PART II HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS  THE PSALMIST DAVID SAYS ( PSALM 121: 1 )  1 I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.  3 He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber ;

WHY ARE OUR PRAYERS POWERFUL  God calls us to come boldly before His throne  He rewards those who diligently seek him  God wants us to seek Him first in all things

HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS PART II  Situations faced by two men of old who communicated with God  Coming to a place where we are in need, we forget the power of God, we feel this is the worse we have ever been through and we blame others for our misfortunes

MOSES Exodus 17:1-16

HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS II  Exodus 17: (New International Version)  Water From the Rock  1 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." Moses replied, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?" 3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?" 

HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS II  4 Then Moses cried out to the LORD, "What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me."  5 The LORD answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the place Massah [a] and Meribah [b] because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"ab

What should we learn from this?  IN TIMES OF NEED, IN TIMES OF CHOAS AND CONFUSION, AT TIMES WHEN WE ARE UNDER ATTACK, NO, NO MATTER HOW SEVERE, WE MUST WE MUST REMEMBER THE GOD WE SERVE  WALKING AWAY FROM A QUARREL IS NOT A SIGN OF WEAKNESS, ONCE WE ARE WALKING IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD  GOD WOULD NOT LEAD US TO A PLACE FROM WHICH HE CANNOT DELIVER US  GOD PUTS HIS PEOPLE FIRST. HE WOULD DO THE IMPOSSIBLE TO PROVE HOW MUCH HE LOVES US  OUR PRAYERS ARE POWERFUL BECAUSE GOD ANSWERS OUR PRAYERS (PSALM 40: 1-3)

HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS II  Sometimes we come to a place where we are threatened, ridiculed and put down because of our belief   That’s when we must be prepared to prove God

ELIJAH  Having faith in what we belief  I Kings 18: 16-40

HOW POWERFL ARE OUR PRAYERS II  Elijah on Mount Carmel  16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?" 18 "I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals. 19 Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."

HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS II  20 So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing. 22 Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the LORD's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it.

HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS II  24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he is God." Then all the people said, "What you say is good."  25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire." 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. 24

HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS II  27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed  29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.

HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS II  30 Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel." 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs [a] of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood."a

HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS II  34 "Do it again," he said, and they did it again. "Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.  36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again." 

HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS II  38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.  39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD -he is God! The LORD -he is God!"  40 Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let anyone get away!" They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.

HOW POWERFUL ARE OUR PRAYERS II  The things in our hearts that are not of God are the things we need to slaughter in our lives  False beliefs …..instead feast on the Word of God  Fears……instead have faith in God  Doubts…..Instead have confidence that God will never let you down  Habits…..if they do not benefit or strengthen us we should drop them. Make it a habit to imitate Christ  Negative ways in which we speak ….if we cannot bless, encourage, help and comfort one another, we should remain silent

Taking the experiences of these two men of God into consideration we see that:  Through our prayers God reveals His power to us  We can prove God  God can use us in ways beyond our imagination  Our faith in God increases  Our prayers make us powerful in Christ