The Passion Of Prayer
NEED PRAYER? NEED PASSION?
Yes you can have both!
Do you wonder how some people have a dynamic with God and others do not?
Or perhaps you are questioning where is that passion you once had to pray?
And if you are new to prayer you may ask yourself is prayer only for people who are good at it? Does God want to hear and answer my prayers? And if so how do I get there?
When we know the person of Jesus, it changes everything. Jesus has insight for us, let’s learn from him. Jesus opens the sermon of the mount with ‘when you pray’, and after Jesus had instituted the Lord’s Supper in the Upper Room, they sang a hymn and “went out to the Mount of Olives” (Matthew 26:30) The final close of his olivet discourse is between three, Peter, James, and John—the two sons of Zebedee (also known as John the Beloved) with an exhort to ‘watch and pray’. Jesus will pray three times and they all fall asleep. They need the gift of God, the Holy Spirit within them, Christ within them. Christ is there, but it’s a whole new ball game when the Spirit of Christ comes in Acts. It stands out to me Christ returns to the last place he preaches, to wait on the Father.
JESUS IS PRAYING NOW. Jesus has risen from the dead and ascended to heaven and is currently interceding, Hebrew 7:25, he always lives to make intercession!
In Luke 22:31-32 Jesus tells Peter about his prayers for him. Sometimes we tell them. Hey hey, Christ and I have prayed for you.
Hey church prayer matters! Get in between them and Satan!
Jesus is consumed with passion. When HE is alive IN HIS people they too groan for fulfillment, the bride is saying, ‘come to me’, ‘come back to me’.
The most concise and unified prayer in the last book of the bible is ‘even so come LORD JESUS’ Rev. 22:20 JESUS WE HAVE TO HAVE YOUR RETURN.
When we talk with and to God, when we walk with him, we wait on him.
We believe his words, “IF I GO AND PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU, I WILL COME AGAIN, AND RECEIVE YOU UNTO MYSELF;THAT WHERE I AM, THERE YE MAY BE ALSO”. John 14:3
This AGAIN is ALL for dwelling. God wants you. Wants you to be where HE IS. It’s like Leeland singing, WHERE YOU ARE “I can’t get enough, of your amazing love…I just wanna be where you are…”
And so when Christ offers the early church a promise to guide and comfort them, into empower them with the full joy of the Holy Spirit, a tour guide on earth to lead them and help them. They wait. The way you wait to take that trip till your friend can go. The way you schedule your time off when your spouse has time off. The way a grandparent walks at the pace of their toddler grand-babies. Or the way I would walk slow with my grandfather. The way Moses says, don’t take me up, unless your presence goes with us. (Exodus 33:15)
“And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”
— Luke 24:49 (KJV)
To be in the SPIRIT is to have Jesus Christ revealed to us. IE the revelation of JESUS CHRIST. John hears the voice.
“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.”
Revelation 1:10-11 KJV
“And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;” Revelation 1:12 KJV
The Spirit of God makes hearing–clear, and seeing–possible.
Anytime we hear the voice of God we wake up! Each time Jesus in the garden spoke to the disciples, they woke up.
SHEEP vs GOATS
Servants humbly expecting eternal promise! Sons!
“All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’” Matthew 25:32-36 NIV
After the cross, and resurrection Jesus manifest himself, a third time. This time it was to Peter to have breakfast. The morning meal, the original breakfast of champions. Their prayer/like meal together that day was an honest conversation over fish, bread, and a fire. Is your life a mess? Peter’s was, He had failed to do what he said he would do. Matt. 26:35 Peter replied, ‘even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you!” In conversation with Jesus, he made promises, ‘though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.’ Ouch, they need this breakfast.
John 21:14!
Peter, I love you, (sincere truth)
Feed my sheep (a real job)
Deeper intimacy, more jobs.
Prayer gets us in on what God is doing. Eugene Peterson
Jesus begins ministry teaching on prayer through prayer, offers fervent cries of prayer,
Peter fails to pray but ONCE the Spirit of Christ dwells in him fully, he becomes a man of prayer, Stephen is appointed because the apostles can’t be and won’t be pulled away from prayer.
Jesus is so zealous for prayer he turns over the tables and flips the money everywhere.
First things must be first.
Before he choses the 12 he prays all night!
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Col. 4:2
He is still the high priest of prayer praying in all authority over your life!
Jesus says to Peter BUT I HAVE PRAYED FOR YOU…Luke 22:32
He doesn’t give any other source for the confidence that Peter will overcome Satan’s attack other than I have prayed for you!
In dealing with serious strongholds of demonic possession Jesus says this kind comes out by prayer and fasting.
Most effective prayer is done in the name of Jesus. But you can’t invoke the name without a true relationship! Consider the sons of Sceva? Acts 19:14
God will make you joyful in the house of prayer. Isaiah 56:7
The house of prayer will become a house of praise. Just look at the end of the Psalms, the Christians handbook on prayer concludes with PRAISE.
You can’t tarry in prayer without the grace of the in dwelling fullness of Jesus. You must have Christ within you. The power of the Holy Spirit within you will release Christ to pray, with fervor through you.
But perhaps you are worried about your nature, your human capacity, your tendencies, your weaknesses? The Bible’s promise is true! Let the weak say I am strong. I have Christ in me! If Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed that it would not rain and it did not rain, you too can pray and see results! The prayer of the righteous is effective, and powerful. Who is more righteous than Jesus? JESUS is perfect, the Lamb offered to God to really make you clean, make your children clean, is PERFECT FOREVER! So with JESUS occupying your life, right?! It’s no longer I who live but Jesus who lives within me, I can’t lose! I can’t lose what God already has purchased for me! Jesus paid it all so I could become as he is in the world! I can not by any means diminish the perfect character of Jesus.
But I can fail to accept this gift of righteousness and fail to believe and that person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. You see it is righteousness by faith. I pray IN faith FROM faith because my faith is 100 % trusting in the finished work of Jesus. SO I REST IN HIM.
And it’s then and there that I can pray with confidence! Jesus can do it.
I come boldly to the throne of grace! The throne of gifts upon gifts, the throne of righteousness. And I pray in agreement knowing the Father has adopted me and just like Jesus the Father hears me! So I ask in his name, trusting he can not give me a bad gift. Circumstances may say I’m in a bad way, but the prayer of faith says He is the alpha and the omega and if it’s not good God is not done! And I can through faith and patience inherit the promise!
The future is so bright! Your future is so bright! Faith says like Psalm 139 even the darkness is light to you!
We sing even when I can’t see it you’re working even when I can’t feel it you’re working.
Jesus says I only do what my Father has shown me, see through prayer where God is working.
Char what if I’m new in Christ and I don’t know the promises, I don’t know the character of God. Glad you spoke up!
Even a small baby can hold a bottle, I was on a flight to Boston and the sweetest little girl was flying with her daddy and she was about 12 months with cute chubby fingers holding her bottle for breakfast on our morning descent.
The Bible says desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby!
Pray the promises you know!
I say to you arise awake from the dead and Christ will rise upon you.
Pray until you receive what God has promised, and once you have received the promise keep at it. Keep on praying, pray unceasing, always communing with God in your hearts on your bed when you feel your thoughts drifting into doubt like your car, you don’t let the car drift you pull it back into alignment. I once had a car with auto correct, if I started to drift it would vibrate and self correct! You have been given God’s Holy Spirit to keep you on the road! The Lord is your keeper, just make sure He is home eh? How do I know if someone is home? I knock! I ask!
Keep knocking! Keep asking!
Jesus taught a parable that we always should pray and not give up. Luke 18 Check it out!
How many of you are in danger of wearing God out with your prayers?
Try it and see. Ask me! Ask of me and I’ll give the nations to you! Psalm 2 Lord give the nations to Jesus. We are asking we are praying for governments and all those in authority. (1 Tim 2:1-4)
Call to me and I will answer you! And the promise is HE will show us great and mighty things. (Jer. 33:3) What is great and mighty? Who is great and mighty? The LORD! This is how you get to know the Lord. Jesus showed them mighty miracles that they might believe! He says believe for the works sake! When you live a life of prayer, praying when it all comes together, praying still when it seems as if nothing is happening. You can not PRAY and NOT GROW. Keep on asking keep on seeking keep on knocking.
Daniel was praying for 21 days with very little alteration or change. But if we look at Daniel 10 verse 12 we see his words to God made it through!
He said unto me, “Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, Thy Words were heard, and I am come for Thy Words.”
Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly. Psalm 5:3 NLT
Paul a father in the faith in his second letter to Timothy says,
“I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.”
2 Timothy 1:3 NIV
Paul builds Timothy up by constant prayer. Moses publicly exhorts Joshua in the presence of the Lord and his people. And this exhort holds weight for generations!
