SERIOUS
SOUL SUPPLICATION
BREAD
13 Is any
one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of
praise. 14 Is any
one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and
anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in
faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has
sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for
each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful
and effective. James 5:13-16 (NIV)
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they
love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by
men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But
when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who
is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for
they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not
be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 This,
then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in
heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will
be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give
us today our daily bread. 12 Forgive us our debts, as we
also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’” Matthew 6:5-13 (NIV)
1 As the
deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for
the living God. When can I go and meet with God? 3 My tears have been my food day
and night, while men say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" 4 These things I remember as I
pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession
to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive
throng. 5 Why
are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him, my Savior and 6 my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I
will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon--from
Mount Mizar. 7 Deep
calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have
swept over me. 8 By day
the Lord directs his love, at
night his song is with me-- a prayer to the God of my life. Psalms 42:1-8 (NIV)
1 I love
you, O Lord, my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my
rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my
stronghold. 3 I call
to the Lord, who is worthy of
praise, and I am saved from my enemies. 4 The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of
destruction overwhelmed me. 5 The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of
death confronted me. 6 In my
distress I called to the Lord; I
cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before
him, into his ears. 7 The
earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they
trembled because he was angry. 8 Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from
his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. 9 He parted the heavens and came
down; dark clouds were under his feet. 10 He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the
wings of the wind. Psalms 18:1-10 (NIV)
36 Then
Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to
them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
37 He
took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be
sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then
he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to
the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 39 Going a little farther, he
fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My
Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will,
but as you will.” 40 Then
he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Could
you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch
and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but
the body is weak.” 42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken
away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” 43 When he came back, he again
found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away
once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. 45 Then he returned to the
disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and
resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands
of sinners. 46 Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” Matthew 26:36-46 (NIV)
24 But
because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save
completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to
intercede for them. 26 Such a
high priest meets our need--one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from
sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to
offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins
of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered
himself. Hebrews 7:24-27 (NIV)
BUTTER
“There
comes a time, in spite of our soft, modern ways, when we must be desperate in
prayer, when we must wrestle, when we must be outspoken, shameless and
importunate. Many of the prayers
recorded in Scripture are ‘cries,’ and the Hebrew and Greek words are very
strong. Despite opinions to the
contrary, the Bible recognizes such a thing as storming heaven- ‘praying
through.’ The fervent prayer of a
righteous man is mighty in its working.” Cameron Thompson
“Their
fear set them a praying, and that was a good effect of it. God brings us into straits that He may bring
us to our knees.” Matthew
Henry
“Faith
is to prayer, what the feather is to the arrow; it feathers the arrow of
prayer, and makes it fly swifter, and pierce the throne of grace.” Thomas
Watson
“The
one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing
from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at
our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.” Samuel
Chadwick
“Groanings which cannot be uttered are often prayers which
cannot be refused.”
Charles H. Spurgeon
“Come, let us offer Him the great, universal sacrifice of our
love, and pour out before Him our richest hymns and prayers.” Ephrem
the Syrian
“Prayer is a
shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge to Satan.” John
Bunyan
“God shapes the
world by prayer.” E.M.
Bounds
“Prayer is that
mightiest of all weapons that created natures can wield.” Martin
Luther
“The kind of prayer that changes hearts and transforms neighborhoods and
rebuilds communities and revives nations is intense, fervent, and all business.
It’s that kind of dedicated ministry though which the real work of God gets
done.” David Jeremiah
“You know the value of prayer; it is precious beyond all
price. Never, never neglect it.” Thomas Buxton
HEART SAVOR
- · Our soul wrestlings in prayer must end in the relinquishments of our wills knowing God always has out best interests at heart. When we cannot understand outcomes we can trust in this. That is what faith is. Trusting His hand when we cannot see. He loves us and we can trust Him. He will one day perfect everything that concerns us. Being in the center of God’s will is the place every child of the King wants to be – always – whether it goes against our fleshly desires or not.
- · Never neglect the power and pleasure of prayer.
- · God’s eyes are on His children and His ears attentive to their cries.
