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POWERFUL PRAYERS

Series Description: Through this series, we explore Paul’s prayers through the prison epistles.

Click on the Sermon titles below to read a synopsis of each week’s message.

Powerful Prayers - week 1 (July 4, 2021)

July 4, 2021
Guest Speaker: Pastor Mike Jones
Prayer for Wisdom

Under Duress

We’re starting a new series called Powerful Prayers, looking at 4 different prayers the Apostle Paul prayed while he was in prison. The first one we’ll look at is the prayer for wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to clearly see the source of a situation and respond productively. Proverbs 16:21 tells us that “the wise in heart are discerning.” Someone that is wise can separate the outward and inward and respond to the inward.

How does a person get wisdom? We get wisdom from two places: from experiences, and from God. James 1:5 says, “If a person needs wisdom, ask our generous God and He will give it to you.” We need wisdom when we don’t know what to do.

How do we respond? Fortunately for us, we are not the first to need wisdom. The Apostle Paul and the church in Ephesus needed wisdom. So Paul wrote the Ephesians a letter so they could see the source of the situation and respond productively.

As you read Ephesians 1:15-23, you can see that Paul is constantly praying for the Christians in Ephesus. When we’re under duress it’s natural for us to become self-focused. But the emphasis we need to be aware of is how to turn things around. This was why Paul was constantly praying for them, even though Paul was in prison, he prayed that their eyes would be open and that they could see their situation with wisdom.

Change your Circumstance

If you’re in a jam, how do you turn things around?

Scripture Notes:
Ephesians 1:15-23 NLT

1. Ask God for Spiritual Wisdom
There may be a component to your situation that you greatly underestimate, and that is a spiritual component. There may be spiritual darkness at work in your situation. That was the case for the Ephesians, they didn’t know about it until Paul wrote about it in Ephesians 6 — that they’re not wrestling with flesh and blood, but against spiritual darkness. In Ephesians 1:16b-17 Paul says, “I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.” Before you are able to attack, you have to see if there is a spiritual aspect to your situation.

2. Ask God for Spiritual Strength
If you can clearly see the spiritual darkness, you need spiritual strength to fight against it. Ephesians 1:19-20 says “I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.” On our best day, we still don’t have all that we need to fight against spiritual darkness, we need the incredible greatness of God’s power.

Look Out

3. Look up and see Christ is far above everyone that is against you
Ephesians 1:21-22 says, “Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.” Remember every authority, both physical and spiritual, is under Christ’s jurisdiction

4. Look around and see that other believers are experiencing the same thing you are
You’re not alone. We all face situations where we’re under duress. Ephesians 1:23 says, “…and the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.”

Powerful Prayers - week 2 (July 11, 2021)

July 11, 2021
Guest Speaker: Pastor Rocky Nichols
Prayers from a Place of Pain

Prison Prayers

Your most powerful prayers will be the prayers you pray for other people while you were in the midst of pain.

I love the Andy Griffith Show, and since Pastor Ben is on vacation, we’re going to talk about Otis Campbell — the town drunk. Otis would come stumbling into the sheriff’s office, grab the jail key and lock himself in a cell to sleep off his intoxication. He used that jail cell to his benefit.

There are many others who wisely used their time in a jail cell. Nelson Mandela wrote Conversations with Myself while in solitary confinement for 18 years. Martin Luther King Jr wrote a number of letters for the civil rights movement. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was incarcerated by the Nazis, yet he wrote letters in support of his underground Bible study.

There are so many people that used their time to promote their cause, including the Apostle Paul. Paul wrote many letters while he was in prison to churches and believers to encourage and instruct them. The prayer that we’ll focus on is found in Philippians 1:3-11. This prayer is not word for word. Paul is giving a paraphrased version of the points that he would pray. Paul was a man of prayer, he was committed to labor and wrestle in prayer. In wrestling, you are working every muscle in your body against every muscle of your opponent. That’s how Paul prayed.

Scripture Notes:
Philippians 1:3-11

So That

God’s word spreads during times of peace and prosperity. But God’s church grows during times of persecution.

We can get caught, as Americans, in praying for prosperity and relief from discomfort. While those who have very little, pray with a kingdom mindset. Let’s look at Paul’s prayer again. Philippians 1:9-10 “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,” Why is this prayer powerful?

Paul prayed with purpose. Praying with purpose is no longer a list of wants and desires. When you pray, start putting a “so that” in there. As you start to do that, you will soon find out if you are praying God’s will or praying for your own benefit.

Praying in Pain

This prayer to the Philippians was powerful because Paul prayed for them, while he was in pain. Since Christ’s suffering continues to this day, through His church, His and our suffering will not end until He returns. Christ continues to experience suffering with us. Colossians 1:24 says, “Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.” We can never be closer to Him, than when we ourselves are in pain. The most powerful prayers you will ever pray are the prayers you pray for other people while you are in pain.

Consider what it would be like to be in your finals days like the Apostle Paul was. What would your prayers look like in that situation? Would you be praying for a new job, or relief from pain? Think about that question, and then begin to pray those prayers today.

Powerful Prayers - week 3 (July 18, 2021)

July 18, 2021
Guest Speaker: Pastor Doug Hill
A Prayer of Strength

Big, Faith-filled, Specific Prayers

How many of you would say, “I absolutely believe in the power of prayer, yet I don’t pray as often as I should?” I think there are several reasons why. Some of us don’t really know how to pray, we lack the confidence in knowing if we’re doing it right, some of us might get bored while we pray, and I hate to admit this but I’ve been known to fall asleep while praying.

There are two big prayer mistakes that people tend to make:
1. Our prayers are too SMALL
2. Our prayers are too GENERAL

Often our prayers just look like, “God bless me, and be with me.” When He promised that He would never leave us, and can point to our numerous blessings already.

God wants us to pray for things that will help show His glory when He answers it. Why do we undercut God’s power, when He says, “with Me all things are possible.” General prayers do not move God to specific action. In the book of James, it says, “we do not have, because we do not ask.”

Pray big, faith-filled, specific prayers! In many of Paul’s prayers while he was in prison, looked like, “I pray____, so that” and then he gives a reason why.

We’re going to learn to pray for the very things he prayed for, and we’re going to learn to be inspired by God to pray with purpose.

Scripture Notes:
Ephesians 3:14-21

A Prayer of Strength

We are looking at Paul’s prayer to the people of Ephesus. In Ephesians 3:14-21, Paul prayed, “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Tap into Power

We serve an infinitely, spiritually rich, heavenly Father, yet so many of us are living like spiritually impoverished children. Ephesians 3:16 says, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being.” The Greek translation of power in this passage is dunamis, it means the explosive and miraculous power of God. This supernatural power is available to you.

When I was in college, one of my friends lived in this house from the 1900s. I went over one day and saw that his TV was plugged into an extension cord that ran all the way to the kitchen. I asked why, and he said that none of the outlets in the living room worked. There was a light switch in the room and I asked what that was for, and again he said it didn’t work. Problems of living in an old house, right? Wrong, that light switch turned on the electrical current to the outlets. We were so close to all that power but never tapped into it. The same goes for us, there is more power available to you through the Holy Spirit out of the glorious riches of God.

The greatest thing you can dream and think of, our God can do immeasurably more according to His power that is at work within us. I believe that our people are able to pray big and specific prayers, and God will strengthen us with power, as He is glorified and honored by our prayers.

Powerful Prayers - week 4 (July 25, 2021)

July 25, 2021
Pastor Bobby Hill
Encouraging the Church

I took two weeks off this month for vacation with some of Kyle and my family. Kyle’s dad is a Vietnam veteran, and her niece’s husband, Mitch, actively serves as an army ranger. There were many mornings where the guys would be the first ones up and would swap stories… well, they would swap war stories, and I would listen with my mouth ajar.

Kyle’s dad is a great storyteller — he’s even written a few books. One morning, after he finished a story, he left the room, and Mitch and I got to talking alone. As we were sitting there, Mitch said something that has stuck with me to this day. He said, “Rarely do you see someone who’s a good soldier, spouse, and parent,” speaking of Kyle’s dad.

This can be true about following Jesus. We could be great at our job or great parents, but we can really stink at following Jesus. Or sometimes, we get so involved in church that we fail to be a witness to our community.

We’ve been looking at Paul’s prayers while he was in prison, and today we’ll be reading Paul’s prayer to the Colossians.

In this prayer I want you to see Paul’s heart for the Colossian church. He is encouraging this church, that was new in their faith, to live lives worthy of their calling. How can they be good Christians, and what does it mean to have strong faith?

Scripture Notes:
Colossians 1: 9-14

Priorities

You can see what is important to Paul by the things he prays for. Just as our bank account shows our priorities, so do our prayers. If we only ask God for things, or only when we’re frustrated or down, or just over our food, what does that say about our priorities? Yet we see Paul praying that they will grow in knowledge and wisdom regarding Jesus and their faith. He wants their lives to be pleasing to the Lord.

Every prayer that Paul prays has a reason behind it. We’ve talked about his “so that” prayers as the reason why he’s praying. You can ask God for good things, but that doesn’t mean that you have noble or good intentions. Are you praying for a new job for your own happiness or a new change, or are you praying for an opportunity to reach new people? I want to ask you, what’s the reason behind your prayers?

Spiritual Maturity

Paul shared these four ways we can live lives worthy of the Lord. There are four participles in this verse that guide us to live that way.

Bearing fruit
- Good fruit, bad fruit, or no fruit?

Is your life marked by the absence of evil, or by the presence of good? To simply not sin is like a tree with no fruit, but as you grow in your faith, you should be bearing good fruit.

Growing in the knowledge of God
- Milk or solid food?

How often do you read your Bible, or you’ve been challenged to deepen your faith? Love God is not only loving Him with our hearts and souls but with our minds as well.

Being strengthened with all power
- Independent or dependent

Strength is totally from God. Paul shares this in his prayer as a way to have dependence and reliance on God. If we can’t do it on our own, it means that our dreams are God’s dreams.

Giving joyful thanks to God
- Happiness or gratitude?

Paul purposely put this at the end. He wanted thanksgiving to be the thing that tied all the other points together.

The end result that we should have after bearing good fruit, growing in knowledge, and being strengthened is to have JOY!