10-18-98 Prayer Power! Luke 18
by Ronald E. George Jr. at the Sand Fork Baptist Church
What is the most important part of the space shuttle launch? All parts of the shuttle launch are important, but without the unseen launch PAD the shuttle would just sit and spin it’s wheels… The power of the church is the unseen prayer life of members!
What is the most important thing that you can do for the church and for the Lord?
Without the ongoing continual prayers of the people the church is as large and as powerful as a toothless lion.
Scripture Text: Luke 18:1-8 1 And he spake a parable unto them [to this end], that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; 2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: 3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. 4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; 5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. 6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. 7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? 8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
1. Prayer is the key to God’s Powerhouse. The widow knew that the judge had the power to grant her the justice she desired and deserved. We know and believe that God is the power that created the universe. Have we turned the key to allow the door to God’s power to come through? That Key is Prayer. We know what the key is and we know how to use it? Are we ready to pray?
The widow could have thought or said:
The great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer. -- F.B. Meyer
2. Prayer is the way to God’s heart… through his ears.
Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance; it is adjusting to God's willingness. God never sleeps, so He is never disturbed when we approach Him. God does not answer our much praying in order to get rid of us, but because He loves us. -- Ivan French, Principles and Practice of Prayer, p. 63.
3. Prayer is the way to line up with the Lord… Not to line him up with us… authentic pray is how we connect with God. How do you give God the Father a hug? When I give my wife a hug she says that she needed to get her spine aligned.
4. Persistent prayer is vital to successful Christian living… the squeaky wheel gets the oil. When we talk God listens and he does act according to his plan and purpose for our lives. Have we talked to him persistently?
When Jeff Buckingham was seven years old, he and his younger brother were playing in a tent outside their home when a kerosene lamp exploded. Jeff was burned over two-thirds of his body; it was feared he would never walk again. For years he made frequent trips to burn centers, persevering through the agonizing skin graft operations. Although he must have entertained thoughts of giving up, Jeff never quit. On the contrary, in 1985 he set an American outdoor pole- vaulting record when he soared 18 feet, 10-3/4 inches.
Perseverance is a great element of success. If you knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody. -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"Nothing can so quickly cancel the frictions of life as prayer. If you find yourself growing angry at someone, pray for him -- anger cannot live in an atmosphere of prayer." (William T. McElroy)
"You need not cry very loud; He is nearer to us than we think." (Brother Lawrence)
"If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me." (Robert Murray McCheyne)
"The prayer power has never been tried to its full capacity. If we want to see mighty wonders of divine power and grace wrought in the place of weakness, failure and disappointment, let us answer God's standing challenge, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not!'" (J. Hudson Taylor)
"Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers." (J. Sidlow Baxter)
"What the Church needs today is not more or better machinery, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use -- men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men -- men of prayer." (E.M. Bounds)
ARE YOU READY TO PRAYER?