PRAY FERVENTLY EARNESTLY INTENTIONALLY EXPECTANTLY
BREAD
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)
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 6:18 (NIV)
9 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother
had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” 10 Jabez
cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my
territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be
free from pain.” And God granted his request.
1 Chronicles 4:9-10 (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
4:5-7 (NIV)
20 They were helped in fighting them, and God handed the
Hagrites and all their allies over to them, because they cried out to him
during the battle. He answered their prayers, because they trusted in him. 1 Chronicles 5:20 (NIV)
1 Give
ear to my words, O LORD, consider my sighing. 2 Listen
to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. 3 In
the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before
you and wait in expectation. Psalms
5:1-3 (NIV)
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God:
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And
if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we
asked of him. 1 John 5:14-15 (NIV)
7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up
prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him
from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Although
he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and,
once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey
him. Hebrews 5:7-9 (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)
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 1 Peter 3:12 (NIV)
12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in
prayer. Romans 12:12 (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)
BUTTER
“Neglecting to pray is a direct result of
the sin of self-confidence. And instead of praying, we usually worry (as though
that will help). Yet Philippians tells
us, ‘Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus’ (4:6 NKJV). So, we don’t
say, ‘I can handle this, God,’ or ‘I’ll fix that, Lord.’ Instead, we need to pray about it. We need to
say, ‘Lord, I need your help right now. I’m at the point where I’m tired of
trusting in myself, and I’m calling out to you, Lord.’” Greg Laurie
“Do we really believe in the power of prayer? That God will revive a country, a state, a
city, a soul - in direct response to our petitions? Why are we reticent to act on the behalf of
ourselves and others? All the promises
of Scripture stand at the ready for the bended knee.” BHY
“‘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
“Each day we are to approach God in humble repentance
in prayer, asking Him to cleanse us from all unrighteousness – washing us with
the precious blood of His Son. We are to
search our hearts and ask the Holy Spirit to search our hearts as well,
pointing out to us things that do not please our Savior. The heart is deceitful above all things and
only God searches and knows each heart fully – we can delude ourselves but
never Him. Confess what He brings to
light and seek to turn from it.
Oftentimes, this is done throughout the day because we can get awfully
dirty. Be broken over sin – especially
repetitive - and seek to stay out of the pigpen and the muck and mire – for our
own good and always for His glory.” BHY
“You
know the value of prayer; it is precious beyond all price. Never, never neglect it.” Thomas Buxton
“God shapes the
world by prayer.” E.M.
Bounds
“Prayer
is that mightiest of all weapons that created natures can wield.” Martin
Luther
HEART SAVOR
·
The prayer of the righteous is both powerful and effective –
never, never, neglect it.
·
All the promises of Scripture stand at the ready of the bended
knee.
·
The same God who parted the Red Sea is the same God Who
avails Himself to hear our prayers and move His mighty hand on our behalf.
