Grace Community Church, Arlington, TX

We have been talking about the three things that will characterize the end time church. Those three things are Unity, Intimacy, and Maturity.But there is one more thing that will characterize the end time church and that is Prayer. Jesus prophesied that His House shall be a House of Prayer.

What is the key to becoming a praying church. There are eight keys, or I should say, “Eight P’s”

If you don’t pray like you should, you will enter into a temptation that you will be unable to handle. And though you have resolve, “the spirit is willing”, but “the flesh is weak”; You will be unable to handle the temptation with resolve alone. You must have the strength that comes through prayer.

What was it that they resolved? They resolved that they would not defect spiritually even if it cost them their lives. Jesus says that resolve is not enough to keep you from spiritual defection, you must pray. The temptation they were about to enter into was the temptation to defect.

All temptation has as its goal our spiritual defection. Jesus is essentially saying, if you don’t pray, you will defect. It was true for them, and it is true for you!

We will all encounter situations in which the time for prayer has come and gone and now we are either ready for the temptation or not. If we’ve prayed as we should, we will be ready. If we haven’t; we won’t.

Peter’s denial of Christ was not sudden. It was the end result of a process that started with prayerlessness. This is ultimately where a prayerless life leads. It leads to spiritual defection.

After Peter’s denial of Christ, he learned the importance of prayer, the priority of prayer. And later Peter writes,

Make prayer a priority! Your spiritual life depends on it!

We are, right now, seated with Christ. What is Jesus Christ sitting on? A throne! What do you do from a throne? You rule! How is it that we have a say from the throne of Jesus Christ about what happens on the earth right now? It is through our prayers that we rule with Christ right now! History belongs to those who pray!

There are four passages that describe the heavenly throne room scene for us in the Bible: Isa 6, Ezek 1, Dan 7, and Rev 4&5. It is important that we realize that we are praying into that heavenly throne room scene to our glorious God who is sitting on a throne.

But your perspective won’t be accurate if you see yourself as far away. Your place is on the throne next to Him. Next to the One who raised you up and seated you with Him in heavenly places.

Jesus is the One who gives us the pattern of prayer in what we know as the Lord’s Prayer. Upward… We start by hallowing God’s name. We start by honoring and worshipping God. We start with the realization that it is all about Him. Outward…Then we focus outward. We pray for His Kingly rule to come on the earth in every way. And His will to be done on earth in every way just like it is in heaven.Inward…Then the focus is inward. We pray for our daily bread, our forgiveness, and our deliverance from evil.Upward…And then we finish the way we started. UPWARD again! For Yours is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, forever and ever amen.

And Jesus also talks about the number one thing that can kill a prayer life. In fact, it can kill your spiritual life altogether. Jesus said (in Matthew 6:9, 12), "Pray like this: 'Our Father who art in heaven... forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.'"

Then in verses 14–15 he explains why he taught us to pray this way: "For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions."If you will not forgive the one who hurt you, then God will not forgive you of your sins. That is what Jesus says!

How do I do that? Remember, Jesus said to pray for those who persecute you… And Bless those who curse you.

When someone has hurt you, wronged you, betrayed you, they have persecuted you.So, where do I begin? Begin by praying for them. When you pray for them, begin to pray for God’s blessing on them. As you do that, your heart will change and eventually you will be able to wish them well before God and really mean it. When that happens, you will have forgiven from the heart.

5. The Power of Prayer

There are 5 ingredients to powerful prayer.

The church in the book of Acts understood these five points and they lived them out. That is why they were a powerful church.

Do you know that Jesus taught two parables on prayer, and both of those parables teach the same point. In both parables, Jesus teaches that persistence in prayer is the key to getting your prayers answered.

In Luke 11, Jesus teaches that if persistence works even with a neighbor who isn’t inclined to get up and help you in the time of your need, how much more will persistence work with God who is inclined to help us with our need. Then in Luke 18, Jesus tells a parable about a persistent widow and an unrighteous judge. The widow persisted in asking the judge to give her justice in her case. The judge finally gave attention to her case so she would leave him alone. Once again Jesus shows us that persistence works even with those who are unwilling to help, unmotivated to help, how much more will persistence work with God.

One of the partners in prayer is thanksgiving, and the other is fasting. Both give power to our prayers.
In Mark 9, the disciples of Jesus were unable to cast a demon out of a boy. They asked Jesus why? And Jesus said…Mark 9:29 "This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting."There are different kinds of demons. There are different kinds of fallen angels. Some are more powerful and much more difficult to dislodge. There is a kind that will not be moved by anything that the church is now doing except for prayer and fasting.

The problem of prayer is when God does not seem to be answering our prayers. When God seems distance and even uninterested in answering our prayers. What are we to make of that?

Well, Jesus once prayed a prayer that God the Father did not seem to answer. Before going to the cross, Jesus prayed to be delivered from dying. But Jesus was not delivered from dying as He prayed, instead He was delivered from death which He experienced.

Therefore, it may be stated that the prayer of our Lord Jesus was answered in a different way and at a different time, than that for which He prayed.

His prayer was answered at a different time; He prayed to be delivered on Good Friday, but He was delivered on Sunday morning.His prayer was answered in a different way: He prayed to be delivered from dying, but He was delivered after He died, a deliverance from death.

But His prayer was not just answered at a different time, but at a better time. It was answered after the work of redemption had been completed.Also, it was answered in a better way; He was delivered from mortal flesh to immortal flesh (Had He been delivered from dying He would yet have faced death later.)

Some of you need to know that God has not ignored your prayer. He is just answering it in a different way, at a different time, a better way and a better time, and if not in this life, in the life to come.