham speaks to the Lord to intercede for Sodom.
Let me read to you from Genesis 18 verses 20-33. :
20 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “I have heard a great cry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant. 21 I’m going down to see if your actions are as bad as I’ve heard. If not, I want to know.”
22 The other men turned and headed toward Sodom, but the Lord stayed with Abraham. 23 Abraham approached him and said, “Will you sweep away both the righteous and the wicked? 24 And if you find fifty righteous living there in the city… will you still sweep them away and not spare them for their sake?
25 Surely you would not do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Well, you would be treating the righteous and the wicked in exactly the same way! You sure wouldn’t do that! Must not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”
26 And the Lord answered, “If I find fifty righteous in Sodom, I will spare the whole city for their sake.”
27 Then Abraham spoke again. “Since I have begun, let me speak more to my Lord, though he be but dust and ashes. 28 What if there were forty-five righteous people instead of fifty? Will you destroy the entire city for want of five?”
And the Lord said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five righteous there.”
29 Then Abraham insisted more on his request. “What if it’s only forty?”
And the Lord answered: “I will not destroy it because of the forty.”
30 “Please don’t be angry, my Lord,” Abraham pleaded. “Let me speak—suppose only thirty righteous are found?”
And the Lord answered: “I will not destroy it if I find thirty.” 8221;
31 Then Abraham said, “Since I have dared to speak with the Lord, let me continue—suppose there are only twenty?”
And the Lord answered: “Then I will not destroy it because of the twenty.”
32 Finally, Abraham said, “Lord, please don’t’ Don’t be mad at me if I speak one more time. What if only ten are found there?
And the Lord answered: “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”
33 When the Lord had finished his conversation with Abraham, he went on his way, and Abraham returned to his tent.
Abraham spoke, prayed, asked God to spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah if ten righteous people were found there. But there were not ten righteous people, and God did not spare the city.
But God answered the heart of Abraham’s prayer by leading Lot and his family out of Sodom.
This passage shows us that, like Abraham, we must be persistent in prayer.
Persistent prayer helps develop and strengthen our faith.
Simply put, Abraham sought God in prayer and so should we.
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THE JOSHUA PRAYER
Joshua was a man of faith and he was a man of prayer Joshua was a man who was willing to humble himself before God.
Listen Joshua 5:13-15
13 When Joshua was near the city of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing before him with a sword in his hand. Joshua walked up to him and asked, “Are you friend or foe?”
14 “Neither of us,” he replied. “I am the commander of the Lord’s army.”
At this, Joshua fell face down in reverence. “I am at his command,” Joshua said. “What do you want your servant to do?”
15 The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did as he was told.
This was not an angel because angels are not worshipped. Joshua realized that he was in the presence of God.
And Joshua humbled himself before his Lord, Joshua fell face down in reverence.
We know that God loves us, we know that God cares about us,
we know that God hears and answers our prayers, but
perhaps we should be more reverent when we pray.
Perhaps we need to be more humble before the Lord.
Let me remind you of the words of 2 Chronicles 7:14 when God said: If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek me to stand up and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins. and I will restore their land.
Friends, we need to humble ourselves before God.
We need to pray.
We need to seek His will for our lives.
We need to turn away from things that are wrong in God’s eyes.
We need to get away from everything that is bad in the eyes of God.
God is holy, his will is perfect, he is smarter and stronger than us, and we must be humble and not arrogant before him.
Joshua was willing to obey God’s words without delay.
The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did as he was told.
Remember the song that says:
Trust and obey, because there is no other way,
to be happy in Jesus, but trust and obey.
Joshua was obedient to the word of God and we must do the same.
Instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is; late obedience is disobedience.
The cost of obedience is nothing compared to the cost of disobedience.
As Joshua said, as Joshua prayed
“I am at your command, what do you want your servant to do?
A powerful prayer that each of us should be willing to pray.
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THE PRAYER OF JABEZ:
There are many books written on the Jabez Prayer.
He is remembered for his prayer but Jabez only makes a quick appearance in the Bible and then disappears.
When Jabez prayed, he simply asked for the GRACE of God: 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 says:
< +There was a man named Jabez, who was more illustrious than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez because his birth had been very painful. 10 It was he who prayed to the God of Israel: Oh, if you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Please be with me in everything I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!” And God granted his request.
Oh, if you would bless me, how many times have you said that prayer?
How many times has God blessed you?
Jabez prayed, Jabez sought God’s best for his life.
Jabez asked for GROWTH:…