worship and the Word, taking it to the world!

In January we had a church-wide prayer and fast.  Sadly, this has become something almost unheard of in the church of our day in America.  It is impossible to overemphasize the importance of prayer.  In Acts chapter two, the early church was born during a prayer meeting.  Then as you read through Acts you witness several other prayer meetings that were instrumental in thrusting forward this new “Jesus” movement.

The Bible has many types of literary styles throughout but prayer is omnipresent from Genesis to Revelation.  John Wesley is well known for his saying that God does nothing but through prayer.  I think Wesley was correct.  I have read many accounts in Church history of revival being traced back to the prayers of a small group of men and women who prayed, sometimes for years, and then witnessed great supernatural answers.

I have been reading a book by Mark Batterson called The Circle Maker, that chronicles amazing stories of how God works through prayer.  I highly recommend it.  I’ve asked the leaders of the church to read the book and I’m confident our spiritual life will be greatly nourished and our confidence in prayer increased.

During the fast we had nine prayer meetings and one final meeting Sunday evening.  People gathered at all the prayer times but Sunday evening had a much larger turnout than I expected.  What an encouragement this was to me.  I am certain there are many others who have solid prayer practices that could not attend Sunday, but to see so many come out to pray and have communion together was very gratifying.  It seems that our church has a more significant foundation of prayer than I thought.

At the prayer meeting, I taught from 1 John about prayer:
1 John 5:13-15 “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”
John, the Apostle Jesus loved, also wrote the Gospel of John and quoted Jesus’ great promise about prayer:
John 14:13-14 “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
“In my name” and “according to His will” are essentially the same.  Surely, no one wants to pray out of the will of God so the question becomes, “How do I know the will of God?”  The answer is not one-dimensional, but I will offer some advice that should help greatly in knowing God’s will.

The first thing we must do is to learn our Bibles.  It is important to read the Bible from beginning to end and make lots of notes and underline important passages.  If you do that you will form a much better picture of all that is in the Bible.  Your worldview will be greatly changed.  Also those things you underline will become increasingly meaningful as time goes by and you read your notes and underline other passages.

Second, start to memorize key verses and even some short passages.  The Bible itself tells us that we are to memorize and meditate on God’s Word and promises. If we do, it will guide and change our lives.
Psalm 1:1-3 “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked, or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.”
Check out Psalm 19 and read carefully through Psalm 119 and you will see the high priority that must be set on knowing God’s Word.  Just those two things will help tremendously in understanding God’s will for the purpose of a fruitful prayer life.

The third thing I recommend is to read books by well-established authors that teach you how to know God’s will.  There are many, but J.I. Packer’s book, Knowing God is a classic.  You could also read the writings of E.M. Bounds.  He wrote many books on prayer and all are excellent and easy to purchase.  Search out good books on prayer that will inspire you to pray more – read the Biography of George Mueller who prayed daily for the children of his orphanage in Germany and saw supernatural answers that have always challenged me to believe more when I pray.

It is a great mistake to not develop a growing habit of reading books and learning from those who have gone before us and lived fruitful Christian lives.  I often say that a person who doesn’t read is no better off than a person who can’t read. I stand by that statement and encourage you to read often instead of just submitting to the easy and trivial media temptations of our day.

And my final advice is to PRAY.  Set aside a specific daily time to pray.  Purchase a notebook and make it your prayer journal.  Develop a list of people and things you want to pray for.  Record your answers to prayer.  The more you pray ineffectively the more you will learn to pray effectively.  As answers come and you make notes and learn from listening to the prayers of others – the more you will want to pray.

During our prayer and fast, I loved listening to the prayers of others.  I was anxious to add my voice of “Amen” to their prayers and then pray myself so others could agree with me.  I am very encouraged and believe God desires to do great things through those of us who call Calvary Chapel Sarasota our church home.  So continue to join me in prayer. Sign up for the prayer wall on the commUnity and pray with others in your Home Fellowship.

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