Prayer - Continued

Click here for the audio message – James 5:13-18

This morning we continue to look at the topic of prayer and in particular we will look briefly at the necessity of prayer.

It is necessary, because it is commanded. And anything that is commanded of the Christian becomes necessary. Jesus said in Luke 18:1, "I want everybody everywhere to pray and not to faint." You know what most people do when they have a problem? They faint. Jesus said, "Don't faint, do...what?...pray. I want you to pray, not faint."

You know, Peter had a problem, he was always falling asleep in prayer meetings and Jesus said to him, "You know, if you stayed awake and prayed you wouldn't be in the mess you're in. Watch and pray unless you enter into...what?...temptation." You see, Peter didn't pray so he didn't have himself ready for the temptation.

If you pray more than you'd sleep, you be better off. You know, some of us go to bed at night and we say, "Dear Lord...." and we're gone, you know. We wake up the next day and we bomb out all day. Well you know what we did? We went to sleep instead of praying, watch and pray lest you enter into temptation.

Prayer undergirds us. It's necessary to pray. It's necessary because it's commanded. It's necessary because it keeps sin away. It prepares us for what is to come.

Now it is commanded that we not only pray but it is commanded that we pray a lot. In fact as we saw last week, it says, "Praying always," in Ephesians 6:18 and in 1 Thessalonians 5 it says, "Pray without...what?...ceasing."

I used to wonder, pray without ceasing, how do you do that? It simply means that you are in an attitude of God consciousness at all times. It is commanded that you see everything in relation to God.

Secondly, prayer brings glory to God. When you pray God gets glorified because then He can answer and when He answers then you praise Him. John 14:13 says that we're to pray and He will answer for His own glory. "Whatever you will ask in My name I'll do it that the Father may be glorified." God says I answer prayer to get the glory.

So prayer is a way in which God can display His power and gain glory. And that's very important.

Thirdly, we are to pray because prayer blesses us. Blessing means it makes you happy. When you pray you get happy. Praying people are happy people. You know why? They're talking to God and it's great to talk to God. And then God answers what we ask and that makes us even happier.

Fourth, prayer is important because it works. And I'm like you, I want to do what works, right? I'm not going to waste my time doing something that doesn't have any effect. Prayer works.

James 5:16 says, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." It works. Effectual fervent prayer from a righteous heart works. It actually activates God. It makes a difference. Sometimes He answers no, but He answers yes enough for us to know that prayer works.

First John 5:15 says, " And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him." If God hears, John says, then we know He answers. Prayer really works. It really does have an effect.

How does it work? That's a good question. First, under that, sometimes it works immediately. Have you ever noticed that? Sometimes you can't hardly believe how fast it works. Sometimes prayer works immediately.

Isaiah 65:24 says, "And it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer. And while they are yet speaking, I will hear." God's already sending the answer before we've even gotten the prayer off. It works immediately, sometimes.

Secondly, sometimes it's delayed. Sometimes we may pray for something and we have to wait because God knows a lot more than we know and He knows it's better to come later than to come now.

Luke 18:7, "And shall not God avenge His own elect who cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them?"

In other words, sometimes it's painful and you have to go through a lot of things and sometimes God's chosen people have had to suffer and suffer and suffer and suffer and it seems like it goes on and on and on but God will answer even though it takes him a long time to get his answer. And that's because He has a purpose.

So sometimes it's immediate, sometimes it's delayed, sometimes it's different than we asked for.

Sometimes He gives us even more than we ask for. Jeremiah 33:3 says, "Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.," even beyond what you know. It's kind of like Ephesians 3:20, "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask." He can do more than we can ask.

No doubt many of you have experienced this. You ask God for a small simple blessing. Maybe years ago, you asked Him for a healthy family and now many years later you just don’t have a couple of sons or daughters, but you have a tremendous family of children and grand children, Sons and daughters in laws and so on. God gave you and blessed you with more than you asked for.

So prayer is necessary. It is commanded from God. It keeps us from temptation. It prepares us for the future. It brings glory to God. It blesses us. It makes us happy when God answers our prayers. And prayer works, sometimes immediately and sometimes when the time is right by God’s standards.

Let us continue to remember to talk to God daily, not only for our blessings but His glory as well.

Closing prayer

Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to come here and worship you this morning. We thank you for listening to our prayers and answering them in a way that not only helps us, but serves your purpose.

AMEN.