In this season of prayer and fasting i want us to understand why we pray. WHY PRAY? 1. We pray because we love God. We spend time with God in prayer and communion because we love him. Just as a man and woman in love desire to be together and communicate, so we - if we love God - will desire to be with Him and to fellowship with Him in proportion to our love for Him. 2. We pray because we depend on God. God is our source. He is our life (Colossians 3:4). Through prayer we receive the comfort, the strength and all the other resources that we need in life - both naturally and spiritually. Prayer - relationship to God - is as necessary to the spiritual life as air to the natural life. 3. We need to pray in order to resist temptation. Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. (Mt. 26:41). Much sin is the result of the sin of prayerlessness. Through lack of prayer, we are weak, others are weaker and Satan gains the advantage in our lives. 4. We need to pray because it is necessary for men to invite God to act in salvation. God gave the earth to Adam and his descendants. We must invite God to work here. If no-one invites God to work here, Satan (the god of this world through mans universal rebellion - 2 Corinthians 4:4) will dominate the affairs of men and eventually the judgment of God will come. By inviting God often and specifically, multitudes can be saved that would otherwise be lost. 5. We need to pray because God commands us to pray. Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. (Colossians 4:2). Then he [Jesus] spoke a parable to them to this end, that men ought always to pray and not lose heart. (Luke 18:1). The need to pray is as great as the authority of God which commands us: Pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Prayer is so vital to all that God wants to do on the earth, and so essential to us, that God commands us to do it all the time. We should even deny ourselves sleep and food at times in order to pray more and with greater power. (Matthew 6:16; Luke 6:12; Luke 21:36; Colossians 4:2; 2 Corinthians 11:27). jesus prayed 6. We pray because Jesus Christ, our model, prayed constantly Jesus was always in perfect communion with the Father. He always knew what the Father wanted, what the Father was saying and what the Father was doing. Jesus also took time to pray alone at night, in the morning before others were up (Mark 1:35), in times of crisis and temptation (Matthew 26:36, 39, 42). If the Son of God needed to pray, how much more we need it if we are going to be like Him. 7. We pray because God Hears and Answers Prayer Jesus said, Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened unto you (Matthew 7:7) We need the things that God can do. In serving God, many things are outside our own power. If God doesnt do them, they wont happen! In every area of life, both spiritual and natural, God answers prayer and makes the difference! 8. We pray that our joy may be full! John 16:24 Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. God wants our joy to be full. This can only happen when we experience answers to prayer. God wants us joyful, not sad and downcast. His answers to prayer put great joy in our hearts. That is what God wants!. Join us daily for lunch hours 12.45 pm - 2.00 pm sunday services from 8.00am at the City of refuge.be blessed
Posted on: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 08:59:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015