PRAYER RELEASES POWER

PRAYER RELEASES POWER

Last week, we started learning how to pray. Let’s continue to learn how to do it.

We learned that in order to meaningfully pray, we must focus on the Word and meditate on it. John 15:7 says that ‘If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you’. Note the operative words – word, abide and answer to prayer. God wants us to meditate on His Word and let it sink deep inside our hearts. As we do that, we will begin to enjoy a beautiful prayer time with God.

Sadly though, Christendom sometimes makes us feel that our prayer life is inadequate. Some people claim that when they prayed the angel of the Lord came down and fellowshipped with them! Some others break out into passionate and spontaneous prayers and that leaves us feeling silly to be just ‘meditating on the Word and praying’. But it is a beautiful way to pray.

By no means am I saying that we should use this style of praying at our family devotions or before meals. This method of prayer is the best one for our private, individual prayer relationship with God.

Let me introduce you to some Bible personalities who have modeled this method for us.

1. DANIEL

in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

Daniel 9:2,3

Today we have 66 books bound together as the Bible. But in the olden days, these books were maintained individually in scrolls. Daniel took the scrolls and pored over them. He and his fellow countrymen (Israelites) were in exile under the Babylonian kingdom. The Israelites were longing to return to their homeland. As Daniel reads the book of Jeremiah, he learns that the exile would last 70 years and at the end of it, when they sought God, He would hear them and take them back home. Strengthened by this knowledge, Daniel begins to pray.

I am sure you will see that Daniel’s prayer is a beautiful testimony of meditating on God’s Word, gleaning God’s truth from it, seeing God’s amazing character and being strengthened by it.

2. EZRA

 

So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month.  Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.

Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law; and the people stood in their place.  So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.

Now on the second day the heads of the fathers’ houses of all the people, with the priests and Levites, were gathered to Ezra the scribe, in order to understand the words of the Law.

Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly, according to the prescribed manner.

Nehemiah 8:2, 3, 5-8, 13, 18

 

Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for one–fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God

Nehemiah 9:2-3

 

Prophet Ezra read from the Scriptures and all the Israelites paid rapt attention. As God’s Word began to come alive in their hearts powerfully, the Israelites stood up and confessed their sins and worshipped the Lord their God.

 

For almost three hours continuously!

 

Then Nehemiah steps up and leads the community in prayer. What an incredible experience is this!

3. THE EARLY CHURCH

 

And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the mouth of Your servant David have said:

‘Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain things?

The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the Lord and against His Christ.’

“For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”

And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

Acts 4:23-31

Peter and John had done someone a mighty big favor – healed a lame man in Jesus’ name; a miracle you may call it. Instead of being wowed by God’s awesomeness, the authorities took them aside and sternly reprimanded them for using Jesus’ name!!

Peter and John returned to their friends and reported all that had happened. Trembling, they turn to God. They begin their prayer by worshiping Yahweh with some of King David’s Psalms. (Psalm 146:6 and Psalm 2:1). Clearly they had been spending time meditating on God’s Word. Their prayer then naturally flows into an earnest request for boldness. Guess what? God answered their trusting heart and blesses them with supernatural courage and boldness.

4. JESUS

 

Jesus Christ demonstrated it throughout His earthly life. At many instances, we see Him quoting God’s Word. For e.g – when tempted by the devil in the wilderness Jesus responded with God’s Word. Hanging on the Cross, Jesus cried out to His Father, ‘My God, my God why have you forsaken me?’ That was from Psalm 22:1. Also, His final words ‘Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’” was a reference from Psalm 31:5. In all these instances we see how the Word of God was deeply embedded in Jesus’ heart. As a result of it, He was able to see God in every situation and speak to His Father according to His Will.

From all of the above, we see clearly how important meditation of the Word is in order for prayer. Ephesians 6:17 and 18 say, ‘ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit’. We see an obvious progression here – the Word of the Lord leading into prayer. There are many Christian giants who led powerful and meaningful lives, and it was only because they spent an equally powerful and meaningful time in prayer.

Before we conclude, let me show you one more example of meditating on the Word and praying.

Psalm 25:1-11

1. Verse 1 – ‘To You, OLord, I lift up my soul.’ Let us think about that. The Psalmist says that he lifts up his soul to God; not just his hands, eyes or voice. But everything within him. Shall we begin our prayer with those words? Let us lift up everything within us to our Lord.

 

2. Verse 2 – ‘O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me.’ O my God. Focus on those words. Let us think about it. There is an element of possessiveness. Let us pray to this God of ours. He is not just a random being somewhere out there. He is our God and we can trust in Him!

 

3. Verse 2 and 3 – ‘Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me. Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause’. David is praying that God wouldn’t let him be Like David, we can boldly ask God for our request. For e.g- If we have a family problem or a work problem, we can pray that God would sort it out so that we are not humiliated.

 

4. Verse 3 – ‘Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause’. The verse says ‘no one’. It is referring to everyone who is waiting on God. As we meditate on God’s Word, we can look above our own situation and remember everybody else whom we know are waiting. Let us boldly ask God for help on their behalf too.
5. Verse 4 – ‘Show me Your ways, OLord; Teach me Your paths’. We need to know God’s ways and paths for breakthroughs in our lives. Our ways and paths are not foolproof. But God’s are. As we ask Him for that, God will grant us wisdom and discernment to handle our problems and worries.

 

6. Verse 5 – ‘Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For Youare the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day’. Sometimes it is easy to get distracted by other plans, ideas and options. So like David, let us pray that God would teach us to wait on Him all day long. That He alone would be our trust and hope.

 

7. Verses 6 and 7 – ‘Remember, OLord, Your tender mercies and Your loving kindnesses, For they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; according to Your mercy remember me, for Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.’ David had committed many sins in his life. So have we. Sometimes unnecessary guilt worms its way into our heart and wedges itself there awkwardly. Like David, let us ask God to forgive us of our sins and to be free from the clutches of guilt forever. Let that not distract or condemn us during our prayer time.

 

8. Verses 8 and 9 – ‘Good and uprightis the Lord; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way. The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way.’ – Let us also humble ourselves and seek God’s help.

 

9. Verses 10 and 11 – ‘All the paths of theLord are mercy and truth, To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies. For Your name’s sake, O Lord, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great’. Humbling ourselves also involves seeking God’s pardon for our sins.

Wasn’t that an incredible time of meditating on God’s Word and praying? A random, rambling prayer can be meaningless. But a prayer soaked in mediation of God’s Word can be amazingly effective.

CONCLUSION

Let me conclude this series on Prayer with the story of a famous man of God. George Muller lived in the 1800s. He loved God and wanted to spend time praying. Often he would wake up early and get on his knees. But he would struggle through his prayer time just to stay awake and focused. One day he changed his method. He whispered a short prayer. ‘Lord, help me to understand your Word’. He started reading God’s Word and meditating on it. Slowly that led him into a wonderful time of prayer. As he continued to delight in this renewed prayer life, one day he read James 1:27 which said, ‘Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.’ That verse jumped out at him. He gazed out of his window and the eyes of his heart opened. He saw many orphans wandering on the streets of Bristol. The Spirit of the Lord confirmed to his heart what he needed to do next. George Muller obeyed and started an orphanage. He experienced numerous miracles and was able to transform the lives of almost 10,000 orphan children by his ministry.

Stories like that are inspiring, aren’t they? These can be our stories too. As we meditate on God’s Word and spend time praying and hearing God, He can do amazing thing for His glory through our lives.