Message Title: The Purpose of Prayer
Message Truth: The purpose of prayer is to release the power of God to accomplish the purposes of God. The purpose of prayer is to discover Gods will and not obligate God to do mine, to reflect God’s mind and not to change it. This new purpose requires a new heart.
Message Text: James 5:1-18
- Why did God answer Elijahs Prayer?
- What was Elijah’s Role?
- What was Gods role?
Why do these men succeed?
- Moses- Go to Pharo I will part the sea.
- Joshua – March around the walls of Jericho and I will tear them down.
- Elijah – Go to Ahab and tell him of his idolatry and I will cause it not to rain.
- Peter, Paul (Acts) – Take the life, death and resurrection of Christ to the world and I will do miracles through you.
God’s Word is true, but it must be obeyed (activated) for it to be true for you. It always involves movement through obedience and prayer.
How do I know what to do?
How has God designed relationships, body, work, family, money, future?
Keys to Prayer:
1.Brokensess –Surrender your future into God’s loving hands, trusting that He can redeem and restore every area of your life.
2.Intimacy – Having intimacy with God means realizing that abundant life will never be found in another person. Place or thing.
Example of marriage:
- Get married-saved
- Dare night-church
- Talk some-prayer
- Spend $ – Tithe
- Ill read notes you gave me – Bible
- I go to work for you – I serve and work at the church
- Woman – what do you want from me???
- But I want you to love me!!
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.” Exodus 8:1
3.Kingdom Driven vs Self Driven
Life is hard, it’s a daily fight, it’s a struggle sanity, joy and purpose. Outside of Gods Will we are on our own. If its all about me then its up to me- over to you father. Inside Gods will , He will give you the victory fir the battle, provide strength, purpose, money and Joy in the fight in this world because you are fighting the right war.
You will never be obedient with a closed Bible
We cannot foresee what God will do in our lives until we obey Him. Obey today and God has tomorrow perfectly in mind
4.Trust – No matter what God does, I believe it will work for my good.
5.Expectation – I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen
God’s Word is true, but it must be obeyed (activated) for it to be true for you. It always involves movement through obedience and prayer.
We live for the moment but not for the purpose we were created for. – we can live in memory or vision (imagination)
You just believe this is all there will ever be because I can’t see this God, but I can see myself, money, people, things.
A Kingdom person who brings the values of heaven to the concerns of the culture – let this work where I am. What does Heaven look like when it addresses the needs of the culture.
God cant lie, contradict His nature, sin…cant be 2nd.
The bigger heaven and God become the more earth makes sense, the smaller God and heaven is the more chaotic and hopeless earth will be.
Jesus said people will not like you because of me. Its ok to be liked to a point as long as you don’t want to be liked to a fault.
Boundaries make a football game possible- go outside and you have chaos. Not designed that way.
Gods going to check the tape of our lives.
Sinners can do good things but not good world because it has God and eternity attached to it. “Without me you can do nothing” John 15
Doppler radar He needs something to see what the pilot cannot see – In prayer God gives us a reading from the spiritual to navigate the spiritual EXAMPLE: 1 Chon. 14 David is fighting the Philistines- 1st time is a way but 2nd way is a different time but same problem.
Tea bag hanging in the water is an abiding tea bag not a dipper.
We cannot foresee what God will do in our lives until we obey Him. Obey today and God has tomorrow perfectly in mind.
Obedience is trusting all powerful and knowing God to be what He said he would be
