Transcription
Hello, a good day. My name is Pastor Paulo, resident pastor of Celebration Church Loa. In your last class, you learned about the gift of the spirit, and in this class, we're going to learn about something vital, something important, something necessary for every believer. We're going to be looking at prayer. We're going to look at what prayer is and why we should pray.
Prayer is one of the most foundational aspects of the Christian faith. Prayer is so emphasized that it is rooted in both the Old Testament and New Testament. It is not just a religious practice; it is not just a religious rite; it is not just something to be done just because. It is communication, the vital way to communicate with the Father. But why exactly should we pray? You probably know what prayer is. You've probably seen people pray, but what exactly and why should we pray as believers?
You know, when you look into the Bible, you see the admonition to pray emphasized in a way that is unmistakable. You know, the Bible says in Romans 12:12, it says, "Rejoice in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer." The Bible also says in Ephesians chapter 6:18, "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit." The Bible also says in First Thessalonians 5:17, it says, "Pray without ceasing." The Bible also says in Philippians 4:6, it says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." So, I read all this text to say that prayer is so emphasized in the Bible that in almost every book of the Bible, prayer is mentioned. Prayer is spoken about, and so it lets you know that prayer is not something to joke with as a believer.
But why exactly should we pray? Well, before I tell you why we should pray, let me also tell you this about prayer. Prayer is so emphasized and so necessary that Jesus himself couldn't do without prayer. Jesus prayed. Not only did he pray, he also was an example to other people, his disciples. They saw him pray, and one of those days, they told him, "Jesus, teach us to pray." What was Jesus's response? He actually taught them to pray because he recognized that prayer is important. He recognized that prayer is important. Prayer is necessary for them.
But why should we pray? Well, the first reason why we should pray is because God is our Father. God is our Father. Think about that. That we have a mechanism by which we can speak to God, the Father, the one who created the stars, the sun, the moon, the one who created us as humans. We have the privilege to approach God as our Father, and that basically informs communication. So, a father speaks to his child and vice versa. We speak to God as our Father, God who created the stars, the moon, the sun, God who created us, God who is our Father. We can communicate with him. That's profound.
But that's not the only reason why we pray. We pray also because we want to build up ourselves. The Bible says in Jude chapter 1:20, "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost." The Bible also says in 1 Corinthians chapter 14:4, it says, "He that speaks in an unknown tongue, he that prays in an unknown tongue edifies himself." By prayer, we can edify ourselves. We can rise up like an edifice. We can leave brick upon brick. We can charge up ourselves like a battery.
Also, we pray because we want to combat anxiety. See, prayer is so necessary for so many. That's what our lead pastor calls it, "soul maintenance." It is important. It's something that every believer in this day and this age needs the ability to put your soul in check. Prayer does that for you. It combats anxiety. Remember the text I read earlier, even though I read it in passing, Philippians 4:6, it says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." And the next verse says, "And the peace of God, which passes, which surpasses understanding, will garrison your heart and mind, will overwhelm you." So, God wants peace to be your main stay. But one of the ways that you will experience peace like never before is by prayer.
Another reason why we pray is to overcome temptation. You know, the Bible tells us when Jesus was at the Garden of Gethsemane, when he took his disciples, Peter, James, and John, to pray, right? That he was praying, and at one point, he recognized that his disciples were not praying. And so he came to them and he says to them, he says, "Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation." He says, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." What does this tell us? It lets us know that anybody who prays and prays consistently will overcome temptations. But the person who doesn't pray has already fallen under the trap of the enemy and will not overcome temptation. I'm not being a prophet of doom, but God wants you to pray because he wants you to overcome temptations, and prayer is one way to keep yourself in check.
Another reason why we pray as believers is that when we pray, we avert the plans of the enemy. We annul the plans of the enemy. You know, Jesus, just before the temptation of Peter, came to Peter in Luke chapter 22:31 and he says to him, "Simon, Simon, Satan desires to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. He says, but I have prayed for you. He says, and when you have be converted, strengthen your brethren." So, we see two very important things there. Number one is that Jesus tells Peter that Satan desires to have you. But then tells us something so profound. It lets us know that by prayer, we can preserve people from the plans of the enemy. So, Jesus knew that by prayer, Peter would be preserved from the plans of the enemy. So, one reason we want you to pray is because we want you to avert, to annul the plans of the enemy.
And then a final reason why we pray is to seek wisdom from God. You know, the Bible says in James chapter 1:5, it says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally." In the place of prayer, when we go before the Lord, we can get wisdom that we need. Wisdom to do what we ought to do, wisdom on how to approach matters, wisdom on what to say, wisdom on what not to do. This is so important. So, in the place of prayer, we receive the wisdom, Godly wisdom.
We have just discussed why we should pray as believers, and some of you are probably saying, "Well, I don't just want to pray; I want to have a consistent prayer life." And that's good. But you must recognize that to have a consistent prayer life, there are two things that you must prioritize. Number one is personal devotion, and number two is corporate prayer.
There are two reasons why we must have a consistent prayer life that I want to emphasize right now. Number one is so that God can do in your life what he wants to do, and number two, so that Satan will not be able to do in your life what he wants to do. You remember we read Luke 22:31-32 earlier, where Jesus was speaking to Simon Peter and he said to him, "Simon, Simon, Satan desires to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I prayed for you. He says, and when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren." So, Jesus was telling him, "I have prayed for you that the will of God be done in your life, and I have prayed for you that Satan's will will not be done in your life." Why do we maintain a consistent prayer life? So that God will be able to do in our lives the things that he wants to do, and so that Satan will not be able to do in our lives the things he wants to do.
Now, you might be asking yourself, "Isn't this an affront to the sovereignty of God to say that without praying, without a consistent prayer life, God cannot do in our life the things that he wants to do?" Well, not quite. The simple answer is this: God, in his sovereignty, has designed that man will have free will. Not just that, he has chosen prayer to be the medium through which, if a man so desires, he can invite God to intervene in his life, and so God can accomplish what he wants to do in our lives. You know, the Bible says in Revelation 3:20, Jesus is speaking, he says, "I stand at the door of your heart and if, and I knock. It says, and if anyone will allow me to come in, I will come in." So, we see that God doesn't just try to have his way in our lives; he actually expects us to invite him in, and that's what prayer does for us. Prayer gives us the opportunity to invite God to intervene in our lives.
So, two reasons why we pray consistently: number one, so that God can do in our lives the things that he wants to do, and number two, so that Satan will not be able to do in our lives the things that he wants to do. So, I said all I said to say this: Prayer is not charismatic spiritual exuberance. Prayer is not a denominational preference. Prayer is a lifeline for spiritual survival. So, you must pray, and you must pray consistently.
Now, what are the things you must know when building a consistent prayer life? So, let me tell you some things you must know when building a consistent prayer life. Number one is that prayer will never be a waste of your time. See, even when the prayer doesn't feel like it amounts to much, even when you don't feel like praying, I want you to recognize that prayer is never a waste of your time. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6, "Without faith, it is impossible to please God. To please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him." So, I want you to recognize that every time spent in prayer is not a waste. Every time spent in prayer is fruitful time. When you pray, you are achieving something. It might not look like your prayer is amounting to much. It might not look like God hears you, but God actually hears you. It's not about your feeling; it's about what God has said in his word. That's number one.
Number two: No matter how far away from prayer you have been, you can always be on fire again. You can always be on fire again. So, don't let the devil sell you that idea that if you've not prayed in a long time, you are not going to pray again. No. It's like saying that you've not had your bath for a long time and saying you're not going to have your bath because you've not had your bath. Think about that. So, the fact that you've not prayed for a long time is actually an invitation for you to pray. I want you to recognize that God is opening up his arms to you. He's welcoming you back. The moment you choose to pray, all you need to do is literally pray. We see the precedence in scriptures with the prodigal son and his father. His arms were wide open. The father's arms were wide open, waiting to receive the son. In the same way, God's arms are wide open, waiting to receive you in prayer again. Don't let the devil cheat you out of the beauty of a consistent prayer life. You can put fire on your altar again.
So, a short while ago, I told you there are two things you must prioritize to experience and to have a consistent prayer life: number one is corporate prayer, and number two is personal devotion. As a general rule in life, any discipline you seek to build is easily built in the right environment, in the right company, and building a consistent prayer life is not an exception. When you look into the Bible, you see that one of the ways that the early church built a consistent prayer life was by praying together. They gathered in homes to pray together. The same must be our experience today if we are to experience a consistent prayer life. Many people have not taken advantage of the blessing that is our gathering, the blessing that is our coming together. When we come together, we've come together so that we can experience strength, so that we can build a consistent prayer life. So, I want you to recognize that building a consistent prayer life is easily done, or is better done in the gathering of other believers in corporate prayers.
Corporate prayer is God's system for you to experience progress and joy in your prayer life. But what does corporate prayer do for you? Let me give you some points, and we move on. Number one is that corporate prayer helps you to be more focused in the place of prayer. You know, when you pray alone, your mind can wander, but when you're in the congregation, when you're in the gathering of other believers, you get to experience better focus in the place of prayer. Another thing that corporate prayer does for you is that corporate prayer enables you to pray longer on your own. Maybe after 10 minutes, 15 minutes, you feel weak, but when you gather with other believers, what you can experience is that you experience that drive to even move longer, to pray longer, to pray longer. That's important.
Another reason why corporate prayers are important is that it enables you to express and to grow in spiritual gift. You know, in the last video, we spoke about how spiritual gifts are for every believer. One of the ways you can grow in it is by being in the gathering of believers because, truly, spiritual gifts are not to be used just for personal use; they're supposed to be used for the body. And finally, when we gather to pray in corporate prayer, what one of the things we get to experience is miracles, healings, and miracles. You know, when you look into the Bible, you realize that every single place believers gathered to pray, something tangible happened, and that's something we can experience even in our day. That's something we ought to experience in our day. When we gather together, we have not come to waste our time, like I said earlier. When we gathered together, we've come to experience miracles, we've come to experience healing.
So, how do you maximize corporate prayers? Well, the first thing you need to recognize is that you must attend a praying church. You know, many people choose their church casually. They choose their church because that's the church closest to them, and I'm not saying you can't go to a church close to you, but I'm saying that the decision on what church to attend must be thought out properly. One of the things you cannot afford to neglect when choosing a church is if the church is a praying church or not, because the right church can jumpstart your prayer life. The right church can help you if you are struggling in your prayer life. So, attending a praying church is so important and so vital for the believer because a praying church will stir you up. You know, the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 10:24 and 25, the Bible says that we should not forsake the gathering together, the gathering of ourselves, as is the manner of some, but that we should spur one another. In the church, we can spur one another. When you attend a praying church, it can spur you to pray. That's number one.
Number two is by joining online prayer platforms. Online prayer platforms like Triumph 30 Devotion. It's a non-denominational devotional prayer platform that holds every day by 6:00 a.m., 12:00 noon, and 8:00 p.m. And then, a final point is to get a prayer partner. This point cannot be overemphasized. It's important to know that God expects us to have other believers who are of like mind that can spur us. So, not just when you come to church, but people, maybe when they visit your home, or people who you can just pray over the phone with. You ought to have a prayer partner. If you don't have a prayer partner today, get one. Get one from your local assembly.
However, as great as corporate prayers are, they should never take the place of personal prayer and personal devotion. You know, Jesus many times prayed on his own. Jesus at some other times will take Peter, James, and John. Sometimes, even after taking Peter, James, and John, he would still seclude himself to pray on his own. So, in Christ, we pray on our own, and we pray with people. It's important to have a healthy balance of the both of them.
Now, there are some reasons why some people don't pray privately, why they don't pray on their own. I'll give you two reasons, and then we'll call it a day. Number one is because of discipline. You must build discipline in the place of private prayer. You must be able to pray on your own. So, while corporate prayer is good, you must also build that discipline of praying on your own, having your own personal time of prayer and now time of worship. The second reason why some people don't pray on their own is because of hypocrisy. They're only praying so that people can see them. They're only praying so that people can think, "Oh, I am a prayer." No, you must learn to pray because you want to communicate with your Father.
No matter the category you fall into, there is admonition and instruction for you. In the next video, the next video is going to be talking about personal devotion and personal prayer time. Remain blessed.