THE ENERGY OF PRAYER


A. "AND HE SAID UNTO THEM, WHY SLEEP YE? RISE AND PRAY, LEST YE ENTER INTO TEMPTATION" - LUKE 22:46
  1. Our text finds the Lord Jesus and His disciples in the garden of Gethsemane:
    1. Our Lord agonizing in prayer
    2. But the disciples sleeping
  2. The Saviour knowing the danger the disciples were in:
    1. He urged them to pray
    2. Pointing to prayer as a shield against the Satanic devices to cause the disciples to deny and forsake their Lord and Master
B. THE ENERGY OF PRAYER IS THE BURDEN OF THIS MESSAGE
  1. Energy - what is it?
    1. Energy of expression; force of utterance
    2. Internal power, capacity of acting
    3. Energy is that vital force that enables one to cope with the problems of life
    4. Energy is, in fact, life which expresses itself in action, influencing, shielding, overcoming, and abiding
  2. Prayer is a heaven provided source of vital energy for Christian living:
    1. Prayer makes us more deeply conscious of God; Examples: Jacob was never more conscious of God than when he wrestled with God in prayer - Gen. 32:9-30; Paul was never more consciou of God than when he prayed for help and protection on his way to Rome - Acts 27:22-24; Martin Luther was never more conscious of God than when he prayed most of the night at his lodging place in Worms
    2. Prayer brings us into sympathy with the mind of God - Examples: Saul of Tarsus was vividly impressed in prayer, that when he persecuted the Christians he was not doing the will of God; he had a change of heart - Acts 9:6; prayer was the one channel open to the leader in Israel to learn to know the mind of God - it was David's regular means to know what God had for him
    3. Prayer surrenders us to the energy of God; it is the means whereby God brings to us the Divine virtue which energizes us to be strong and vigerous; Examples: our Lord in prayer - Luke 9:29; Matt. 17:5; Moses communing with God in the Mount - Ex. 34:29-30; Stephen - Acts 7:55
    4. Of the Son of God it is written that after He prayed all night - that He came forth full of Divine energy to meet the needs of the people - compare Mark 5:30 with Luke 6:19; 8:46
C. THE ENERGY OF PRAYER
  1. Earnest, persevering prayer makes the difference:
    1. In our attitude toward sin - that was the experience of David - Ps. 50; 51; 55; that was the experience of Job - Job 42:1-6; that was the experience of Isaiah - Is. 6 and that will be the experience of every praying Christian
    2. Prayer will make us conscious of our own helplessness - our total dependence upon God for life itself - said David, "All my springs are in Thee" - Ps. 87:7; said Paul to the Athenians, "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being" - Acts 17:28
  2. This makes it crystal clear:
    1. That prayer connects us with God and God is the power and energy of our soul - that being true - prayer is the secret of renewed life and energy - pray more and have more energy
    2. Prayer is to the soul what food is to the body - when we do not partake of God, we will not continue to live
  3. How one must mourn over the lack of spiritual energy: - Rev. 3:14-17; 3:1-3
    1. To live a victorious life - "Ye have not because ye ask not" - James 4:1-3
    2. To be more fruitful in our witnessing for God - Acts 1:8-14
    3. To reveal to others the virtues of the Lord Jesus - I Peter 2:9-11
    4. To be a burning and shining light as John the Baptist was - John 5:35; Matt. 5:14-16
  4. Let us resolve right now:
    1. To make prayer our first and most solemn duty of the day - Jesus did
    2. To surrender completely to the will and power of God - Jesus did
    3. To come to the storehouse of grace for a renewed filling of divine grace


Design © John Bryant 2011