#1 WHY SHOULD I PRAY?
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr.
This is part #1 of a two part series.
NO TIME Author unknown
I KNELT TO PRAY, BUT NOT FOR LONG.
I HAD TO MUCH TOO DO.
I MUST HURRY OFF AND GET TO WORK,
FOR MY BILLS WILL SOON BE DUE.
AND SO I SAID A HURRIED PRAYER,
JUMPED UP FROM MY KNEES.
MY CHRISTIAN DUTY WAS DONE,
MY SOUL COULD BE AT EASE.
ALL THROUGH THE DAY I HAD NO TIME
TO SPEAK A WORD OF CHEER,
NO TIME TO SPEAK OF CHRIST TO FRIENDS.
THEY WOULD LAUGH AT ME, I FEARED.
NO TIME, NO TIME, TOO MUCH, TOO MUCH TO DO--
THAT WAS MY CONSTANT CRY;
NO TIME TO GIVE TO THOSE IN NEED --
AT LAST TWAS TIME TO DIE.
AND WHEN BEFORE THE LORD I CAME,
I STOOD WITH DOWNCAST EYES.
WITHIN HIS HANDS HE HELD A BOOK.
IT WAS THE BOOK OF LIFE.
GOD LOOKED INTO HIS BOOK AND SAID,
YOUR NAME I CANNOT FIND,
I ONCE WAS GOING TO WRITE IT DOWN,
BUT YOU NEVER FOUND THE TIME.
I. WE CAN NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF PRAYER
IN OUR DAILY LIFE. WE NEED TO LEARN TO GIVE TIME TO
DAILY PRAYER.
A. Faith can fight facts by faithfulness to prayer and good communication with our heavenly Father.
B. God can fight facts and win. We must let faith and prayer fight our battles, not words and fists!
C. Most failures can be directly attributed to the lack of prayer.
D. A spiritually slow person once asked God:
Why aren’t you doing anything?
God replied: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
E. There is a truth that we often don’t want to admit:
WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE ABOUT PRAYER, OFTEN MORE IS SAID THAN DONE!
F. Prayer is a great effective tool in the heart of a believer.
Prayer is not a toy! It is a tool.
G. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing! By the way, have you identified what the main thing is?
H. Before we can conquer the world, we must conquer ourselves.
II. YOU CAN IF YOU THINK YOU CAN?
YOU WILL NEVER TRY IF YOU DON’T THINK YOU CAN.
A. A gossip sees difficulty in every opportunity.
A person given to prayer will see opportunity in every difficulty.
B. Negative thinking produces negative talk.
Negative talking produces negative thinking.
Small minds discuss people.
Average minds discuss events.
Great minds pray and reach into the Divine possibilities.
C. Prayer brings three questions of credibility:
1. Can God do this?
2. Will God do this for me?
3. When will God do this for me?
D. When you want something you do not have,
you have to do something you have never done.
We need to apply our hearts and exert a greater effort
to find the heart of God.
E. As the blossom goes before the fruit,
so must prayer and faith go before the answer.
III. WHY SHOULD I PRAY? THERE ARE MANY GOOD REASONS
TO BE FAITHFUL IN PRAYER.
A. YOU ARE IN GOOD COMPANY WHEN YOU PRAY!
PRAYER WAS FIRST MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE:
Genesis 4:26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.
B. THESE MEN AND WOMEN WERE KNOWN AS PEOPLE OF
PRAYER.
1. JABEZ is known today for his beautiful prayer.
I Chron. 4: 9 O that God would bless me ....
2. David prayed.
Psalms 109:4 I give myself unto prayer...
3. Daniel prayed three times a day.
4. Samuel’s work for God started by prayer.
5. Elijah prayed a 63 word prayer and fire came down from
heaven.
6. Elisha prayed and dead boy came back to life.
7. Paul learned in prison prayer worked.
8. Hannah --- Prayer changed a dysfunctional family.
9. Hezekiah --- PRAYER ADDED 15 YEARS.
IV. We should pray because GOD VALUES HIS PEOPLE’S PRAYERS, GOD LOVES THE PRAYERS HIS PEOPLE PRAY.
A. What is valuable in heaven?
B. The roads in heaven are paved with gold and the gates are pearl.
God’s value system differs greatly from man’s.
C. God treasures praise, tears and prayers!
Revelation 8:3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
V. WHY SHOULD WE PRAY? JESUS TEACHES HIS PEOPLE TO PRAY!
A. LORD TEACH US?
B. I always thought that when the disciples came to Jesus, they were asking Jesus to teach us HOW TO PRAY?
C. THIS IS NOT THE CASE: THEY CAME TO JESUS AND ASKED JESUS: LORD TEACH US TO PRAY!
Luke 11:1 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
VI. WHY SHOULD I PRAY? BECAUSE I HAVE TO ---?
A. LOVE MUST MOTIVATE PRAYER, NOT HAVE TO, BUT WANT TO:
I John 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
B. Good prayer is motivated in that it will release God’s plan in love. In prayer we learn and find God’s plan.
Daniel 3:17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
VII. WHY SHOULD I PRAY? BY GIVING OUR HEARTS TO PRAYER GOD WILL HEAR AND MOVE.
A. YE HAVE NOT BECAUSE YE ASK NOT.
John 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing.
Verily, Verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name:
ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
B. By not praying we miss many opportunities to release God’s plan for us.
James 4:2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
VIII. WHEN SHOULD I PRAY?
A. PRAYER SHOULD START IN THE MORNING!
B. THERE IS A GOOD RULE OF PRAYING THREE TIMES A DAY?
C. PRAY WITHOUT CEASING?
Psalms 5:3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Psalms 55:17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.
I Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
IX. WHY PRAY? PRAYER CAN OPEN DOORS CLOSED TO MAN’S
ABILITIES.
A. PRAYER IS THE METHOD THAT RELEASES FAITH TOWARD HEAVEN.
Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him: IF THOU CANST BELIEVE,
ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO HIM THAT BELIEVED.
B. THERE IS A GOD FACTOR THAT REACHES BEYOND HERE,
TO WHERE GOD WOULD HAVE US TO WALK.
Mark 11: 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
X. WHY PRAY? WE CANNOT COUNT THE BENEFITS OF PRAYER!
A. THROUGH PRAYER WE RELEASE GOD TO SUPPLY OUR NEEDS.
Psalms 37: 3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
B. God has His manna, we pray, we trust, we wait.
XI. WHY PRAY? PRAYER REMOVES OBSTACLES.
A. What God does not keep you from, He will keep you through.
B. A man never wastes his time to stop and sharpen his tools, and a man never wastes any time given to prayer.
Luke 17: 6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamore tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
XII. WHY PRAY? PRAYER HAS GREAT RETURNS!
A. Good prayer is an eternal investment.
B. TO PRAY IS TO WORK, TO WORK IS TO PRAY.
C. Hardships are not sent by unkind destiny to crush,
but rather hardships are a way God challenges us to believe.
D. Facing a Red Sea will scare you or bring you face to face with a Holy God.
His servant,
Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
This is part #1 of a two part series.
