Power in Prayer
Notes
Transcript
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.
And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
Prayer is important. God desires to hear us pray.
A young boy asked his mother, 'Why do we pray before dinner?' She replied, 'Well, it’s to thank God for our food.' With a smirk, he said, 'But Mom, can’t God just hear our stomachs growling?'
1. Prayers for self.
1. Prayers for self.
(5:13)
A famous missionary wrote letters back home, detailing how prayer was the fuel for his journey. One day he humorously penned, 'I’ve discovered that prayer is like a spiritual coffee break—it wakes you up to what God is doing!' This illustration reminds everyone that prayer doesn’t just fill our time; it energizes our mission as followers of Christ.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
2. Prayers for others.
2. Prayers for others.
(5:14)
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
During the early days of the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. often spoke of the importance of praying for one's enemies. He shared the story of a church bombing that took the lives of four little girls, yet he emphasized the urgency of praying for the perpetrators, believing that love can drive out hate. His commitment to prayer amid grave injustice shows us that lifting others in prayer, even those who hurt us, is an act of faith that paves the way for healing.
3. Prayers of Faith.
3. Prayers of Faith.
(5:15)
Elijah once prayed for rain after a long drought and, after much waiting, he saw a small cloud on the horizon. His servant humored him, saying, 'That tiny thing? Sure doesn't look like much!' But Elijah knew prayer is about persistence. Much like the seed that grows silently underground, prayer activates the incredible potential that God has waiting for us to believe in.
4. Prayers of repentance.
4. Prayers of repentance.
(5:16)
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly.
And he said: “I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, And He answered me. “Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice.
For You cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the floods surrounded me; All Your billows and Your waves passed over me.
Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’
The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head.
I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God.
“When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple.
5. Prayers that move Heaven and Earth.
5. Prayers that move Heaven and Earth.
(5:17–18)
Men Like George Muller believed in the power of prayer. Mueller had
Over fifty thousand answered prayers.
specific recorded answers to prayers in his journals, thirty thousand of which he said were answered the same day or the same hour that he prayed them. Think of it: that's five hundred definite answers to prayer each year—more than one per day—every single day for sixty years!
Hezekiah- 2 Kings 20:1-6 Fifteen more years before Isaiah could leave the palace,
Hannah (1Samuel 1:1-2, 6, 9-11,19-20)
She was in a polygamous marriage and was the favored but childless wife. She was taunted and broken. Yet God answered her prayers.
