Why Prayer?
We are studying on a main area now, Intercession and we’re going to take some time in going
through this because it’s important. Can I suggest that you don’t read to the whole manual after
that we finish today? We’ll only read what we’ve gone through, because that helps reinforce it
again back into your mind and you can go over through the week again and make your own notes
on it, because if you read ahead that can be a little confusing and I kind of go over with you. So it
is best if you can read that with discipline.
Prayer, Intercession - we need to understand this that PRAYER IS A RELATIONSHIP, it’s not
just something we do.
Prayer is a relationship, and it basically is WORKING TOGETHER WITH GOD.
Quite often we’ve reduced prayer to just trying to get what we want from God. It is not
primarily asking, but RELEASING WHAT GOD WANTS OR PURPOSES. There is a very
big difference.
And so prayer is a relationship, it comes out with the communion with God, knowing what
God is doing and purposing, and out of that relationship and that communion, we begin to work
with God in prayer. Someone said, I guess that was Peter Wagner, “Prayer is the most tangible trace
of eternity in man’s heart.” It touches into the realm of eternity; it touches into the purposes of God.
I. GOD DEVISED THE SYSTEM OF PRAYER
We need to ask the question “Why prayer? Why do we pray?” Have you ever wondered why
did God devise a system of prayer? An understanding of this is really fundamental to what we are
talking about today, to our understanding of prayer.
A. Is God Controlling Everything?
YES, HE HAS A PLAN FOR THE WORLD. If we believe that God is controlling everything…
Psa. 2:1-4 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands
asunder, and cast away their cords from us. But HE THAT SITTETH IN THE HEAVENS SHALL LAUGH: the
Lord shall have them in derision. - See, GOD IS IN CONTROL.
Rom. 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to His purposes.
The Bible tells us about Jesus,
Col. 1:16-17 16For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him,
and for him: 17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Of by Him all things continue to exist, continue to go on.
And so there are many many other scriptures when we say well, NOTHING HAPPENS
WITHOUT GOD’S PERMISSION. If God is in control, and we believe that He is, nothing happens
without God’s permission. God has His hands on the rings.
GOD PERMITS EVIL TO FUNCTION
Now, well you might ask ‘What about the evil? Does God permit evil?’ Indirectly yes, because
He permits evil by the laws that He set, for instance…
- Laws of Sowing and Reaping - it’s a law set by God and evil comes out of sowing and reaping and as well as good. But God set down that law;
- Laws of Disobedience
- Laws of Retribution
- Laws of Free Will, etc
- The wages of sin is death - that’s a law.
It is evident that God knows the beginning from the end. You’ve just got to read the book of
Revelation, because He knows when it’s all going to end. He knows the beginning from the end.
God lives in eternity. And in eternity there is no past, present and future, just present, and it’s all
one. Now we need to understand that concept of eternity, and eternity is not past or future, it’s
present. You see, from God’s point of view eternity is one.
Now understanding that if God is in control, He is working to a plan which He won’t be late
in accomplishing.
B. Then Why Pray?
If God’s hand is in the reigns, then why bother to pray? I mean let’s face it, if God’s doing a
good job, why bother to pray? So we need to kind of look at that question first.
We need to have a little bit of shock of treatment now and again to some of our concepts and to
break up patterns of thought which sometimes are strongholds in our minds which have reigned for many many years.
The purpose of prayer is NOT that of influencing God
The purpose of prayer is NOT that of influencing God. Prayer is not a way of persuading God
to do something. He can do quite well on His own. He does not need us to pray. So the purpose
of prayer is not that to influence God. God is not influenced by our prayers. Whooohh, that’s a
little bit of shock treatment. But it is, HE DOESN’T NEED US TO PRAY. God is Omnipotent, He
is almighty and He can do anything.
However, God has chosen a system of prayer However, HE’S CHOSEN A SYSTEM OF PRAYER, He’s chosen this whole concept.
GOD HAS CHOSEN TO DELEGATE THE RUNNING OF HIS AFFAIRS, THE AFFAIRS OF
HIS KINGDOM AND BRING TO PASS HIS PURPOSES IN THE EARTH THROUGH YOU, THE CHURCH IN THE EARTH.
Eph. 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might he known by
the church the manifold wisdom of God, ...
Now understanding this is important. He didn’t need to do that, He can run things just quite
well. How many of you know that before man was ever created there was a vast kingdom which
God ruled in and reigned in? He did very well. He didn’t have any problems and whenever there
is rebellion in the heavens through Lucifer, He just cast them out. God is in control. And when
man comes on the earth, it’s a whole different thing, because we’re made in the image and likeness
of God. And so there’s a whole other element introduced in this whole thing.
C. God does everything by the Word He Speaks
Now we understand from God’s word that GOD DOES EVERYTHING BY THE WORD THAT
HE SPEAKS. When He speaks, that’s the way, it’s a principle that God works in.
Psalm 33:6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made [He spoke it. When the word went
out, His word went forth, the heavens were made.] ; and all the host of them by the breath of his
mouth [His Spirit].
Gen. 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
So, this is a fundamental principle of how God works, we call it the ways of God. HE
CREATES THROUGH THE SPOKEN WORD, HE SPEAKS AND IT IS DONE. Now this gets to
the very heart of prayer because WHEN GOD CHOOSES TO DO SOMETHING, IT IS PASTED
ON TO HIS PEOPLE WHO IN TURN SPEAK IT INTO EXISTENCE.
Now if you’re going to be involved in this level, you’ve got to know what God wants. WE
NEED TO KNOW WHAT GOD WANTS. That is why I said in the beginning that it’s a
relationship; prayer is a relationship first of all. Because when God is determining to do something,
He does it through the church, or He does it through individuals in the church. That’s the very
essence of prayer, the very foundations of prayer in this.
Prayers that are answered are prayers that have originated in God
And PRAYERS THAT ARE ANSWERED ARE PRAYERS THAT HAVE ORIGINATED IN
GOD. If you read Jeremiah 1, we won’t do it today for the sake of time, but you’ll find out God
determined to do something in the earth among certain nations. And it says that He put His words
into Jeremiah’s mouth for him to speak them. And when Jeremiah spoke them, they came to pass.
God, you see, didn’t act alone. He acted through Jeremiah, a human servant to accomplish His
word. Understanding this is really, really important.
1 Jn 5: 14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he
heareth us:
So when we’re talking about prayer, we are not talking about persuading God to do
something which He is reluctant to do, that if we pray long enough or hard enough, God will give
in. That’s the concept people have - when we pray long enough, hard enough, if we persist long
enough, God will give in to us and let us have it. Well, that’s not the scripture, that’s not the basic
scripture concept of prayer at all.
Prayer is cooperating with God, knowing what God has purposed to do
PRAYER IS COOPERATING WITH GOD, KNOWING WHAT GOD HAS PURPOSED TO DO
and He gives you and I the privilege. He says. ‘Look, this is what I’m going to do but I’ll let you speak
it into being.’ Prayer is working with God in that.
God is already determined what He is going to do, but He comes and says, ‘Alright I’m going to
let you have a part of this because you are representing Me in the earth and I’m going to let you SPEAK IT
INTO EXISTENCE,’ Prayer.
Now understanding that is very, very fundamental and it sounds very simple. But most of
our prayers doesn’t go in that root, most of our prayers are what we feel what we want. And so
we center our prayers around that, our needs. But the Bible, you know, kind of says that if you
seek first the Kingdom of God, He looks at your needs anyway, then you don’t even have to pray
about them. Have you thought about that? God spoke to me a long, long time ago, said, ‘I don’t
want you to pray for your needs anymore. Just do My will and I’ll take care of you.’ And I thought that’s
a lot easier in some ways. He promises to take care of you if you seek first, if you do His will,
everything you need to do His will it will be provided, and that’s the issue. Since I kind of settled on to that track, God has provided far more for me than the other track that I was on. He is
generous, He has provided far, far more for me than when I was asking for those things, when I
got away from that and just decided to cooperate with God.
So understanding that prayer is working with God, knowing what God wants and then we
have the right, the privileges a son, a child of God to speak it into being. PRAYER, BRINGING TO
PASS THE PURPOSES OF GOD IN THE EARTH.
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