Sr. Pastor-Teacher: Rev. Mark A. Cain 

LESSON:  LEARNING HOW TO PUSH: PRAY UNTIL SOMETHING HAPPENS

Text:   1 THESS. 5:16-17; MATT. 7:7-11

Memory Verse--"Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. "                    Mathew 7:7 (NASB)                                            

Energized Prayer

Prayer is like a lamp. We can turn it on and off, on and off, but if it is not plugged in to the power source, if it is not energized, nothing will happen. Every prayer we pray is either energized or it is not. When it is we are letting loose an earthshaking power (Acts 12:5-7). James 5:16 tells us that "the effective prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much." The word "effectively comes from energeo", the root of our word "energy". The word "accomplish" is ischuos, the strongest Greek word for power. God will demonstrate His power through the energized prayer of His children.

So, how can we "energize" our prayers? Every time we stop to pray, we should ask ourselves two questions:

1. Am I in fellowship (Eph. 6:18)? Sin throws up a barrier between God and us and short-circuits our prayers (Ps. 66:18; Isa. 59:2). Self examination and confession removes the barrier and restores us to fellowship (1 John 1:9, 3:21-22). If we have unconfessed sins and we're not filled with the Spirit, our prayers are works of the flesh with no power.

2. Am I praying according to the will of God (John 15:7; 1 John 5:14-15)? We have to know His Word in order to pray according to His will. Lack of Bible study will rob us of the ability to pray effectively. Jesus said that whatever we ask in faith, we will receive. But what is faith? Faith is a response to God's Word (Heb. 11:6). We cannot ask for something in faith unless the Word of God declares that what we ask is the will of God.

The apostle Paul tells us in Colossians 4:2 to devote ourselves to prayer, "keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving."

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