FAITHFUL
IN PRAYER
BREAD
12 Be
joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans
12:12 (NIV)
13 When
they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those
present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and
Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They
all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the
mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. Acts 1:13-14 (NIV)
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. Acts 2:42-43 (NIV)
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. Acts 2:42-43 (NIV)
13 “If you then, though you are evil, know how
to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke
11:13 (NIV)
2 Devote
yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians
4:2 (NIV)
6 Do
not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And
the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts
and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
16 Be
joyful always; 17 pray continually;
18 give thanks in all
circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1
Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)
1 Then
Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray
and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God
nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him
with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For some time
he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don't fear God or
care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that
she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!’” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not
God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and
night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he
will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man
comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:1-8 (NIV)
41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The
spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” Matthew 26:41 (NIV)
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 5:16 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Life is war.
That’s not all it is. But it is always that. Our weakness in prayer is owing
largely to our neglect of this truth. Prayer is primarily a wartime
walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers
of darkness and unbelief. It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we
try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the
den. God has given prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie so that we can call
headquarters for everything we need as the kingdom of Christ advances in the
world. Prayer gives us the significance
of frontline forces and gives God
the glory of a limitless Provider. The one who gives the power gets the
glory. Thus, prayer safeguards the supremacy of God in missions while linking us
with endless grace for every need.”
John Piper
“A prayerless soul is a Christless soul.” Charles
Spurgeon
“The
fervent prayer of a righteous man is mighty in its working.” Cameron
Thompson
“Men may spurn our
appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons; but
they are helpless against our prayers.” J. Sidlow Baxter
“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
“‘Dost thou want nothing, O poor soul? Hast thou nothing to ask? Oh yes!
You say, a great deal. Well then,
draw near to thy gracious King and Bridegroom without fear. Lo! He
holds out His golden scepter to thee, saying, ‘Only ask: not the half, but the whole of My kingdom
shall be granted; nay, I will give myself unto thee!’ O dear soul, pray, and tell Him everything
that is wanting, be it ever so great or ever so small. His loving-kindness will hear even the least
petition; nay, He will seem to be ignorant of what thou dost not tell Him. But whatever is poured out before Him is
actually addressed and lodged in its proper place, and does not lie upon thy
heart any longer, but upon His heart, which cannot rest till you are
relieved. And if you have experienced
His help aforetime in great or small things, you may depend on His readiness to
help you out of troubles hereafter; only be earnest in prayer for His
help. We often imagine we were willing
and drawing near to Him, but He was unwilling, and refused our request; but it
is not so: He rather draws us, and
desires our relief more than we do; for it is He that works even this willing
mind.” K.H.
Von Bogatzky
“The
chief purpose of prayer is that God may be glorified in the answer.” R.A.
Torrey
“Pleading the promises
of God is the whole secret of prayer.”
Martyn Lloyd-Jones
“Satan
has, in fact, a plan against the saints of the Most High, which is to wear them
out. What is meant by this phrase, ‘wear
out’? It has in it the idea of reducing
this minute, then reducing a little further the next minute. Reduce a little today, reduce a little
tomorrow. Thus, the wearing out is
almost imperceptible; nevertheless, it is reducing. The wearing down is scarcely an activity of
which one is conscious, yet the end result is that there is nothing left. He will take away your prayer life little by
little and cause you to trust God less and less and yourself more and more, a
little at a time. He will make you feel
somewhat cleverer than before. Step by
step, you are misled to rely more on your own gift, and step by step, your
heart is enticed away from the Lord.
Now, were Satan to strike the children of God with great force at one
time, they would know exactly how to resist the enemy since they would
immediately recognize his work. He uses
the method of gradualism to wear down the people of God.” Watchman Nee
“The great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer but
unoffered prayer.”
F. B. Meyer
“Prayer is a
shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge to Satan.” John
Bunyan
“Prayer is that
mightiest of all weapons that created natures can wield.” Martin
Luther
“God
shapes the world by prayer. Prayers are deathless. They outlive the lives of
those who uttered them.” E.M. Bounds
“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
HEART SAVOR
- · God desires our faithfulness in prayer with proper motives. It is His desire that He is glorified by His answer. The One Who gives the power gets the glory. 2 You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:2-3 (NIV)
- · Believers are to pray continually – being watchful and thankful.
- · Praise is the precursor to prayer.
