HOW PROFITABLE IS PRAYER?
Part 1


A. "WHAT IS THE ALMIGHTY THAT WE SHOULD SERVE HIM AND WHAT PROFIT SHOULD WE HAVE, IF WE PRAY UNTO HIM?- JOB 21:15
  1. Job exposes and assails the attitude of the ungodly:
    1. They seem to prosper even though they are indifferent to God
    2. This makes them bold to question the need of paying any attention to God and worship due him
  2. They berate the wisdom of serving the Lord:
    1. Why should we humble ourselves before the Almighty
    2. Why shall we serve Him
    3. And what profit is there in praying to God
B. OUR TEXT CONCERNS ITSELF WITH THREE QUESTIONS POSED BY THE AGNOSTIC, THE INFIDEL, THE INDIFFERENT
  1. What is the Almighty? - the answer is two-fold:
    1. The almighty is my Creator - Eccl. 12:1
    2. He made us - Gen. 5:1; Acts 17:26; we are His workmanship - Eph. 2:10
    3. He holds our very breath in His hand - Dan. 5:23; and in whose hand are all our ways - Jer. 10:23
  2. He is our Redeemer:
    1. There is no other name under heaven given unto men whereby we must be saved - Acts. 4:12
    2. It is He who gave His only Son to save us from sin and eternal destruction John 3:16
  3. These are some of the reasons why we should serve Him with joy in our hearts:
    1. He created us to His glory - that means that we are created to live to the glory of our Creator and Redeemer - Ex. 7:16; 8:1,20; 9:1,13; 10:3; Dan. 3:17
    2. No man can serve two Masters - Matt. 6:24; 4:10; Rev. 7:15
    3. He sustains us moment by moment, renews our energies of body, soul and spirit - and thus self-respect and inward gratitude makes serving our Creator and Redeemer with joy
C. HOW PROFITABLE IS PRAYER
  1. Our day is specially noted for being motivated by the profit system:
    1. Say they, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city ad continue there a year and buy and sell, and get gain" - James 4:13
    2. "Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot. . . they bought, they sold, they planted they builded" - Luke 17:28
    3. The cares of the ever pressing profit system endangers the spiritual life of God's people - Luke 21:34-35; I Thes. 5:1-6
  2. To the child of God, prayer brings seven specific blessing:
    1. It makes and keeps connection between them and God
    2. Prayer is one of the Heaven provided links between man and God. So long as we can turn our eyes heavenward and say, "Our Father which art in heaven" we are privileged characters - Matt. 6:9
    3. Prayer is the key to the storehouse of God, and enables us to be supplied with life energy to serve the living God - 2 Peter 1:2-8 Examples: It was prayer that linked all men of God to the storehouse of divine blessings, and made them useful and great in their lives; we think of Joseph, Moses, Abraham, Jacob, Noah, of Enoch and many other worthies
    4. Prayer is the breath of the soul - what the breath is to the body, the prayer life is to the soul or our spiritual nature
    5. Prayer is the means for us to open our heart to God - our best friend - Jer. 33:3
    6. Prayer is the expression of our faith in God and is the channel of expressing our gratitude to Him for the innumerable benefits we receive daily
    7. Last, but not least, prayer is a mark of my faith in God - the living God - without that mark, profession in Christianity would be meaningless
  3. These are a few reasons why prayer is indispensable to a child of God:
    1. Volumes could be written enumerating the reasons for prayer
    2. But these will suffice to affirm the efficacy of prayer


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