The Power of Prayer

Dusty

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The Power of Prayer

The power of prayer….. 2 Kings 20: 1-11 (2 Chronicles 32:24 )
“ In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. He prayed to the Lord, who answered him and gave him a miraculous sign”

Hezekiah received the word of the Lord from the prophet Isaiah that he was going to die. But Hezekiah called out to the Lord for mercy and the lord answered his prayer, not only with healing but with a miraculous sign, literally making the sun go backwards in the sky.

Hezekiah had great faith but he still wanted to hear from God himself. God heard him and says “ I heard your prayer and seen your tears”

Not only does God heal Hezekiah, but he gave him 15 more years to his life and delivers his city form the enemy.

Sometimes as we ask God for healing it can be quick, like Hezekiah and sometimes not so quick. Don’t give up> It is up to God and His timing

Hezekiah was so close to God that he even asks God for a sign, so he asked that his shadow go back ten steps.

God is a God of signs and wonders. God gave Hezekiah a sign about his shadow.

God gives us instruction as we pray,--- sometimes medication—sometimes healthy eating. We must be a praying people.


The lesson is clear for us today; we serve a God who answers prayer and answers miraculously. God answers prayer today , just like He did in Hezekiah’s time. He wants to hear your needs and He wants you to trust Him for the answers. There is Power in prayer .

 
Absolutely there is power in prayer!

Jesus is a perfect example of a praying man. He knew that communion with His Father was nessisary for what He was to do in His life on earth. We follow the example of Christ.
 
Yes indeed there is much power in prayer...Praise God for that...where would we be without it....I pray about everything, even when I drive around and around looking for a parking space when there's none in sight!!
I do believe that there is a prerequiste and that is ..we need to humble ourselves first as we are told in
2 Chron :"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
There are times too when we don't receive answers to prayers because we ask for that which is outside the will of God. 1 John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he hears us and if He hears us we know we have the petition that we desire of Him.
We are told to pray always as scripture tells us in Luke 21:36 Watch you therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Lets all pray for each other..for every child of God that we will all endure to the end..because The Lord is coming soon.:groupray:
 
Amen .... hesallIneed ... right on the money ... good message .
2 Chron :"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

So many Christians are just waiting for others prayers and trying to catch a ride ... so to speak .... but it does not work that way . There is definately power in prayer and as you said we can pray about little things or big ... We serve a Big God who is able and He desires to commune with us .... and how do we do that ... through prayer.

James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

1 Peter 3:12
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."
 
HeinallIneed said:
2 Chron :"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

How many times has the Lord told us to (spiritually) get our house in order? Sometimes we are not walking as close to Him as we could.


Dusty said:
Hezekiah received the word of the Lord from the prophet Isaiah that he was going to die. But Hezekiah called out to the Lord for mercy and the lord answered his prayer


Hezekiah was quick to repent so he was quickly healed. When we get ourselves in line, situations can turn around fast.
 

I THES 5:17 "Pray without ceasing" We should pray to God continually. Our failures are because of the lack of prayer.

1. PRAYER OF HAGAR: (GEN 21:16)
Hagar did not pray to God but she cried aloud. Sometimes when we are filled with worries, we cannot pray to God but instead we will weep. Similarly, Hagar was caught up in a situation in which she could not even pray. When we weep in God's Presence, He wiil answer us immediatly. This is the prayer of tears. Our tears will bring the answer from the heaven.

2. PRAYER OF JACOB: (GEN 32:26, 28)
Jacob did not receive his blessings just like that but he struggled hard. The result for his struggle was victory. Similarly, when we pray in the same manner, He will bless us abundantly. We should struggle hard in prayer to receive His blesssings.

3. PRAYER OF JABEZ: ( I CHR 4:10)
Jabez did not weep like Hagar or struggle like Jacob. He just made a casual prayer. It was like a casual talk to his friend. God immediately responded to his prayer. Our prayer should be Jabez's.

4. PRAYER OF ESTHER: (EST 4:16)
Esther made a tough prayer. She fasted day and night and prayed. Sometimes God expects a prayer like this. We should pray with fasting. Because of Esther's prayer the whole nation was saved.

5. PRAYER OF DANIEL: (DAN 6:10, 23)
Daniel kneeled and prayed even after knowing that the writing was signed by the king. The document was signed and everything was over but still he prayed. We should have this spirit even in the hopeless situation. We should keep on praying, God will respond our prayers by changing everything.
 
4. PRAYER OF ESTHER: (EST 4:16)
Esther made a tough prayer. She fasted day and night and prayed. Sometimes God expects a prayer like this. We should pray with fasting. Because of Esther's prayer the whole nation was saved.

Strictly speaking, although the word "prayer" is not found in the verse (nor the word God found in the entire book Esther) I would have to agree w/ Dusty, that we could infer when the hebrews fasted, they also prayed.
 
Strictly speaking, although the word "prayer" is not found in the verse (nor the word God found in the entire book Esther) I would have to agree w/ Dusty, that we could infer when the hebrews fasted, they also prayed.

True , true , John . and sometimes like you said , even though it is not implied , we can surmise .... I believe that Esther must have been a praying woman .

I like that Jabez talked to his Friend . We can talk to God on the same level . He calls us friend . Just like the verse " pray without ceasing " means . We don't always have to go to our " Secret place" . We can talk to God at any time .... in the car ( keep your eyes open ... LOL ) in the grocery , well you get the picture. Now with cell phones , people don't even give you a second glance cause they think yo are talking on the phone . I don't have a cell but I have a direct line to the Throne of Grace. Praise God .
 
Question for all ..... Why do you pray ?

I'll start ...

I pray because I know that God hears and answers prayers .

I pray because it is my time to talk and listen to what the Holy Spirit has to say

I pray for the needs of others .

I pray because I believe prayer changes things .

I pray because I love the Lord and want to do His will . ( The Lord's prayer ..... thy will be done .... )
 
When we pray , God also loves us to pray the scripture and by praying God's promises we are also putting God's Word into our Spirit .

In Acts , the result of their prayer meeting was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and I believe the place must have shook with the Holy Spirit's Power. THey were all baptised with the Holy Spirit and spoke in other tongues .. Powerful prayers --- explosive results . They were all praying in one accord We too can have that same power today


One focus in our prayer life should be about God's greatness and our smallness in comparrison We should pray more about who God is . God's greatness is bigger than any problem .

We need to ask God for boldness as they did in the upper room and believe that our God is the same yesterday , today and forever . He does not change , He is a God of miracles , signs and wonders. All we have to do is believe.
 
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When we pray , God also loves us to pray the scripture and by praying God's promises we are also putting God's Word into our Spirit .


When we pray the scripture we are praying according to His will and He hears and answers.


1 John 5:14And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
15And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.



In Acts , the result of their prayer meeting was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and I believe the place must have shook with the Holy Spirit's Power.

I've experienced the place shaking before.


Acts 4:31And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

Acts 16:25And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 26And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed



THey were all baptised with the Holy Spirit and spoke in other tongues .. Powerful prayers --- explosive results . They were all praying in one accord We too can have that same power today

Explosive is right. It's a demonstration of just how powerful prayer can be.


One focus in our prayer life should be about God's greatness and our smallness in comparrison We should pray more about who God is . God's greatness is bigger than any problem .

We need to ask God for boldness as they did in the upper room and believe that our God is the same yesterday , today and forever . He does not change , He is a God of miracles , signs and wonders. All we have to do is believe.


Amen
 
Amen to that!! that is awesome way to put it
I believe when we put praise and acknowledgment of God's sovereignty with prayer it is even more effectively powerful
what we humans often miss is that God IS in CONTROL of everything ! Literally !
a full surrendered to his will life expresses and acknowledges and affirms through PRAYER
 
In Acts , the result of their prayer meeting was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and I believe the place must have shook with the Holy Spirit's Power.

I've experienced the place shaking before.

That I have never experienced . That must have been awesome .

Come to think about it . When I was in the D. R. on a misssion trip , we stayed in a rented house and on top of the house was a church and every night the people were there praying ( And we were trying to get some sleep for our next day ) We could feel the place shaking as the people were dancing in the Spirit and praying all night .

When we look at praying people in the Bible , one cannot help but look at Job . He had to be " Prayed up " so to speak to withstand all the ridicule from people and his own wife and family . We we pray with expectation and furvance .... wow things happen . You and I do need to seek God with olur whole heart as He sees our heart . Job had a burning desire to reach the heart of God . I question myself if I am so passionate in waiting on Him . In this busy life that we all lead , we all probably don't spend the time in prayer that is needed . ( I am guilty of that and am speaking to myself here )

Seeking God with our whole being like Job takes intensity and work and suplication , waiting on God for the answer , Am I willing to have that kind of prayer life ?

Job said in Job 23:3 ..... If only I knew where to find him;
if only I could go to his dwelling!


He was seeking and when we seek we will find God . And we will also find that God is there all the time . All we have to do is come into His presence with a holy respect for who He is and who He wants to be in our lives.
 
Amen to that!! that is awesome way to put it
I believe when we put praise and acknowledgment of God's sovereignty with prayer it is even more effectively powerful
what we humans often miss is that God IS in CONTROL of everything ! Literally !
a full surrendered to his will life expresses and acknowledges and affirms through PRAYER

That's right , praise is a very intrical part of our prayers . When we praise God and worship him , that is pleasing to Him just like in the OT when the Israelites offered sacrifices to God . They were a sweet savour to His nostrils .

The same with our praise , it is a sweet offering to God . When we offer up to Him the sacrifice of praise , He is honoured . Then , He blesses us with the infilling of the Holy Ghost and power.
 
through prayer and praise we can exsperience a joy and a peace that the cares of the world can not take away

that "Blessed Assurance" is given us as a free Gift from God

with out fear we can know that God truly Loves us and see's us important to his Kingdom

no matter what the world says to us , mercy has victory over Judgment

what a awesome awesome gift God gave !!! He gave his BEST to us ,he more than deserves our BEST AND HIGHEST PRAISE !!always and forever
 
Amen , GodSpeaks .

The psalmist knew the presence of God and we also can as well if we linger in His presence . Being in God's presence is a breathtaking experience. We all can have that experience because of what Jesus Christ did for us .

Psalm 89:15


15 Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you,
who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD.


Psalm 16:11


11 You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
 
through prayer and praise we can exsperience a joy and a peace that the cares of the world can not take away

that "Blessed Assurance" is given us as a free Gift from God

with out fear we can know that God truly Loves us and see's us important to his Kingdom

no matter what the world says to us , mercy has victory over Judgment

what a awesome awesome gift God gave !!! He gave his BEST to us ,he more than deserves our BEST AND HIGHEST PRAISE !!always and forever


Amen!
 
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