PRAYER:
IS NOT AN EVENT - IT'S A LIFESTYLE
We have to make it a part of our life. Lifestyle means "manner of living that reflect the person's values and attitudes". If you value Jesus, and believe his word, you will pray. Simple as that.
Lifestyle also means: to describe the WAY a person lives. So you must live IN PRAYER. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 charges us to "pray without ceasing" - in other words, to maintain communication with God ALWAYS.
Audible language is not essential in prayer. We can speak 1000 words that sound like prayer, and yet never pray! The use of voice often helps me in prayer, but silence is just as good sometimes! God is the only person you see better with your eyes shut, and speak to without opening your mouth!
EXERCISING YOUR PRAYER MUSCLE
Prayer is like a muscle. If you wann stay healthy, you gotta exercise your muscle! Muscles GROW when you constantly and consistantly exercise them.
We all have to grow in prayer life. My own prayer life fluctuates like a muscle. When I exercise it, I feel really spiritually fit and healthy. When I don't, I feel spiritually lazy and unfit. "Spiritually flabby" as The Message puts it (1 Timothy 4:17)
You know when you've lazed aroud all week and have done literall nothing? Well it's easy to feel like that spiritually when you've been un-disciplied with your prayer!
PRAYER CULTIVATES
Cultivate means to "prepare for growth". When you cultivate soil, you are preparig the soil for crops - for fruit to be produced.
Our heart is like a bed of soil. We need to SOW the soil by sowing the SCRIPTURES into our hearts (the word of God is the seed - see Luke 8:5 parable of the farmer).
So we need to SOW in the soil for fruit to be produced, and we also need to CULTIVATE the soil by PRAYING! What is the fruit that is produced? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Spending time with God (in prayer) daily is an INVESTMENT. Prayer feeds your spiritual body. Why is it more important to feed your physical body thean your spiritual body?
JESUS FOUND IN NECESSITY TO PRAY!
Luke 5:16 - If the Son of God found it essential to pray I think that's a pretty clear sign that we need to! He drew away from the crowds - he wanted to know what was on the Father's heat, to communicate with him...
INTERCESSION
Definition: prayer, meditation or interceding on behalf of another
Intecession is a prayer OFFERED to others, as directed and inspired by the Holy Spirit.
God says "who will stand before me in the gap?"
It is standing in the gap on behalf of another nation, event or person.
It's really easy to focys on our needs, our world, our stuff when we pray. And that's ok - because God cares VERY much about your world and he wants us to pray and talk to Him about it.
BUT HE DOESN'T WANT US TO STOP THERE!!!
He wants us to EXPAND our cares and compassion and heart to the things that matter on HIS heart. He wants us to care for the things that are on His heart!
The more you sow in prayer, the more you care. You attach a piece of your heart to what your pray for.
He has chosen since the time of creation to work on earth THROUGH humans, not independantly from them.
From Genesis to Revelation He has always looked for someone to be his hands, his feet, his mouth piece - to do His will.
Yes, the Lord is soveriegn, but he has CHOSEN to ue mankind to carry out His will. He desires intimate relationship with us!
He allows humans to make decisions; we are not puppets - we have a will and a mind.
PRAYER IS NOT OVERCOMING GOD'S RELUCTANCE - IT IS LAYING AHOLD OF GOD'S WILLINGNESS!
His will is for people to be reconciled to Him. (Reconciled means to be made right with Him, made peace with Him, harmonized with Him).
2 Corinthians 5:19-20 speaks about how "we have been given the task of reconciliation".
Prayers do not force God, they release Him!
When you pray for people, it releases the power of God into situations and circumstances. It changes the environment.
Prayer is POWERFUL - it's not a tack on, a to-do for god, something to chuck in the mix...
We're called to preach the gospel to ALL NATIONS. To change the world - to the ends of the earth - but it all starts with prayer.
WHAT IS ON GOD'S HEART RIGHT NOW?
Watch the news, pick up a newspaper; look at the sex trafficking, the child soldiers, the wars...
Who will stand in th gap for these people?
There are so many people who do not have a relationship with God - but we do! No matter what it looks like or how far we are on our journey with Jesus - WE DO!
And we do not have it just for ourselves! We need to prayer for reconciliation between God and His people!
We have to pray for Byron Bay, the Shire, the Northern Region. Byron Bay High School, Mullum High...
if we don't pray for the people in this town, then WHO WILL? WHO will stand in the gap?
THE SACRIFICE OF PRAYER
We have direct acess to the King of Kings every day - we cannot be selfish with it!
We must yield ourselves to him and say "what is on your heart God?"
(To yeild: to give in to influenc, to move in order to make room for something)
We must give in to the influence of the Holy Spirit and make room for God in our hearts by sacrificing time to pray!
I can stand here in Australia and make a different in Greece with the sex trafficking as I pray in the mercies of God.
We can sit in our bedrooms and make a difference in Byron Bay High by sowing in prayer.
But there's a sacrifice - are willing to sacrifice our time? Are we willing to put aside our "busy" time to intercede for peope?
Remember, you are INVESTING time, not losing it, when you pray!
It starts HERE and NOW and THEN - not when we FEEL called to do it. Not once we've got all healed up, got all our to-do's crossed off and done our own thing.
ESTHER - Esther knew her people, the Jews, were going to be massacred, because of the evil dude Haman. (Chapters 3-4). So Esther (4 vs 15) gathers her people the fast and pray for 3 days - and guess who had to victory? That's right! The jews! Against all odds!
We need to be the Esther's of Byron Bay. Fasting and praying for our generation, for the people in town, the youth in our high schools...for them to be awakened to the truth of Christ!
Yes, we can get into heaven with the tick of salvation. But are we happy with stopping there? Or does the love of Christ compel us - with an urgency - to pray for the salvation of others? For other to recieve and experience the kind of love we have? Are we happy strolling through the gates of heaven without honouring the title of "my brother's keeper"or "my sister's keeper"?
Are we willng to say "Let's pray and fast on behalf of the people who are treated unjustly! On behalf of the people who don't know God!"
If you see someone limping blindly, staggering across the road, are you going to simply stand there and watch their fate? While an onslaught of cars comes toward them that they can't even see? Or are you going to run into the middle of the traffic and INTERCEDE and help them across safely - THEY don't have the strength and knowledge to get across the road safely, but because of Christ in you, YOU DO! Help them across the chasm before they face death! Be the bridge builder! (Priest literally means bridge builder, and we are called by God a holy priesthood.
Ask yourself:
"Am I willing to pray for the things that are on His heart?"
Am I willing to yield more to Him?
Am i willing to let my heart be broken for Him and His cause - people - as I pray for them?"
PRAYER LIFE TIPS:
You don't have to be religious with this, but sometimes a little structure in our prayer life help. You can use this as a guideline when you pray if you want:
Acronym - ACTS
A - Admiration
Admire Him for who He is. Recognize and delight in and ponder His beauty. His beautiful nature, His pure kindness that never ceases. Take time to just think about how great and loving and merciful your God is, and oh how He loves you!
C - Confess
Confess your sins. He always hears you and is unwaveringly compassionate and never, ever fails to forgive you. He knows your sin - but do you?? He wants you to know your sin so He can set you free from it as you pursue your healing. Talk to God about your sin and ask Him to change your heart.
T - Thanksgiving
Thank Him and praise Him for what He's done. Praise is POWERFUL. When David scribes his excruiciating experience in the spiritual wilderness in Psalm 63 it actually ends in PRAISE! He proves to us that you can have a dry heart, and STILL praise God!
What do you love about God? What are the blessings in your life? Recognise them and that they're from Him. Thank Him. Your Daddy loves your appreciation because He loves YOU! A husband blesses his wife with flowers to make her feel special and loved AND because he loves to see her reaction! Her appreciation of His love and gratefulness - so it is with our Heavenly Husband, our Bridegroom Jesus!
S - Supplication
What are the things you need to pray for? Who are the people you need to pray for? What are the needs in your own life? Ephesians 6 charges us to "pray in the Spirit with ALL kinds of requests". Make your requests known to the Father - you have not, because you ask not. (James 4:2 - don't forget to read the context though!)
LOVE NIKS!!! NOTES ON FASTING FROM YESTERDAY ARE ON THEIR WAY PEEPS! XXX
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