A Pattern for Powerful Prayer
How to Get Your Prayers Answered • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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HOW TO GET YOUR PRAYERS ANSWERED
A PATTERN FOR POWERFUL PRAYER
Matthew 6:9-13
Bobby Earls, First Baptist Church, Icard, NC
May 10, 2000
INTRODUCTION: The ministry of Jesus was a ministry constantly bathed in prayer.
On many occasions, Jesus would spend entire nights in prayer to the Father. The disciples were so impressed with the prayer life of Jesus that they asked the question"Lord, teach us to pray."
In His answer Jesus gave a model prayer which is the pattern for powerful praying.
1. The Person of Powerful Prayer
A. We must be children of God in order to call him "our Father."
1. God is the creator of all men but not the father of all men.
2. Some human beings are not children of God but children of the devil. - John 8:44 3.
We become children of God by personally receiving Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. - John 1 :11
B. If God is our father, it is natural for us to talk with him.
1. Jesus warned against using vain repetitions. - Matthew 6:7 2. We have been invited to call God our father by the most intimate term "Abba, Father." - Romans 8:15
2. The Purpose of Powerful Prayer - Verse 10
A. The major purpose of prayer is to seek and secure the will of God
1. Prayer is answered only within the limits of God's will. - I John 5:14
2. Praying within God's will does not mean to be restricted, but it means to claim God's best blessings.
B. How do we know God's will in prayer?
1. God's will is revealed to us in scripture.
2. God's will is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. - Ephesians 6:18
3. God's will is revealed as we wait before the Heavenly Father in meditation and openness as we pray.
4. God's will is known through our submission to the Father. - John 7:17 James 4:5&6
3. The Provision of Powerful Prayer - Verse 11
A. God is concerned with every single need of our lives. God has promised to meet all of our needs each day. - Phillippians 4:19
B. God also has promised to meet some of our desires. A need is that which is necessary and essential in order for God to fulfill his purpose and will in our life.
A desire, on the other hand, is something that would make life more pleasant. Not a necessity but something that would add to our life- style. - Matthew 7:11
4. The Pardon of Powerful Prayer - Verse 12
A. Powerful prayer comes only from a cleansed heart. - Psalms 66:18 B. God's forgiveness of us is contingent upon our forgiveness of others.
5. The Protection of Powerful Prayer - Verse 13
A. We have an enemy from which we need to be delivered. The word evil in verse 13 should be translated "evil one."
B. Prayer is our offensive attack upon Satan and the forces of evil. - Eph. 6
6. The Praise of Powerful Prayer - Verse 13
A. The model prayer both opens and closes on a note of praise.
B. Praise is the best expression of faith that we can give in prayer.
1. When we ask God for things, that is petition.
2. When we thank God in advance that He will answer prayer and give us that for which we are praying, that is praise.
C. The model prayer begins "Our Father" and it ends "thine is the kingdom", pointing out that our Father is a king.
We must continually remember the greatness of God, to whom we pray.