THE
MIGHTY WEAPON OF PRAYER
BREAD
19 The people all said to Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that
we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for
a king.” 20 “Do not be afraid,”
Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 21 Do not turn away after useless idols. They
can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. 22 For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because
the LORD was pleased to make you
his own. 23 As for me, far be it
from me that I should sin against the LORD
by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and
right. 24 But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all
your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.” 1 Samuel 12:19-24
(NIV)
13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no
rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 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 7:13-16 (NIV)
11 “For I know the plans I have for
you,” declares the LORD, “plans to
prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and
pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You
will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from
captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have
banished you,” declares the LORD, “and
will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NIV)
20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin
and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill-- 21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel,
the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the
time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He
instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and
understanding. 23 As soon as
you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you
are highly esteemed.” Daniel 9:20-23
(NIV)
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty
power. 11 Put on the full
armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh
and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers
of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
realms. 13 Therefore put on
the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to
stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of
truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
15 and with your feet fitted
with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the
shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the
evil one. 17 Take the helmet
of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all
occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert
and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:10-18 (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)
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his
ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those
who do evil. 1 Peter 3:12 (NIV)
BUTTER
“When we see our
inability to do anything that makes any difference to ourselves or our world.
When we see past what’s happening right now, and today, and tomorrow, to what
God has been doing in us and our world, and to what God will do in us and our
world. When we see how much we need God to change us by his Spirit, and to
change other people by his Spirit. When we see these things, then we will start
to pray — and keep praying.” Gary Millar
“Jesus calls his people
to be distinct from the world, its patterns, and what’s natural. He calls us, guided by his
gospel and supplied by his Spirit, to be like our supernatural
Father in heaven, who loved us when we were yet enemies, hears our simple
childlike prayers, knows and cares for our every need, and exercise authority
with grace and self-sacrifice, not dominance or heavy-handedness.” David Mathis
“We can be world changers by bending the knees. Prayer changes things the least of which is
our own hearts. As Chesterton aptly
stated: ‘Dear Sir: Regarding your article ‘What’s Wrong with the World?’ I am.
Yours truly.’ Prayer is ever mighty in
its working. It moves the hand of
God. Be faithful in prayer.” BHY
“Prayer is that mightiest of all weapons that created natures
can wield.” Martin Luther
“The
core of the gospel is that we have nothing, contribute nothing, bring nothing
to God — we are rescued by grace alone through faith (asking!) alone. It
shouldn’t come as a shock that prayer, which is made possible by the gospel and
shaped by the gospel, works exactly the same way. The gospel tells us that God
gives to us; we don’t give to God. So we need to ask. God has spoken to us; we
talk back to him — and basically, that means asking! We ask for help to
understand what God has done for us, to live in the light of what he has done
for us, to hold on to what he has done for us, to show other people what he has
done for us.” Gary
Millar
“God shapes the
world by prayer. Prayers are deathless. They outlive the lives of those who
uttered them.” E.M. Bounds
“Almighty God is the very
highest model, and to be like Him is to possess the highest character. Prayer
molds us into the image of God. At the same time it tends to mold others into
the same image in proportion to our praying for them.” E.M.
Bounds
“The chief purpose of
prayer is that God may be glorified in the answer.” R. A.
Torrey
“Our hands may seem
tied, but our knees never are.” Ann Voskamp
“Men may spurn our
appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons; but
they are helpless against our prayers.”
J. Sidlow Baxter
HEART SAVOR
·
Prayer is
a mighty weapon in the hand of the created – use it!
·
God loves
for us to depend upon Him, to
earnestly seek Him in prayer for power, for patience, for the petty, for the
precious, for all things go to Him. No created
being has ever done anything in the flesh that is eternal – what is done in the
flesh will never make it through the fires of His testing – they will always be
found wanting.
·
“Pray
continually.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17
