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Tuesday Night, August 18, 2009, Lesson by Ross Tolbert Prayer Practicing prayer daily will help you make a habit of it. For example, try juggling for your first time and see if you drop any balls? Unless you practiced juggling in the past, you certainly will drop a few . Now, try tying your shoes blindfolded and you'll find, most anyone growing up, wearing tied shoes is successful. The difference is consistently practicing everyday. There are many different things we do everyday that are habit in our life like: read the paper, play Nintendo, brush your teeth, take a shower, but the most important thing we can ever do in our day is practice prayer.
Mathew 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Mathew 17:21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. We could say about Mathew 17:20 Jesus spoke in a figurative language about prayer. In other words, Jesus was not necessarily saying people should literally command mountains to be removed but rather through prayer, Christians can accomplish great things. The choir sings a song which says "only God can move mountains, but prayer and faith can move God". There is great power in even a little faith when God is with us. In today's business world the term "mover and shaker" is popular in referring to people who are effective at getting things done. Applying that same term here one could say "we need more movers and shakers for God". But before we can move God to move for us we need to have faith. How much faith did Jesus say we need, as a grain of mustard seed, or just a little. What is Faith? Faith is a belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence. Consider the Apostle Paul's definition of faith: Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith does the impossible because it brings God to undertake for us, and nothing is impossible with God. Faith gives birth to prayer, and then grows stronger. The lack of faith is the root of all poor praying, feeble praying, little praying, and unanswered praying. Our prayers grow weak because we lose that undying belief in God’s promises. When was the last time you prayed for God to help you? When was the last time you prayed for a soul to be saved? When was the last time you spent more than five minutes crying out to God for him to answer your prayer? Have our prayers become weak? Are we a person who can’t give God glory for anything in our life because we can’t have just a little bit of faith to ask him? Weak faith and subsequently a weak prayer life is the reason why many people don’t have a testimony for God in the services. A lack of practicing prayer and faith results in God doing nothing for them. God wants to answer our prayers, but we must be praying for him to know our petitions. Think about Abraham when he went to prayer for Lot to be saved out of Sodom and Gomorra. Genesis 18:23-33 Do you think that this was the first time Abraham talked to God in prayer? I am convinced that God knew Abraham on a first name basis. What about Moses with the Israelite people? Every time the Israelites disobeyed God, what did Moses do? He fell on his face before God and started praying. What about Elijah on the mountain with the prophets of Baal? 1 Kings 18:37-38 I am convinced that God knew Elijah’s voice when he prayed. What about Daniel? The bible says he prayed three times a day. You can find this story starting in Daniel 1 Daniel was an exiled Jew in Babylon. He was taken there as a boy. He belonged to a noble family and was exceptionally able and intelligent. Daniel was getting older lived through two kings and then came King Darius a Mede. King Darius divides the kingdom into one hundred and twenty provinces and he appoints a prince or ruler over each province. Over the princes he puts three presidents to see that these rulers do not do damage to the king. Over these three presidents the king places Daniel. Now Daniel is in his eighties about this time and he was second to the throne. All the princes and presidents below him got very jealous and wanted Daniel out of the way. They looked high and low to find a fault with Daniel and they couldn’t find anything wrong with him, except concerning the law of his God. What a testimony! Even his worst enemies couldn’t find something wrong with him! A man's character is worth more than anything in this world even money. I would rather in my old age have such a character as that which Daniel’s enemies gave him, than have raised over my dead body a monument of gold reaching from the earth to the sky. His enemies amongst themselves said "We will get him out of the way". And this is what they did Daniel 6:6.7 6:6 Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live forever.
6:7 All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Daniel could have stopped praying and hidden, but he was not a weak-backed or weak kneed Christian! Daniel had moral stamina and courage! He was not ashamed to be caught on his knees praying to the true God. Daniel was no more ready to compromise now than when he was a boy. So what did he do? Daniel 6:10-11 6:10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
6:11 Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. The men were listening at his window and when they heard him pray they ran to the king and let him know what Daniel had done. The King was very sorrowful but he had to throw Daniel in the lions den, and God delivered him from the lions. In closing, which comes first - the ability to lift a weight or the muscles to do it? I could say that I can’t lift weights because I don’t have enough muscles. I could also say that I don’t have muscles because I don’t lift weights. The truth is that the two build each other. As you lift weights, your muscles gain strength. As your muscles gain strength, you can lift more weights. Prayer and faith are the same way. Prayer builds faith and faith builds prayer. You keep practicing – working out – and they both grow. Memory Verse James 5:16
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