Wed Pm Worship
Text: Luke 11: 1-4 (King James Version)
"Father, I am your servant, willing and desiring to be used to bless your people."
The Fields are white and the laborers are
few!
2. C.H. Spurgeon said, "If God does not save a man by truth he certainly
will not save them by lies, and if the old gospel is not competent to work a
revival, then we will do without the revival;
Luke 11:1
And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he
ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also
taught his disciples.
Luke 11:2
And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in
earth.
Luke 11:3
Give us day by day our daily bread.
Luke 11:4
And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted
to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from
evil.
I love to pray. Prayer is my way of releasing faith and
submitting my heart to the Divine plan for me. I think good prayer is talking,
and praying in the Spirit, and praising. But I have learned good prayer takes
time to be still and allow time to listen. Many do all the talking, when
listening to the Divine heartbeat is a great joy. Some say I can't feel
anything, so I stop.
Real effective prayer is a time to release faith. When
you can't feel your prayers could be a time of testing, --- to see do you
believe or are you just talking.
In Luke 11:1 the disciples never said, Lord
teach us how to pray...??? Their request was that Jesus would teach them to
pray!! Lord teach us to pray, we need the birth of a prayer warrior spirit, in
us first and others second.
James
5:16 --- The effectual fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much. I want
my time in prayer to be a wise investment and not just a beating of the
air.
I know the Word of God does the Work of God, I look to
the Bible and ponder some prayer aids found there. Good prayer needs to arise
out of the heart, not just the mouth. I think more good things are wrought in
prayer than by dreaming. The chicken hawk can pray all day, but that does not
get him a chicken? Well, I want to look at some rules or laws in the Bible
regarding prayer.
1. Law of a PURE HEART.
Psa 66:18 If I regard
iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. God is not looking for perfect
hearts but pure hearts. Any one from the country knows, if a cow eats green
onions out of the field, it will have BAD BREATH, BUT THERE IS SOMETHING ELSE TO
NOTE: the cows milk will have a terrible taste. Not only does the cows breath
stink, but the cows product will smell and taste bad. Our heart must be
obedient, 1 Sam. 14:37 and 1 Sam. 28:6. Again not perfect hearts of perfect
people but hearts washed white by the precious cleansing power of the Lamb of
God. Read Isa.59:2, Mic.3:4.
2.THE LAW OF A FORGIVING SPIRIT.
Bitterness and
anger is growing in the church pews, in our school systems, in the our world.
This bitterness and wrath hinders the effectiveness of prayer. Col. 3:19
Husbands love your wife and be not bitter against them. Could bitterness grow at
home as disobedience and hinder prayers? Read the Bible this is clear...1 Peter
3:7 Ye husbands ---giving honor unto the wife --- THAT YOUR PRAYERS BE NOT
HINDERED. Wow, fighting at home can hinder our prayer life? Read Mark
11:25-26... When ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any ----
the Father forgives, you must forgive. 26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will
your Father. A forgiving spirit is necessary to walk on heaven's sod. If your
prayers seemed hindered, check who you are bitter, angry, or unforgiving?
3. THE LAW OF FAITH.
James 4:3 Let him ask in faith,
nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the
wind and tossed. How sad today, we pray many words and then worry. Worry is a
type of doubt. Doubt is a type of fear. We used to say Pray Through. That meant
stay on the knees until you know that you have touched God. Now we pray and go
home and worry and reach for the valium? Heb. 11:6, Without faith it is
impossible to please God. Mark 11:23 --- ye Shall say to the mountain...and
shall not doubt in his heart. If you are going to invest in prayer--- believe.
We believe our feelings? We believe the circumstances? We believe our eyes? Why
not have faith in God?
Mark 11: 22 Jesus said, HAVE FAITH IN GOD. We trust the
banks, why not trust God. People tend to only believe when they see, Christians
must believe, ... then see.
4.THE LAW OF RIGHT MOTIVE.
James 4:3 Ye ask, and
receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
Any one from the country knows, if a cow eats green
onions out of the field, it will have BAD BREATH, BUT THERE IS SOMETHING ELSE TO
NOTE: the cows milk will have a terrible taste. Not only does the cows breath
stink, but the cows product will smell and taste bad. Our heart must be obey.
Recently I dreamed, and in the dream I saw Jesus. Jesus was crying in my
dream. He was broken hearted. I asked Him, JESUS, WHY ARE YOU CRYING? He replied
to me, I have more request for new cars than I have for lost souls.
God is
not Santa Claus? Prayer if properly prayed is for the benefit of the whole and
is not selfish. God give me..., God give me this, ...God give me that. I know a
man that prays for the red light to turn green. I know a lady that prays for a
parking place up close to the Walmart door, park and walk. (Unless you are
handicapped) Walking might be good for you? Pleasure becomes many Christian's
motive. God's glory should be the motive. Many pray for healing to get out of
pain, then they never testify, or never work?
5.THE LAW OF GOD'S WILL.
1 John 5:14 This is the
confidence that we have in HIM, that if we ask any thing according to HIS WILL,
HE heareth us. The example prayer Jesus gave us, --- Thy WILL be done on earth
as it is in heaven. We presume we know God's will, and this is not always true.
I have cleaned up where one preacher prayed and said they will be healed by in
the morning, and the person died during the night. Never forget the Sovereignty
of God. Seek HIS WILL and you will never pray amissed?
6.THE LAW OF JESUS NAME.
John 14:14 If ye ask
anything in MY NAME, I will do it. Have you ever written a check and filled it
all out properly and forgot to sign it? Legally that check is worthless without
a valid signature. We don't pray to Buddha, we pray to the Father in the name of
Jesus Christ.
Jude 20 But ye, beloved building up
yourselves on the most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. The Spirit of God
knows the heart of God, and the Son's wishes. Good effective prayer must get
beyond the letter of the law into the Spirit of the law. We don't always
understand the spiritual battles ongoing in this world. We thus yield to God's
Spirit and can pray more effectively. Please, Enlarge my hands and pass to
others?