January 21, 2010

Let Your Problems Prompt
You To Pray
by Pastor Dale O’Shields
What can we do about our problems? What is the right response to the problems
we experience?
The Bible is very clear with its instructions to us:
James 5:13 (NIV) “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray…”
Hebrews 4:16 (NIV) “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so
that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
One of the most marvelous privileges we have as believers is the privilege of
prayer. All through the Bible we are encouraged to talk to God about our needs, to
listen for His voice of instruction and to believe Him for answers in response to our
prayers.
Prayer is much more than a “request session” with God. It is one of the primary
ways we build our relationship with Him.
Let’s take a look at eight biblical examples of problems people solved through
prayer:
• Slavery.
Exodus 3:7-9 (NLT) “Then the Lord told him, ‘You can be sure I have seen the
misery of My people in Egypt. I have heard their cries for deliverance from
their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. 8 So I have come
to rescue them from the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own
good and spacious land...9 The cries of the people of Israel have reached Me …’”
• Barrenness.
Genesis 25:21 (NIV) “Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because
she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became
pregnant.”
1 Samuel 1:10 (NIV) “In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to
the Lord.”
• Fear and Insecurity.
Exodus 14:10-14 (NIV) “As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and
there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried
out to the Lord…13 Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm
and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians
you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you need
only to be still.’”
• Lack.
Matthew 14:17-20 (NLT) “‘Impossible!’ they exclaimed. ‘We have only five
loaves of bread and two fish!’ 18 ’Bring them here,’ He said. 19 Then He told the
people to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and two fish,
looked up toward heaven, and asked God’s blessing on the food. Breaking the
loaves into pieces, He gave some of the bread and fish to each disciple, and the
disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate as much as they wanted, and
they picked up twelve baskets of leftovers.”
• Broken relationships.
Genesis 32:9-11 (NIV) “Then Jacob prayed, ‘O God of my father Abraham… 10 I
am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown your servant…
11 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will
come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children...’”• Stress.
1 Kings 3:7-9 (NLT) “‘O Lord my God, now You have made me king instead of
my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around. 8
And here I am among Your own chosen people, a nation so great they are too
numerous to count! 9 Give me an understanding mind so that I can govern
Your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by
himself is able to govern this great nation of Yours?’”
• Sickness and disease.
Isaiah 38:1-2 (NLT) “About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill, and the
prophet Isaiah…went to visit him. He gave the king this message: ‘This is what
the Lord says: Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not
recover from this illness.’ 2 When Hezekiah heard this, he turned his face to the
wall and prayed to the Lord.”
Luke 8:41-42 (NLT) “And now a man named Jairus, a leader of the local
synagogue, came and fell down at Jesus’ feet, begging Him to come home with
him. 42 His only child was dying, a little girl twelve years old…”
• Personal limitations.
1 Chronicles 4:9-10 (NIV) “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His
mother had named him Jabez, saying, ‘I gave birth to him in pain.’ 10 Jabez
cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my
territory! Let Your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be
free from pain.’ And God granted his request.
These biblical stories are exciting to review, but they will never really help us unless
we learn something from them for our own lives. We have to apply the principles
we discover in such passages to our daily living, if our lives are going to be
changed.
The whole goal of this message is to help each of us understand that prayer
connects us to the living God—the God who cares about us and wants to help us
solve our problems—whatever those problems might be.This message is a call to:
• A renewed prayer life.
• New levels of confidence in God as you pray.
The New Testament emphasizes this call to confidence in God when we pray:
Hebrews 4:16 (NIV) “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so
that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
The Hebrew word for “confidence” means “free and fearless; boldly; to have a
cheerful courage and assurance.”
This is how God wants us to pray about our problems! We are to pray with
confidence! This kind of prayer enables us to “…receive mercy and find grace to
help us in our time of need.”
How can we develop this kind of confidence in prayer?
Here are several important principles to follow:
• Don’t wait until you have a problem to pray.
• Live under Christ’s Lordship.
• Understand your position and privileges in Christ.
• Fill your heart and mind with God’s promises.
• Use the promises of God when you pray.
• Focus on the Person of prayer, not the process of prayer.
• Regularly reflect on past answers to prayer.
• Partner with others in prayer.
Our prayers do make a difference — our prayers release the help of God into the
problem we experience!