LEARNING DAILY

Ephesians 1:22-23, And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Pastor Jonathon Moore of NorthRock Church discussed the importance of the Church being a praying Church. He made a statement about the Church being plural and not singular because all Believers make up the Church of Jesus Christ. I do want to make sure it is understood that the Church (capital C) is made up of those who have professed their salvation comes through Jesus and the cross of Calvary; it is not a denomination or those who may attend a church but have not professed Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. Pastor Moore also stated in his opening remarks, “God’s plan for the Church is to pass on God’s truth to the next generation.

In Acts 12, King Herod has killed James, the brother of John and has imprisoned Peter. Verse 5 tells us, “Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the Church.” The followers of Jesus Christ had started meeting together (see Acts 2: 38-47) and were in “constant prayer” for Peter’s situation. “In Acts 1, the Church was birthed in prayer and sustained in prayer.” (JM). Pastor read many verses that showed each act of the Apostles was done after they had prayed. “There is no Church if prayer is taken out of the book of Acts. If the [Believer] does not pray, God will not triumph in [his/her] life. What would happen if you would commit to prayer? You are going to heaven because you are saved! Heaven comes to you and miracles happen because you pray.” (JM).

Pastor then gave four keys to powerful prayer. First, pray in the name of Jesus. John 14:13-14, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” “There is power in the name of Jesus; when you call on His name, things happen!” (JM). When you pray in the name of Jesus, you are praying with confidence in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. I remember seeing something that said, “If Jesus said it, I believe it.” That has fit ever since. He gave all authority and power to the Believe because of His finished work on the cross.

Secondly, pray using a divine conjunction. Do you remember reading the highlighted word in Acts 12:5? I pray often not knowing what to do, “but” God knows exactly what, how, where, and when. In Luke 22 Jesus told Peter he would deny Him three times. “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail.” (v. 32).

Third, pray with full confidence. Hebrews 4:16, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Because Jesus is our High Priest we are able to come before Him without fear of being turned away from Him; no Believer needs to hide anything or omit anything from their prayers. When Jesus Christ became your Savior and Lord, He gave access to the Father. When Jesus died, the veil was torn in two, top to bottom. That meant that now all who would believe in God’s son would have that access to the Father – there was no longer any need for anyone else to go behind the veil for them. Accept the help God gives you. Pray for His help first and then go with the confidence that He is with you.

The fourth key to powerful prayer is to pray the Word of God. “It is hard to be wrong when you are saying the words God has already given [in His Written Word]. Proclaim His promises over the need(s) you have. Prayer is verbalized faith and you need to hear God’s promises declared over yourself and others.” (JM). Joshua 1:8, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” “Faith is built when we declare what God has already said. Hiding God’s Word in our heart begins by speaking it; the more we speak it, pray it, the more prosperous and successful we will be.” (JM).