House of Prayer

F.B. Meyer, the author of the great little book, the secret of Guidance said; “The great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but UN-offered prayer”

Prayer is a very effective and powerful means of communication:

Prayer is, at its core.... intentional communication with God

The whole idea of prayer is to petition God....whether for personal needs or for a particular situation.

And to bring our spiritual man in alignment with Gods purpose.

Though we must understand that there is a proper prayer and an in-proper prayer

We sometimes are asking God for things that are of a selfish nature…for personal gain or advantage and not for the kingdom of God and according to his purpose.

James 4:1–3 KJV 1900

1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

this scripture is talking specifically about the warring within our flesh.....prayers sought after to fulfill our selfish ways and desires.

i believe that the lord is calling us to be a house of prayer…we are the temple of the Lord......

Matthew 21:12–13 KJV 1900

12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, 13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Christ overturned the tables of the money changers because the house of God was to be a house of prayer/worship....

rather than a house of prayer, they brought in things that didn’t belong

they where using the temple of God for something that it was not intended to be used for.

Our hearts can be that way as well.....

We pray for things that we don’t intend to change

Allowing things to stay that should be removed

Allowing this temple to be something other than what it is intended to be.

the bible says that we are the temple of the Lord…the very dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.

Necessity

there are many different types of prayer

personal

healing

deliverance

intercessory, etc.

When we pray....we bring God into focus in our lives

Instead of prayer being something we do everyday, like breathing, eating and walking and talking, it seems to have become like that little glass covered box on the wall that says, "break in case of emergency." It is true that so very often we associate prayer with crises in our life.

Daniel 9:13–14 KJV 1900

13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. 14 Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.

All this sin has confronted us…yet we do not turn to God for the strength to overcome it

Rather than turning to God, we allow the sin to be considered in our hearts.

Whenever we consider something…we are pondering the possibility

Even though we understand that when sin is finished it bringeth forth death..spiritual death.

unless sin is averted, the penalty or results of that sin will take its course.

prayer, in part, is where we ask God for strength, forgiveness and purpose…to forgive us of transgressions that we may have and to give us the strength to overcome future temptations.....and to seek his purpose rather than ours.

prayer is often talked about more than anything else , but practiced less than anything else.

And yet, for the believer it remains one of the greatest gifts our Lord has given us outside of salvation.

Attributes of Prayer

Sincerity

Systematic Theology (Requisites of Acceptable Prayer)

The first and most obviously necessary requisite of acceptable prayer, is sincerity.

The bible says, God is a Spirit. He searches the heart. He is not satisfied with words, or with external homage. He cannot be deceived and will not be mocked.

I believe It is a great offence, therefore, in his sight, when we utter words before Him in which our hearts do not join. (the mind and heart relationship)

We sin against Him when we use terms, in the utterance of which the angels veil their faces, with no corresponding feelings of reverence; or use the formulas of thanksgiving without gratitude; or those of humility and confession without any due sense of our unworthiness; or those of petition without desire for the blessings we ask.

we must approach God with a sincere sense of Anguish and humility. Recognizing our need for him and understanding our inadequacies.

The bible says: God recognizes a broken and contrite spirit

rev 3.17

Revelation 3:17 KJV 1900

17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Anguish

Be in labor; To Tremble…The bring forth (Through labor)

According to Merriam Webster: Extreme pain, distress, or anxiety (as in cries of anguish)

All these definitions point to a state of extreme persistence and need....or a state of extreme distress of mind and spirit.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Anguish)

The word anguish refers to the internal organs which are viewed as the seat of the emotions (heart felt), thus the source of anguish. The Hebrew verb ḥîl means “be in labor,” or writhe with the sort of pain a woman experiences in childbirth.

Humility

Systematic Theology Requisites of Acceptable Prayer

Humility. This includes, first, a due sense of our insignificance as creatures; and secondly, a proper apprehension of our ill-desert and uncleanness in the sight of God as sinners. It is the opposite of self-righteousness, of self-complacency and self-confidence. It is the spirit manifested by Job, when he placed his hand upon his mouth, and his mouth in the dust, and said, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes; by Isaiah when he said, Woe is me! because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; and by the publican, who was afraid to lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, and said, God be merciful to me a sinner. Such language is often regarded as exaggerated or hypocritical. It is, however, appropriate. It expresses the state of mind which cannot fail to be produced by a proper apprehension of our character as sinners, in the sight of a just and holy God. Indeed there is no language which can give adequate expression to that rational sense of sin which the people of God often experience.

Prayer Changes Things

prayer moves the hand of God and can change even the things which would normally be.

we read case after case of prayer that at times, changed the mind of God.

Moses changed the mind of God toward the people....God repented of what he was going to do to the people because of Moses’ prayer or petitions to God.

A petition is a request made for something desired, especially a respectful or humble request, as to a superior or to one of those in authority; a supplication or prayer:

we pray to God not because we are:

a good person, or because we are demanding things

but rather, we are recognizing our need for God’s divine help and guidance

we are petitioning him for things that we cannot control or change within ourselves.....A petition regarding spiritual purposes.

The story of a missionary on furlough.

Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting, one of whom had been seriously injured. I treated him for his injuries and at the same time talked to him about the Lord Jesus Christ. I then traveled two days, camping overnight, and arrived home without incident. Two weeks later I repeated my journey. Upon arriving in the city, I was approached by the young man I had treated. He told me that he had known I carried money and medicines. He said, "Some friends and I followed you into the jungle, knowing you would camp overnight. We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs. But, just as we were about to move into your camp, we saw that you were surrounded by 26 armed guards." At this I laughed and said that I was certainly all alone out in that jungle campsite. The young man pressed the point, however, and said "No sir, I was not the only person to see the guards. My five friends also saw them and we all counted them. It was because of those guards that we were afraid and left you alone." At this point in the sermon, one of the men in the congregation jumped to his feet and interrupted the missionary and asked if he could tell him the exact day that this happened. The missionary told the congregation the date, and the man who interrupted told him this story: "On the night of your incident in Africa, it was morning here and I was preparing to go play golf. I was about to putt when I felt the urge to pray for you. In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong, I called men in this church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for you. Would all of those men who met with me on that day stand up?" The men who had met together to pray that day stood up. The missionary wasn't concerned with who they were --- he was too busy counting how many men he saw. There were 26.

When we pray to God, we pray for things unseen.

Things out of our control.

We as human beings cannot see things in the spiritual world, we pray because we know the one who can

Prayer can even change the hand of fate.....

2 Kings 20:1–11 KJV 1900

1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. 2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying, 3 I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. 4 And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord. 6 And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake. 7 And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. 8 And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day? 9 And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? 10 And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees. 11 And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.

prayer can move the hand of God in a very mighty way and can change the very events of time...

How can a man have a relationship with God and not pray, just like you cannot have a good marriage if you don't talk to your wife.

You can be a Christian and not pray, just like you can be married and not talk to your wife. But in both circumstances you will be miserable.

Prayer is the pipeline of communication between God and His people, between God and those who love Him.

Paul tells us we must, "Devote ourselves to prayer," (NASB) or "Continue earnestly in prayer," (NKJV). or, "continue steadfastly in prayer."

The word translated, "continue steadfastly," is one word in the original language. It can be translated, "persist in, adhere firmly to, or remain devoted to or to give unremitting care to.

Ephesians 6:18 KJV 1900

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Romans 12:9–12 KJV 1900

Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

supplication is defined as the act of humbly begging for something, especially when pleading with God in prayer.

Being instant in prayer means to be devoted to it.

God Honors Prayer

Luke 11:9–13 KJV 1900

9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

Social media algorithms:

they send us stuff all the time: they know the more we ignore or stay away from it the more disinterested we become

"It is a common temptation of Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and prayer when our enjoyment is gone;

as if it were of no use to read the scriptures when we do not enjoy them, and as if it were no use to pray when we have no spirit of prayer.

The truth is that, in order to enjoy the Word, we ought to continue to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit of prayer is to continue praying. The less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray."

Prayer opens our spiritual eyes

It enables us to get in touch with what God is doing and how He is doing it.

as well as his direction and will for our lives personally.

In II Kings 6 you may recall the story of when the Army of Israel was surrounded by their enemies and Elisha’s servant got nervous. Verses 15-17 say

2 Kings 6:15–17 KJV 1900

15 And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? 16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

we pray to God so that he can open our eyes and understanding to spiritual things and his will.

so that we can see the things in the spirit that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to see

when we feel surrounded by the enemy we simply have to remember that “greater is he that is in me, than he that is in the world”

prayer is indeed, moving by faith…petitioning God for direction and answers for things that we don’t understand or know yet.

play video: listen to my voice; I was in alaska

God is our source of provision through prayer

an ever present help in a time of trouble.

Gideon knew this statement very well, when going to battle against the Midianites.

Matthew 6:33 KJV 1900

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

in prayer…we are recognising God as our Lord, Savior and King and seeking him first.

excepting his will and direction through submission and relationship to him

God....Your will be done not mine....your direction be pursued not mine…your plan be fulfilled not mine....

tell the story of my back yard......

when our life gets overgrown with weeds and cares of this life…we begin to loose sight of God.

it becomes harder for us to hear his voice and guidance.

through prayer, we are establishing a relationship with God, which in turn, allows us to establish a relationship with our fellow man.

to see the invisible things of God beyond our human site.

as they where flying through the clouds, unable to see anything. they had to follow the voice to avoid certain death.

how can we hope to win our brother and establish a relationship with him spiritually until we first establish a relationship with God ourselves.

when we submit ourselves fully to God…his power can be manifested in us and through us....

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