Devoted To Prayer

Being Devoted To Prayer Acts 2.42-47 Colossians 4.2 Luke 18.1-8 Revelation 16.15 Prayer= addresses to / conversations with God, places devoted to prayer/ synagogue and outside if there was no synagogue Prayer is conversation with the LORD God Almighty. Missionary and evangelist E. Stanley Jones wrote, “The first thing in prayer is to get God. If you get Him, everything else follows. Allow God to get at you, to invade you, to take possession of you. He then pours His very prayers through you. They are His prayers—God-inspired, and hence, God answered. “Prayer’s like the fastening of the cup to the wounded side of a pine tree to allow the resin to pour into it. You are now nestling up into the side of God—the wounded side, if you will—and you allow His grace to fill you up. You are taking in the very life of God.” Devoted= regular and continually, persist, constantly diligent, committed, dedicated, persevere Colossians 4.2 “devoted” to adhere to one, be his adherent, constant to one, to be steadfastly attentive unto, to give unremitting care to a thing, to continue all the time in a place, to persevere and not to faint, to show one's self courageous for, to be in constant readiness for one, wait on constantly So important being devoted to prayer is that Jesus ruthlessly cast out everyone who bought and sold in the temple, and said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations…. But you have made it a ‘den of thieves’ ” (Mark 11:17). We need to be on our guard for those things that can enter our temples and take the place of prayer. The devil has an arsenal full of stuff… everything from bitterness to busyness. He told His disciples the parable of the widow, the friend at midnight and the unjust judge to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He calls us to faithful, persistent, importune, persevering prayer. Romans 12.12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. If you pray only when you have a great need in your life then you are not devoted to prayer. We are to pray always and not give up. What do we need to be devoted to prayer? * Faith Believing prayer makes a difference Believe God answers prayer. Believe that God is able to anything. Believing we receive answers Matthew 21.22 We are to pray from our hearts and have our hearts and mind in prayer. It is not just a recitation. It is communion with Almighty God. The early church depended upon it. They were devoted to it. Faith is believing what God says He will do. * Persistence the quality that allows someone to continue doing something or trying to do something even though it is difficult or opposed by other people. Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees. Praying for people who need the LORD. They may not feel they do. Praying for people who are addicted. This is very hard. Why we need a fresh move of God’s Spirit today. Lunch with the District Superintendent this week, spoke about the move of God in the 1970’s, how people were delivered from drug addiction instantly. Praying with faith can be so challenging. Not because we do not need it but because we are Laodecian times. Feeling we are rich and have need of nothing. Wealth management. Praying for one another. James 5.16 offered in faith Being devoted to prayer… * Importunity persistence, especially to the point of annoyance. Widow Luke 18.1-8 Friend at midnight Luke 11.5-8 Keep on asking, seeking, knocking Matthew 7.7-8 Inconveniencing ourselves and others. shameless audacity Grayson in Haiti, “Mommy,Mommy, Mommy…” Kimberly mimicking him. We do not inconvenience God but it may look like it. He Who watches over Israel neither slumbers or sleeps. We can call on Him any time and any place. Luke 11.9-10 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. * Perseverance Persistence: Firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition. Perseverance: Steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. Both terms imply that strength and tenacity are needed. Praying always and not giving up. The widow The friend at midnight Jacob, “I will not let You go until You bless me.” Genesis 32.26 We are in demanding times. We need to be devoted to prayer, right up to the end. * It is a spiritual battle for most. Ephesians 6.10-18 Spirit led prayers, Spirit filled prayers are needed for us to be devoted to prayer. Romans 8.26-27 * We need the LORD to open our eyes to the needs all around us. * To be devoted to prayer we must abide in Christ * There is nothing like the joy of answered prayer! Let’s pray. We have a personal account of the genesis of "I Need Thee Every Hour": Hawks writes, "One day as a young wife and mother of 37 years of age, I was busy with my regular household tasks during a bright June morning [in 1872]. Suddenly, I became so filled with the sense of nearness to the Master that, wondering how one could live without Him, either in joy or pain, these words were ushered into my mind, the thought at once taking full possession of me -- 'I Need Thee Every Hour. . . .'"