Are You Sure... God Answers Prayer?

ARE YOU SURE… 

GOD ANSWERS PRAYER?

Ephesians 3:20

 

PROBLEM

The pastor’s parrot

Like prayer, gift cards and rebates are rarely used

Prayerless people will find alternatives and substitutes

People doubt the power of prayer, but not their own intuition

GOD

Jeremiah 33:3 ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

The power of prayer is not in the person who prays but in the one who hears it.  

Too many people think it’s what they do that produces fruit.  Nope, it’s our relationship.

Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…

APPLICATION

Do we ever outgrow being a child of God?

God wants us to pray more, why? For a better future.  Story of Manish

We become manipulative without prayer and life becomes meaningful with it.  Story of Mark

VISION

The moment we pray is the moment the enemy is defeated. 

Illustration of Howard Hendricks - I was so impressed I invited him to my home for lunch and asked him the secret of his success. He pulled out a little black book. On each page, he had a small picture of one of the boys, and under the boy's name were comments like "having trouble in math," "comes to church against parents' wishes," or "would like to stop drinking alcohol, but doesn't think he has what it takes." "I pray over those pages every day," he said, "and I can hardly wait to come to church each Sunday to see what God has been doing in their lives."

Prayer makes us patient and hope-filled