Understanding the Power of Prayer

Lightly edited for readability while preserving the speaker’s meaning and substantive statements.

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   yes lord worship that's our prayer today lord that you would fill us i knew god with your holy spirit that you would anoint us with fresh oil as david prayed psalm 92 lord that you'd hear our prayers god for an outpouring of the holy spirit for a revival again a move a true move of the holy spirit a real revival lord we need we need your touch we need your power lord we don't want to just have empty words but lord we want what we do what we preach what we pray what we share with people want it to be powerful we want to be anointed with power from on high from you we know that only comes through fasting and prayer obedience lord we make that our prayer today we know our country needs revival we know we're in the midst of the falling away the apostasy but you promised lord in the book of daniel that in the last days that there were many be turned to righteousness as well that the people who know their god will be strong and do exploits so lord we stand on that believing you're going to move in and through our lives and in the church that's hungry for you lord we pray that today jesus name amen amen you may be seated this morning welcome you to fire and grace church those of you listening by blog talk radio we welcome you having more and more listeners all the time it's quite amazing i want you to take your bibles out this morning and i want you to turn with me first of all we're going to turn to luke chapter 18. i've called this this morning understanding the power of prayer because i think we need to understand a lot of the the principles of prayer that i think we get we overlook a lot of times but the importance of it and also the warning that jesus gave i believe it's a end-time warning that a lot of people be losing their faith in the power of prayer and i'm talking about in the power of prayer that's offered to the creator god in the name of jesus christ the messiah god didn't accept all prayers amen remember he said jesus said use not vain repetitions as the heathen do matthew 6 he said use not vain

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   repetitions as the heathen do he said for they think they'll be heard by their much speaking right well jesus said there could be a lot of speaking there could be a lot of praying going on it doesn't mean that god's gonna hear it or receive it or respect it right so we need to look and we need to ask the question is my faith growing in the power of prayer and if it is that will be evidenced by the fact that i put prayer my private prayer time and prayer meetings and and prayer as a high priority in my christian life listen you're going to take time for what's important to you okay i can show you though that if you're not taking time for prayer you're beginning to lose your faith really the root cause of not praying is that you're losing faith that your prayers will make a difference because if you believe that your prayers will make a difference in somebody's life to help them see something they need to see or get through a struggle they need to get through or to help them come to know jesus as their lord and savior or to help them if they're sick or if they're depressed or if they're going through a demonic attack if you believe that your prayers in jesus name will help them and will be effective and powerful then you would do it if you love people see what i'm saying not only does does being a man or woman of prayer prove that you have faith in the word of god and faith that your prayers are going to be effective but it proves that you love people too i would say this the christian that doesn't pray is shouting from the rooftop i don't really care about my brothers and sisters and i don't really care about the unsaved and the lost that are going to hell and if prayer is not a priority in your life to spend quality time there daily then it's time to check your priorities it's time to make some changes because true prayer offered he says you know we're going to look at this in a second but in james 5 it says the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man or woman availeth much [Music] amen i'm telling you today and i know this from almost 30 years now of ministry and and being a man of prayer and having seasons where i prayed hours a day in seasons where i didn't pray as much i can tell you for a fact there is power from jesus that will come in your life the more time you spend in prayer you will see the effects of it

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   sometimes it takes a long time to see the answers and to see the effects but your prayers if you are in faith and if you are praying according to the word of god your prayers will avail much in the world and in people in people around you now let me just say this there's some things that prayer will not change prayer will not change god's word okay prayer will not change certain prophetic things that god has said are going to happen we're we're not going to pray away the antichrist okay you understand what i'm saying we our prayers do not change god and they do not change god's word okay they can change us and they can change our thinking and they can change uh you know even physical things that are going wrong because god's all-powerful but now let me say this we're going to find out this morning too if the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man or woman avails much we need to understand the reason a lot of the reason a lot of prayers are not answered because they're being offered by people who are not living a godly and righteous life and then they want to get mad and offended that god's not answering their prayers so let's just get this straight god's not obligated to answer just anybody's prayer see he something you need to understand god's arm cannot be twisted [Music] cannot be manipulated you want your prayers answered the bible tells us real complain at first john do those things that are pleasing in his sight now does god sometimes hear the prayer of the unsaved and the ungodly and the wicked when when when they lift up their prayer and cry for help yes sometimes he does show mercy and answers the prayer of the unsaved the ungodly the the the unrighteous and the wicked because he's merciful and he's trying to reach out to them and pull them in but that's not the standard that's not the rule that's the exception that's god showing mercy but let me just say this anybody called a christian who's been truly born again and a believer in jesus and they say they love jesus and they love the word of god if you want to persist to live in unrighteousness and unholiness and wickedness and practice iniquity do not expect your prayers to be answered and then you get mad and offended with god all you want to [Music] now then there's the other side of the coin too that you can be living a godly life a righteous life an obedient life walking in the light of god's word pursuing god loving god

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   and god's not always going to do what you want when you want and sometimes see we don't like to hear this part he does answer and it's no we don't want that answer or it may be not now or it may just be silence the greatest test of our faith and you can see it david the david king david was called the man after god's own heart and yet you see throughout the psalms him crying out why are you hiding your face from me when i'm talking about this season that he fell into sin with bathsheba no no we're talking about in his life time as he sought god as he pursued god he would talk about being in the presence of god and being in the glory of god and seeing miracles and seeing god fight his enemies for him but there were many times he would say why are you letting my enemies triumph over me why are you hiding your face from me why do you cast me far from your presence see this is something that all believers are going to go through because god is not always going to answer our prayers immediately it's not going to be instant grits microwave christianity god's not a genie that's going to grant you three wishes if you rub the lamp just right prayer is more about seeking after god for god's will in your own life and for you to stand in the gap and be an intercessor for other people who don't who are blinded by satan or deceive or in darkness the world needs the church to stand in the gap as much as possible somebody just yesterday brought this question to my wife you know she said you know you and you and dean you're in the word you're praying you read the word you're in the word but sometimes you know sickness may come in your family you pray and you have to go through it like anybody else and they were trying to basically get offended well they are offended with god but they were basically just trying to say you know if you guys can't do it who can do it i sit back and go that just shows there is not a comprehension that sometimes you have to walk through the trial and through the difficulty and that not getting offended with god or angry at god or bitter is the victory of your faith

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