SERMON DATE AND TITLE: 2008-08-31: "God Works Through Prayer"
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GOD WORKS THROUGH PRAYER
SERMON STARTER
Two incidents last week reminded me of the necessity of prayer. A recovering addict that attends my church was facing a “Driving Under Suspension” charge. Last Fall his license was suspended because of his continued “driving under the influence” incidents. His license was suspended and he chose to drive anyway. He was caught a month ago by an officer of the law and now he was facing the judge again.
He remembered this sermon and asked God for forgiveness and for His and the earthly judge’s favor. My phone rang on Tuesday morning. He was euphoric. The judge found a loophole in the law and added a MONTH to his suspension instead of a whole year. Now, by November 1st he will be driving again.
“We prayed, and God answered.” He seemed to be surprised that God would hear and answer him.
Why shouldn’t God answer? Many times He simply waits until we ask to grant our petition. He told us, “You have not, because you ask not.”
The other incident that reminds me of the necessity of prayer happened with my local ministerial evangelical group. We call ourselves the Unity Pastor’s Evangelical Prayer Fellowship and assemble every Wednesday morning for prayer and fellowship. The past couple of years we have lost several key people in our group. Over these past months our prayer focus slowly slipped away.
We struggled to keep our focus, but moved more toward a fellowship of pastors than a “prayer fellowship.” We covered many interesting topics of discussion, but left the meetings sometimes feeling frustrated and empty. Prayer at the end of the meetings became a 30 minute “add-on.” Many slipped away before the prayer time because they had “other commitments.”
Several times a word of correction was lovingly administered, but it went unheeded. Recently, however, there has been a new birth of prayer in the group. When someone shares a need for prayer, instead of writing down requests, we immediately go into intercessory prayer about that individual’s need. Afterwards, we listen and relate to one another what we believe God is saying.
This past week the meeting was exciting. It felt like the Lord showed up in a new and more spontaneous way. This is the way of life of prayer was supposed to be. It is the one Jesus demonstrated and lived out before His disciples. Sincere, heart-felt prayer is a necessity.
Pastor Phil <><<
Sheepfold Ministries, August 31, 2008
Pastor Phil Roland
INTERCESSORY PRAYER
GOD WORKS THROUGH PRAYER
1 Kings 18
“Adam was given by God total authority/dominion over the earth. Only Adam and God had the ability to give that dominion to another. Adam gave it to Satan, Jesus bought it back with His own blood.” Pastor Phil
I. MANKIND LOST THE AUTHORITY TO GOVERN –
A. Adam and Eve’s Sin gave Dominion/Authority to Satan
B. Satan is called the Prince of this World –
1. Greek – “Archon” of this world – First in rank or power
2. Satan contended with Jesus - John 14:30
"I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming,
and he has nothing in Me.”
a. If you walk with Jesus, you will contend with him
b. He is called, “Anti-Christ”
3. Satan has already been judged and defeated - John 16:7-11
"Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away;
for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will
send Him to you. "And when He has come, He will convict the world of
sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: "of sin, because they do not
believe in Me; "of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see
Me no more; "of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”
C. Satan Usurped Man’s Authority / Dominion – Luke 4:5,6
1. USURPER:
“To seize another's place, authority, or possession wrongfully.”
2. The Devil offers Jesus what he wrongfully took from Adam
“Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the
kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him,
"All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been
delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. "Therefore, if You
will worship before me, all will be Yours." And Jesus answered and said
to him, "Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the
LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"
D. Satan’s Power of Dominion ended at the Cross - John 12:28-32
"Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have
both glorified it and will glorify it again." Therefore the people who stood by and
heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."
Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your
sake. "Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be
cast out. "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."
1. God took away Satan’s power to accuse
2. Satan’s power was nailed to Jesus’ Cross – Col. 2:13b,14
”He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us,
which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having
nailed it to the cross.”
E. Woman’s Seed (Jesus) To Bruise Satan’s Headship – Gen.3:14,15
“So the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, You are
cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly
you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."
II. MANKIND REGAINED DOMION/AUTHORITY OVER EARTH
A. God Decided to Limit Himself to Work through Mankind
1. Through the Incarnation God Regains What Adam Lost
2. God becomes a man and joins the human race
B. Mankind is God’s Link to Authority on Earth
1. The necessity of prayer
2. We ask Him – Matt. 6:10,11; Matt. 9:38; 2 Thes. 3:1
“"This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be
your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in
heaven. Give us today our daily bread.”
“Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his
harvest field."”
“Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread
rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may
be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith.”
C. God Used Elijah to Accomplish His Will – 1 Kings 18
1. Elijah prayed Effective, Fervent Prayers – James 5:16-18
“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that
you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man
avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed
earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three
years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain,
and the earth produced its fruit.”
2. God hears every prayer and responds according to His Will
D. Daniel realizes God’s prophesy was ready to be fulfilled – Dan. 9:3
“Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and
supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.”
1. Daniel Intercedes with the prayer of faith
2. God begins the process of the restoration of Israel
E. Ezekiel asserts that God NEEDS our intercessions – Ez. 22:30,31
"So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the
gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found
no one. "Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed
them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own
heads," says the Lord GOD.”
F. C. Peter Wagner Quote:
"We must understand that our sovereign God has for His own reasons so
designed this world that much of what is truly His will He makes contingent
on the attitudes and actions of human beings. He allows humans to make
decisions that can influence history ... Human inaction does not nullify the
atonement, but human inaction can make the atonement ineffective for lost
people." C. Peter Wagner
G. Jack Hayford Quote:
"Prayer is essentially a partnership of the redeemed child of God working hand
in hand with God toward the realization of His redemptive purposes on earth."
QUESTIONS:
1. Is intercessory Prayer a responsibility or a privilege?
2. How do you feel about being God’s partner on earth?
3. Can you hear God’s call to intercession?
4. Why? Why not?