NEVER ENOUGH PRAYER
If any of you should ask me for an epitome of the Christian religion, I should say it is in that one word-prayer. -Spurgeon
1 Thessalonians 5:17, Pray without ceasing.
Many people claim that we need to do more exercises. Some say we need to invest more money. Some claim that we need more education. Whatever you think you need more of… reconsider. What we need more of is prayer! We need people praying for one another. We need people praying for our country. We need people praying for the government. We need people who sell out and pray for this lost, dying, and hurting generation! There is never enough prayer! If you don’t have anyone to pray for, pray for me!
CRY TO GOD
If Christians spent as much time praying as they do grumbling, they would soon have nothing to grumble about. -Anonymous
Psalm 54:2, Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.
I used to work at a Christian School and the administrator had an open-door policy. He said, that if his door was open, we could come in and talk with him any time. However, if the door was shut, he didn’t want anyone bothering him.
I am thankful this morning that we can cry to God at any time because He has an open-door policy at all times. You see, friend, our Saviour never sleeps nor slumbers so we have full access to Him 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and on those leap years we have an extra 24 hours to make our requests known! We get to cast our care upon Him because He cares for us! Will you invest a little time in prayer this morning?
NO NEED TO WORRY
When we worry, we are saying God can’t handle our problems.
Philippians 4:6, Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
We all have problems. Some big, some small. I cannot determine the extent of how big or small your problems are. We just need to understand that no matter the size, God says to cast all of our care upon Him! That way we don’t go about worrying about them to the extent that we are sinning. Yes, I said that and it’s true! When we don’t trust God with our problems, we may as well be saying, “God, you can’t do anything about my problems.”
The truth of the matter is, we have no need to worry because God is bigger than all of our problems! Trust Him this morning friend! He can save you! He can support you! He can deliver you out of the deepest, darkest valley you may be in!
EVER AVAILABLE
God may not always answer prayers, but he always answers people. -Anonymous
Luke 11:9, And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
I am glad we have access to our Heavenly Father! We can go before Him at any time or any place. We can come to Him with sincere questions about life. We can plead our case before Him. We can praise His name. We can just say thank you. No matter what, we have complete and total access to the Lord! What a joy it is to know we can call out to Him in our midnight hours and He is there!
What’s on your heart this morning? Have you gone to the Lord in prayer? Hey friend, He is ever available for you and I to call out to Him with what’s on our mind! Don’t hesitate!
A LISTENING LORD
He hears your prayers if you have a clean heart!
Psalm 66:15-20, Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.
Who does God hear? He hears the prayers of those with righteous heart.
What make a righteous heart? Confession of sin. An individual who has been washed in the Blood of the Lamb. The one who has repented and trusted Jesus Christ as Saviour and is walking in His will.
Do you want God to hear your prayers; keep slate clean!
James 5:16, The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Do you want God to answer your prayers; stay in His will!
John 9:31, Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.
Child of God, The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.
When you pray, do you want a listening Lord to hear your prayers? If you do, then keep a clean slate and stay in His will!
HEAR ME
Human hearing is one thing, Divine hearing is another.
Psalm 143:1, Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.
David cries out to the Lord and is expecting an answer. He says, “In thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.” How often do we say a prayer but we really do it as lip service; not really seeking an answer? How often do we say, “I’m praying for you, but never think about the request again?
Friend, God hears us when we call out to Him. We ought to be expecting Him to answer our prayers when we go to Him with a clean heart and motives that are honoring and glorifying to Him! Will you call out to the Lord this morning with the thought of “HEAR MY PRAYER O LORD…” on your mind?
HEAR ME
Human hearing is one thing, Divine hearing is another.
Psalm 143:1, Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.
David cries out to the Lord and is expecting an answer. He says, “In thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.” How often do we say a prayer but we really do it as lip service; not really seeking an answer? How often do we say, “I’m praying for you, but never think about the request again?
Friend, God hears us when we call out to Him. We ought to be expecting Him to answer our prayers when we go to Him with a clean heart and motives that are honoring and glorifying to Him! Will you call out to the Lord this morning with the thought of “HEAR MY PRAYER O LORD…” on your mind?
PRAYER MEETING
God gives us permission to pray because He wants us to communicate with Him.
1 Timothy 2:8, I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.
God wants you and I to talk with Him anytime and anywhere. We are not limited as to when or where we can call out to Him. Some think you must be in their prayer closet or in church to pray. But the Bible tells us that God’s will is for men to pray everywhere!
When is the last time you met God for a time of prayer? Daniel met Him. Paul met Him. Jesus met His Father in times of prayer! If God finds a time of prayer important, we should to.
PRAYING FOR POWER
I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for that day. --Abraham Lincoln
Psalm 88:9, Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.
Calling to the Lord. Crying out to God. Whispering a prayer. I don’t care how you communicate with the Lord, just do it. It is the believer’s source of strength. The access we have to God surpasses any other resource that we have in our tool box Christian friend! There isn’t anywhere that it cannot be accessed. Elijah called out under the juniper tree. Paul prayed in prison. Jesus prayed on the Cross.
We can call Him in our times of tribulations. We can call out to Him in times of sorrow. We can call out to Him for power, wisdom, health, strength, and even victory! But when is the last time you called out to the Lord to just thank Him for the blessings He gives?
WE NEED PRAYER
We are not told that Jesus ever taught His disciple how to preach, but He taught them how to pray. He wanted them to have power with God; then He knew they would have power with man. - D.L. Moody
James 5:16, Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
The 2020 election is over. We have prayed, cast our votes, and the ballots have been tallied up. There are winners and losers on both sides. Now, that it’s over, let’s start praying for the winners to follow God’s Will in their personal life. First, for personal salvation if they’re not saved and second, if they are, for the wisdom to know how to represent the areas they have won!
YES, NO, NOT NOW
Patient waiting is often the highest way of doing God's will. -Collier
Psalm 130:5, I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
There are some words the Christian should remove from their vocabulary; worry and fret are a couple. When we worry and fret, we are not yielding the Lord’s will for our lives. When we ask the Lord questions like, “Why me Lord?”, “When Lord?”, or “Lord, how long do I have to wait?”, we are not submitting to His will for our lives. When we pray He may answer with a yes. It may be a no. And sometimes, it’s not now. We had faith to follow His Word, praying and asking, do we have faith to wait on the answer? Do we have the faith to wait on the Lord?
GET IT OFF YOUR CHEST
It does not spoil your happiness to confess your sin. The unhappiness is in not making the confession. -Spurgeon
Psalm 55:22, Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
Carrying around the burden of sin and shame is more than anyone should attempt to do. That is why the Lord has told us to give Him our burden of sin. Give Him our struggles. Give Him our problems. Give Him our issues. Give Him our life and He will give us His!
Are you still trying to carry the burden of sin around? You might do it for a while but you’ll never get rid of it until you give it to Jesus.
Are you still attempting to do right—you can’t.
Are you still trying to be right—you can’t.
Are you still working your way to heaven—you can’t.
Get it off your chest and be set free by confessing your sin to the Lord!
BEGIN IN PRAYER
Before social media, before coffee, before getting out of bed, a season of prayer is in order.
Psalm 5:3, My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
A fresh, new day demands a fresh, new prayer! In the wilderness God gave the Children of Israel manna for every day. Come before Him this morning making your new request to Him and He will give you something new to chew on! He is still in the prayer answering business friend! Have you begun this new day off right? If not, stop right now and pray!
STOP COMPLAINING AND GO PRAY
Ten minutes' praying is better than a year's murmuring. –Spurgeon
Philippians 2:14, “Do all things without murmurings and disputings:”
I have a challenge for us today. See how long we can go without complaining about anything. Be thankful for the home we have, for the clothes we have, for the country we live in, for the freedoms we have, for the spouse we are married to, for the children God gave us, for the food we will eat today, and most especially for the salvation that has been provided for us in the Lord Jesus! The list goes on and on. If you have ever worked with someone that all they do is complain then it will become very evident how unthankful we can be.
In Romans 1:21, we see the beginning of the fall of a person that does not glorify and thank God. “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” Read the progression through verse 31 to see how a heart falls when we don’t glorify and thank God for whom He is and what He has done!
Stop complaining and go pray this morning! It will be the beginning of a wonderful habit you will not be able to live without!
KNEEL TO HEAR THE ANSWER
I used to pray that God would do this or that. Now I pray that God will make His will known to me.-- unknown
1 John 5:14, And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
Seeking God’s will for our lives can be taxing sometimes. Not because He is hiding it from us but because we are looking in all the wrong places. We need to start looking for it on our knees! When we do that- we are sure to find it!