Prayer Week 3: The power of prayer. Discussion Questions

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1 Prayer Week 3: The power of prayer Discussion Questions 1. When we speak of the power of prayer, what power are we actually talking about? 2. What wonderful answers to prayer have you seen in your life? 3. How can we be sure God actually hears us? 4. Why can we/should we believe God can and will answer us? 5. What did Kevin teach us about praying in Jesus name? What does this mean in terms of the things we should have great confidence in praying for? See John 14:13-14; John 15:16 and John 16: See also 1 John 5: What is the significance of trusting God (or faith) when it comes to prayer? See James 1:6-7, Matthew 9:29 and Matthew 21:22. See also Luke 17:6 and Mark 11:24. How do we balance theses verses with the ones above re praying things that are in accord with God s will? 7. What did Kevin challenge us with in regard to praying for the big things of God and the power effect of our prayers for Noosa and for our nation for example? What are some of the other big things we should be praying for with boldness and confidence? 8. What do you consider stops us praying for the big picture kingdom issues the Bible encourages us to pray for? 9. Take some time to pray now. Pray that more and more people across the Noosa region will come to know who Jesus is and come into a relationship with him.

2 THE POWER OF PRAYER (Exod 17:8-13) My aim this morning is to inspire you to pray more often, by convincing you that prayer actually works! And the reason why prayer works is not because of any inherent power in the act of praying itself, but simply because prayer connects us with the all-powerful Creator God who delights in answering the prayers of His people. But to pray effectively, trusting in the power of God, there are a number of things I must believe: 1. There Is A God otherwise we re just talking to ourselves. Christian prayer is not a mindless mantra that makes us feel good, true prayer makes a connection with the living God. 2. God Can Hear My Prayers now this takes a little more faith; to believe that in the midst of all the millions of prayers that are being prayed at any one time on the earth, God can hear me. Yet the Bible assures us that this is so: The Psalmist says Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely O Lord (Psa 139:4). How s that for hearing? 3. God CAN Answer My Prayers The belief that God is all-powerful and Nothing Is Impossible For God *** Little boy and Geography test Melbourne the capital of South Australia. I love the faith of little children. They have no trouble believing that God can do the impossible. (Now you and I as adults know that while God can do the impossible, he s not going to do the illogical). They have a simple trusting faith in God. That s why Jesus, on one occasion, spoke about our need to approach God with the faith of a little child. The faith that says Nothing is impossible for God (Luke 1:37) The faith that believes that God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (Eph 3:20) Do you believe that? How big is your concept of God? Because the God to whom I pray, is the One who created billions and billions of galaxies by simply speaking them into being. Take the time one night to go outside and look up at the stars and say to yourself The God who made all that can do immeasurably more than all I ask or imagine.

3 4. God WANTS To Answer My Prayers I suspect it s at this point that many of us struggle. We can develop the attitude that God is very busy running the universe, out there doing important stuff, but is he really going to bother with my little prayers? After all, I m a nobody. I m not Billy Graham or Mother Theresa. THE PROMISES OF JESUS Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. John 14:13-14 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 15:16 The Father will give you whatever you ask in my name John 16:23 I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask for in my name John 16: 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. NINETEEN TIMES in the Gospels Jesus pleads with his disciples to ask in prayer. God wants you to pray. God wants you to ask for things. And today I want you to leave this place absolutely convinced that God WANTS to answer your prayers. But before you race home and pray for that Lamborghini or that million dollar yacht, there s one little issue we need to clarify. Did you notice in all those verses that there is one common little phrase? in my name. When Jesus uses that term he is defining a very important parameter for prayer, and it has two elements to it: 1. Praying in Jesus name means praying in relationship with Him. We approach the Father through our relationship with His Son. John 15:7 If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you - Christians are the only people on the earth whom God has promised to answer their prayers because they are the only ones in relationship with His Son. - Occasionally I ve had Non-Cns say to me, I ve tried praying. It doesn t work. And my answer is, Of course not! Pushing Jesus away with one hand and holding out the other to God and asking Him for a favour. - Of course God s not going to answer that kind of prayer not until you ve prayed the most important prayer of all the prayer that turns to Christ in faith and repentance and receives from him the forgiveness that He offers, the prayer that makes peace with God by coming into a relationship with his Son. Until you ve prayed that prayer, God s not going to take much notice of any other prayer.

4 - What about you? Have you made your peace with God? Have you entered into that relationship with his Son? And if not, why not? It s a great offer! Why don t you do something about it today? Talk to Mark or another mature Christian after the service. Don t leave here this morning without making your peace with God. 2. Praying in Jesus name means praying in accordance with Jesus character and will 1 John 5:14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God; that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us whatever we ask we know that we have what we asked of him. What sorts of things are definitely going to be in God s will? Well, I m pretty sure a Lamborghini is not high on God s list of Kingdom priorities. What we re talking about here is anything that extends His Kingdoms on and brings glory to His name. And that includes a huge range of things, from praying for revival for our nation, right down to praying for my simple daily needs, just as Jesus taught us to pray. Lord, please help me to find the money to pay this bill. Please give me strength for today, and help me to make it to the end of the week without throttling the kids. These are all good prayers to pray, and they are spiritual because are asking God for His help and He LOVES us to ask for His help, because he wants to help us. *** George Mueller When I am persuaded that a thing is right I go on praying until the answer comes. I never give up! I have been praying every day for 52 years for two men, sons of a friend of mine. They are not yet converted, but they will be. How can it be otherwise when we have the unchanging promises of God! You see, that is the kind of prayer that Jesus is promising to answer. And answer it he did! One of those men was converted a couple of years before Mueller s death. The second was converted 2 months after his death. George Mueller never lived to see the final answer to his prayers, but he went to his grave absolutely convinced that the answer would come. 5. God WILL Answer My Prayers *** SS Girl, letter to missionary. Teacher told her missionaries were very busy, so her letter should be brief and she should not expect an answer. So she wrote Dear Mr Smith. I am praying for you. I am not expecting an answer. Without realising it, that little girl summed up the prayer life of many Christians. We often pray, but we don t really expect an answer. And when an answer does come, we re surprised! No wonder some Christians rarely see answered prayer! In fact, that is precisely what James says in James 1:6-7, When you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. Such a person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord

5 Jesus said much the same thing on several occasions: Matthew 9:29 According to your faith will it be done to you Matthew 21:22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer Luke 17:6 "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you. Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have already received it, and it will be yours. *** David Yonggi Cho *** George Mueller. We find this kind of faith hard to comprehend don t we? It almost seems too presumptuous. But this is the kind of boldness that Jesus says that God is looking for in those who approach him in prayer. Far from being offended by this kind of boldness, God is honoured by it! Jesus NEVER ONCE rebuked someone for having too much faith. OUR PRAYERS HAVE A POWERFUL IMPACT FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD (Exo 17:8-13)The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands." So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up--one on one side, one on the other--so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. One man s prayer affected the outcome of an entire nation s battle! CONCLUSION I m reminded of an incident in my youth that changed my attitude to prayer completely *** ANGLICAN MISSIONARY. For some reason that I ll never fully understand, God has decided that our prayers play a crucial role in the outworking of His kingdom on earth. And that is why Jesus repeatedly implored his disciples to ask and ask and keep on asking for things in His name because our prayers really make a difference!

6 Do you want to see revival break out in this community on the Sunshine Coast in our nation Then we must take hold of the weapon that God has given us. We must pray! *** CHARLES SPURGEON: Prayer pulls the rope below, and the great bell rings above in the ears of God. Some Christians scarcely stir the bell, for they pray so languidly; others give but an occasional tug at the rope; but the ones who truly connect with heaven are those who grasp the rope boldly and pull continuously, with all their might There is no greater appointment you have in your day, in your week, than the appointment to come into the presence of God and pray. Because that appointment has the potential to change the world!