BUILDING AN EFFECTIVE PRAYER LIFE Prt 4

This mrning I want t finish ff the series n prayer BUILDING AN EFFECTIVE PRAYER LIFE Last week we cvered the fllwing 1. Yur attitude twards prayer determines its effectiveness 2. Make prayers f faith. 3. Prayers funded n the revelatin f the father heart f Gd 4. Embrace all types f prayers 4.1 Prayers f wrship 4.2 Prayers f cnfessin 4.3 Prayers f supplicatin Every child f Gd needs t understand that it is nt arrgant t pray fr yurself this is when we talk abut supplicatins The idea f supplicatin is that f asking Gd takes pleasure in hearing and meeting yur needs. When yu supplicate yu are earnestly entreating Gd t intervene n yur behalf. In the Lrd s prayer Jesus taught us t pray in this manner 11 Give us this day ur daily bread An effective prayer f supplicatin takes away wrries and anxieties Philippians 4:6 Be anxius fr nthing, but in everything by prayer and supplicatin, with thanksgiving, let yur requests be made knwn t Gd; Psalms 55:22 Cast yur burden n the LORD, And He shall sustain yu; He shall never permit the righteus t be mved. Prayers f supplicatins ught t be specific if yu are nt specific hw will yu knw when they are answered. Sme peple write dwn their prayers in a prayer jurnal this is a pwerful way f setting yurself up fr a life f testimnies. Mre than being specific, ur prayers f supplicatin shuld tuch every part f ur lives. Have yu ever felt that there are certain issues yu can t really bring in prayer? Smetimes this emanates frm a religius spirit that stps us frm being persnal with Gd. The Bible includes many prayers f supplicatin. Numerus examples are fund in the Psalms. David s psalms are filled with supplicatin Supplicate fr mercy, Psalms 4:1 Hear me when I call, O Gd f my righteusness! Yu have relieved me in my distress; Have mercy n me, and hear my prayer. Supplicate fr Gd s leading Psalm 25:4 Shw me Yur ways, O LORD; Teach me Yur paths. 5 Lead me in Yur truth and teach me, Fr Yu are the Gd f my salvatin; On Yu I wait all the day. 1 Building an effective prayer life Prt 4: Michael Manyuni 08 April 2018 www.gchurchpretria.c.za

Supplicate fr deliverance Psalms 6:4 Return, O LORD, deliver me! Oh, save me fr Yur mercies' sake! Supplicate fr salvatin frm persecutin Psalms 7:1 O LORD my Gd, in Yu I put my trust; Save me frm all thse wh persecute me; And deliver me, 2 Lest they tear me like a lin, Rending me in pieces, while there is nne t deliver. What makes prayers f supplicatin effective? a) Ask in the name f Jesus Our justificatin befre Gd rests in the wrk f Jesus Christ.... Ye are justified in the name f the Lrd Jesus... (I Crinthians 6:11) It is nly thrugh Jesus that we can apprach Gd and make requests as His children Jhn 14:13-14 "Whatever yu ask in My name, that will I d, s that the Father may be glrified in the Sn. Jhn 15:16 "Yu did nt chse Me but I chse yu, and appinted yu that yu wuld g and bear fruit, and that yur fruit wuld remain, s that whatever yu ask f the Father in My name He may give t yu. b) Surrender yur supplicatins t the will f Gd The Lrd s Prayer cntinues, Thy will be dne in earth, as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). Gd knws what is best fr us and as we supplicate, we must allw Him t d His will in us and thrugh us 1 Jhn 5:14-15 New Internatinal Versin (NIV) 14 This is the cnfidence we have in appraching Gd: that if we ask anything accrding t his will, he hears us. 15 And if we knw that he hears us whatever we ask we knw that we have what we asked f him. c) Ask withut telling Gd hw t prvide the slutin When yu assume hw Gd will meet ur needs results in attitudes f presumptin, impatience, and ungratefulness We get disappinted when Gd des nt answer prayers in the way we expected. Isaiah 55:8"Fr My thughts are nt yur thughts, Nr are yur ways My ways," declares the LORD. 9"Fr as the heavens are higher than the earth, S are My ways higher than yur ways And My thughts than yur thughts. 4.4 Prayers f intercessin Anther dimensin f prayer we need t embrace is that f interceding. 2 Building an effective prayer life Prt 4: Michael Manyuni 08 April 2018 www.gchurchpretria.c.za

Intercessin prayer is all abut praying n behalf f thers. It means t intervene between tw peple, t speak n behalf f smene t anther persn. When yu intervene n behalf f smene, yu are literally taking that persn s place. It means yu carry their pain, their emtins and their burden as if it s yur wn. Intercessin calls fr a different heart dispsitin it is prbably ne f the mst selfless things yu can d fr yur family, church, pastr etc. Paul tells Timthy in 1 Timthy 2:1 that intercessry prayer (alng with several ther types f prayer) shuld be given n behalf f all men. 1Timthy 2:1 Therefre I exhrt first f all that supplicatins, prayers, intercessins, and giving f thanks be made fr all men, 2 fr kings and all wh are in authrity, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all gdliness and reverence. Intercessry prayer means praying earnestly fr the needs f thers, and seeking Gd's will fr their life. We are called t intercede fr thers, just as Jesus is interceding fr us (Hebrews 7: 25). Hebrews 7:25 Therefre He is als able t save t the uttermst thse wh cme t Gd thrugh Him, since He always lives t make intercessin fr them. Genesis 18:22-33 (Abraham); 1 Kings 18:41-46 (Elijah); 2 Kings 4:32-36 (Elisha); Acts 12:1-18 (The early church) 4.5 Prayers f Thanksgiving 1Thessalnians 5:16 Rejice always, 17 pray withut ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; fr this is the will f Gd in Christ Jesus fr yu. The prayer f thanksgiving is ne that has been neglected and yet it is the ne that gets us int the place where Gd dwells. Psalms 100:4 Enter int His gates with thanksgiving, And int His curts with praise. Be thankful t Him, and bless His name. There is a place where Gd dwells and it s accessed by cde thanksgiving. A grateful heart is ne that is attractive befre Gd. When last did yu just spend yur entire time f prayer in thanksgiving? Thanksgiving is ne f the greatest signs f faith yu dn t nly thank Gd fr what He has dne, yu thank Him fr what He has nt dne. 3 Building an effective prayer life Prt 4: Michael Manyuni 08 April 2018 www.gchurchpretria.c.za

Yu thank Gd fr nt answering certain prayers if He had answered sme f yur prayers, yur life wuld have been in a mess right nw. Jesus lived a life f thanksgiving lk at the fllwing: Matthew 15:36 And He tk the seven laves and the fish and gave thanks, brke them and gave them t His disciples; and the disciples gave t the multitude. Jhn 11:41 Then they tk away the stne frm the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank Yu that Yu have heard Me. 42 "And I knw that Yu always hear Me, but because f the peple wh are standing by I said this, that they may believe that Yu sent Me." 43 Nw when He had said these things, He cried with a lud vice, "Lazarus, cme frth!" Luke 22:19 And He tk bread, gave thanks and brke it, and gave it t them, saying, "This is My bdy which is given fr yu; d this in remembrance f Me." 4.6 Prayers f agreement The Bible emphasizes the pwer f unity, the pwer f ne that pwer is even seen when peple cme tgether in prayer. Prayers f agreement are prayers the peple f Gd need t appreciate This is when tw r mre peple cme tgether and agree with ne anther cncerning a matter When peple cme in agreement they tap int the crprate aninting. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 New Internatinal Versin (NIV) 9 Tw are better than ne, because they have a gd return fr their labr: 10 If either f them falls dwn, ne can help the ther up. But pity anyne wh falls and has n ne t help them up. 11 Als, if tw lie dwn tgether, they will keep warm. But hw can ne keep warm alne? 12 Thugh ne may be verpwered, tw can defend themselves. A crd f three strands is nt quickly brken. Yu need t understand the crprate aninting that we have when we cme tgether Leviticus 26:7 'But yu will chase yur enemies and they will fall befre yu by the swrd; 8five f yu will chase a hundred, and a hundred f yu will chase ten thusand, and yur enemies will fall befre yu by the swrd 4 Building an effective prayer life Prt 4: Michael Manyuni 08 April 2018 www.gchurchpretria.c.za

When we cme tgether in agreement the presence f Gd is attracted resulting in answers cming thrugh t us. Matthew 18:19 "Again I say t yu that if tw f yu agree n earth cncerning anything that they ask, it will be dne fr them by My Father in heaven. 20 "Fr where tw r three are gathered tgether in My name, I am there in the midst f them." 4.7 Pray in an unknwn tngue Hw ften have yu been in a place where yu want t pray but dn t knw what t pray fr and even hw t pray fr sme situatins? This is when prayers in an unknwn tngue cmes int play. As human beings, we are limited but the spirit f Gd is nt limited. What is praying in unknwn tngue When yu are baptized in the Hly Spirit, yu receive a gift frm Gd the gift f speaking (r praying) in tngues. It is a pwerful gift that every believer shuld desire. In fact, here are fur benefits t praying in tngues: a) Praying in Tngues Allws Yu t Speak Directly t Gd Fr if yu have the ability t speak in tngues, yu will be talking nly t Gd, since peple wn t be able t understand yu. Yu will be speaking by the pwer f the Spirit, but it will all be mysterius. 1 Crinthians 14:2 When yu pray in tngues, yu are praying Gd s will, directly t Him. It allws yur mind t get ut f the way s yur spirit can cmmune with the Father. b) Praying in Tngues Keeps Yu in Tune With the Hly Spirit And everyne present was filled with the Hly Spirit and began speaking in ther languages, as the Hly Spirit gave them this ability. Acts 2:4 Tngues is a gift frm Gd. It allws yu t pray the will f Gd by the empwering f the Hly Spirit. When yu pray in tngues, yu are yielding t the Hly Spirit wh dwells in yu. Then yu are allwing that same Spirit t pray thrugh yu, s yu are in tune with Him. 5 Building an effective prayer life Prt 4: Michael Manyuni 08 April 2018 www.gchurchpretria.c.za

c) Praying in Tngues Strengthens Yur Spirit A persn wh speaks in tngues is strengthened persnally, but ne wh speaks a wrd f prphecy strengthens the entire church. 1 Crinthians 14:4 Praying in tngues builds yu up spiritually and helps yu t live a Spirit-led life. d) Praying in Tngues Allws Yu t Pray Even When Yu Dn t Knw What t Pray And the Hly Spirit helps us in ur weakness. Fr example, we dn t knw what Gd wants us t pray fr. But the Hly Spirit prays fr us with granings that cannt be expressed in wrds. Rmans 8:26 Even when yu dn t knw hw r what t pray, yu can still pray in tngues. Yu can trust yur spirit t pray the perfect will f Gd, regardless f the situatin. 4.8 Prayers f warfare We are in csmic warfare, which regularly manifests itself in the natural. Every believer needs t understand that the devil is up fr a fight Ephesians 6:11 Put n the whle armr f Gd, that yu may be able t stand against the wiles f the devil.12 Fr we d nt wrestle against flesh and bld, but against principalities, against pwers, against the rulers f the darkness f this age, against spiritual hsts f wickedness in the heavenly places. Prayers f warfare are prayers where we disallw certain things frm happening and at the same time allwing certain things t happen Matthew 16:19 "And I will give yu the keys f the kingdm f heaven, and whatever yu bind n earth will be bund in heaven, and whatever yu lse n earth will be lsed in heaven." 4.9 Prayers f blessings Gd wants yu t be a cnduit f blessing ver yur family in sme circles it is called benedictins Every parent has a respnsibility t cnfer a blessing ver their children. Every husband has a respnsibility t pray blessings ver his wife and vice versa In the Old Testament, a blessing was passed n by speaking it ver the persn. 6 Building an effective prayer life Prt 4: Michael Manyuni 08 April 2018 www.gchurchpretria.c.za

Isaac spke blessings ver Jacb, Jacb himself spke blessings ver his children and the children f Jseph. Blessing prayers are simple: They are prayers asking fr the things f Gd s kingdm t be present in the persn s life and fr specific attributes f Gd s character t shw in their life. I want t challenge yu t begin writing yur wn blessing prayers t use as yu spend time praying fr the imprtant peple in yur life. "The Lrd bless yu and keep yu; the Lrd make his face shine n yu and be gracius t yu; the Lrd turn his face tward yu and give yu peace." Numbers 6:24-26 Ephesians 3:16-20: I pray that frm His glrius, unlimited resurces He will empwer yu with inner strength thrugh His Spirit. Then Christ will make His hme in yur hearts as yu trust in Him. Yur rts will grw dwn int Gd s lve and keep yu strng. And may yu have the pwer t understand, as all Gd s peple shuld, hw wide, hw lng, hw high and hw deep His lve is. May yu experience the lve f Christ, thugh it is t great t understand fully. Then yu will be made cmplete with all the fullness f life and pwer that cmes frm Gd. Nw all glry t Gd, wh is able, thrugh His mighty pwer at wrk within us, t accmplish infinitely mre than we might ask r think. Clssians 1:9b-12: We ask Gd t give yu cmplete knwledge f His will and t give yu spiritual wisdm and understanding. Then the way yu live will always hnr and please the Lrd, and yur lives will prduce every kind f gd fruit. All the while, yu will grw as yu learn t knw Gd better and better. We als pray that yu will be strengthened with all His glrius pwer s yu will have all the endurance and patience yu need. May yu be filled with jy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled yu t share in the inheritance that belngs t His peple, wh live in the light. 7 Building an effective prayer life Prt 4: Michael Manyuni 08 April 2018 www.gchurchpretria.c.za