Hello Moto is an ad
campaign designed to get people connected through Motorola products.
Hello God is a movement to encourage people to begin to pray like they
have never prayed before. Will we
get connected with the Lord of Hosts?
Without
prayer the church is lighthouse without a light, a lion with no teeth, and a
car with no gas. We ain’t going
nowhere without prayer. The
church does not run on clever programs but on the prayers of the people that
unlock the door to the powder house.
When I worked in the coalmines there was a small building by the road
on the way to the mines. That
block building was called the powder house.
I had heard of powder and I had read about dynamite, but I had never
had the opportunity to see what it could do until I got my shot firemen’s
license. Then I had the right to
use it. The cutter would undercut
the coal. The driller would
drill the holes for the powder to be inserted into the coal and then the shot
firemen would come in with the powder. Then
the fireworks started. The power
in that dynamite would separate the coal from the rock and make it possible
for the coal to be hauled out and used in furnaces to produce the desired
fire. We have the dynamite in
hand. It is called prayer.
If we want to see people saved, then we must pray.
If we want to see God work, then we must pray.
The
purpose of this sermon is to show that prayer is key to the power we need live
our lives every day, so that others can see Christ living in us.
Scripture Text:
Psalm 116:1 (KJS) I love the LORD, because he
hath heard my voice [and] my supplications. 2 Because he hath inclined his ear
unto me, therefore will I call upon [him] as long as I live. 3 The sorrows of
death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble
and sorrow. 4 Then called I upon
the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. 5 Gracious [is]
the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God [is] merciful. 6 The LORD preserveth the
simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. 7 Return unto thy rest, O my
soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. 8 For thou hast delivered
my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, [and] my feet from falling. 9 I will
walk before the LORD in the land of the living. 10 I believed, therefore have
I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: 11 I said in my haste, All men [are] liars.
12 What shall I render unto the LORD [for] all his benefits toward me? 13 I
will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. 14 I will
pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. 15 Precious
in the sight of the LORD [is] the death of his saints.
1.
Prayer
is the key to God’s Powerhouse. How important is prayer to
Christian? How important is
prayer as we try to fulfill our mission We know and believe that God is the power that created
the universe. Have we turned the
key to allow the door to God’s power to come through?
That Key is Prayer. We
know what the key is and we know how to use it?
I will take the cup of salvation and
call on the name of the Lord. I
will pray. Are
we ready to pray?
The
great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.
-- F.B. Meyer
2. Prayer is the way to God’s heart…
through his ears. He will incline
his ear.
Why
should we stay in touch? We
should because we can and because we want to.
He
hears our voice and our requests? I
will pay my vows unto the Lord.
Prayer
is not overcoming God's reluctance; it is adjusting to God's willingness.
God never sleeps, so He is never disturbed when we approach Him.
God does not answer our much praying in order to get rid of us, but
because He loves us.
-- Ivan French, Principles and Practice of Prayer, p. 63.
3.
Prayer is the way to line up with the Lord…
He is our helper, He is gracious, He is
righteous, He is merciful. Prayer
does not him up with us… authentic pray is how we
connect with God. How do
you give God the Father a hug? When
I give my wife a hug she says that she needed to get her spine aligned.
4.
Persistent
prayer is vital to successful Christian living… the squeaky wheel
gets the oil. When
we talk God listens and he does act according to his plan and purpose
for our lives. Have we talked to him persistently? I got into trouble and then I
asked the Lord for help and he helped me. He is my rest for I know that the
Lord is taking care of me. He is our deliverer.
"What the Church needs today is not more or better machinery, not
new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can
use -- men of prayer, men mighty in prayer.
The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men.
He does not anoint plans, but men -- men of prayer."
(E.M. Bounds)
Perseverance is a great element of success. If you knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are
sure to wake up somebody. --
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"Nothing can so quickly
cancel the frictions of life as prayer. If
you find yourself growing angry at someone, pray for him -- anger cannot live
in an atmosphere of prayer." (William
T. McElroy)
"You need not cry very loud; He
is nearer to us than we think." (Brother Lawrence)
"If I could hear Christ praying
for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies.
Yet distance makes no difference.
He is praying for me." (Robert
Murray McCheyne)
"The prayer power has never
been tried to its full capacity. If we want to see mighty wonders of divine
power and grace wrought in the place of weakness, failure and disappointment,
let us answer God's standing challenge, "Call
unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which
thou knowest not!'" (J.
Hudson Taylor)
"Men may spurn our appeals,
reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are
helpless against our prayers." (J.
Sidlow Baxter)