The Power of Prayer

Desire for Prayers and Direction Expressing a struggle to discern the Lord’s direction. Acknowledging uncertainty about the current path. Trusting in the Lord’s plan despite a lack of understanding. Requesting prayers for the morning service. Hoping for worship and spiritual awakening. Seeking guidance for those who are lost or not living right. Numbers 11:1-2 – Complaining and Moses’ Prayer Reading from Numbers 11:1-2 about the people’s complaints and God’s anger. Focusing on Moses’ intercession and the power of prayer. Highlighting the quenching of the fire through Moses’ prayer. Acknowledging dependence on the Lord’s help, power, and spirit. Trusting in God’s goodness and mercy for guidance. Seeking exaltation of God’s words and help for every soul. The Power of Prayer Emphasizing the power of prayer for salvation. Highlighting the need for sinners to cry out to God. Sharing a personal experience of feeling the Holy Spirit’s presence. Mentioning the calling out of number 16 and feeling the Lord’s confirmation. Expressing the importance of knowing that the Lord hears prayers. Reflecting on people who need prayer. Mentioning Valerie’s prayer requests for Joseph’s salvation. Sharing Brother Bobby Whitehead’s testimony of praying for his son for 15 years. The son was saved and talked about the Lord during a trip to Kentucky. Encouraging persistence in prayer. Highlighting that answers may not come immediately. Referencing praying for little Audrey for years before she got saved. Exodus 32 – Moses’ Intercession Referring to Exodus 32:8-14 about Moses interceding for the people after they worshipped a golden calf. God wanted to destroy them but Moses pleaded with God not to. Moses reminded God of His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. The Lord repented of the evil He thought to do. Questioning how often God’s people pray for the lost. Highlighting the power of the church. Asking how burdened the church is for the lost. Urging listeners to call out the names of their family members in prayer. Emphasizing the need for brokenhearted prayer. Reminding listeners that some people may die and end up in hell. The Importance of Prayer in Everyday Life Acknowledging personal guilt in getting busy and letting life get in the way. Stating that family’s salvation is the greatest need. Sharing Brother Bill’s testimony of praying for Paulette for 13-15 years before she was saved. Encouraging continued prayer for young people and the church. Highlighting the need to pray for those who are lost and may be playing games. Emphasizing prayer as a great tool and a powerful weapon. Highlighting the ability to pray anytime, anywhere. Acknowledging that prayers may not always be answered as desired. Examples of Prayer in Scripture Sharing the story of Hezekiah in 2 Kings 19. Hezekiah received a threatening letter and spread it out before the Lord in prayer. Hezekiah asked God for help. Acknowledging times of doing everything possible and then surrendering to God. Referencing Abraham’s intercession for Sodom. Abraham pleaded with God to spare Sodom if there were righteous people. God destroyed Sodom because they couldn’t find five righteous people. Emphasizing that praying for something does not always guarantee getting it. Reiterating the importance of acknowledging and thanking God when He answers prayers. The Battle Against the Enemy Highlighting the importance of acknowledging when God hears prayers. Emphasizing the need to return to a place of prayer. Acknowledging the battle against the enemy. The enemy tries to deceive, divide, and create conflict in the church. The enemy knows there are people who need to be saved or rededicate their lives. Acknowledging personal struggles with being consumed by the world. Highlighting the importance of others praying for those who are lost. Sharing a personal testimony of being lost and headed to hell. Expressing gratitude for those who interceded and encouraged a relationship with God. Repaying the Favor and Praying for Others Questioning whether the favor of being prayed for is being repaid. Urging listeners to ask God for their families and those among them. Asking God to visit and reveal Himself to children and those being revived. Acknowledging personal shortcomings in realizing those who are lost and dying. Recognizing the need to improve in praying for others. Challenging the excuse of being too busy. Emphasizing the importance of making time for prayer. Believing that dedication and sacrifice in prayer will lead to a closer relationship with God and the salvation of others. Reiterating the church’s purpose. The church is not just here to sit idly by. It is the church’s job to ensure people hear the word and know there is a place to escape from. Standing in the Gap and Making Intercession Emphasizing the job of bowing in prayer for family and the church. Highlighting that it is not just the pastor’s job, but everyone’s responsibility. Referencing the Roman soldier in Matthew 8:5. The soldier beseeched Jesus to heal his servant. The soldier had to ask for help. Emphasizing the need to stand in the gap and make up the hedge. Ensuring people know there are others praying for them. Caring enough to spend time in prayer. Highlighting the encouragement of receiving a message saying someone is praying for you. Emphasizing the job of praying for both the lost and the saved. Sharing the story of the poor friend who needed help. Highlighting the effort and determination to get their friend to Jesus. Knowing that Jesus is able to fix the problem. The Power of the Church in Prayer Expressing the belief that God is able to save others because He saved Elder Dustin. Emphasizing the need to help others get to Jesus. Acknowledging personal guilt in not encouraging and reaching out to others enough. Highlighting the need for help for everyone. Emphasizing that sometimes only the Holy Spirit can move and speak. Reiterating the importance of doing everything possible to get people to Jesus. Referencing Acts 12:5 about the church praying without ceasing for Peter. Peter was freed from prison. Emphasizing the need for the church to pray for the chains holding souls captive to be broken. Highlighting that only Jesus can save. Emphasizing the need to pray for every lost soul encountered. Personal Testimony and Burden for the Lost Sharing a personal testimony of God’s miracle in Shana’s life. Reflecting on God’s miracle in Elder Dustin’s life. God changed Elder Dustin’s life instantly. Listing examples of people God has done miracles for. Expressing the belief that God can do it for anyone. Asking the Lord to burden the heart with the lost. Acknowledging the problem of not having time to be burdened. Asking God to put a burden on them where they can’t escape it. Acknowledging that this is not popular or familiar. Highlighting the need for willingness and sacrifice. Understanding that serving God is not always convenient. Acknowledging the busyness of life with kids. Emphasizing that children should not come before God. Raising a Godly Generation Expressing thankfulness that children are understanding the importance of God. Highlighting the need for children to know that they are not more important than God. Emphasizing the importance of being present for children. Recognizing that children will be the ones standing in the future. Highlighting the job of raising young people who know the power of God. Emphasizing the need to pray for God to raise up a generation. Sharing a story about praying for kids to be missionaries. Acknowledging the difficulty of allowing a child to go to a foreign country. Emphasizing the need to not stand in God’s way. Recognizing that these things are not popular. Emphasizing that the world needs Jesus. Highlighting the need to pray for God to raise up people. Emphasizing the need for laborers to be sent into the harvest. Personal Conviction and Call to Action Sharing an observation about Tillman bringing young boys to the revival. Highlighting Tillman’s effort to bring his friends to Jesus. Acknowledging that Elder Dustin has not brought anyone all week. Admitting to not inviting anyone to the revival. Asking for prayer for Elder Dustin’s sisters. Asking the Lord to break them and get them to a place where they mean what they say. Expressing a desire to see families get things right. Emphasizing that people won’t come unless they are asked. Reiterating that the church made intercession for Peter. Emphasizing the job of the church to pray and do their best to get people to church. Acknowledging that they don’t get sayings because they don’t even ask for them. James 5 – Prayer and Healing Acknowledging not having the scripture studied out. Reading from James 5:13-20 about prayer and healing. Encouraging prayer for those who are afflicted, merry, or sick. Emphasizing the power of the prayer of faith. Encouraging confession of faults and praying for one another. Highlighting the effectiveness of fervent prayer. Defining “effectual fervent prayer” as active and continuous prayer. Emphasizing the need to keep praying until God tells them not to. Sharing Brother Robbie’s testimony of turning a family member over to the Lord. Highlighting that sometimes people get so far down the rabbit hole that only God can help them. Sharing the story of Elias praying for rain. Emphasizing the importance of prayer as the body of Christ. Highlighting the need for an active prayer life. Luke 22 – Praying for Faith Referencing Luke 22 about Jesus praying for Simon Peter. Jesus prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail. Asking the Lord to stand on their behalf and pray for them. Acknowledging personal problems and the need for prayer. Emphasizing that they have not because they ask not. Reflecting on Paul on the Damascus Road. Paul fell to his face. Emphasizing the need to fall to their face and ask God for help. Acknowledging that they cannot tell others what to say. Sharing that all they remember saying was, “Lord, I’m sorry.” Believing that God heard them and saved them. Suggesting that some may be like Paul preaching to King Agrippa. King Agrippa was almost convinced. Wishing that everyone would be converted. Personal Testimony and Call to Salvation Suggesting that some may be sitting there knowing they are lost. Sharing a personal testimony of sitting for a month after Sammy got saved. Being scared of what everyone would think. Running from God. Highlighting that hell became real during that time. Sharing a vivid memory of waking up with numb hands and feeling like they were about to die. Receiving a call from Sam inviting them to his baptism. Sharing the story of a little woman asking everyone if they knew how it felt to be saved. Acknowledging that they didn’t say a word because they weren’t going to lie. Sharing that they came back the next Sunday because of Samuel’s baptism. Sharing that they found themselves on the altar and told God they were sorry. Sharing that they felt a peace and joy they had never felt before. Emphasizing that it took movement and action. Believing that if they hadn’t moved, they wouldn’t be where they are today. Believing they would have been in hell. Acknowledging that they never thought they were a bad person. Sharing that they liked to get together and have a little fun. The Negative Influence and the Need for Positive Impact Reflecting on their past actions and the people they involved. Sharing a story of a young man they influenced negatively. The young man was raised in church and had never done anything wrong. Elder Dustin introduced him to drinking and drugs. The young man became addicted and lost everything. Acknowledging the negative influence they had on people. Emphasizing the need to make up for that. Highlighting the need to have a positive impact on people. Emphasizing the need to do whatever it takes to ensure people get to Christ. Acknowledging that they cannot save anyone. Emphasizing that it will take brokenness and the Holy Spirit drawing them. Believing that God wants to save and help people. Emphasizing the need to call out to Him. Acknowledging that asking doesn’t guarantee getting. Promising that if they are lost and call upon Him, He will save them.