WORKS

Mini-Series—Final ThoughtsPart 17-Prayer Works

James 5:13-18

• Use Video of Matt Chandler on Prayer from Sermon Jam

On Prayer…

• "You can do more than pray after you have prayed; but you can never do more than pray until you have prayed." A.J. Gordon

• "You may as soon find a living man that does not breath, as a living Christian that does not pray." Matthew Henry

On Prayer…

• "Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness." Martin Luther.

• "If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer. Martin Luther

On Prayer…

• When asked how much time he spent in prayer, George Muller's reply was, "Hours every day. But I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk and when I lie down and when I arise. And the answers are always coming."

On Prayer…

• “One day George Mueller began praying for five of his friends. After many months, one of them came to the Lord. Ten years later, two others were converted. It took 25 years before the fourth man was saved. Mueller persevered in prayer until his death for the fifth friend, and throughout those 52 years he never gave up hoping that he would accept Christ! His faith was rewarded, for soon after Mueller’s funeral the last one was saved.”

On Prayer…

• "Prayer is the greatest of all forces, because it honors God and brings him into active aid." E.M. Bounds

• Prayer should not be regarded "as a duty which must be performed, but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed, a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty." E.M. Bounds

On Prayer…

• "Prayer is the greatest of all forces, because it honors God and brings him into active aid." E.M. Bounds

• Prayer should not be regarded "as a duty which must be performed, but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed, a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty." E.M. Bounds

• "Little praying is a kind of make believe, a salve for the conscience, a farce and a delusion." E. M. Bounds

James 5:13-18

• 13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

James 5:13-18

• 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

Prayer Works

• Got Suffering? Go To Jesus• Got Praises? Go To Jesus• Got Sickness? Go Jesus– Humbly Recruit Prayer from the spiritually minded– Humbly Seek Medical Counsel and Treatment– Humbly Confess Your Sins Privately and Publicly

• Got Problems? Go To Jesus– Prayer DOES influence the physical World– Prayer DOES move the hand of God (– Prayer DOES move the heart of God

A Paradox of Divine Proportions

• Truth 1--God Does Not Change…– Malachi 3:6, “For I Am the Lord, I change not,

therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed.”• Truth 2--God Is Moved by Prayer…– Exodus 32:7-14—God was poised to destroy the

Israelites and Moses interceded on their behalf and God “repented” of His plans to destroy them

– Luke 18:1-8—The persistent widow moves the heart of the judge

– Luke 11:5-13—Prayer moves God’s hand to extend His resources!

Does Prayer Really Matter?

“After surveying Jesus’ practice of prayer, I realize that his example does answer one important question about prayer:

Does it matter? When doubts creep in and I wonder whether prayer is a sanctified form of talking to myself, I remind myself that the Son of God, who had spoken worlds into being and sustains all that exists, felt a compelling need to pray. He prayed as if it made a difference, as if the time he devoted to prayer mattered every bit as much as the time he devoted to caring for people.”