Prayer: Effectiveness, Obstacles, & Impact

By Rob W. Case

http://makingsense.proboards.com

Editor's Note: What you are about to read are the entire contents of a message I gave at my
church on June 6th, 2010, and I would like to share it with you, my well appreciated readers.
Thank you, and enjoy!

How would you rate the power of prayer? Would say that….

Prayer is Real, Genuine, and Powerful

Prayer is Ineffective

Prayer is a phony mechanism used by superstitious people

Believe it or not there are many people whose personal opinions best match at least one of those
stated views. And what we’re going to do today is examine each and every one of them with
some background, clarity, and hopefully provide you with some new insight.

1. Prayer is Real, Genuine, and Powerful—I don’t think that for one second, it would be
inaccurate to say that every believer in this room has had an experience up close,
personal, and unique only to them in response to prayer. That is something that we all
should expect from time to time as people who have faith in the Lord, am I right? In fact,
many of the prayer requests we have shared at my church have been answered right in
front of our eyes. Then, there are those little personal, “unspoken prayer requests” that we
might keep to ourselves, but still pray for. This doesn’t happen all that often, but when it
does, I don’t usually bring it. I have no problem talking about it in this article because it
is a useful example that fits the message. It pertains to confrontations or possible
confrontations at work, or in your social life. Like I said before, this does not really
happen that often, but when it does happen, and I see a confrontation on the horizon at
work, or in my social life, I will either do two things. I will collect my thoughts, and
rehearse my arguments, and/or pray about the situation, and ask God to soften the heart
of the one I’m in conflict with. Now, it’s interesting. If I rehearse my arguments, and I
don’t pray, then I find that in rare occasions, I have to use what I rehearsed. I also find
that if I do pray and ask God to intervene, not only do I not have to use what I rehearsed
for, but God will settle the matter gently, and something that I, or another co-worker
 might have been hot-headed about at work is now cooled off and settled. I love when that
happens!

James 4:8a
8
Come near to God and he will come near to you…..

Answered prayer is an experience that is genuine and assuring when you experience it.
That prayer becomes a prayer that was answered just for you, by the creator of the universe, no
matter how big or small it may seem. And yet, how do you lock into the power of prayer, and
how can you be sure that you are covered?

I am going to list 6 important necessities that will help you lock into the power of prayer.

-- Faith

--Confess Your Sins

--Ask Forgiveness of your sins

--Wait in Expectation

--Pray in Jesus’ Name

--Pray in the Holy Spirit

A. Faith—You have to fully depend on God.

B. Confess Your sins. Sin can act as a barricade between God and us. In fact, Isaiah 59: 2
says it best…..
2
But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear.

Sin is like a pollutant that clogs the lines of communication. It’s like when your drain
pipes are clogged in your kitchen or bathroom. After a while, the flow of water cannot get
through them, and the contents of what prevents the flow is ugly, filthy, and something
you would want to distance yourself from.

Psalm 66:18

18
If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;
 And so, what happens when you confess your sins to him?

1 John 1:9 (New International Version)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
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unrighteousness.

C. Ask forgiveness for your sins.

James 4:10 (New American Standard Bible)

10
Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

It takes a great amount of humility to ask forgiveness of your sins, and do you know why?
Because you are acknowledging to someone else, that you did something offensive to them. In
that, God will see that you want to make things right with him, and from that effort, he will show
you mercy and forgive your sins.

D. Wait in Expectation. Expect God to respond to your request.

Psalm 5:3 (New International Version)

In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
3

in the morning I lay my requests before you

and wait in expectation.

If you do not wait in expectation, then your prayer is in vain and void of what is needed
to carry it through. After all, if a person prays and then does not expect any response
from God, than why is he wasting his time praying to begin with? It sort of defeats the
purpose of praying, doesn’t it? In essence, a bad attitude spoils the response.

E. Pray in Jesus’ Name

John 14:13-14 (New International Version)

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask
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me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

This can be an entire message in and of itself. I think that in many occasions we tend to
misconstrue the meaning of this concept. After all, I have prayed many prayers in Jesus
 name, and although some of them turned out, others didn’t. So what did Jesus actually
mean when he said, “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it?” Within
the correct context, it is anything that you ask for that will bring glory to God. Many
missionaries experience this reality first hand on the mission field. In fact, my Dad told
me that when he was in the Navy, he would talk to some of these missionaries. These
people were missionaries who would tell people about Jesus in Europe. And these
missionaries talked about how they prayed for God to provide for them, and God did
provide for them. People would go up to those missionaries and give them money for
food, and other necessities and say, “Excuse me, God told me to give this to you.” God
put the idea into people’s heads to give something to those missionaries, and through
their obedience, he provided for them through prayer. It is interesting to see how God
takes care of those who ask Him to provide when they are doing something in the name
of Jesus.

F. Pray in the Holy Spirit

Jude 1:20-21 (New International Version)
But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep
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yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

When you see someone who needs prayer, and if you feel compelled to pray for them,
then perhaps the Holy Spirit is compelling you to pray for that person. On many
occasions, I have seen many believers, including myself, feel spiritually obligated to pray
for another person. My mom does this whenever she sees an ambulance. She feels the
obligation weigh heavy on her heart. In fact, if you really think about it, if you have an
unsaved loved one, and you learn that they have been rushed to the hospital, there is a
good chance that someone who prayed for the person rushed to the hospital may have had
their life saved because someone else prayed for them, or their prayer might have sent
someone to witness to the person being prayed for. If you feel an obligation to pray for
someone, it is best to do it. After all, your prayer may be that person’s last best hope for
both spirit and body. If someone goes through an ordeal that may be life-threatening your
prayer may be the only tool God has to intervene in that person’s life. And yet, at the
same time, when you pray for someone else, you pray in the spirit of love in that you took
time out of your routine in order to serve as a voice to God on your neighbor’s behalf.
That is showing love.

And so, to recap, in order for our prayers to continue to be Real, Genuine, and Powerful,
it is vital to…..

--Have Faith
 --Confess Your Sins

--Ask Forgiveness of your sins

--Wait in Expectation (Expect a Response)

--Pray in Jesus’ Name

--Pray in the Holy Spirit

Now, How do you respond to Christians who think that …..

2. Prayer is Ineffective, or can be ineffective in certain situations.

Now, this sort of connects to the part where I mentioned that a bad attitude spoils a
response when you’re talking to God. I’m sure many of us, at times, harbor the attitude
that, “You know what?..... I’m not going to bother God with my problems right now,” or
sometimes, when we pray for a certain thing, we pray for it thinking that it’s too far
fetched, and that it’s not really going to work. But we go through the motions of prayer
anyway, maybe to satisfy a prayer request, or put up an appearance to act like we believe
our prayer, so that we do not hurt the feelings of the person we love who may actually
think that the prayer can be answered. Doubt is a very potent force, and it resides deep
within.

Sometimes we have a difficult time praying for people because we don’t know God’s
overall will within the matter in question and many times natural causes can be expected
to work themselves out because they are natural causes. For example, if an 89 year old
person is in bad shape and in bad health, and they are in the hospital while their family
might be mourning over them, the easiest way to respond is, “Well, that person lived a
full life. It’s probably their time to go.” But so as not to be rude to the person who wants
us to pray for their loved one, we pray for them, moreso really as a comfort mechanism
for our friend or relative. In other words, while our minds might be saying that it’s not
going to happen, we force our bodies to go through the motions because we care about
the person wanting us to pray for their loved one. In our hearts, we project a hopeless
outcome, and yet, we half-heartedly try.

This is a hairy situation to find ourselves in, because on one hand, we know what to
expect next, and on the other hand, in order to have a certain result happen, God would
have to intervene supernaturally, halt the natural order of things, and supernaturally
change the components in order to get the desired result. Can God do that? Absolutely.
But does he do it? I believe he will in certain situations in which it will be a sure fire
testimony that will add to His Glory and be used to help other people get saved.

For example:
Have you ever heard of Don Piper? Don Piper is the author of the best-selling book “90
Minutes in Heaven.” In it, he talks about how on January 18, 1989, he was driving home
from a conference, and his car collided with a semi-truck that crossed into his lane. It was
a fatality, and Piper was pronounced dead at the scene. Piper, who was a born-again
Christian, explains what he saw in Heaven.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00dwgU3yFjs

Talk about perseverance. Talk about determination. Talk about a situation that genuinely
defies logic, and the established order of things the way we know them to be. And why
did God do that? For his glory! After all, Don Piper could have died on the scene of the
accident, and the world would have continued on. But what happened? God convicted a
minister to pray for a man he never even met, for a full hour and a half. Could you
imagine that for one second? Could you picture yourself going in a car next to the dead
body of a stranger, especially after a fatality, and then stay alone with that body in a car,
to pray for that person for a full hour and a half? I don’t know about you, but I would be a
little too freaked out. But what happened? The minister was obedient. The minister
prayed in the spirit. He was a prayer warrior in that he was out looking for someone to
pray for, and it goes to show that when you are led by the Lord, it is possible for hard to
imagine events like this to occur. If you are in the spirit, and God wills for it, then
nothing is impossible. And look how Don Piper’s testimony has glorified God. Piper has
sold his book both in Christian, and in countless secular markets. He has appeared on
many Christian television programs. He has appeared on many secular TV programs,
including “The O’ Reilly Factor” on Fox News. He has spoken at many churches about
his experiences, and his testimony is still being discussed even though it has been many,
many years after the fact. But you see? God knew this well in advance. God knew that
this particular experience would arouse the interest of many, many people who may be
introduced to the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the very first time. Our only handicap is that
we don’t know God’s will for the person that we’re praying for. So in essence, it’s best to
keep the attitude and perseverance of the minister who prayed for Don Piper. God
creates. When Jesus healed, he was creating. When Jesus turned water into wine, he was
creating. If he can do things like that, and those accounts are well documented both in the
Bible and in secular historical accounts, then what’s stopping him from doing those sorts
of things for you? I guess when those thoughts happen to you next time; the ball will be
in your court as to how you respond.
3. Prayer is a phony mechanism used by superstitious people

How do you respond to someone who thinks that prayer is nothing more than a phony
mechanism used by superstitious people? This attitude does exist, but it is an attitude that
is in many instances, taken due to a deep let down, which can then lead to a lack of faith,
which can then lead to hopelessness, which can morph into a bad attitude, and then
eventually, it can lead to hostility against the entire concept altogether. There may be a
situation in their lives that didn’t turn out right, or someone may have been very angry at
a turnout that worked against their favor. At any rate, this is an attitude taken when
someone refuses to stand in faith any longer, as they attempt to seek refuge with their
own understanding, as a means to fix their problems.

When other people share their faith, openly pray, or say the words, “I’ll pray for you,” the
person who harbors resentment towards God will garnish a form of contempt deep within
his heart. Whenever a person expresses happiness as to how God answered their prayers
or publically pronounce how they have seen God’s hand at work, the person who
expresses resentment will now accumulate jealousy.

People who hold these views should not be looked down upon. They should be pitied.
After all, the reason why they would hold the belief that Prayer is a phony mechanism
used by superstitious people is because their hearts are hardened, and their unfavorable
opinion about God is shaped. This in turn robs many people of many blessings, creates
missed opportunities, and imprisons them within the confines of their own hardened
heart, limited knowledge, and leaves them with nobody but friends who share these traits
of confinement to walk along with them. In turn, the victim walks along thinking he’s
free, when in reality he is walking along shackled by the weight of the true limits of his
own understanding, and is unable to access the blessings, open opportunities, and divine
interventions, while also being unable to make good use of the aid, comfort, and
companionship that only God can offer.

And so, my prayer for all of you this week is to utilize the power of prayer in your lives,
for his purposes, and for you not to fall into the trap of hopelessness and despair, which
are two common character traits caused by doubt and a bad attitude.