HOW TO IGNITE YOUR PRAYERS By Ps Helen Kirby
Life centers around relationship & communication. The very reason why God created humanity is BECAUSE of RELATIONSHIP.John 3:16-17 16 "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
It's BECAUSE of LOVE - it's ALL BECAUSE of LOVE. It's ALL because of RELATIONSHIP & there is NO OTHER reason why God would send his only Son. Because of His heart for relationship – he has shown us a way to communicate with Him – to stay connected with Him - that is through PRAYER. PRAYER is one of the MOST beautiful & powerful GIFT we can receive from GOD.
It comes from a HEART that says:
- I want to KNOW you & make myself KNOWN to you
- I want to COMMUNICATE with you
- I want you to COMMUNICATE with me
- I want to make your destiny known to you
- I want to comfort you, protect you & show you the HIGHER way.
THE TRUTH IS CHURCH - the DEVIL DOES NOT WANT US TO LEARN HOW TO PRAY- THE DEVIL DOES NOT WANT US TO LEARN THE SECRET & POWER OF PRAYER! THE DEVIL knows - THERE IS ONLY ONE THING THAT CAN CHANGE GOD's MIND THAT IS PRAYER & INTERCESSION - nothing else
Ezek 22:30-31 (NKJV) 30 So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. 31 Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads," says the Lord God.
I want to testify - that there is NOT a single thing that I pray earnestly for in my LIFE that has not come to PASS! God can take you to a PLACE OF FAITH in your prayers that changes everything! Obviously - I am not there BUT I have seen glimpses & I have seen how powerful it can be! There is PLACE in prayer when you KNOW whatever you pray for - it will come to PASS... Because you are in that place of FAITH, you understand His will, you understand His heart of hearts. Eg Lazarus (John 11)
Benefits of Prayer
Prayer change the WORLD around you, it changes YOU. It changes EVERYTHING. But not only that but over time you will BEGIN to reap what you SOW.
Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
Galatians 6:7 (NLT) Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.
When we reap in prayers - we sow prayers When we reap care, love & generosity - that is the FRUIT that we will sow in our lives because God is not mocked.
Ps 126:5 5 Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy.
God is never mocked because everyone God is true, every promise is True - none of His WORD will fall to ground. CHURCH we gotta to have faith that God is who he says He is We gotta have FAITH in our prayers We gotta have FAITH that GOD is good We gotta have FAITH that even when we don't understand why things go a certain way, when things go the way we expect when we commit to GOD - that His WILL will always be, categorically be the very BEST for us!
Psalms 37:5-7a Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. 6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday.
BECAUSE why? BECAUSE he died for us! Let's go back to this REAPING & SOWING.
A FEW Things that IGNITE your Prayers
James 5:13-18 We will do a short exposition of James 5 from verse 13-18
Prayer & Praise (v13)
My first point is that PRAY & PRAISE should be PART of our lives.
James 5:13 Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.
In this passage, it says here when you are going through a DIFFICULT time - go and pray - go and talk to God. And then it's says when things are going WELL - don't forget to PRAISE God. In the SCRIPTURE, it says if you are going through a hard time - don't GRUMBLE CRITICISE DON'T BLAME GOD.
The scripture says - you should PRAY! BUT when good times come - it's important to not forget God - to thank God for those times because every good thing comes from God. It is basically saying to HANDLE life with prayer & praise no matter what you are going through.
Psalms 22:3 But You are holy who inhabits the praises of Israel.
So PRAISE is a like a LOUD FORM of prayer – it brings in the presence of God. PRAISE ignites FAITH – the changes the spiritual atmosphere.
PRAISE (Hebrew Word for Praise):
Hallah - to boast in Him
Yadah - to throw up our hands - to praise God for things not yet seen
Shadach - to shout aloud to Him
Barak - to kneel and bow down - having given and expecting to receive - to rejoice with music
Tehilia - to sing.
Story of Paul & Silas
Acts 16:25-34 25 Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.
The phrase midnight here was actually referring to the midnight hour. This could be interpreted to mean sometimes the darkest hour in someone’s life, the most difficult trail of your life where there seemed no way out) (You see Paul & Silas had been stripped & beaten severely that day and their feet were clamped in the stocks. It was probably one of the most diffcult time of their lives but at MIDNIGHT – the darkest moment of their lives – they prayed & started singing PRAISES to God!
26 Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! 27 The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. 28 But Paul shouted to him, "Stop! Don't kill yourself! We are all here!" 29 The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household." 32 And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. 33 Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. 34 He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God.
Wow what an awesome way to get people saved. See what we needed to note here is that the breakthrough came when Paul & Silas started praising God. Somestimes there are situations that take more than prayers – it requires aggressive, loud, faith lighting PRAISE. So PRAISE ignites prayer
PSALM 34:1 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Learning to not just PRAY but to PRAISE God at ALL times!
