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weekly sermon
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Worthy Chat - Christian Chat
Prayer
One of the most common questions we receive is how do I pray ? Or what do I pray ?
To answer these questions we will take a look at what the bible has to say about prayer. In the book of James in chapter 5 verse 16 we read The earnest heartfelt , continued prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available - dynamic in its working ( Amplified )
Prayer is a face to face open communication between man and a living God , prayer is much more than just a religious practice , it is communication between a father in heaven and his child born of Christ . The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous , and his ears are open to their prayers ( 1 peter 3 : 12 )Speaking as a parent I keep an eye on my children and my ears are open to their cries , So the God of heaven watches over us and his ears are open to us . Psalm 103 :13 Says As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities them that fear him . To pray effectively we must first understand the nature of our relationship with God is a personal one , If we are born again , and have become the children of God then we have a personal relationship with God , and the spirit of God dwells within us .
The book of Hebrews 4 : 16 says Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy , and find grace to help in time of need . How can we come boldly to the throne of grace ? Because we are his children ( Ephesians 1:5 ) And the lords eyes are upon us and his ears are open to our prayers.
So once we realize we are born of God and holy and righteous in his sight and that our sins are atoned for , as we enter into Gods presence to pray , what do we pray ? I John 5:14, 15 says And this is the confidence we have in him, that , if we ask anything according to his will , he heareth us : And if we know that he heareth us , whatsoever we ask , we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him So we know that we may enter the throne of grace , and that Gods eyes and ears are open to us and that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us . Which brings us to the next question , How do I know if I am praying according to Gods will ? Pray Gods word . So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth : it shall not return unto me void , but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I send it ( Isaiah 55:11 ) If we pray Gods word then we know two things , the first is that we are in line with Gods will , the second is that Gods word does not return void but it accomplishes what it is sent to do.
The apostle Paul also gave instructions to the early church on prayer if you read the first chapters in the books of Ephesians , Philippians , Colossians and 1 Thessalonians you will find that there are many examples and instructions given to the church on how to pray , not only how to pray for ourselves but how to pray for other believers, governments , leaders and authority figures .
Philippians chapter 4 tells us to rejoice in the Lord always and to be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving to let your requests be made known unto God .
So we have learned the following :
1. That we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus ( 2 Corinthians 5:21 )
2. That we may enter boldly into the throne of grace ( Hebrews 4:16 )
3. The eyes and ears of the Lord are open to us ( 1 Peter 3:12 )
4. If we ask anything according to his will he hears us and we have the petitions we desire of him ( 1 John 5:14-15 )
5. When we pray Gods word we align our will with Gods and his word does not back void it accomplishes its purpose. ( 1 John 5 :14-15 ) ( Isaiah 55:11 )
6.The Apostle Paul gave instruction to the church on prayer ( Ephesians 1 , Ephesians 6 , Philippians 4 , Colossians 3 , 4 , I Thessalonians 5: 11-20 )
7. We are to rejoice in the Lord always ( Philippians 4:4 )
8. We are not to be worried or anxious ( Philippians 4:6 )
9. We are to make known our requests to God with prayer and thanksgiving ( Philippians 4:8 )
While we have in no way covered all the aspects of prayer , we have given you a starting point on which to base your prayers . And we pray for you all That the peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus . ( Philippians 4:7 )
Message by Reverend Ruby Pearl Anderson
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