3 Day Revival@Community COGIC
3 Day Revival @ Community COGIC
Superintendent Moses Green, Pastor, Dr. Sylvia Testamark, Associate Pastor
351 Beach 74th St
Far Rockaway, Queens
March 6 – 8, 2011
The Necessity of Prayer
As breathing is a physical reality to us, so prayer is a reality for our spirits. “We are to
“Pray without ceasing” I Thess. 5:17.
· Prayer projects faith in God, and God in the world. Only God can move mountains, but faith and prayer move God. In His cursing of the fig-tree our Lord demonstrated His power.
· “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” (Mark 11:24)
Therefore faith is kept alive by prayer.
Praying in faith is obedient; it goes when commanded, as did the nobleman, who came to Jesus, whose son was grievously sick.
· V.49“The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. V.50 “Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.” John 4:49, 50
Daniel had no definite promise that God would reveal to him the meaning of king Nebuchadnezzar dream, but he prayed specifically, and God answered definitely. (Dan. 2:20, 23, 24)
V. 20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:”
V.23 I thank thee and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom ad might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter.
V.24 Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him: Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king and I will show unto the King the interpretation).
The Word of God is made effectual and operative, by the process and practice of prayer. The Word of the Lord came to Elijah, “Go show thyself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth.” Elijah showed himself to Ahab; but the answer to his prayer did not come, until he had pressed his fiery prayer upon the Lord seven times.
The Word of God is a great help in prayer. If it be lodged and written in our hearts, it will form an out flowing current of prayer, full and irresistible. Promises, stored in the heart, are to be the fuel from which prayer receives life and warmth. The Word of God is the food, by which prayer is nourished and made strong. Prayer, like man, cannot live by bread alone,
“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of the God.” Matt. 4:4b
Unless the vital forces of prayer are supplied by God’s Word, prayer, though earnest, even vociferous, in its urgency, is, in reality, flabby, and vapid, and void. The absence of vital force in praying can be traced to the absence of a constant supply of God’s Word. He who would learn to pray well, must first study God’s Word, and stores it in his memory and thought.
· “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path”. Ps. 119:105
· “Pray without ceasing;” I Thess 5:17
· “Continue in prayer; and watch in the same with thanksgiving” Col. 4:2
· “Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;” Rom. 12:12
· “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer, and supplication (desiring to find favor with God) with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God;” Phil. 4:6
· I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.” I Tim. 2 8
· “Praying always, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” Eph. 6:18
By prayer, we bring these promises of God’s holy will into the realm of the actual and the real.
“If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” (John 15:7)
In these comprehensive words, God turns Himself over to the will of His people. When Christ becomes our all-in-all, prayer lays God’s treasures at our feet
“Whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” (1 John 3:22)
· Prayer, coupled with loving obedience, is the way to put God to the test, and to make prayer answer all ends and all things.
· Prayer, joined to the Word of God, hallows and makes sacred all God’s gifts.
· Prayer is not simply to get things from God, but to make those things holy, which already have been received from Him.
· It is not merely to get a blessing, but also to be able to give a blessing.
· Prayer makes common things holy and secular things, sacred.
· It receives things from God with thanksgiving and hallows them with thankful hearts, and devoted service.
In the First Epistle to Timothy, Paul gives us these words:
“For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.” (1 Tim 4:4-5)
That is a statement which gives a negative to mere asceticism. God’s good gifts are to be holy, not only by God’s creative power, but, also, because they are made holy to us by prayer. We receive them, appropriate them and sanctify them by prayer.
Doing God’s will, and having His Word abiding in us, is an imperative of effectual praying. But, it may be asked, how are we to know what God’s will is? The answer is:
· By studying His Word, II Tim. 2:15.
· By hiding it in our hearts Ps. 119:11
· By letting the Word dwell in us richly. Col. 3:16
· “The entrance of Thy word, giveth light.” Ps. 119:105
To know God’s will in prayer, we must be filled with God’s Spirit, who makes intercession for the saints, and in the saints, according to the will of God.
To be filled with God’s Spirit, to be filled with God’s Word, is to know God’s will. It is to be put in such a frame of mind, to be found in such a state of heart, as will enable us to read and interpret aright the purposes of the Infinite.
Such filling of the heart, with the Word and the Spirit, gives us an insight into the will of the Father, and enables us to rightly discern His will, and puts within us, a disposition of mind and heart to make it the guide and compass of our lives.
Prayer has all to do with the success of the preaching of the Word. This, Paul clearly teaches in that familiar and pressing request he made to the Thessalonians:
“Finally, brethren, pray for us that the Word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you.” (2 Thess 3:1)
We have got to believe that underlying God’s Word is prayer, and upon prayer, its final success will depend.
In the Book of Isaiah we read:
“So shall my word be that goeth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isa 55:11)
In Psalm 19, David magnifies the Word of God in six statements concerning it.
· It converts the soul, V. 7
· Makes wise the simple, V.7
· Rejoices the heart, V. 8
· Enlightens the eyes, V. 8
· Endures eternally, and V. 9
· Is true and righteous altogether. V. 9
The Word of God is perfect, sure, right, pure. It is heart-searching, and at the same time purifying, in its effect. It is no surprise therefore that after considering the deep spirituality of the Word of God, its power to search the inner nature of man, and its deep purity, the Psalmist should close his dissertation with this passage:
“Who can understand his errors?” And then praying after this fashion: “cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19:12-14)
James recognizes the deep spirituality of the Word, and its inherent saving power, in the following exhortation:
“Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.” (James 1:21)
“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” (1 Pet 1:23)
· Prayer invariably begets a love for the Word of God, and sets people to the reading of it. Prayer leads people to obey the Word of God, and puts into the heart which obeys a joy unspeakable.
· Praying people and Bible-reading people are the same sort of folk. The God of the Bible and the God of prayer are one. God speaks to man in the Bible; man speaks to God in prayer. One reads the Bible to discover God’s will; he prays in order that he may receive power to do that will.
· Bible-reading and praying are the distinguishing traits of those who strive to know and please God. And just as prayer begets a love for the Scriptures, and sets people to reading the Bible, so, also, do prayer cause men and women to visit the house of God, to hear the Scriptures expounded.
Church-going is closely connected with the Bible, not so much because the Bible cautions us against “forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is,” but because in God’s house, God’s chosen minister declares His Word to dying men, explains the Scriptures, and enforces their teachings upon his hearers.
We find, furthermore, the power of prayer to create a real love for the Scriptures, and to put within men a nature which will take pleasure in the Word. In holy ecstasy he cries, “O, how I love Thy law! It is my meditation all the day.” And again: “How sweet are Thy words to my taste! Yea, sweeter than honey to my taste.”
Would we have a relish for God’s Word? Then let us give ourselves continually to prayer. He who would have a heart for the reading of the Bible must not—dare not—forget to pray. The man of whom it can be said, “His delight is in the law of the Lord,” is the man who can truly say, “I delight to visit the place of prayer.” No man loves the Bible, who does not love to pray. No man loves to pray, who does not delight in the law of the Lord.
Our Lord was a man of prayer, and He magnified the Word of God, quoting often from the Scriptures. Right through His earthly life Jesus observed Sabbath-keeping, church-going and the reading of the Word of God, and had prayer intermingled with them all:
Prayer invariably begets a love for the Word of God, and sets people to the reading of it. Prayer leads people to obey the Word of God, and puts into the heart which obeys a joy unspeakable. Praying people and Bible-reading people are the same sort of folk. The God of the Bible and the God of prayer are one. God speaks to man in the Bible; man speaks to God in prayer. One reads the Bible to discover God’s will; he prays in order that he may receive power to do that will. Bible-reading and praying are the distinguishing traits of those who strive to know and please God. And just as prayer begets a love for the Scriptures, and sets people to reading the Bible, so, also, does prayer cause men and women to visit the house of God, to hear the Scriptures expounded. Church-going is closely connected with the Bible, not so much because the Bible cautions us against “forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is,” but because in God’s house, God’s chosen minister declares His Word to dying men, explains the Scriptures, and enforces their teachings upon his hearers. And prayer germinates a resolve, in those who practice it, not to forsake the house of God.