Prayer is always an interesting topic for Christians.  We tend to talk about prayer, ask each other for prayer, but at most churches the least attended service is often "the prayer meeting".  So, what is so important about prayer?!?!?!  Well Hebrews 4:16 is a good verse that reminds us that we are to: “...come boldly unto the throne of grace (come unto the Lord humbly) so that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.”
 
So praying is reaching the throne of God.  It is not just the saying or the utterance of words.  Prayer is really getting in communication with our God!  It is not just lip service-saying a bunch of words in the correct order.  Prayer, as someone defined many years ago, is like playing tennis; you hit the ball over the net and your partner hits it back.  Well, in prayer you speak to God then you let Him answer, literally you listen for HIS response.  Surprising as it may seem, sometimes the Lord will answer your prayer, but HIS answer may not always be what you want.   Remember, sometimes He will say: “Yes”  Sometimes, He will say: “No” and at other times He may say: “Not Yet, I Have something better for you in MY time.”
 
Believe me, power in prayer is very much the gauge of our spiritual condition.  Prayer comes spontaneously from those who abide in Jesus; prayer is the natural "out gushing" of a soul in communion with Jesus. 
 
For the Christian, praying is supposed to be like breathing, easier to do than to not do. We pray for a variety of reasons.

• For one thing, prayer is a form of serving God (Luke 2:36-38) and obeying Him. We pray because God commands us to pray (Philippians 4:6-7). Prayer is exemplified for us by Christ and the early church (Mark 1:35; Acts 1:14; 2:42; 3:1; 4:23-31; 6:4; 13:1-3). If Jesus thought it was worthwhile to pray, we should also.
  
• Another reason to pray is that God intends prayer to be the means of obtaining His solutions in a number of situations. We pray in preparation for major decisions (Luke 6:12-13); to overcome demonic barriers (Matthew 17:14-21); to gather workers for the spiritual harvest (Luke 10:2); to gain strength to overcome temptation (Matthew 26:41); and to obtain the means of strengthening others spiritually (Ephesians 6:18-19).   We come to God with our specific requests, and we have God’s promise that our prayers are not in vain, even if we do not receive specifically what we asked for (Matthew 6:6; Romans 8:26-27). He has promised that when we ask for things that are in accordance with His will, He will give us what we ask for (1 John 5:14-15). Sometimes He delays His answers according to His wisdom and for our benefit. In these situations, we are to be diligent and persistent in prayer (Matthew 7:7; Luke 18:1-8).  Prayer should not be seen as our means of getting God to do our will on earth, but rather as a means of getting God’s will done on earth. God’s wisdom far exceeds our own.
  
• In other situations in which we do not know God’s will specifically, prayer is a means of discerning His will. If the Syrian woman with the demon-influenced daughter had not prayed to Christ, her daughter would not have been made whole (Mark 7:26-30). If the blind man outside Jericho had not called out to Christ, he would have remained blind (Luke 18:35-43). God has said that we often go without because we do not ask (James 4:2). In one sense, prayer is like sharing the gospel with people. We do not know who will respond to the message of the gospel until we share it. In the same way, we will never see the results of answered prayer unless we pray.

A lack of prayer demonstrates a lack of faith and a lack of trust in God’s Word. We pray to demonstrate our faith in God, that He will do as He has promised in His Word and bless our lives abundantly more than we could ask or hope for (Ephesians 3:20). Prayer is our primary means of seeing God work in others' lives. Because it is our means of “plugging into” God’s power, it is our means of defeating Satan and his army that we are powerless to overcome by ourselves. Therefore, may God find us often before His throne, for we have a high priest in heaven who can identify with all that we go through (Hebrews 4:15-16). We have His promise that the fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much (James 5:16-18).

​May God glorify His name in our lives as we believe in Him enough to come to Him often in prayer.

Before there was Mother Teresa, there was a Mother Dabney.  In 1925, Elizabeth J. Dabney and her husband went to work for a mission in the city of brotherly love, (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), but there wasn't much love in their North Philly neighborhood. It was a hellhole. God had called her husband to preach. He had called Mother Dabney to pray. But she didn't just pray, she prayed through.

At the outset of her ministry, Mother Dabney entered into a covenant to pray. Her burning bush experience happened early one morning on the banks of the Schuylkill River. The presence of God overshadowed her as she threw down the prayer gauntlet. Here is her prayer:

“Lord, if You will bless my husband in the place You sent him to establish Your name, if You will break the bonds and destroy the middle wall of partition, if You will give him a church and congregation — a credit to Your people and all Christendom — I will walk with You for 3 years in prayer, both day and night. I will meet You every morning at 9. You will never have to wait for me; I will be there to greet You.  I will stay there all day; I will devote all of my time to You. Furthermore, if You will listen to the voice of my supplication and break through in that wicked neighborhood and bless my husband, I will fast 72 hours each week for 2 years. While I am going through the fast, I will not go home to sleep in my bed. I will stay in church, and if I get sleepy, I'll rest on newspapers and carpet.”

As soon as she made that prayer covenant, it was like a spiritual cloudburst. Every morning at 9am, Mother Dabney greeted the Lord with a hearty, “Good morning, Jesus.” Her knees would often go numb from kneeling, but God extended His powerful right arm. Soon the mission was too small to accommodate those whom the Holy Spirit drew. And the more she prayed through, the more God broke through.

Mother Dabney's prayer legacy would be a long forgotten footnote if it were not for one headline. The Pentecostal Evangel published her testimony under the title, “What It Means to Pray Through.” That one article sparked a prayer movement all around the world. Mother Dabney received more than 3 million letters from people who wanted to know how to pray through.

In the grand scheme of God's story, there is a footnote behind every headline. The footnote is prayer. And if you focus on the footnotes, God will write the headlines. It is your prayers that changes the eternal plotline.

I love history, and in particular, a branch of history called counterfactual theory. Counterfactual theorists in simple terms ask the what if questions. For example, what if the American Revolution had failed, or what if Hitler had been victorious in World War II? How would history have unfolded differently? What would that alternate reality look like?

Reading biblical history like a counterfactual theorist is an interesting exercise. And the Jericho miracle is a great example. What if the Israelites had stopped circling on the sixth day? The answer is obvious: they would have forfeited the miracle right before it happened. If they had stopped circling after 12 round trips, they would have done a lot of walking for nothing. Like the generation before them, they would have defaulted on the promise. And the same is true for us.

God won't answer 100 percent of the prayers you don't pray.

PRAYING FOR VERSUS PRAYING THROUGH
Our generation desperately needs to rediscover the difference between praying for and praying through. There are certainly circumstances where praying for something will get the job done. I believe in short prayers before meals because, quite frankly, I believe in eating food while it's still hot. But there are also situations where you need to grab hold of the horns of the altar and refuse to let go until God answers.
I've stopped praying ASAP prayers — asking God to answer as soon as possible. I have started praying ALAT prayers — as long as it takes. Praying in circles is a metaphor that simply means praying until God answers. You intercede until God intervenes.

Praying through is all about consistency!   It's circling Jericho so many times it makes you dizzy. Like the story Jesus told about the persistent widow who drove the judge crazy with her relentless requests, praying through does not take no for an answer. Circle makers know that it's always too soon to quit praying because you never know when the wall is about to fall. You are always only one prayer away from a miracle.

Praying through is all about intensity!  It's not quantitative. It's qualitative. Drawing prayer circles involves more than words. It's gut-wrenching groans and heartbreaking tears. Praying through doesn't just bend God's ear; it touches the heart of your Heavenly Father.

When was the last time you found yourself flat on your face before the Almighty? When was the last time you cut off circulation kneeling before the Lord? When was the last time you pulled an all-nighter in prayer?

​Try it today...it is time to PRAY THROUGH!

​One of the basic claims made by Christians is that God is alive and HE wants to have a relationship with us.  We all know that we cannot have a relationship with someone without communication.  We need to communicate with our Lord just the way a tennis player plays tennis.  One hits the ball over the net then waits for the other one to respond.  It cannot be a one-sided discussion.  What do our prayers sound like?  Lord I want this, Lord I want that. bless me Lord,  bless my family.  No, that is not a two-way communication.  We need to learn to listen. 
 
Years ago I heard a story about President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.   When he was president he said he got tired of saying the usual things at all the White House receptions.  So one evening he decided to find out if anybody was paying attention to what he was saying.  As each person came up to him and shook his hand he would smile and say, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” 
 
Person after person greeted him and would respond with, “How lovely,” or “That’s nice.”  It was confirmed what FDR believed, no one was listening to him.  Finally, a foreign diplomat shook his hand and once again FDR said, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.”  The foreign diplomat looked a little shocked but leaned in to the president and said softly, “I’m sure she had it coming to her.”  Finally someone did listen to what the president was saying.
 
Some of you may be saying; How can I know when God is telling me to do something?  We have several venues available to us.  The first and most important is prayer.  Prayer is especially critical when you are unsure of God’s will for your life.
 
Another way is through God’s Word.  The Bible from Genesis to Revelation are all examples for us to follow and understand what God wants from us.  Remember God never contradicts himself.  He will never ask us to do something contradictory to His Word.  He will never ask us to sin.  He will never ask us to do something Jesus Christ would not do. 
 
We have the passage of Gideon in the Bible who was not sure that God REALLY wanted him to do something he asked him to do.   So, in order to be sure he asked God for a sign to confirm for him.  Yes, you can ask God for a sign but be specific.  That is referred to as Putting out a Fleece (Judges 6).
 
As Christians we also have the Holy Spirit to help us discern what is and what is not God’s will for our lives.  John 16:13 says that the Spirit of truth…will guide you into all truth.  That means that sometimes we Christians get agitated when we are trying to make a decision but the agitation in our spirit letting us know, warning us,  that we are on the wrong track.  Or perhaps when we are trying to make a decision the Holy Spirit will encourage us and we feel at peace when we are leaning toward the right decision.
 
Sometimes God will change a situation without us even realizing He has acted. Isaiah 58:11 says the Lord will guide you always.  The Lord always prepares us.  He never does things half-way.  As Christians there is only one voice that matters.  It is not my voice, it is not your voice, it is not the voice of the past or the voice of the future.  The only voice that matters is the voice of God.  May we begin to see things from God’s perspective.  If we call Jesus our Lord then it is our responsibility to obey His commands, to do what He wants us to do.  Jesus always prayed to His Father; Not my will but His will.
 
Sometimes God may speak to us in an audible voice.  My father was in WWII and was stationed in Italy.  My father did not speak much about his years in the war.  I have heard this from many others because the war was difficult for them to process.  But one thing I remembered him talking about was one night his unit was preparing for the coming of the Germans into the hills.  They were told to take cover wherever they could.  So, my father and his friend went into a barn thinking it was safe.  While he was in the barn, my father said he was praying, and then all of a sudden he heard his name and the words:  get out of the barn now!  He told his friend, we have to get out of the barn and into the house NOW.  He told his friend but his friend would not move, he said I am staying here in the barn where it is safer.  My father said I am going into the house.  And within 5 minutes a bomb fell in the area and destroyed the barn and his friend.  He never told that story without crying and thanking God for His protection.

The relationship that God wants to have with us is rooted in love. John 3:16 is the perfect example of God’s perfect love for you: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”. No other verse in the Bible summarizes God’s relationship with humanity and His ultimate love for us. It tells us that the love God has for us and the extent of that love is so great that He sacrificed His only Son on our behalf. God’s love for us inspires our love for God.

Many of us have heard someone say “I want to be close to God” or “I feel far from Jesus” or have even said some of these things ourselves.  We say these things because we have been led to believe our relationship with Jesus is based on proximity – a sliding scale of near and far based on faithfulness of our spiritual devotion. But a relationship with Jesus requires more than just being close with Him. Jesus longs to become perfectly one with you. God takes residence in us, invites us to die to ourselves and become a new creation in Him. He invites us into an intimate relationship with Him: union with Christ. Union with Christ refers to relationship between the believer and Jesus Christ. There are countless passages throughout the Bible that reveal that believers are joined in Christ: We are the branches and Jesus is the vine (John 15:5); Jesus is the head and we are His body (1 Corinthians 6:15-19); Christ is the foundation and we are living stones in the foundation (1 Peter 2:4-5). Nothing is more basic or central to knowing and enjoying God than union with Christ. It’s at the heart of our Christian faith. Jesus Christ is dwelling in us and because of this, Jesus is available to us anytime and in anyplace because we believe.

God desires to welcome you into His eternal family as His glorified child. It’s important that you make it a priority to grow in your relationship with Him. Having a personal relationship with God begins the moment we realize our need for Him, admit that we fall short as sinners, and in faith receive Jesus Christ as Savior. As soon as we become children of God, we receive the Holy Spirit, who will begin to work on our hearts. Include God in your daily life. Pray to Him, read His Word daily and reflect on verses in Scripture in an effort to know Him better. Trusting in God to get us through each day and believing that He is the true sustainer of life is how we can not only begin, but also sustain a personal relationship with Him.

Sometimes it is hard to hear God’s voice because we are listening to public opinion and to many other popular voices.  Some listen to their own feelings, desires, passions and their own choices.  Sometimes people listen to every wind of doctrine that comes along.   Then there are others who listen to only new revelations or some wild experience someone has had.  Some listen to psychics, read horoscopes, Ouija boards and tarot cards and join wiccan groups.   Some listen to those who tickle their ears and tell them only what they want to hear and what is pleasant to consider. 

But God is looking for those who are listening for His call.     Are you one of them?

Do you really believe in the power of prayer?   I know there are many Believers, many Christians who go out of their way to go to church.  They go out of their way to worship; but they have just a little relationship with the LORD throughout the week. 
 
We all go through difficulties day after day but only when we come to the end of our rope and our strength then we ask for God’s help.  However, we have the power of God at our disposal all the time; twenty-four/seven.  Yet, we attempt to get by on our own strength everyday.
 
Many people believe that it doesn’t really matter whether they pray or not.  They  believe that God’s going to do, what God’s going to do –so why bother?

Today, people regard prayer as a last resort after all of their other efforts have failed; sort of like a “Hail Mary” pass in football.  They throw it up in the air and hope it reaches the desired destination.  Yes, we pray a little but in our heart of hearts we don’t view prayer as making that big an impact on the decisions we make daily.  We do not include our LORD into our lives.  We need to include His presence into our lives so that we can experience His power.
 
Are you aware that through prayer we can impact the world?  We can secure destinies, and effect eternity because there is power in prayer.  I have been in church my entire life.  My dad was a pastor and then I was the pastor of my home church.  I have seen and heard people pray with tears and brokenness and the LORD answered. I have witnessed evil spirits come out of people.  I have seen marriages healed, emotional and spiritual problems resolved; drug addicts and alcoholics lives changed around.  I have seen and heard people pray over our nation and the LORD answered.
 
I Thessalonians 5:17 says Pray without ceasing.  We Christians need to plug into our power source.  We need to plead, to pray to God for this country for this world.  Look at this world, man has tried every which way to solve the problems we face, but the word of God says we must plead for the souls of this world. 
 
Some of you may be saying I can’t go on a mission trip --that’s OK.  Can you get down on your knees and pray?  Someone may tell me they can’t get down on their knees because of pain or age, but you can still pray. You can pray on your knees, you can pray standing up, you can pray flat on your back, you can pray with your face to the ground, you can pray sitting in your favorite chair, you can pray walking around, you can pray lying in bed.   No limitations to the positions for prayer.
 
Either we are going to plead to our Lord or we are going to perish.  It is either Pentecost or it is going to be holocaust.  It is either going to be revival or the wrath of God.  We are to pray to God fervently to pour our whole hearts and our total beings out to God to share with God, both thanksgivings and petitions.
 
Our best example is always JESUS.  Let me remind you when Jesus was on this earth
He was totally dependent upon God not upon the crowds. The crowds could give Jesus nothing,  But God could give Jesus everything. That is why He depended on His Father.   We need to depend on our LORD also.
 
Let me give you an illustration that might help you understand the power of prayer.  Five ministerial students were visiting in London on a hot Sunday in July.  While they were waiting for the doors of the church to open, a man approached and asked them “Gentlemen, would you like to see the heating apparatus of the church?”  They thought, “How weird that this man wants to show us the heating system of the church on a hot day in July.”
 
But, they were curious so they all followed him.  They came to a door.  He quietly opened it and whispered: “There sirs, is our heating apparatus!”  Some seven hundred intercessors were kneeling in prayer, seeking an outpouring of God’s Spirit upon the service which was soon to begin in the Tabernacle.  That unknown guide was Charles Spurgeon the great pastor of the pulpit himself.
 
What is fueling the fire in our churches today in the life of those of us who call ourselves Christians?   Our churches are filled with powerless programs when they should be filled with praying people!