January 20, 2010

The Power and Promise of Prayer
by Pastor Dale O’Shields
Jeremiah 33:3 (NIV) Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and
unsearchable things you do not know.
Jeremiah 33:3 (NLT) Ask Me and I will tell you some remarkable secrets
about what is going to happen here.
1. Prayer that is guided by God’s Word and inspired by the Holy
Spirit.
1 John 5:14, 15 (NLT) And we can be confident that He will listen to us
whenever we ask Him for anything in line with His will. 15 And if we know
He is listening when we make our requests, we can be sure that He will
give us what we ask for.
Romans 8:26 (NLT) And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we
don’t even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But
the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in
words.
2. Specific and focused prayer.
Luke 18:41 (NLT) Then Jesus asked the man, “What do you want Me to do
for you?” “Lord,” he pleaded, “I want to see!”
3. Pure prayer.
Psalm 66:18 (NIV) If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not
have listened.
James 4:2, 3 (NLT) You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and
kill to get it. You are jealous for what others have, and you can’t possess
it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them. And yet the reason
you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even
when you do ask, you don’t get it because your whole motive is wrong—
you want only what will give you pleasure.
1 Peter 3:7 (NLT) In the same way, you husbands must give honor to
your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She
may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of
new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.
4. Fervent prayer.
James 5:16 (NKJV) 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.
Psalm 72:12 (NLT) He will rescue the poor when they cry to Him; He will
help the oppressed, who have no one to defend them.
5. Faith-filled prayer.
Mark 11:24 (NIV) Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer,
believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
6. Persistent prayer.
Matthew 7:7, 8 (NLT) Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask
for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door
will be opened. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks,
finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks.
Luke 18:1 (NIV) Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them
that they should always pray and not give up.
7. Bold and confident prayer.
Hebrews 4:14-16 (NLT) That is why we have a great High Priest who has
gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God. Let us cling to Him and never stop
trusting Him. 15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for
He faced all of the same temptations we do, yet He did not sin. 16 So let
us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive
His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it.
8. Authoritative prayer.
Matthew 16:18, 19 (NIV) And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this
rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind
on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be
loosed in heaven.
James 4:7 (NLT) So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and
he will flee from you.
9. Corporate prayers of agreement.
Matthew 18:19 (NLT) I also tell you this: If two of you agree down here
on earth concerning anything you ask, My Father in heaven will do it for
you.
10. Consistent, patient prayer.
Luke 2:36-37 (NLT) Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She
was the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, and was very old. She
was a widow, for her husband had died when they had been married only
seven years. 37 She was now eighty-four years old. She never left the
Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and
prayer.