Effective Prayer

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Effective Prayer

• Real Life James Series 25
• James 515-18

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PRAYER THE KEY THAT UNLOCKS ALL THE STOREHOUSES
OF GOD

• Prayer is the key that unlocks all the
  storehouses
• of Gods infinite grace and power. All that God
  is,
• and all that God has, is at the disposal of
  prayer.
• R. A. Torrey
• If thats really true, what hinders us from
  praying?
• Difficulty It is too difficult to pray.
• Obscurity We just dont know how to pray.
• Doubt Does God really hear my prayers?
• Discouragement My prayers dont get any
  results.

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WHAT DOES EFFECTIVE PRAYER REQUIRE FROM US?

• 1) Effective prayer requires us to pray with
  FAITHwith confidence in Gods promise and
  conviction of Gods will.
• And the prayer of faith will save the one who
• is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if
  he
• has committed sins, he will be forgiven. (v.15)
•  
• Whose faith is this? Not of the sick but of those
  who pray for the sick (the sick may not even pray
  for himself).

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•    3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic
• carried by four men. 4And when they could not get
  
• near him because of the crowd, they removed the
  roof
• above him, and when they had made an opening,
  they
• let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5And
  when
• Jesus saw their faith, he said to the
  paralytic, "Son, 
• your sins are forgiven" . . .  11"I say to you,
  rise,
• pick up your bed, and go home." 12And he
• rose and immediately picked up his bed
• and went out before them all.
• Mark 23-5, 11-12a
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WHAT DOES EFFECTIVE PRAYER REQUIRE FROM US?

• 1) Effective prayer requires us to pray with
  FAITHwith confidence in Gods promise and
  conviction of Gods will.
• And the prayer of faith will save the one who
• is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if
  he
• has committed sins, he will be forgiven. (v.15)
•  
• Whose faith is this? Not of the sick but of those
  who pray for the sick (the sick may not even pray
  for himself).
• Is healing always Gods will? No, sometimes God
  chooses not to heal in his sovereign grace and
  purpose (2 Cor 12).
• Faith in what? It is a faith of twofold
  conviction (1) that it is Gods will to heal
  this person and (2) that God will certainly
  answer the prayer by healing the sick.

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• 14And this is the confidence that we
• have toward him, that if we ask anything
• according to his will he hears us. 15And if we
• know that he hears us in whatever we ask,
• we know that we have the requests
• that we have asked of him.
• 1 John 514-15
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WHAT DOES EFFECTIVE PRAYER REQUIRE FROM US?

• 1) Effective prayer requires us to pray with
  FAITHwith confidence in Gods promise and
  conviction of Gods will.
• And the prayer of faith will save the one who
• is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if
  he
• has committed sins, he will be forgiven. (v.15)
•  
• Whose faith is this? Not of the sick but of those
  who pray for the sick (the sick may not even pray
  for himself).
• Is healing always Gods will? No, sometimes God
  chooses not to heal in his sovereign grace and
  purpose (2 Cor 12).
• Faith in what? It is a faith of twofold
  conviction (1) that it is Gods will to heal
  this person and (2) that God will certainly
  answer the prayer by healing the sick.
• The answer of prayer may include the spiritual
  healing as well as the physical healing.

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WHAT DOES EFFECTIVE PRAYER REQUIRE FROM US?

• 2) Effective prayer requires us to pray with
  COMMUNAL UNITYwith mutual confession and
  intercession.
• Therefore, confess your sins to one another and
  pray
• for one another, that you may be healed. (v.16a)
•  
• The truths about sickness (1) all sicknesses are
  a result of SIN the fall (2) but a persons
  sickness is not necessarily a result of his or
  her personal sin.
• Why confess sins to one another? So that we may
  experience relational reconciliation and harmony.
• Why pray for one another? So that we may practice
  communal care.
• Hence, prayer becomes effective when we
  experience communal unity as the body of Christ
  through mutual confession and intercession.

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• 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar
• and there remember that your brother has
• something against you, 24leave your gift there
• before the altar and go. First be reconciled to
• your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 
• Matthew 523-24
• Sin demands to have a man by himself.
• It withdraws him from the community.
• The more isolated a person is, the more
  destructive
• will be the power of sin over him.
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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WHAT DOES EFFECTIVE PRAYER REQUIRE FROM US?

• 3) Effective prayer requires us to pray in RIGHT
  RELATIONSHIP WITH GODwith utter dependence in
  Gods grace for our righteousness in Christ.
• The prayer of a righteous person has great power
  as it is
• working. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like
  ours, and he
• prayed fervently that it might not rain, and
  for three years and
• six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then
  he prayed again,
• and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its
  fruit. (vs.16b-18)
•  
• Who is a righteous person? One who abides in
  Gods grace and mercyhaving received Christs
  righteousness as his.
• A righteous person lives in intimate relationship
  with God, being utterly dependent on Gods grace
  and mercy.
• We are to pray like Elijah by praying humbly,
  fervently, and persistently.

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Coupling the Powers of Heaven to Our Helplessness

• The work of prayer is prerequisite to all other
  work in the Kingdom of God for the simple reason
  that it is by prayer that we couple the powers of
  Heaven to our helplessness, the powers which can
  turn water into wine and remove mountains in our
  own life and the lives of others, the powers
  which can awaken those who sleep in sin and raise
  up the dead, the powers which can capture
  strongholds and make the impossible possible.
• - O. Hallesby

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PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR OUR EVERYDAY LIFE

• Dont GIVE UPkeep praying!
• Remember that The more helpless you are, the
  better you are fitted to pray (O. Hallesby).
• Let the Spirit teach you how to pray.
• 2. Pray IN RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with God and in
  your spiritual community.
• Receive Gods forgiveness and cleansing for your
  righteousness through faith each day.
• Live by utter dependence in Gods grace and
  righteousness.
• 3. Pray WITH FAITH IN GODfervently and
  persistently.
• Pray fervently believing that God hears your
  prayers.
• Pray persistently believing that Gods answer is
  on the way.

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