"WHEN YOU PRAY"
“When You Pray”
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
(Matthew 6: 1-18)
PRAYER IS AGREEMENT WITH THE MIND AND PURPOSE OF GOD
God’s people are people of prayer. In every visitation of the Lord, there is an abundance of unity, prayer, and praise or worship. (Ps. 102).
1 Thess. 5:17: “Pray without ceasing.”
1 Samuel 13:23: “As for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you.”
In these verses of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us how to pray and how not to pray.
(Vs. 5) “When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say to you, they have their reward.
(Vs. 6) “When you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly.”
(Vs. 7-8) “When you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Do not be like them: for your Father knows what things you have need of, before you ask Him.”
Vain repetitions means to repeat idly or mechanically. (“Do not multiply words, repeating the same ones over and over and heaping up phrases as the Gentiles do.” – Amplified)
When we don’t know how to pray, we should pray in the Holy Ghost. (Rom 8:26-27) “Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit Itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searches the hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
Eph. 6:18: “Praying always with all prayer and supplications in the Spirit, and watching thereto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”
There are times that I just cry out, “Help Jesus – I need your help.” The Lord is listening to that heart cry from our heart to his heart. Jesus prayed before daylight,, all night, after victories, without ceasing.
The Principle of prayer is also vitally concerned with the Principle of confessing. The principle of Faith is confessing from a believing heart from which Faith has been deposited. I believe the Word of God. I believe that when I pray the Word, that angels are disbursed to perform that Word. They are ministering sprits sent forth to minister to the heirs of salvation.
We live on the level of our confession. We confess that we might see what we cannot see in the natural. In Luke 11:2 before Jesus prayed the Lord’s Prayer, there are the words, “He said to them” When you pray, Say=audible. So making a Faith confession audible is powerful praying. I sometimes “think and pray with my mind”. I believe the Lord certainly hears and answers my thinking praying. However, I do know when I confess with my mouth, things seem to move along at a faster pace.
Prayer is a broad subject, but some of the characteristics of prayer are:
- Praise = joyfully
- Individually
- Corporately
- Regularly
- Frankly – specifically
- Boldly
- Persistently
- Expectantly in faith
- With clear conscience (1 Jn. 3: 21-22) “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and those things that are pleasing in His sight.”
- Proper Relationships - “Likewise you husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.”
- Pray any where in any posture at any time.
- Prayers it not measured by length, but my intensity.
- Pray the Will of the Father. (1 John 5:14-15) “This is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He hears us; and if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of Him.”
- Pray with understanding (1 Cor. 14:15) “I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also; I will sing with the spirit ,and I will sing with the understanding also.”
The Bible speaks of five things that disqualify us from being intercessors. Isa. 56: 7; Matt. 21: 12-13; Ezek. 22: 25-31) .
- Materialism (Phil. 1:1-5) – An intercessor prays for others, is prayed-up, and is humble to receive prayer from others.
- Uncleanness (Ps. 24: 3-6) “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, or who shall stand in His holy place? He that has clean hands, and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul to vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord.”
- Rebellion (Matt. 6:10) “Your Kingdom come your Will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
- Ignorance (Eph. 6:13; Ez. 13: 1-5) - A person who is enlightened to what God is saying NOW to the church; not a fox who will run in fear. “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
- Control - Jesus will not over-ride our will and he does not give others the power to override our will through controling prayers. This is witchcraft.
There will be a consistence of four things that are always in the life of an intercessor:
- Character – the kind of person you are.
- Concern – for the glory and the Name of God.
- Compassion – love = the nature of God.
- Consistency – never will accept defeat.
Many years ago, I did a study on all of the prayers of the Bible that moved the Hand of God to bring changes.
The list is too long for this study, but we can mention here Moses, Daniel and Jesus.
Deut. 9:19: I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, when the Lord was angry against you (the rebellion of
Daniel’s prayer 9: 2-10: I set my face to the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth and ashes; and I prayed to the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love Him, and to them that keep His commandments…
Jesus rules by prayer. Heb. 8:6: “He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.”
Heb. 10:21-22: And having a high priest over the House of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”
Matthew 5: 9-15 is the Lord’s Prayer. In Luke, the disciples said to Jesus, Lord teach us to pray.
“After this manner therefore pray you. Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.”
“OUR FATHER” is knowledge of son-ship. Jesus is teaching us to pray as the Firstborn Son Jesus. He is including us in the "Our". (Gal. 4:6) “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.”
“HALLOWED’ is reverence and fear; worship, praise, love adoration; “NAME” is His character, authority and co-operation.
(Vs. 10) “Your Kingdom come your will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. This is the government of the
(Vs. 11) “Give us this day our daily bread.” This is daily sufficiency of Matthew 6:34: “Take therefore no thought for the morrow. For the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof. This is the daily nourishment in the realm of the natural and the spiritual.
(Vs. 12) “And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” This is a way to get out of debt. If you release those who owe you anything, then that releases your debts whether emotional, financial, spiritual or natural. When we completely cancel the debt, and release another from bondage, then we, too, are released. This also means we are to give up resentment; trespasses, those who have committed willful sin without excuse, offense and failures. Walk away from any expectations you may have from those who disappoint you, deal treacherously with you, or who have betrayed you.
The Law or principle of life is forgiveness. The Father forgave us and we have received of his life and nature. Now as children of the Kingdom, we forgive as God forgives. We forget when we forgive and hold no grudges. When we are able to walk in this realm of the Spirit, we will have no issues.
Forgiveness is likened with fruitfulness (especially the fruit of kindness or gentleness) and is also important to our unity, our calling and our blessing. Forgiveness is linked with healing. Many times a broken relationship causes a physical problem. We as ministers have to be careful to minister to the root of the problem and not just deal with the “symptoms.”
(Vs. 13) “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For Yours is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
This is the desire to please God. (James 1: 13-14) “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither temps He any man. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.
DELIVER
THINE IS – recognizing the full acknowledgment of His Lordship; closing with Praise just as we opened with praise.
AMEN – This is agreement and understanding of the covenant walk .
PRAYER IS AGREEMENT WITH THE MIND AND PURPOSE OF GOD.
Preached by: Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.
Scripture from K.J.V. Text from The Sermon On the Mount by Dr. Kelly Varner