Thursday, July 17, 2008

PRAY AGAIN!

Prayer comes in many forms and at many times it changes to fit the situation. When you are in need, the tone changes. When you are in joy, your tone will follow that line.

Luke 18:1~8
The Parable of the Persistent Widow
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?"

Lady searching for the coin. The Parable of the Lost Coin
Luke 15:8-10 (New International Version)
8 "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Man finding the treasure of great worth and buying the field.
Matthew 13:44-45 (NIV)
The Parable of the Hidden Treasure and Pearls
44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.

Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all the rest will be added unto you…
Matthew 6:32-34 (New International Version)
32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

1. Evidence of Effective Prayer
a. Peace: Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
b. Power: James 5:16 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.
c. Holy Spirit Lead: Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

2. Reality of Effective Prayer
a. Prayer has Purpose: Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
b. Prayer has Power: Matthew 18:19 "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven."
c. Prayer gives us Great Possibilities: 1 John 5:14~15 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him.

Next week: Fasting God's Fast