“I’ve seen the power of prayer… It’s not because of who I am, but because of who He is…
In being a light in a culture of darkness, if we are weak in our prayer life, we are setting ourselves up for failure and discouragement… conversely a strong prayer life sets us up for victory and encouragement…
Every day that approaches is another day closer to His return, we need to be persistent in prayer as we see that day coming…
God desires that we would live out the full plans and purposes that He has in store for our lives… but the fullness of His plans are inaccessible to us without prayer…
Persistent prayer isn’t usually the prayer of the mountaintop, but the valley…
It didn’t matter that the widow couldn’t see the change taking place, her pleas were having an effect…
It’s not because God’s deaf that He desires we seek Him in this way… because there’s something about seeking that transforms us… transforms us into something more like Himself…
People “always ought to pray and not lose heart.” (Luke 18:1) This is harder than it seems….. “when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8) {within the context of perseverance in prayer}… Situations in life can test our ‘heart,’ create fear, hopelessness and we can lose faith in the character and ability of God… and we just stop praying… As this world wraps up, sensuality is increasing, and there will be persecution… in this climate it requires perseverance in prayer, just like this widow has modeled for us…
Faith that does impossible things is not faith in God’s capacity, but in His character…
Asking God again for the same thing is not a lack of faith, it’s actually an expression of faith… it shows that we are releasing our needs and burdens to God, and not trying to bear them ourselves…
He’s also calling us to humility in prayer…
If through oppression Satan cannot get us to a place of inconsistency within our prayer life, he will try to entertain us away from communion with Him…
We need to ask ourselves some questions…
- Am I showing my faith through consistent prayer toward God?
- Am I praying that God’s justice and purposes would be accomplished and completed within my life, and within the world around me… not just my needs and wants…
The goal of prayer is communion with God, not granted requests… Jesus has to be more than Santa who we give our wish list to…
Primarily, God desires that we would pray to be brought near to Jesus, not to come closer to our goals…Answers are a by-product of the real goal prayer: intimacy with Christ… when our desires become the end goal of prayer, we reduce God to our servant, instead of our Lord…
This is why we know so many people that have experienced the power of God through prayer, yet have not been changed… they’ve experienced His power but not His lordship…
Jesus was not only Healer to him (which is awesome), but He was Lord… and this faith made him “well” this faith “saved” Him…
God must be more than our need meet-er… He must be our Lord!
- Our prayers must be accompanied by a willingness to follow His direction in our lives…
- When God becomes our servant in prayer and not our Lord…
- Will today you receive Jesus as your Lord, or will He remain only your need meet-er?”