Praying for MiracleSample

A POWERFUL PRAYER

INTRODUCTION

The early church was the model of God’s churches for prayerful prayer in this time. They were the examples of strong believers and a life story of spiritual revival in the midst of difficult times and seasons. The early church in the time of the Apostles even brought the waves of spiritual revival to the nations outside Israel. Not only the quantity but the quality of their spiritual growth could also be said as extraordinary. There were many miracles and signs of the Holy Spirit’s power in the journey and ministry of the early church. Powerful testimonies caused the harvest of souls in the Kingdom of God. Their lifestyle was changed as they followed the knowledge and daily teaching of the Word of God.

These extraordinary things did not happen coincidentally; these happened because of the power of believers’ prayers. Is it true that prayer does not only change someone but also the community and even a nation? The answer is yes! Lord Jesus himself guarantees it, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mar. 11:24). There are many notes in the Bible about the power of believers’ prayers, however, today we are going to learn some lessons from the power of early church's prayer. 

DISCUSSION 

1. Prayer against fear 

From the above reading, we get an understanding of the situation faced by the early church. They experienced strong pressures from the government and other Jews. Many of them were arrested, sent to prison, and even killed because of their belief in Jesus. Like normal people, they were certainly afraid when they had to face these threats. Interestingly, they agreed to pray and ask for divine strength in the midst of their fear. They overcame their fear by crying out to God.

The main key to defeat fear is to seek the face of God. King David also did the same thing to fight his fear, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you”. (Psalm 56:3). Prayer is the place where we could win the battle of worry, anxiety, and doubt - because in prayer, we are going to meet God Himself who will give the power of His peace to us. These days, what causes us to have worry and fear? Family, children, spouse, parents, work, business, or other things? Seek the face of the Lord in prayer, both in personal and corporate prayer, and we are going to see that God is working to help us.  

2. Prayer for anointing 

The answers to the prayer received by the early church were the fullness of the Holy Spirit and His anointing. God revealed His power through Holy Spirit. Spiritual movement and many signs of miracles will only happen when Holy Spirit anoints and fills our lives as He gives us the power to do great and miraculous works. That anointing will make our testimonies and prayers to be filled with divine power.

Have we ever imagined that our prayers are working? It is not about impossibility. Our prayer will be filled with power if it is accompanied by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Prayer works because there is God’s control inside it. Anointed prayer will do anything God wants. When there is anointing, the divine power is inside us.

How to have a prayer that is anointed by the Holy Spirit? First, we must have the thirst to be baptized by Holy Spirit and to be filled by Him. The key is to ask Father God to baptize us with His Spirit. After having personal experience with Holy Spirit, we will have anointed prayers. To maintain the fire of this anointing, however, we have to always live in the fellowship and the truth of the Word. Never go out from God’s presence by doing defiled things. Remember that a prayer to ask for the anointing of the Holy Spirit could be done by anyone, as long as he believes and has faith in Lord Jesus.

3. Prayer to raise up our faith and courage 

Prayer Is going to raise up our faith and courage to share the Words and to testify about the works of God. Prayer will encourage our spirit to believe that God never creates us to be defeated. He promises victory for us. If our current struggles intimidate and pressurize us, then we need to pray! In prayer, God is going to pull us to see things from God’s perspective, that the victory is ours. The more we pray, the more we have the courage to challenge and face the struggles. If we often pray but our faith fades, we have to check if we have put God as “prayer-answering machine” or if we have put Him as the powerful God and we as His beloved children. If you put Him in the right position, our faith and courage will rise.  

CLOSING

If our prayer has not been answered by God yet, it does not mean that our prayer is not powerful. God’s main focus in this delay is to make us stronger. If we focus our attention on God, if we have more thirst to know Him and build a qualified intimate relationship with Him, then we have to be ready to see that our prayers are filled with God’s power and anointing. The essence of this lesson is: a prayerful prayer comes from an intimate relationship with Lord Jesus.