Prayer and Power God's Will= My Power

I pray at mealtimes When things go wrong When I need (or want) something

What if there's more? And…what if the more Isn't just for you?

Really been praying, lately I'm a spiritual person I pray all the time

Thinking about things Isn't praying

What if there's more? And what if it's more powerful Than you can imagine?

Because prayer is Communication with God Prayer can do Whatever God can do

In all things, God cares more About your heart and your Relationship with him Than the things you receive From him

2 Things: Right with…? Right with…?

James 5

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise Go to God

Suffering is either an intrusion Or an instrument I get to decide

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord Go to Community

And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed Safe place to confess Praying place for healing

Restoration happens In Community As we confess and pray Oil, Confession, Prayer= We believe in this!

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective (NIV)

THIS is why it matters how we live It's never just about us Right with people and with God

And if I get so right with God That I think I can Look down on people I've missed the Target

Prayer is for help from God And restoration of people Not for condemnation And dishonoring And…it is powerful and effective

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth

Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit

Why did God stop the rain?

Why did God stop the rain? Restoration of his people

Would he have if it wasn't His will?

Would he have if it wasn't His will? No

Yet he used Elijah's prayers

The power of prayer Is in following the will of God As he places it in your heart Or has shown you In the Scriptures

God designed prayer To connect you to his power So that through you his will Would be accomplished In this world

Restoration Community Begins with Restoration-minded Believers Who care more for grace Than for condemnation

Creation Fall Redemption Restoration

Creation- done Fall- living in it Redemption- taken care of We get to invite others in Restoration- God invites you in

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back… Jesus satisfies Living for Christ is life

…let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins James 5:13-20

God calls us to Restoration Community Focused on Jesus Confessing to and Actively praying for one another

Your enemy fears Community that operates Like this

So he divides and conquers By magnifying convictions Encouraging gossip and Self-righteous anger Rather than grieving over sin

When our eyes are on Jesus And our lives belong to him His mission becomes ours And we become agents of Reconciliation

God designed prayer To connect you to his power So that through you his will Would be accomplished In this world

It's not easy to speak Jesus Like it was back then, right?

…praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints

…and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel…

…for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak - Eph. 6:18-20

A woman who shares And gets hit left and right I pray for her May her boldness remain Because to this we are called

The woman drawing water At noon

Jesus breaks all the rules Because people are always More important than Well-intended religious rules

"Messiah will tell us" "Yeah…that's me"

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work

Satisfaction is a function of Doing the will of God And stepping outside of his will Will always produce a thirst That can't be satisfied

The people of Sychar Start heading to the well…

Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest

Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together

For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor”

You will never share Jesus With someone for whom Christ did not bleed

You will never share Jesus With someone better off Without him You will never share Jesus with Someone the Spirit isn't calling

God will always go before And prepare the way So you get to share But don't have to push Or manipulate

Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did” - John 4:34-39 That's the harvest…eternal life

When our eyes are on Jesus And our lives belong to him His mission becomes ours And we become agents of Reconciliation

God designed prayer To connect you to his power So that through you his will Would be accomplished In this world

This is his mission This is his will:

…not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance - 2 Peter 3:9

…the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost - Luke 19:10 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners- 1 Tim. 1:15 …the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost - Luke 19:10 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners- 1 Tim. 1:15

Our most powerful prayers Will be for his will to be done In and through our lives

Jesus is our example: For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me - John 6:38

The bulk of our prayers Ought to involve the expressed Will of our God and King

"God use me so that people Know you (redemption) And walk with you (restoration)"

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us

And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him - 1 John 5:14-15

God designed prayer To connect you to his power So that through you his will Would be accomplished In this world

Check out what Jesus tells His disciples to pray for

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few…

…therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” - Matt. 9:35-38

If I follow, I'm already there …therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” - Matt. 9:35-38

…therefore pray earnestly Harvest is plentiful Laborers are few I'm already there…working

God designed prayer To connect you to his power So that through you his will Would be accomplished In this world

…the Lord appointed seventy- two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go

And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few

Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest - Luke 10:1-2

God designed prayer To connect you to his power So that through you his will Would be accomplished In this world

When our eyes are on Jesus And our lives belong to him His mission becomes ours And we become agents of Reconciliation

We live in grace Community Confessing, praying, restoring We take that same message Of God's grace To our world, looking to restore

Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name

Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven - Matt. 6

God designed prayer To connect you to his power So that through you his will Would be accomplished In this world

What if there's more? And it's about more than just us? There is. It is.

"God, use me God send out even more Break my heart For what breaks yours Humble me so I can be used"

How do we grow In our call to rescue Becoming a place of healing And grace?

As a church It's not about numerical growth It's about changed lives "God, do what it takes To use us for your Kingdom"

Questions, Comments Disagreements

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