(Wed) You Asked For It# 7, Does Prayer Really Work?

You Asked For It# 7
Does Prayer Really Work?

Luke 5:15-16
“However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.” 

James 5:16(b) AMP “The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].” 

Matthew 21:22  “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

Mark 11:22-24 “So Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask (LEGO) when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” 

legō :— (Outline of Biblical Usage)  to say, to speak affirm over, maintain to teach to exhort, advise, to command, direct to point out with words, intend, mean, mean to say to call by name, to call, name  to speak out, speak of, mention 

New Covenant — New Direction For Prayer

John 16:23-24 “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will[a] ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” 

Acts 3:6 “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” 

Acts 3:16 “And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”

Acts 4 :8-10 “And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?” … by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, … this man stands here before you whole.”

Acts 4:18 “So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.”

Acts 4:30 “…by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus,”

“The less I pray, the harder it gets; the more I pray the better it goes.” Martin Luther
“Prayer is our most formidable weapon; the thing which makes all else we do efficient.”

1. M. Bounds

“The great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.”     F. B. Myer

“Heaven is full of answers for which no one ever bothered to ask.”  Billy Graham.

“I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.”  Charles Spurgeon

“The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing form our prayerless studies, prayerless work and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.”  Samuel Chadwick

“What a man is on his knees before God, that he is, and nothing more.” R M McCheyne

“The man who mobilizes the Christian church to pray will make the greatest contribution to world evangelization in history.”   Andrew Murray 

“I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk about, when I lie down and when I rise up. And the answers are always coming. Thousands and tens of thousands of times have my prayers been answered. When once I am persuaded that a thing is right and for the glory of God, I go on praying for it until the answer comes. George Mueller never gives up!”   George Mueller 

Pray (merriam-webster)
: to speak to God especially in order to give thanks or to ask for something
: to hope or wish very much for something to happen
: to seriously ask (someone) to do something

Pray:— 4336 proseúxomai (from 4314 /prós, “towards, exchange” and 2172/euxomai, “to wish, pray”) – properly, to exchange wishes; pray – literally, to interact with the Lord by switching human wishes (ideas) for His wishes as He imparts faith (“divine persuasion”).

My Definition:
Prayer is constantly ABIDING in Him and ASKING for the things He reveals to come into manifestation with great ASSURANCE that it will come to pass because you have AUTHORITY in His Name to execute each of His ASSIGNMENTS.

The Early Church Got Results By Prayer:

Acts 12:1-19
The early church was growing and expanding. Powerful demonstrations of God were in abundance. The enemy wants to put an end to things before they get started. James is killed. Peter is kept in prison. They intend to kill him.
Acts 12:5 “Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.”

They engaged heaven which resulted in a miraculous deliverance.

Acts 12:7 “Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands.”

The doorway between adversity and victory is called, “but prayer.”

5 Observations

1. Bad Stuff Happens To Good People
2. vs. 2,3 “he killed James…arrested Peter…”

None of us are immune form attacks and trials in this life.

2. We Are Never Helpless

Psalm. 91:15 “He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.”
We have a recourse in a time of trouble.

3. We Have Responsibilities
4. 5 “but constant prayer was offered by the church”
5. United — the church
6. Passionate — earnestly
7. Persistent — continued
8. Directive — for him
9. Courageous — but

4. We Have A Rescuer

Psalm 91:14 “The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name.”  Heaven is ready to act for us.

5. Our Enemies Will Be Destroyed
6. 23 “…angel of the Lord smote him…”

Psm. 68:1-4  (NLT) “Rise up, O God, and scatter your enemies. Let those who hate God run for their lives. Blow them away like smoke. Melt them like wax in a fire. Let the wicked perish in the presence of God. But let the godly rejoice. Let them be glad in God’s presence. Let them be filled with joy. Sing praises to God and to his name! Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds. His name is the Lord— rejoice in his presence!”

Some Of The Ways God Answers Prayer:

1. God answer By Healing

“I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you.” 2 Kings 20:1-6
“…then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

2. God Answers By Delivering
   “Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this. And the LORD sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king.”

  2 Chronicles. 32:20

3. Answers By Granting Success
   “Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. … So we rebuilt the wall …” Nehemiah 26:5

“As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.” 2 Chronicles 26:5

4. Answers By Equipping His People

“…enable your servants … After they prayed, the place …was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” Acts 4:29-31 27

5. He Answers With The Supernatural
   Acts 16:25-29
   “…Paul and Silas were praying and singing … Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken.”