Ministry Involvement: Prayer

all right so we're going to get ready to go into our next lesson on Ministry so just to kind of recap um if you weren't here last week uh we talked about qualities that you want to have to be effective in your ministry um there's a lot of people that just they want to do it they want to do something for God they want to be effective but yet there's steps that still have to be taken there's qualities that you you have to practice and have in your life if you want to truly be effective so just a again a short recap of what we talked about we talked about sharing faith we talked about serving others was a very big one humility as well as sacrificing and prayer when you put all of these things together as we're going to continue to talk about as the month goes on you have a recipe for a successful Ministry you have to have all of these things if you want to be effective tonight we're going to focus in on one particular aspect and that is going to be prayer I don't want to diminish any of the other qualities that we talked about but one of the most important things as a Christian as a follower of Christ which is what it is to be a Christian is prayer we talked a lot about how Jesus set the example for many things whether it was serving whether it was humility we talked about foot washing and for those that weren't here we actually washed each other's feet we all came up no we didn't do that but we did talk about humility and the principles behind that that we can apply to our lives and Ministries so Jesus set the example for all of these things including sacrifice he gave the ultimate sacrifice and he prayed as well when you really stop and think about it it's kind of it your human brain you think of it I do at least as kind of an odd concept that Jesus prayed the god of the universe that created everything robed in flesh he still prayed he was baptized everything he did was setting an example for us to follow one of the hardest things I feel to do in the church as a Christian living for God is praying if I can be transparent maybe you feel the same it's one of the simplest things but yet it's also one of the hardest to be be consistent at to truly pray to truly have a prayer life if you want to have a Ministry you have to have a prayer life if you want to be used by God you have to talk to him so the first thing we're going to look at is what does an ideal prayer life look like and the first thing we're we're going to do is talk about simply what is prayer first of all let's establish what it is and it may seem simple because it is which is why it's still so mindboggling that it's so hard for us to apply it to our lives the way that God intends for us to do all it is is a two-way relationship between us and God where we both where people you me whoever it is we speak and listen to God some people only pray when they have needs they just go to God to just unload and there's nothing wrong with unloading in prayer right we all get to a point to where we have to unload right but we also have to listen when we go to God In Prayer whether we're seeking our place in Ministry whether it's a need we can't just always tell him what we want what we need what we feel where we feel we should be we also need to take the time to listen sometimes in prayer there's a point that you need to just listen and just meditate in the presence of God it's in those moments it's called a still Small Voice right you have to have those times after you pray just sit there I'm not going to put a time limit on it but just sit there in the presence of God and listen to what he has to say and that's what so many of us fail to do is just hear his voice also with prayer others May describe it as much like a child's conversation with say a parent with their father and sometimes that is what when a lot of us pray I do feel that's what a lot of us do in prayer it's just we're going I need this I need this from you I need that but in the Bible prayer is described as so much more than just youing in God to tell him what we want or what we need it's described as seeking God's favor it's described as confessing sins thanking God and also asking for needs and desires but you have to put all of that together in your prayer life there's many different types of prayer that you can pray maybe it's a prayer of blessing and adoration that's just praising God I personally feel that one of the best things to do before we pray is to just thank God first before I go to him with my need before I go to him to ask for direction in Ministry in life whatever it is just thank him Just Praise Him and often times it'll be through that praising through that thinking God that sometimes you get the answer that you need before you even take the need to him it's at those times that that need or that question that you have in your life it doesn't seem so significant anymore because when you put things in perspective in Ministry in the church in marriage whatever it is when you put him first and you put praise thankfulness all of this at the Forefront then everything else you see what truly matters and it really puts things in perspective in your life there's also prayers of petition asking for needs and I'd also like to add that can be such as asking for forgiveness it's not always just saying God I want that new car I need need that new car that way everyone at church will see my new car right but if you're truly wanting to be used of God then maybe that's a need that you need to seek petition from God In Prayer like God not just where I want to be I know that I need to be somewhere in the church I need need to be used in some type of ministry where will you have me be where do you want me to be we focus on our wants so much but what about what he wants there's the prayer of intercession asking and praying for others needs and I'm sure Brother Gibson if brother Sloan were here whoever whoever in Ministry sometimes it can seem like a burden little long to pray for yourself and your own needs but also the needs of others around you there's so much going on around us but sometimes we have to be that intercessor for others and I truly believe that when we do pray for those around us that it can bring Clarity to our life as well it can bring answers and blessings to our life to our Ministries when we pray for others prayers of Thanksgiving so we've talked about that just giving thanks for what God has done and what he's given and what he's going to do and what he's going to give and lastly contemplative prayer essentially just using the mind and the heart to recognize his presence and to achieve Union with his spirit in that time being so busy and I'm guilty of this as well we try to pray on the go well you know I got time on my drive to work or if you work at home I have time on my walk to my office I you know I'll pray on the commute right but some of us only pray on the go or when we just have a few moments in between the next task and we're not taking that time to really truly seek his will in our life to really seek seek his voice and what he has to say all these different types of prayer we look like or that we looked at it's not to make it seem more complicated because as I said it's one of the simplest things that we can do and when we pray in all of these different ways God truly comes to where we are and meets us there and he mends our needs He blesses Our Lives he's just waiting for us to just invite him there it can be tough to maintain a consistent prayer life but if you want to be effective in that Ministry that God has called into your life you have to be consistent you might have to lose some sleep if that's the only time that you can truly be alone with God you might have to get up a little earlier than you like if that's the time that you're able to set aside to seek his will to praise him to thank him to be an intercessor maybe just maybe that's your ministry we have a prayer coordinator we all know know Sister Stacy that's her Ministry and she's so great at it we all pray but that might be what God has specifically called you to do is be a prayer Warrior like no other we take it so much for granted and not as seriously as we should when there's so much power in just praying just speaking the name of Jesus there's so much power in that

in First Kings 18 we all know about Elijah when he faced the prophets of Bale what did he do he prayed that fire down they prayed to their gods they prayed prayed to Bell nothing happened because there was no power in their prayer but you what you have what God has put in you the Revelation that you have that you are being used in you have the same fire that you can pray down in your life when the enemy has outnumbered you and you can't be be used the way God wants to use you you have to just stand firm and pray and that enemy cannot stand you may not know how just as Samson used a Jawbone it may be something unexpected that defeats that enemy in your life that God uses I'm sure that Samson would have liked to had a sword right but yet still what you think will defeat the enemy in your life that's coming against your ministry that's coming against you it may not look like what you think you need to defeat them but all it takes is just prayer you can't let the enemy diminish your prayer because it is so much more powerful than any thing that they can form against you you see the enemy in your life they don't want you involved in any type of Ministry they don't want you to come to church every Sunday they don't want you to come to church every Wednesday they don't want you to be effective so they are going to try to overwhelm us that's what the enemy does they try try to Blind you they try to overwhelm you they try to make the make themselves seem so much bigger than they truly are when you're the one that can pray that fire down in your life it's one of our greatest tools just think for a moment if you will is there anyone that comes to mind when you think of a prayer Warrior if you just take a moment and just think is there someone in your life that when you think prayer Warrior I know a lot of people say they're grandmothers right I'm sure that every one of us can think of somebody and I'm just going to tell you that person they didn't get there easily everything we've talked about they had to apply all of that in their life I don't know what Ministries God may have used use that person that you're thinking of right now in but whatever it was they wanted to be used they prayed everything we've talked about they applied it are you a prayer Warrior would people say the same about you will you be that person that someone down the road will think of when they need prayer will you be the one that can be that intercessor for that person it's something I ask myself as well down the road will I be one that somebody trust my prayers and maybe come to me hey can you pray for this can I be the one on my job that people recognize the Ministries that God has called me to and come to me and be like hey I know you go to church can you pray for me there's people out there that need you there's people out there that trust your ministry they trust your prayers you can't afford to diminish that in your life it's one of the greatest ways to fight the battles that comes against you you in Ephesians 6 I'm sure some of you could probably quote it talks about the armor of God all the different pieces of the armor of God to put on but what does it say right after it goes through everything to put on after it talks about the sword of the spirit the word of God in verse 18 Ephesians 618 18 it says praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication you can get ready for battle you can have the armor but are you praying at all times in all prayer and supplication because that is what truly brings everything together a soldier is not going to go into battle unless they've communicated with their leader if you put that armor on how are you going to go to battle and have a plan if you haven't talked to the leader and you don't have the plan got to pray so many times in the Bible where prayer is shown as so important and yet in today's world I believe there's so many people that don't believe that prayer can bring the fire of God down anymore it may not always be physically bringing fire down but spiritually it happens every day when you have that person that's decided this is the ministry God has called me into I'm going to be used I'm going to be effective the enemy may be coming against me but I'm going to find my place to get alone with God and I'm going to go to battle and I'm going to pray and I'll just give you a spoiler warning you're going to win when you do that you've already won but it's up to you to still stand strong and not back down because again you you've already won I'm sure at some point maybe at this church maybe if you've went to another church maybe growing up we've all went to someone at some point in our life looking for advice have you ever had someone tell you have you prayed about it he's not here but I'm sure I could speak for brother Sloan and say I'm sure he told many of people maybe some of you that very thing because if you haven't prayed about it first what are you doing if you have a spiritual need why are you not going to God first why are you not seeking the counil of God because sometimes before you go to anyone else in your life if you just ask God like we discussed he's going to give you that answer Pierce is really feeling this tonight he is what better way to hear the right answer than to just pray god holds every answer that you could ever need but yet we're so stubborn sometimes and we think that we have it all together if I can just sa myself I do not have it all together all right I'm not perfect I don't pray like I should I don't read like I should maybe some of you feel the same life gets so busy and you get so tired but we got to try we got to try so many people want to hear the voice of God in their life but they hardly ever let him hear theirs so many people want to hear a word from God but yet they never open the word of God what are we doing and this is me I'm talking to me I just told someone I don't remember who it was I feel like a lot of the times when I get things like this together I feel like it's probably just for me most of the time I just pull things that I need to do myself things that I need to hear because I I'm sure you wouldn't raise your hand but no one in here has it all together but if we don't pray we're really not going to have it together it's called a prayer life because it's supposed to be something that is constant in us not just part of us but always there so what steps can you take to better communicate with God In Prayer to have a prayer life spend time with God build that relationship set aside prayer time there's nothing wrong with praying on your way to work there's nothing wrong with praying while you're walking through the grocery store while you're doing other things in fact that's good pray all the time but you have to make it a constant in your life I try the very least when I wake up in the morning to at least let one of the first things I say is a word of prayer even if it's just thank you God for waking me up do I do it every time I'm not I fail sometimes but I try to make that a part of my life and also before I go to sleep at night I try to always book in my days at least no matter how busy it's been at least start and end the day with prayer also we've talked about getting alone with God but also meeting together that's why the prayer we have at church the prayer we have as a unit is so important in building each other up in being that intercessor there's people I call it that have altar Ministries people that are able to just work the altars people that have needs and there's that person that is sensitive to that and they have words they can give to that person they have a prayer they can go and pray to that person maybe that's what God's calling you to do but just like we joked earlier about practice makes perfect if that's the Ministries God's called you to you got to practice you can't just pray when you're here but you got to pray outside these walls also in order to be prepared to if that's what God's called you to so that you're ready

a prayer life just like in the book of Acts all with one Accord in one place I'm sure that on that day some prayers were going up can you imagine just your prayer alone what you can accomplish but when we all come together and we pray as one can you just imagine but are we all in one Accord because his spirit is still still moving just as in when it was poured out that day over all those in that room but again I ask are we all in one Accord are we all praying the same prayer are we all seeking to be used in what God has called us to do because when we all get together the spirit moves so mightily we're going to go to Matthew 17 verse 14- 21 you see prayer and faith we talked about sharing Faith they build each other up and we're going to look at this scripture starting at verse 14 and when they were come to the multitude there came to him a certain man kneeling down to him and saying Lord have mercy on my son for he is a lunatic and sore vex for oftimes he falleth Into the Fire and of into the water and I brought him to thy disciples and they could not cure him then Jesus answered and said oh faithless and perverse generation how long shall I be with you how long shall I suffer you bring him hither to me and Jesus rebuked the devil and he departed out of him and the child was cured from that very hour then came the disciples to Jesus apart and said why could not we cast him out and Jesus said unto them because of your unbelief for verily I say unto you if ye have faith as a grain of a mustard seed you shall say un this mountain remove hint To Yonder place and it shall remove and nothing shall be impossible unto you how be it this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting how many times have you went to God and said God why was I not able to do this was it because of your unbelief was it because you've not been praying or fasting if you want to remove that mountain in your life the word says to have faith as the grain of a mustard seed but this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting you have to do your part also we serve a God that can do anything but we can't just sit by the way and just always expect him to take care of everything in our life and not do our part if that Mountain's not moving pray more fast more seek his will more have more faith the more faith that you have the more you will pray the more you pray the more faith you'll have it's just going to be an endless cycle that doesn't stop unless you choose to stop it another very important aspect of ministry and we've talked a little about the altar Ministry take people's requests seriously and I'm guilty of this I know I've said that a lot I'm just being honest tonight how many times does someone come to us with a need because they know we're a Praying people and we say yes I'll pray for that and then you don't think another thought about it that's something that makes me feel so guilty there's times I know where somebody's asked me to pray and I'm like yes but then got so busy and I never did and they came back and they were like thank you for praying for me you know God did this or that and I'm like well must have been someone else's prayer CU I wasn't the intercessor it's so easy to do how often do we forget the needs of others make it a priority in your life and truly pray for those needs specifically when somebody comes to you because they know there's a Ministry in your life and they're trusting you to pray for that take that seriously go to God with that person's name go to God with that need be a vessel that God can use in that situation make it personal be old just as in the friends that had the lame men they knew where to take him the crowd was there but yet they found a way to get him to Jesus for his healing there's people that need you what if you don't take the time to do what it takes to get them to where they need to be some people don't know how to get to him but yet they have you in their life but are you being effective in showing them are you being bold in your prayers are you doing the work that it takes to be that intercessor to lower them through that roof of their situation whatever is keeping them from God when we have faith knowing that no matter what as long as we do what it takes to get to Jesus that shows the relationship that we have and how much we truly communicate with him if you feel that someone needs something whether it's at church or anywhere don't wait but initiate a Facebook post for you don't wait initiate people around us are fighting so many battles but yet sometimes we're just so caught up in our own things we're wanting to be used so mightily like God I want to do this I want to do that but yet the people around us are suffering and we're not even seeing that we're not sensitive to that maybe that's the Ministry that God's needing to use you for in that moment but you're so focused on what you want to do on your own situation if you look at Noah he heard the voice of God and he got to work it took a while but he knew God spoke to him whatever it is that God spoken to you specifically for your life it may not come to pass tonight it may not come to pass right away but listen to him and just keep building just as Noah did just keep building your walk with God keep building your prayer life your ministry whatever it is be patient and just keep building on the the other end you had Jonah God told him where to go but he fled from the voice of God and it didn't turn out too well we talked a little about him last week as well how many of us know what God has called us to do but yet we decide We Know Better we've decided no I hear what you're saying God but I know what I truly want to do I know what I truly need to do so I'm going to go this way how naive could we be if God has a plan for us even if you try to run something can happen to get you back on that track one way or the other you're going God's going to put you you where he needs you to be why are you wasting time right now think of all the time wasted all the souls that you could have witnessed to all the people you could have prayed for in this time but yet you've went over here thinking you know best

first Thessalonians chapter 5 says many things that are so important Rejoice ever more pray without ceasing in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you quench not the spirit despise not prophesying prove all things hold fast that which is good abstain from the appearance of evil pray without ceasing quench not the spirit all of these other things in this verse we have to pray without ceasing and all of that just goes together constantly pray that doesn't mean I'm not telling you you can't go to bed at night that you have to stay up and pray obviously you got to sleep right you got to eat sometimes as long as you pray before your meal right hey if you go out to a restaurant you don't know who cooked that right that's what pastor always says I don't know who's in that kitchen I'm not saying that you have to just stop your life and just pray 247 some wish we could but we still got to live our life but it's finding that balance of having our life and having a prayer life through prayer we do establish where God wants us to be

and as I draw to a close I'm just going to leave you with this if you're still wondering where God wants you to be and this is going to be a question that comes up throughout the month God what are you calling me to 1 John 5:14 through 15 this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will he heareth us and if we know that he hear us whatsoever we ask we know that we have the petitions we've desired of him and also John 14 and4 just simply says if we ask anything in his name he will do it so if you're seeking the will of God in your life just ask him I don't know how much more simple I can make it just ask him and he will do it the walls of Jericho fell after the people did their part are you praying and seeking God to do your part the flesh is weak but remember your spirit is indeed willing you so as we get ready to go into worship I just want to ask everyone I know we're going to pray but strive to make it a part of your life your ministry will become so powerful when you infuse it when you flood it with prayer when you flood it with just listening for the voice of God so we're going to close out with prayer as they go into song God we thank you for letting us be here once again we just ask that you let our hearts and Minds be receptive to your voice and to your word and the calling that you've placed on our life God forgive us for not spending enough time with you forgive us for putting other things above you forgive us for not being as effective in our callings as you would have us be let our ear just always be ready to hear your word what you have to say let us take that quiet time God just to seek your voice just to bask in your presence God and we know the answers that we need will come in Jesus name