The Power of Prayer Sermons for Pastors
The Power of Prayer Sermons aims to provide Bible-based preaching ideas to pastors, ministers, bible study leaders, and ordinary believers. It also helps in educating both Christian and non-Christian readers about how powerful prayer is and why we need to exercise it.
Prayer is a common practice for every religion and denomination on the planet. But for us Christians, prayer is our primary way of communication to our living God. It is not just a way or form of meditation for ourselves, instead, prayer enables us to directly address God.
While it is already common knowledge that prayer is our way of communicating with God, But is it just a simple communication tool? Or is prayer more than that? Is prayer a requirement for every follower of Christ? Or is it a response to the salvation that we received from Christ?
Today, my friends, we will be talking about the power of prayer and what it can do aside from being a method of communication. So, aside from providing sermons and preaching ideas about the power of prayer, we will be discussing how powerful prayer can be and how important it is for every follower of Christ.
The Power of Prayer Sermons: What does the Bible say about prayer?
Before we delve into the knowledge of how powerful prayer can be, let us first understand what the Bible says about prayer.
The Bible has a wide range of descriptions of what prayer is and all of these descriptions have a common fact, that prayer is talking to God. For instance, in Exodus 32:11 “But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God…”, prayer is used to seek God’s favor. But Moses cannot ask God’s favor without trying to talk to him. That is why he went and sought God’s favor through prayer.
Another description of prayer that is also often mentioned in the Bible is crying out to the Lord. Just like what King Hezekiah and prophet Isaiah did when they were about to be attacked by the Assyrian King Sennacherib in 2 Chronicles 32. In verse 20, it says that “King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this.”. By crying out to the Lord in prayer, King Hezekiah and prophet Isaiah were able to communicate with God, present their petitions, and were able to receive God’s favor.
Asking from asking God’s favor and crying out to Him, prayer is also seeking out the will of God. We know that we can present our petitions and ask God for anything, but in reality, prayer is not just about our own will but aligning ourselves with God’s will more fully just like these verses are saying:
14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. 15 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
You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. – James 4:3
With all of these, prayer is not limited to certain topics or certain petitions. But through prayer, we can ask and talk to God about anything. Just like what the apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6-7 that says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”.
With this understanding, we pray to God to thank Him for all the things He has done in our lives. We pray to express how much we love Him. We pray to ask for His guidance and protection. We pray to praise His holy Name. We pray to honor Him despite what circumstances we are in. For this is the very essence of prayer, to talk to God about anything and everything.
But we need to keep in mind that even though prayer can be about anything, long or short, silent or aloud, it should be done in a form of true communication with God and not for our own public recognition just like what Jesus said in Matthew 6:5-8:
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
How to Properly Pray
Prayer is a basic skill for every Christian and most, if not all, knows how and what to pray. But for new believers and for some Christian, prayer is something that needs to be properly taught. And what better way to know how to properly pray than what Jesus Himself taught in Luke chapter 11. Praise be to God because Jesus Himself gave us an example of how to properly pray through Luke 11 and Matthew 6 also known as The Lord’s Prayer.
11 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father,[a] hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.[b] your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.[c]
And lead us not into temptation. but deliver us from the evil one.
– Luke 11:1-4, Matthew 6:9-13
In this prayer, God taught us what we must do:
- We call God “Father” and praise His holy name. “‘Father, hallowed be your name”
- We say that the will of God will be done in our lives. “your kingdom come.[b] your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
- We ask for the things that we need to be given to us. “3 Give us each day our daily bread.”
- We ask for God to forgive our sins as we forgive those who sinned against us. “4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.”
- We ask that God will keep us away from any forms of temptation and that He will deliver us from the enemy. “And lead us not into temptation. but deliver us from the evil one.”
- Lastly, although it is not stated there, we must end our prayer in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. For example, “In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.”
Now, why do we need to end all of our prayers in the name of Jesus? Simply because in John 14:13-14, Jesus said this:
“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it”
Aside from this, Jesus said in John 14:6 that, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”.
The Power of Prayer Sermons
Now that we fully understood what prayer is and how we should pray, it is now time to discover the power of prayer.
- Prayer brings healing
“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. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up… ” – James 5:14-15
There are many accounts in the Bible wherein through prayer, people are healed. And this is one of those examples. In this passage, praying over someone who is sick will make the healing power of God manifest through that sick person’s life and will make that person be healed.
With this, we should not only pray to ask God for anything. But, we should pray to those who are sick, to those who are suffering, and to those who lost hope due to their illness. For this is the reason why we are still here on this planet after we received our Lord Jesus Christ –– to become the channel of God’s power to those who do not know Him.
- Prayer casts out demons
17 A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” 19 “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” 20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” 25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. 28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 29 He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.” – Mark 9:17-29
In the last verse of this passage, Jesus emphasized that we can only cast out demons only by prayer. Even so, we need to keep in mind that this kind of situation requires a prayer that is backed by a strong faith just like what Jesus said in verse 23 “Everything is possible for one who believes.”. For God cannot express His power if we do not believe and if we do not have faith.
That is why it is important for us to have astounding faith and believe in the power of our Lord Jesus Christ through prayer.
So, if you are in a situation wherein you need to cast out demons, do what the father of the boy and what Jesus did. The father believed in Jesus, then Jesus commanded the demon to come out and never enter the boy again.
- Prayer can change difficult life situations
“9 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez,[c] saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” 10 Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.” – 1 Chronicles 4:9-10
Jabez, a man named in a name that causes pain and a man mentioned only in few verses in the Bible. Yet, this very man that causes great pain to his mother was first mentioned in the Bible as “more honorable than his brothers.”
Jabez, despite his situations, did not murmur with his circumstances nor cursed the day he was born. Instead, he cried out to the Lord to free him from pain. To bless him and enlarge his territories. To let the hand of God be always with Him. And because of how Jabez cried out to the Lord, God granted his request.
With this, we can learn from the life of Jabez that no matter how difficult our life may seem, we can change our situation through prayer. That instead of murmuring or pitying ourselves, we should cry out to the Lord and ask for His favor. Like Jabez, we should enforce God’s power in our lives and turn our difficult situation into a life that God has designed for us. A life that is full of prosperity and free from pain.
Conclusion
With all of these, we understood that prayer is a must for every believer and follower of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must always exercise prayer in every situation of our life. When you wake up in the morning, pray and thank God for giving you another day to live and spend your time with your loved ones. When you eat, pray and thank God for the food on your table. When you are sad, pray for comfort from God. In other words, pray and talk to God about anything. For God will always listen and will answer our call.