KEY SCRIPTURE
James 5:16 (NIV)
1 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.
PRAYER
Holy Spirit, come!
Give me eyes to see and ears to hear.
Where I am resistant, closed off or afraid, help me to trust in your Words, Lord.
Jesus, I confess I do not always trust or follow y our commands or desires for my life. Forgive me, heal me and reveal in me what you have for me this morning. Speak to me. I want to listen.
In the powerful name of Jesus,
Amen.
SERMON NOTES
If you were to ask me at any point over my life as a Christian if I believed praying mattered, I would respond without hesitation YES! However if I’m honest, prayer fell into a ‘saying’ it mattered more than ‘showing’ stance.
I think many Christians, including myself, do not pray like it matters in large part because we don’t have a good enough picture of what the power of prayer does.
Obviously prayer matters, otherwise why would we:
• Pray before bed or before meals
• Say the Lord’s Prayer before communion
• Invite people to come and be prayed over
The prayer of a righteous person accomplishes a lot, but why? What happens in prayer?
Is prayer only good for times of crisis?
• Loss of a job
• Health scare
• Something in our lives is broken
Replace prayer with cleaning your house. I bet you clean you make sure your house is clean when guests are coming over - what if that was the only time we cleaned and we had no guests for a month, six months or even a year?
Take the story of Daniel - he by all accounts should have God’s ear.
While in exile in Babylon with his fellow Jews, Daniel prays to God on behalf of the king and his people. But it’s not just that he prayed, it’s how he prayed.
Daniel knows who he’s praying to. He knows God and His commands and has spent years cultivating that relationship. That shows in verse 4. But it’s what he does next that we need to pay attention to.
Human nature is to cast blame, defer responsibility to others for mistakes. But what does Daniel do in verses 5-6? He includes himself in the rebellion.
We see in verses 7-19, Daniel continues to personally confess as well as repent on behalf of himself and his people. But let’s see why prayer matters…
In verses 20-23, we see that Daniel is visited by Gabriel - that’s right, the Arch Angel. Daniel’s words went into the spiritual realm, to the place where God and angels dwell.
Science show the importance of the practice of prayer for all people, not only Christians. Studies have found that practicing prayer and meditation can help reduce stress, worry and anxiety - it calms and comforts.
But for Christians, prayer is more than an emotional support strategy. God created us to be hardwired to be benefitted by prayer.
Why and how can we pray like it matters?
Why doesn’t it feel like my prayers are powerful and effective?
Reason #1 - You’re asking for the wrong reasons or out of the wrong motive
God’s not a genie. He is wise and knows what you need better than you do.
Reason #2 - You don’t confess and repent
Start with confessions because we often play a part in the problem.
Reason #3 - Sometimes there’s a delay because there is actual warfare taking place
Reference Daniel 10 - God chooses to use His angel arm to fight, but it can take time.
Reason #4 - The wrong authority and the wrong power
Some of your prayers lack authority because you’re not walking by faith with Jesus.
Reason #5 - You just have to wait for God’s time and purpose
Daniel still had to wait for the exile to be over. Jesus prayed ‘Not my will but your’s be done.’
Remember there is warfare - the physical world is affected by the spiritual world. When you begin to see that prayer is more than just asking God to do something in the physical but for God to move in the spiritual, we will see the power of our prayers.
SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION
Q: We all know prayer is an important part of a Christian’s life, but why is it so difficult for some (maybe you included) to make it a priority?
Q: How can we show that prayer matters rather than just say it?
Q: Why is it so easy to pray in times of crisis, but in times of joy we sometimes don’t or forget?
Discussion: Taking the example of the Lord’s prayer, how are we told to pray? Here is a reference document from Hallow that walks through the parts of the Lord’s Prayer.
Q: When Daniel first starts his prayer with confession, why is that important? How often in your life have you started confession but then it turned into a point of you confessing for others and not including yourself in that sin?
Q: What does prayer look like to you when praying not only into the physical realm but into the spiritual realm?
Discussion: Sometimes, ok most times, God timing is not ours. When have you felt that God has answered your prayer? Maybe never? What if he is and it’s just now how you are expecting it?
Challenge: Set a timer for 3 minutes. Go off in a group of two or by yourself and pray OUT LOUD. After, come back as a group - Who had a hard time? Why?
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURES
Daniel 9:1-23 (NIV)
1 In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. 3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:
“Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.
7 “Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you. 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; 10 we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.
“Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. 12 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. 14 The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.
15 “Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16 Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.
17 “Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 19 Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”
The Seventy “Sevens”
20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill— 21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. 23 As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision:
Daniel 10:12-13 (NIV)
12 Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NIV)
17 Pray without ceasing.
Philippians 4:6 (NIV)
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Matthew 21:21-22 (NIV)
21 Truly I tell you, if you have fait and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountains, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
James 5:16 (NIV)
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
James 4:2-3 (NIV)
2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
Ephesians 6:10-11 (ESV)
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (ESV)
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.