PERSISTENT
PRAYER
BREAD
5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly
praying to God for him. 6 The night
before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two
soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a
light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick,
get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. 8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your
clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow
me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter
followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was
doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second
guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by
itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one
street, suddenly the angel left him. 11 Then
Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent
his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish
people were anticipating.” Acts 12:5-11 (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. 17 Elijah
was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did
not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again
he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. James
5:16-18 (NIV)
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will
find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to
him who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give
him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 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
11:9-13 (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)
14 If my people, who are called by my name, will
humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,
then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their
land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the
prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated
this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will
always be there. 2 Chronicles 7:14-16 (NIV)
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God,
who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
6 But when he asks, he must
believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown
and tossed by the wind. 7 That
man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in
all he does. James 1:5-8 (NIV)
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a
door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which
I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may
proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be
wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of
grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Colossians 4:2-6
(NIV)
12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in
prayer. Romans 12:12 (NIV)
BUTTER
“The heart of
prayer is not getting things from God but getting God.” David Mathis
“One of the great uses
of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness
was not from lack of time.” John Piper
“God
has clearly revealed that He will
hear the prayer of those who call upon Him, and that declaration cannot be
contradicted. He has spoken so firmly, so truthfully, so righteously that there
can be no room for doubt. He does not reveal His mind in unintelligible words,
but He speaks plainly and positively. ‘Everyone who asks receives.’1
Doubter, believe this sure truth—that prayer must and will be heard, and that
never, even in the secrets of eternity, has the Lord said to any living soul, ‘Seek
me in vain.’ (Hebrews 13:5).” Charles
H. Spurgeon
“It is by prayer that we couple the powers of heaven to our helplessness … and make the impossible possible.” O. Hallesby
“What is most necessary for
understanding divine things is prayer.”
Origen of Alexandria
“No prayer is lost. Praying breath was never spent in vain. There is no such thing as prayer unanswered or unnoticed by God, and some things that we count refusals or denials are simply delays.” H. Bonar
“In all moods and in all seasons pour out
the soul in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, and if the Spirit groans
in intercession do not be afraid of the agony of prayer. There are blessings of the Kingdom that are
only yielded to the violence of the vehement soul.” Bruce Wilkinson
“Prayer
must be incessant and should not lack desire, spirit, or action. The knees may
not always be bent, but the spirit is always in the act and communication of
prayer. The spirit of prayer should sweetly rule and adjust all times and
occasions. Our activities and work should be performed in the same spirit that
makes our devotion and our prayer time sacred. Blessed is the person of God who
thus understand prayer, at any point, at any time. A full current of prayer is
seen flowing from him.” E.M.
Bounds
“Prayer is not so much a formula as it is a friendship
– rote as it is relational. Prayer is a
24/7 access to ‘Abba’ (Daddy) Father Who loves us with an everlasting love as
well as Who rejoices over us with singing.
Further, He ‘brings out the starry host one by one and calls them each
by name. Because of His great power and
mighty strength not one of them is missing.’
He is all love and all ability – all achieving power – nothing is too
hard for Him. Prayer is coming into His
Presence with singing and into His courts with praise. It is listening with Faith for His ‘still,
small voice’ as well as pouring out our hearts in Trust resting our heads
gently ‘between His shoulders’. It is
knowing His answer always has our best interest at heart because He loves
us. It is an unspeakably high gift from
the Creator to the created. Prayers
moves the hand and heart of God.” BHY
HEART SAVOR
·
Pray without
ceasing.
·
God delights in
the prayers of His children.
·
In all things,
prayer is to be our first resort not our last hope for help.
