by Pastor David Eichler
Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Prayer is an invitation for the God of the universe to intervene in our lives and situations.
When we pray, miracles happen.
In the Old Testament:
Genesis 20:17 – Abraham prayed and God healed King Abimelech, his wife and female servants.
Exodus 8:29 – Moses prayed to God to remove the plague of the flies from the Egyptians.
Numbers 11:2 – Moses prayed and stopped a plague.
Joshua 10:12-13 – In a battle with the enemy Amorites, Joshua prayed that the sun would stand still, giving them more daylight to fight the enemy.
12 On the day the LORD gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the LORD in front of all the people of Israel. He said, “Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of 2 Aijalon.” 13 So the sun stood still and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies.
1 Samuel 1:10 – Hannah was barren and prayed for a son…and God gave her Samuel, the prophet of God. Even if you’ve gone years without a specific prayer being answered, pray again. Keep praying.
1 Kings 17-18 – The prophet Elijah prayed that it would not rain and it didn’t for 3 1/2 years. When he prayed again, it rained.
17 Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! 18 Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.
James 5:17-18 In the NT: We read of Jesus’ prayer life;
Luke 5:16 But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.
Acts 1:14 – They all met together and were constantly united in prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus.
Acts 2:42 NLT All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.
Acts 3:1 NLT Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service.
Acts 4:31 31 After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness. We also see fasting in scripture.
Acts 13:2-3 2 One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Appoint Barnabas and Saul [Paul] for the special work to which I have called them.” 3 So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way.
Prayer and Fasting positions us to hear from God.
Isaiah 37:14-20 NLT
14 After Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the LORD’s Temple and spread it out before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the LORD: 16 “O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, God of Israel, you are enthroned between the mighty cherubim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth. 17 Bend down, O LORD, and listen! Open your eyes, O LORD, and see! Listen to Sennacherib’s words of defiance against the living God. 18 “It is true, LORD, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all these nations. 19 And they have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire and burned them. But of course the Assyrians could destroy them! They were not gods at all—only idols of wood and stone shaped by human hands. 20 Now, O LORD our God, rescue us from his power; then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you alone, O LORD, are God.”
Isaiah 37:21-22 NLT 21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you prayed about King Sennacherib of Assyria, 22 the LORD has spoken this word against him:
Isaiah 37:36-38 NLT 36 That night the angel of the LORD went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When the surviving Assyrians woke up the next morning, they found corpses everywhere. 37 Then King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and returned to his own land. He went home to his capital of Nineveh and stayed there. 38 One day while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with their swords.
God answers BECAUSE WE PRAY
Isaiah 38:1 About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill, and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to visit him. He gave the king this message: “This is what the LORD says: ‘Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness.’”
Isaiah 38:2-6 NLT 2 When Hezekiah heard this, he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, 3 “Remember, O LORD, how I have always been faithful to you and have served you single-mindedly, always doing what pleases you.” Then he broke down and wept bitterly.
4 Then this message came to Isaiah from the LORD: 5 “Go back to Hezekiah and tell him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will add fifteen years to your life, 6 and I will rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. Yes, I will defend this city.
James 5:13-16 NLT 13 Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. 16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
Isaiah “The Lord says, “I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help. I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’ to a nation that did not call on my name.”
Asking Activates God
Matthew 7:8 NLT For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
