The Prayer of the Righteous…

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A Call to Prayer

• Those who have made the deepest impressions for the kingdom of God on this
fallen world have been men and women devoted to a life of prayer.

• No Christian will ever rise spiritually above his or her prayer life.

• “Ask of me is the one condition God puts in the very advance and triumph of
His cause.” E. M. Bounds

• “This is not a praying age; it is an age of great activity, of great movements, but
one in which the tendency is very strong to stress the seen and the material
and to neglect and discount the unseen and the spiritual.” E. M. Bounds
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 Act 9:11
And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the
street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house
of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he
prayeth,

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The Lack of Prayer

• Jas 4:1 WHAT LEADS to strife (discord and feuds) and how do conflicts
(quarrels and fightings) originate among you? Do they not arise from your
sensual desires that are ever warring in your bodily members?
• Jas 4:2 You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your desires go
unfulfilled; [so] you become murderers. [To hate is to murder as far as your
hearts are concerned] You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain
[the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek], so you
fight and war. You do not have, because you do not ask.
• Jas 4:3 [Or] you do ask [God for them] and yet fail to receive, because you ask
with wrong purpose and evil, selfish motives. Your intention is [when you get
what you desire] to spend it in sensual pleasures.

• “Prayer is our most formidable weapon, but the one in which we are the least
skilled, the most averse to its use.” E. M. Bounds
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The Instruction to Pray

• Php 4:6 Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every
circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests),
with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.
• Php 4:7 And God's peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured
of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being
content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which
transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus.

• “A day without prayer is a day without blessing, and a life without prayer is a
life without power.” – Edwin Harvey

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• Luk 18:1 ALSO [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to
pray and not to turn coward (faint, lose heart, and give up).
• Luk 18:2 He said, In a certain city there was a judge who neither reverenced and
feared God nor respected or considered man.
• Luk 18:3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying,
Protect and defend and give me justice against my adversary.
• Luk 18:4 And for a time he would not; but later he said to himself, Though I have
neither reverence or fear for God nor respect or consideration for man,
• Luk 18:5 Yet because this widow continues to bother me, I will defend and protect
and avenge her, lest she give me intolerable annoyance and wear me out by her
continual coming or at the last she come and rail on me or assault me or strangle me.
• Luk 18:6 Then the Lord said, Listen to what the unjust judge says!
• Luk 18:7 And will not [our just] God defend and protect and avenge His elect (His
chosen ones), who cry to Him day and night? Will He defer them and delay help on
their behalf?
• Luk 18:8 I tell you, He will defend and protect and avenge them speedily. However,
when the Son of Man comes, will He find [persistence in] faith on the earth?
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The Power of Prayer

• Jas 5:15 And the prayer [that is] of faith will save him who is sick, and the Lord
will restore him; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
• Jas 5:16 Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false
steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may
be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest
(heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power
available [dynamic in its working].
• Jas 5:17 Elijah was a human being with a nature such as we have [with
feelings, affections, and a constitution like ours]; and he prayed earnestly for it
not to rain, and no rain fell on the earth for three years and six months.
• Jas 5:18 And [then] he prayed again and the heavens supplied rain and the
land produced its crops [as usual].
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The Master’s Example

• Mat 14:23 And after He had dismissed the multitudes, He went up into the hills by
Himself to pray. When it was evening, He was still there alone.

• Mar 6:46 And after He had taken leave of them, He went off into the hills to pray.

• Luk 6:12 Now in those days it occurred that He went up into a mountain to pray,
and spent the whole night in prayer to God.

• Mar 1:35 And in the morning, long before daylight, He got up and went out to a
deserted place, and there He prayed.

• Luk 5:16 But He Himself withdrew [in retirement] to the wilderness (desert) and
prayed.
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The Master’s Example

• Heb 5:7 In the days of His flesh [Jesus] offered up definite, special petitions [for that
which He not only wanted but needed] and supplications with strong crying and
tears to Him Who was [always] able to save Him [out] from death, and He was heard
because of His reverence toward God [His godly fear, His piety, in that He shrank
from the horrors of separation from the bright presence of the Father].

• 1Jn 2:6 Whoever says he abides in Him ought [as a personal debt] to walk and
conduct himself in the same way in which He walked and conducted Himself.

• It is never recorded that Jesus ever taught His disciples how to preach, but it is
recorded that He taught them how to pray!

• Oh that we would daily propound to ourselves this noble pattern for our imitation,
and make it our business, our work, our heaven, to strive after this blessed copy that
Christ has set us, namely, to be much with God alone. Certainly Christianity is
nothing else but an imitation of the divine nature, a reducing of a man’s self to the
image of God, in which he was created “in righteousness and true holiness.” A
Christian’s whole life should be nothing but a visible representation of Christ. 9
God Who Hears Prayer

• Psa 65:2 O You Who hear prayer, to You shall all flesh come.

• 2Ch 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show
Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are blameless toward Him.

• 1Jn 5:14 And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have
in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in
agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us
• 1Jn 5:15 And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we
also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present
possessions] the requests made of Him.

• 1Pe 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous (those who are upright and in
right standing with God), and His ears are attentive to their prayer. But the face of the Lord
is against those who practice evil [to oppose them, to frustrate, and defeat them].

• Joh 9:31 We know that God does not listen to sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and a
worshiper of Him and does His will, He listens to him. 10
Prayer of Faith

• Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to

Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that
God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently
seek Him [out].

• God is eternally the same! He that answered the prayers of the faithful
throughout history, through which we are encouraged and edified, still answers
prayers of the faithful today.

• “If we would pray aright, the first thing we should do is to see to it that we
really get an audience with God, that we really get into His very presence.
Before a word of petition is offered, we should have the definite consciousness
that we are talking to God, and should believe that He is listening and is going
to grant the thing that we ask of Him.” – Dr. R. A. Torrey
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Fervent and Prevailing Prayer

• Psa 77:2 In the day of my trouble I seek (inquire of and desperately require) the
Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out [in prayer] without slacking up; I refuse
to be comforted.
• Dan 9:3 And I set my face to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications,
with fasting and sackcloth and ashes;
• Rom 15:30 I appeal to you [I entreat you], brethren, for the sake of our Lord Jesus
Christ and by the love [given by] the Spirit, to unite with me in earnest wrestling in
prayer to God in my behalf.
• συναγωνίζομαι
• sunagōnízomai; fut. sunagōnísomai, from sún(G4862), together,
and agōnízomai (G75), to strive, contend for victory, as in the public games. To fight
in company with, assist or help to fight (Rom 15:30). The word is chosen with
reference to the opposers from whom the apostle desired to be delivered (Rom
15:31), not like agōnízomai (Col 4:12). Neither words are to be thought of as
wrestling with God (Gen 32:22-32), but rather a wrestling together against the
powers of darkness (Eph 6:12).
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Fervent and Prevailing Prayer

• That ye strive together with me - That you unite with me in earnest prayer. The word
“strive” denotes intense “agony” or effort, such as was used by the wrestlers in the
Greek games; and then the “agony,” or strong effort, which a man makes in prayer,
who is earnestly desirous to be heard. The use of the word here denotes Paul’s
earnest desire that they should make an “intense” effort in their prayers that he
might be delivered. Christians, though at a distance from each other, may unite their
prayers for a common object. Christians everywhere “should” wrestle in prayer for
the ministers of the gospel

• Fervent and prevailing prayer gives access to the limitless power of God and moves
men and mountains.

• “It is not enough to begin to pray, nor to pray aright; nor is it enough to continue for
a time to pray; but we must patiently, believingly, continue in prayer until we obtain
an answer; and further we have not only to continue in prayer unto the end, but we
have also to believe that God does hear us, and will answer our prayers. Most
frequently we fail in not continuing in prayer until the blessing is obtained, and in not
expecting the blessing.” – George Müller 13
Fidelity in Prayer

• Col 4:2 Be earnest and unwearied and steadfast in your prayer [life], being [both]
alert and intent in [your praying] with thanksgiving.
• The Reason so many people do not pray is because of the cost of prayer. The cost is
not so much the sweat of agonizing supplication as in the daily fidelity to the life of
prayer. It is the acid test of devotion.

• Our lives outside the prayer closet is nothing but a preparation for our time in
prayer, this is the true meaning of devotion. Devoted prayer without a devoted life
is a contradiction and a travesty.

• “Prayer makes a godly man, and puts within him the mind of Christ, the mind of
humility, of self-surrender, of service, of piety, and of prayer. If we really pray, we will
become more like God, or else we will quit praying.” – E.M. Bounds

• “Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work.” – Oswald
Chambers
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Prayer from the Heart

• “True prayer is neither a mere mental exercise nor a vocal performance. It is far
deeper than that – it is a spiritual transaction with the Creator of Heaven and Earth.”
– Charles Spurgeon
• 1Sa 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, Look not on his appearance or at the height of
his stature, for I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks
on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.
• Psa 42:7 [Roaring] deep calls to [roaring] deep at the thunder of Your waterspouts;
all Your breakers and Your rolling waves have gone over me.
• Psa 42:8 Yet the Lord will command His loving-kindness in the daytime, and in the
night His song shall be with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

• Psa 84:2 My soul yearns, yes, even pines and is homesick for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out and sing for joy to the living God.
• Hos 7:14 They do not cry to Me from their heart, but they wail upon their beds;
they gash and distress and assemble themselves [in mourning] for grain and new
wine; they rebel against Me. 15
Hindrances to Prayer

• If prayer is not an indispensable duty that Christ has laid upon all his people,
why does Satan so much oppose it? why does he so industriously and so
unweariedly labor to discourage Christians in it, and to take off Christians from
it? Certainly, Satan would never make such a fierce and constant war as he
does upon private prayer, were it not a necessary duty, a real duty, a practice
of all the spiritual principles we are taught by Christ, and a soul-enriching
duty.

• “The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears
nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He
laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.” –
Samuel Chadwick
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1. Unconfessed Sin
• Unconfessed sin is probably the most common prayer killer.
• Psa 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me

2. Lack of Faith / praying in fear / vain repetition

Without faith, prayer is powerless.
• Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to
Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God
exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek
Him [out].

• Jas 1:6 Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no
doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing
surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind.
• Jas 1:7 For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything [he
asks for] from the Lord, 17
Vain Repetition

• Mat 6:5 Also when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love
to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they
may be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward in full already.
• Mat 6:6 But when you pray, go into your [most] private room, and, closing the
door, pray to your Father, Who is in secret; and your Father, Who sees in secret,
will reward you in the open.
• Mat 6:7 And when you pray, do not heap up phrases (multiply words,
repeating the same ones over and over) as the Gentiles do, for they think they
will be heard for their much speaking. [1Ki 18:25-29]
• Mat 6:8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you
ask Him.

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3. Disobedience
• Eph 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or
sadden Him], by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God's own,
secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from
evil and the consequences of sin).

• Rom 8:13 For if you live according to [the dictates of] the flesh, you will surely
die. But if through the power of the [Holy] Spirit you are [habitually] putting to
death (making extinct, deadening) the [evil] deeds prompted by the body, you
shall [really and genuinely] live forever.

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4. Not Walking in the Light
• 1Jn 1:7 But if we [really] are living and walking in the Light, as He [Himself] is in
the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another, and the blood
of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses (removes) us from all sin and guilt [keeps us
cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations].

• 1Pe 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous (those who are
upright and in right standing with God), and His ears are attentive to their
prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who practice evil [to oppose
them, to frustrate, and defeat them].

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5. Unforgiveness and Bitterness

• Mat 6:14 For if you forgive people their trespasses [their reckless and willful
sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment], your heavenly
Father will also forgive you.
• Mat 6:15 But if you do not forgive others their trespasses [their reckless and
willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment], neither
will your Father forgive you your trespasses.

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6. Wrong motives
• “Prayer with so many of us is simply a form of selfishness; it means asking for
something for ourselves—that and nothing more.” E. M. Bounds

• Jas 4:3 [Or] you do ask [God for them] and yet fail to receive, because you ask
with wrong purpose and evil, selfish motives. Your intention is [when you get
what you desire] to spend it in sensual pleasures.
• Jas 4:4 You [are like] unfaithful wives [having illicit love affairs with the world
and breaking your marriage vow to God]! Do you not know that being the
world's friend is being God's enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the
world takes his stand as an enemy of God.

• 1Jn 5:14 And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness)
which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request)
according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears
us.
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7. Idolatry
• Eze 14:3 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and put
the stumbling block of their iniquity and guilt before their faces; should I
permit Myself to be inquired of at all by them?

8. Fainting under pressure

• Luk 18:1 ALSO [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always
to pray and not to turn coward (faint, lose heart, and give up).

• 9. No Knowledge of the Word

• Joh 15:7 If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in
you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be
done for you.
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Those that Wait on the Lord

• Isa 40:28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the
Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint or grow weary; there
is no searching of His understanding.
• Isa 40:29 He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might
He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound]. [2Co
12:9]
• Isa 40:30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall
feebly stumble and fall exhausted;
• Isa 40:31 But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in
Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their
wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall
run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.
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Prayer and Deliverance

• Act 16:16 As we were on our way to the place of prayer, we were met by a
slave girl who was possessed by a spirit of divination [claiming to foretell future
events and to discover hidden knowledge], and she brought her owners much
gain by her fortunetelling.
• Act 16:17 She kept following Paul and [the rest of] us, shouting loudly, These
men are the servants of the Most High God! They announce to you the way of
salvation!
• Act 16:18 And she did this for many days. Then Paul, being sorely annoyed
and worn out, turned and said to the spirit within her, I charge you in the name
of Jesus Christ to come out of her! And it came out that very moment.
• Act 16:19 But when her owners discovered that their hope of profit was gone,
they caught hold of Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities in
the forum (marketplace), [where trials are held].
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Prayer and Deliverance
• Act 16:20 And when they had brought them before the magistrates, they declared,
These fellows are Jews and they are throwing our city into great confusion.
• Act 16:21 They encourage the practice of customs which it is unlawful for us Romans
to accept or observe!
• Act 16:22 The crowd [also] joined in the attack upon them, and the rulers tore the
clothes off of them and commanded that they be beaten with rods.
• Act 16:23 And when they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into
prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely.
• Act 16:24 He, having received [so strict a] charge, put them into the inner prison
(the dungeon) and fastened their feet in the stocks.
• Act 16:25 But about midnight, as Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of
praise to God, and the [other] prisoners were listening to them,
• Act 16:26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the very foundations of
the prison were shaken; and at once all the doors were opened and everyone's
shackles were unfastened. 26
• “What the church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new
organizations or more and novel methods, but men who the Holy Spirit can
use—men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not come on
machinery but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men—men of prayer.” –
E. M. Bounds

• “I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to
which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord.” –
George Mueller

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