Date post: | 23-Dec-2015 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | loren-snow |
View: | 213 times |
Download: | 0 times |
PART IIHOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS
WHY ARE OUR PRAYERS POWERFUL
God calls us to come boldly before His throne
He rewards those who diligently seek him
God wants us to seek Him first in all things
HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERSPART II
Situations faced by two men of old who communicated with God
Coming to a place where we are in need, we forget the power of God, we feel this is the worse we have ever been through and we blame
others for our misfortunes
MOSES
Exodus 17:1-16
HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS II
Exodus 17: 1 - 16 (New International Version)
Water From the Rock
1 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin,
traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They
camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to
drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us
water to drink."
Moses replied, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put
the LORD to the test?" 3 But the people were thirsty for water
there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, "Why
did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and
livestock die of thirst?"
HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS II
4 Then Moses cried out to the LORD,
"What am I to do with these people?
They are almost ready to
stone me."
5 The LORD answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the
people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take
in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.
6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike
the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to
drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7
And he called the place Massah [a] and Meribah [b] because
the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD
saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"
What should we learn from this? IN TIMES OF NEED,
IN TIMES OF CHOAS AND CONFUSION, AT TIMES WHEN WE ARE UNDER ATTACK, NO , NO MATTER HOW SEVERE, WE MUST WE MUST REMEMBER THE GOD WE SERVE
WALKING AWAY FROM A QUARREL IS NOT A SIGN OF WEAKNESS, ONCE WE ARE WALKING IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD
GOD WOULD NOT LEAD US TO A PLACE FROM WHICH HE CANNOT DELIVER US
GOD PUTS HIS PEOPLE FIRST. HE WOULD DO THE IMPOSSIBLE TO PROVE HOW MUCH HE LOVES US
OUR PRAYERS ARE POWERFUL BECAUSE GOD ANSWERS OUR PRAYERS (PSALM 40: 1-3)
HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS II
Sometimes we come to a place where we are threatened, ridiculed and put down because of our belief
That’s when we must be prepared to prove God
ELIJAH Having faith in what we belief
I Kings 18: 16-40
HOW POWERFL ARE OUR PRAYERS II
Elijah on Mount Carmel
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and
Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When he saw Elijah, he
said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?" 18 "I
have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But
you and your father's family have. You have abandoned
the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals. 19
Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet
me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and
fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of
Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."
HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS II 20 So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled
the prophets on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went before the
people and said, "How long will you waver between two
opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God,
follow him."
But the people said nothing. 22 Then Elijah said to them, "I
am the only one of the LORD's prophets left, but Baal has four
hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let them
choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and
put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other
bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it.
HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS II 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the
name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he is God."
Then all the people said, "What you say is good."
25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls
and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on
the name of your god, but do not light the fire." 26 So they
took the bull given them and prepared it.
Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till
noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no
response; no one answered. And they danced around the
altar they had made.
24
HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS II
27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!"
he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in
thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and
must be awakened." 28 So they shouted louder and
slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was
their custom, until their blood flowed
29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic
prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But
there was no response, no one answered, no one paid
attention.
HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS II
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They
came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which
was in ruins. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the
tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD
had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel." 32 With the
stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug
a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs [a] of seed.
33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it
on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with
water and pour it on the offering and on the wood."
HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS II 34 "Do it again," he said, and they did it again.
"Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time.
35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and
prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be
known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant
and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, O
LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD,
are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."
HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS II 38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the
sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also
licked up the water in the trench.
39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and
cried, "The LORD -he is God! The LORD -he is God!"
40 Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of
Baal. Don't let anyone get away!" They seized them,
and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley
and slaughtered there.
HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS II
The things in our hearts that are not of God are the things we need to slaughter in our lives
False beliefs …..instead feast on the Word of God
Fears……instead have faith in God Doubts…..Instead have confidence that
God will never let you down Habits…..if they do not benefit or
strengthen us we should drop them. Make it a habit to imitate Christ
Negative ways in which we speak ….if we cannot bless, encourage, help and comfort one another, we should remain silent
Taking the experiences of these two men of God into consideration we see that:
Through our prayers God reveals His power to us
We can prove God God can use us in ways beyond our
imagination Our faith in God increases Our prayers make us powerful in
Christ