Today, we begin with the series on “PRAYER – WHY PRAY?” This is a new season; a season of RECOVERY, TOTAL RESTORATION, and ELEVATION.
In John 14:13-14 Jesus said, “And whatsoever ye shall ASK in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ASK anything in My name, I will do it.”The emphasis in this Scripture is “ask.” Why then do you find it difficult to ask God to prosper you, to promote you, to heal you, to protect you? If you don’t ask you won’t receive.
In Matthew 7:7-8 Jesus said, “ASK, and it shall be given you; SEEK, and ye shall find; KNOCK, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
In Matthew 21:22 Jesus said, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ASK in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
A prayerless Christian is a weak and defeated Christian. A prayerless church is a social gathering. A prayerless nation is a godless nation. The family that does not pray together is a defeated family. They can never stick together.
Except you pray things won’t change because God has to get involved for things to change. Except we pray God won’t get involved and you’ll never get the result you expect.
The Bible says, “MANY are THE AFFLICTIONS of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. He guards all his bones; not one of them is broken” (Ps 34:19-20).
*How does the Lord deliver His people from affliction? He does that through prayers only.
In Jeremiah 33:3 God said, “Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”
**When should we call? In the day of trouble!
In Psalm 50:15 God said, “And call upon Me IN THE DAY OF TROUBLE: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.”
In Psalm 91:15 God said, “He shall call upon Me, and I will answer Him: I will be with Him in trouble; I will deliver Him, and honour Him.”
In Jeremiah 29:12-14 God said, “Then shall ye call upon Me, and ye shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart. 14 And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity...”
Zechariah 4:6-7 says, “This is the Word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. 7 Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain...”
1 Samuel 2:9 says, “...for by strength shall no man prevail.”
Ecclesiastes 9:11 says, “...the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.”
What is the first thing the Lord requires you to do when trouble strikes? Simply Pray!
James 5:13 says, “Is any among you AFFLICTED? Let him PRAY...”
James 5:14-16 says, “Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15 And THE PRAYER OF FAITH shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16 Confess your faults one to another, and PRAY ONE FOR ANOTHER, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
What kind of prayer should the elders pray? The prayer of faith (James 5:15).
What happens when the righteous prays? When the righteous man prays, tremendous power is released by heaven to destroy whatever yoke and set the captive free.
In Matthew 7:7-8 Jesus said, “ASK, and it shall be given you; SEEK, and ye shall find; KNOCK, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus gave an open invitation to everyone that is afflicted saying, “(1) Come (2) unto Me, (3) ALL ye that labour and are heavy laden, and (4) I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”
Why should the afflicted come to Jesus? The afflicted must come to Jesus for two reasons:
1. He is the only solution to your problem (Acts 4:12); Jesus is the only One that can do something positive about your affliction!
2. You can reach or receive from the Father through Him only.
In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (KJV).
NLT puts it this way, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.”
Somebody may ask based on Matthew 6:8 where Jesus said, “... for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ASK Him,” “Why pray then?” After all, the Lord is all knowing. Therefore, He knows all my needs even more than I do.
You pray because God asked you to do so. Why did God ask you to pray? He asked you to do so because Heaven needs your permission to get involved in your affairs here on earth. How come Heaven needs such permission?
In Genesis 1:26-28 God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.27 And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.28 And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
Here the Scriptures say, “We will be like God.” In what way will we be like God? God the Father is saying, “Just as the Trinity have dominion in Heaven, let’s make man so that he can have authority and dominion on earth like we have in Heaven.” That is to say that man has been authorized by the Trinity to exercise dominion over the earth.
What is dominion? Dominion is the power to govern and control. Dominion is the power to direct, control, use and dispose of at pleasure. Authority is the right to command.
God is no longer in control over this planet. Man is in control of this planet. God said, “Let them [does not include any of the Trinity].”
Every success in this life is due to prayer. When you pray, you licence God to get involved in your affairs on this earth.
John Wesley said, “It seems that God is limited by our prayer life – that He can do nothing for humanity unless someone asks Him.”
Why is this so? It is God that made man and gave man dominion over ALL the works of His hands.
Psalms 8:6 says, “Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet.” Everything is under your feet dear child of God.
God has given to man the earth and everything that is in it. Psalm 115:16 says, “The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD': but the earth hath He given to the children of men.”
We realize that God did not say, “I am going to dominate through you.” Rather He said, “I give you dominion over all the works of My hands.” Therefore Adam had dominion over this world. He was originally the god of this world.
But Satan came and lied to Adam through his wife and Adam fell thereby selling out his God given right to the devil.
2 Corinthians 4:4 calls Satan “the god of this world.” He was the god of this world until Jesus came to the earth, paid the price in full, and got our dominion back from the devil. He then handed this dominion back to the Church.
Do you now know why we/you must pray? This is necessary because it is illegal for God to come down here on earth to do anything except someone invites Him to come. You invite Him by asking Him to do so.
This is precisely why Jesus said, “...men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1). “Men” here refers to men and women that are God’s children.
In Ezekiel 22:30 God said, “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”
2 Chronicles 7:14 God said, “If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “PRAY without ceasing.” Ephesians 6:18 says, “PRAYING ALWAYS with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”
This is the very reason why Jesus showed up on the scene. God had to come in the form of man to have the legal rights to operate on this planet. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus said, “... Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” For the will of God to be done on earth as it is in Heaven, man needs to invite God to come and get involved here. Without God getting involved, it is not possible to have such a perfect atmosphere here on earth. It requires a perfect Being to come and make the earth perfect. Man is full of imperfection.
In Psalm 35:27 God said, “Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour My righteous cause: yea, let them [the saints] say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”
In other words, God needs you to invite or authorize Him continually into your affairs. Prayer is a connection with the supernatural. It is the only way to get God involved in our affairs. It is how we get angels on the scene. It is how we stop the devil and his demons from harassing us.
Your understanding of what it means to pray will make you more than a conqueror. It will help you to effectively exercise dominion over the devil walking in total victory everyday of your life.
Watch out for the next edition of Good News from the Pulpit!
Your friend: I. I. MADUBUNYI (Senior Pastor)
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