POWER IN PRAYER?

Yes, the title has a question mark.  Is there power in prayer?  This is one of the more popular sayings in life, especially today.  It’s a general statement applied to everyone.  The concept is – as long as anyone prays, God will answer.  Many Christians make the mistake of telling just about anyone that if we just pray God will answer.

Proverbs 28:9 NIV If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable.

This is one of the verses of Scripture that should remind us that the phrase "there is power in prayer" is not biblical. God does not listen to just ANYONE or ANYTHING being prayed for. In this proverb it is clear – that God will not listen to someone who does not listen to and obey His law.  And it’s not just that God will not listen, but for someone who turns a deaf ear to God’s law his prayers are DETESTABLE.  Yes, God hears the prayer, but they are detestable to Him, for they come from a person that did not honor Him, and no desire to live according to His Word.

And this is why we need Christ.  ALL OF US turn a deaf ear to the law, which means that in default God detests our prayer.  But when we are in Christ He has taken away this barrier.  His sacrifice has not only forgiven us of our sin, but has destroyed the barrier we had with our heavenly Father.  As we come to Him in Christ, the Father listens to us.  This is why when we pray we come “in Jesus Name”.  He is our High Priest who intercedes for us when we pray.  This is not just something that we mention in our prayers, but something that we believe in our hearts.

Hebrews 4:14-16 NIV  Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  (15)  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.  (16)  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

When someone is in Christ not only is the barrier removed and we are able to approach God, but our hearts are also changed.  Our hearts are now re-focused to God, and not our self anymore.  This is what our Lord reminded us when He taught us how to pray:

Matthew 6:9-10 NIV  This, then, is how you should pray:  'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,  (10)  your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

When a believer prays He knows in his heart that God, his Father, is in heaven, and He is holy.  That He is King, and we are to live in His kingdom.  And in His kingdom it is His will that matters, not ours.  Prayer has nothing to do with us.  It's all about God.

We don’t just pray for anything and everything we want.  A Christian submits to the holiness, the reign and the will of the Father in Heaven.  This is what shapes and leads our prayers day by day.  And this is what makes our prayer powerful – not in the act, but in the One we are praying to.

There is no power in the act of prayer.  God is powerful, not prayer.  All power is with our God, not in anything that we do.  When our prayer is in submission to our Heavenly Father, His kingdom and His will, that is where the "power" is.  That is when our lives are now aligned with what He desires, what He wills, for us.  When He works in our life, according to His kingdom and will, that is when we see the working of His power.  And this is what every believer should desire to see.  It's not just about getting what we desire or ask for, but the blessing of partaking of what our holy God desires for us as we live with Him in His kingdom, and according to His will, seeing Him work in power in our life.

Three Blessings We Have in Christ

Hebrews 10:19-27 NIV  Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,  (20)  by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,  (21)  and since we have a great priest over the house of God,  (22)  let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.  (23)  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.  (24)  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  (25)  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.  (26)  If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,  (27)  but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

 Three blessings that we enjoy through our Lord Jesus Christ.

(19)  Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,  (20)  by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,  (21)  and since we have a great priest over the house of God,  (22)  let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

 

Through Jesus Christ we have the confidence to enter the Most Holy Place, the very presence of God, and commune with Him.

Moses had the tent of meeting, where he met with God and inquired of Him.  He was the only one who enjoyed that privilege.

In the temple this was where the presence of God was, and only the high priest was allowed to enter, only after he offered a sacrifice for himself, and then for the nation.

Today, through Jesus Christ, true believers have access to our Heavenly Father’s presence and commune with Him.  Because Jesus is the sacrifice offered to cover our sins, and because He Himself is our High Priest, we have been given this gracious access to God and inquire of Him.  and we don’t need to go to a tent or temple for this.  We just come to Him in our hearts.

This, basically, is the reason why a believer has a “prayer time”.  Prayer is not just about requests and petitions.  It’s about enjoying a great blessing and privilege that we have in Jesus Christ – to be able to draw near to God and enjoy Him.

 

(23)  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

 Then, we have the eternal hope, the living hope, that we have in Jesus Christ.  This is the hope of eternal life, of being in eternity with Him.

Eternal life was taken from us because of sin.  But because Jesus Christ has paid the penalty of our sin, the blessing of spending eternity with God is opened for us again.  This is the hope that we profess, and we know that He is faithful to fulfil this promise!

To hope in eternal life reminds us that our life here on earth is just temporary, and we live knowing we have been granted this living hope through the blood of Jesus!

We do not just live for today, but for eternity.

 

(24)  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  (25)  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.  (26)  If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,  (27)  but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

 Then there is the life we live while still here in this world.

The blood of Jesus Christ has set us free from sin.  Not only has it paid for the penalty of sin that grants us eternal life, but it also sets us free from the hold of sin, that enables us to live holy lives.

This life is described in this passage as love and good deeds.  We are to love one another as Jesus loved us, and we are to do the good deeds that God desires for us to do, to live.

A true believer does not deliberately continue to sin.  The struggle is there, but the blood of Jesus has granted us freedom from the hold of sin, and we are now able to live the righteous life God desires for us.

And we need one another for this.  God uses each one of us to build each other up to live this righteous life.

We are to SPUR ONE ANOTHER on toward love and good deeds.

We are to ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER to live the righteous life.  This is why the writer exhorts his readers not to GIVE UP MEETING TOGETHER.

Every time we gather, whether it is on a Sunday, or any day that we are with fellow believers, God uses each one to encourage one another to live as He desires for us to live.  This is the blessing of fellowship.

The presence of God.

The hope of eternal life.

The life of love and good deeds.

May we enjoy these blessings that we have in Jesus Christ!