The Pastor's Pocket

  Confidence is a major element in effective prayer.  Just like a lot of other things, confidence, or lack of confidence, makes a difference.  When a professional athlete goes into a “slump” (a pro golfer who can’t make a putt or a baseball player who suddenly can’t hit), it’s often just a matter of confidence.  It’s not technique or lack of skill. If that athlete wasn’t any good, he wouldn’t be a professional!  When the confidence returns, the putts start falling and the hits start coming! Confidence in prayer is connected with our relationship with God. Sometimes we forget that God is a person.  The closer we get to the Lord, the more confidence we have as we pray.  Relationships must be cultivated, worked, attention paid to it.  Any relationship is that way. I’ve been married to the same woman for 32 years.  I know Ms. Cindy very well.  I know how she thinks.  All this helps me to communicate with her effectively.  When she ...

  When our prayers are not answered, something is obviously wrong.  We’ve been talking about taking our prayer life to the next level.  That involves purity – maintaining a pure heart before the Lord.  The scriptures are clear, if we regard iniquity in our heart, the Lord will not hear us (Psalm 66:18, Isaiah 59:2).  We must pursue righteousness, godliness and personal purity. We must pay attention to the “ifs” in the promises about prayer.  Some promises are conditional and if we ignore them, we can be ineligible to claim those promises from God. There is something else found in I Peter 3:7 we must consider; tension in the home can hinder God from answering our prayers.  This verse specifically speaks to the husband.  Our failure to understand our wife, to honor her and respect her, can mess-up our own prayer life.  Is there anything at home and in particular your relationship with your wife that may be affecting your prayer life? Why does i...

  A.W. Tozer once said, “prayer is still the greatest power on earth if it is practiced in the true fear of God and it is our solemn obligation to see that it is so practiced.” In our last lesson, we considered some of the “ifs” in the promises about answers to prayers.  We looked at John 15:7, “if ye abide in me”, and if “my words abide in you.” Then there is the promise, “ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you.” Here are a few more “ifs”.  John 12:26b, “if any man serve me, him will my Father honor”.  Faithfully serving God and staying involved in the cause of Christ insures that God will honor us and our prayers.   John 14:13 & 14, “and whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it”.  Asking God in Jesus’ name makes a difference!  Jesus said so.  Why is this a difference-maker in getting answers to our prayers?...

  Let’s discuss tonight the “ifs” of answered prayer.  Just before Jesus was arrested and crucified, He gave His disciples some of the most powerful promises about intercessory prayer ever given (John 15:7) In John 15, the Lord Jesus is stressing the value of relationship, “I am the vine, ye are the branches” (John 15:5a).  In verse 7, He gives us the two “ifs” that we need to seriously consider: 1) “If ye abide in me…” 2) “and (if) my words abide in you…”  What does it mean to abide? It has to do with “connection”.  Just as a branch is connected to a vine, we must be connected to the Lord.  This has to do with relationship.  If we don’t truly know the Lord, we cannot claim the promise, “ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” Relationship with Jesus implies that we get power, comfort, wisdom; everything we need from Him.  If we are not “in Him” we are ineligible for the answer to our prayer. “If my words abide in you”, means that Jesus’...

  We must consistently pursue the power of a pure heart out of which comes an effective prayer life ( 2 Timothy 2:22, Matthew 5:8). Let’s face reality; sinful attitudes and activities are way too abundant in today’s church.  Yet the Christian is called to resist temptation and to go further; we are to hate sin, to reject it, and to love righteousness. If the church of today is to experience revival and to witness an outpouring of God’s glory and power, we (men) must develop a heart for God.  We have to want to live for God and to shun evil and iniquity.  The Lord will hear our prayers when we shun evil and wage war on iniquity in our own lives. The key to spiritual power is maintaining a pure heart.  Remember; Jesus has a bride, He doesn’t want “girlfriends”.  Our heart cannot be divided.  We cannot love Jesus and love the things of this world too (Matthew 12:25, 15:8). I love the words to the song “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”.  “Turn you eyes upon...

  It all comes down to the individual.  If we want a better country, better churches and better homes, then each of us as men, must take personal responsibility for the condition of our own heart before God. When you study Psalm 51, you see the conversation of a man who is focused on the issues relating to one man – himself. David is coming clean before God.  His is dealing with his own “stuff”.  He is not blaming his family,  his friends, or his environment.  He is just putting the sin, his own sin, out on the table, and claiming the cleansing and forgiveness that God Almighty freely offers to anyone who will be honest and humble with God. Hosea 10:12 issues an urgent call and a promise, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till He come and rain righteousness upon you”. God will heal.  God will forgive. God will restore and revive.  It’s up to us to do our part. We all k...

  Any of us can experience genuine victory over Satan, sin and self on a consistent basis.  As we grow closer to the Lord, we become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit and He will then teach us how to recognize Satan’s traps, how to die to self, and how to overcome temptation. We can even learn how to identify and conquer things that grip our mind, soul and body. We can do this on our own as we surrender to the process of sanctification in our life.  This results in a deeper walk with God, powerful and mountain-moving prayer, and a Spirit-filled Christian life. There is way too much apathy, complacency, worldliness and carnality in today’s church.  And yes, among the men of our churches.  I asked the question once while preaching about our inner-man:  If your inner-man was flashed up on a screen in picture form, would it look like a well-trained athlete or a starving refugee?  That’s a soul-searching question.  Can you honestly answer that question...

  Success in our prayer-life as we have seen, is connected to a pure heart.  Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). Paul wrote to Timothy about a pure heart, a good conscience, and a faith unfeigned (a true faith, one that is real – I Timothy 1:5).  He mentions a pure heart again in II Timothy 2:22. The follower of Christ is called to resist temptation and to go even further – to hate sin and to reject it in all forms. If we are to get answers to our prayers, we must develop a heart for righteousness.  This is the key to spiritual power.  We will experience His response to our needs when we learn to hate evil and love righteousness. I Peter 1:13-16 stresses obedience and alertness to temptation, and teaches us to be holy as God is holy in all aspects of our life.  Holy is the Greek word “haigios”, it means: separated unto God, set apart, saintly. Jesus doesn’t want girlfriends! He has a bride.  You and I are ...

  A lack of genuine holiness is the predominate reason God withholds His awesome power in our lives (Psalm 66:18, Isaiah 59:1,2).  When we pray and God doesn’t respond, we need to consider the reason why.  Isaiah tells us that God has not suddenly gone deaf, but there may be an underlying problem and it’s not with God – it’s us! We all are familiar with II Chronicles 7:14. We quote most of it…”if my people…” but often we overlook, “turn from their wicked ways…then” You see my brothers, God is serious about how we deal with sin.  If we fail to address this important issue, our prayer life will be greatly hindered. I John 1:9 is a verse filled with a wonderful promise. “If we confess our sins (that’s our part) He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (that’s God’s part).    The word confess is “homolegeo” which means; to say the same thing, to acknowledge. When we agree with God about our sin and admit we have...

  The ministry of intercessory prayer is a powerful thing!  Think about it my friend. When you pray for someone, in essence, you are touching God with one hand while reaching out to the one you are praying for with the other. Consider this when you pray for someone who is lost.  You are interceding. You are going before God in faith, praying for their salvation, praying for them to “see the light”.  The Bible tells us that the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving sinner so that they are unable to see the glorious light of the gospel message (2 Corinthians 4:4).  Yet we pray for those who are lost.  We intercede, we go before God on their behalf. As we pray for Pastors, Evangelist, Missionaries, our Staff and others in ministry, we are touching God with one hand while reaching out to them with the other.  It’s a powerful thing! Paul was a great intercessor. In most every letter he writes, he tells the believer he is praying for th...

  Change occurs in the Presence of God!  Five minutes in the throne room of God can change your focus, your perspective, your attitude. Do we realize what an incredible opportunity we have to enter the presence of God - to go right into the holy of holies and sit at Jesus feet?  Hebrews 4:14-16 tells us to come “boldly” to the throne of grace”.  No one except the High Priest was allowed behind the curtain of the tabernacle in the Old Testament.  All the rest of the people stood outside only wondering what it was like to enter into God’s holy presence.  But Matthew 27:51 tells us that as Jesus died on the cross,  the veil of the temple (the curtain) was ripped from top to bottom, indicating that anyone may now have complete access to God! When we enter the presence of the Lord through prayer, change occurs!  You know how it is when you come to church feeling lousy, maybe stressed, fearful or discouraged, but you came anyway and behold as you leave ...

  God is bigger than your problem, greater than your need.  The evidence of God’s awesome power and wisdom is right over your head.  Look into the heavens on a clear night.  Scientists say there are about 7000 stars that are visible to the naked eye, although only about 2000 of these can be seen at any one time and place.  So even on a clear night, we see only less than one-third of all the stars that are visible to people around the world. Let’s go a little further. There are far more stars than we can see, somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 billion (that’s a 2 with 11 zeroes behind it) in our own galaxy – the Milky Way galaxy, and that’s just one of millions of galaxies.  No man knows just how many stars there are.  One estimate puts the number at 3 thousand million billion (that’s a 3 with 16 zeroes behind it)! The Bible says, “the heavens are the work of God’s hands” (Psalm 102:25).  God simply “commanded and they were created”.  Imagin...

  We learn to pray by praying! Books are fine, lessons are helpful, but nothing helps us learn to pray like praying. I’ve been preaching for over 32 years now.  Yes, I studied homiletics (the art of preaching) in Bible college, but I must say I’ve learned most by just preaching over and over again, sermon after sermon.  I’ve been told more than a few times, “you keep preachin’, you’re gonna get the hang of it one of these days.” Pilots are not made in the classroom, they are made in the air!  Flying time or “flight time” makes a good pilot.  It’s facing various weather conditions, learning to adapt to the various challenges of actually flying the airplane – that’s how good pilots are made. You remember taking Drivers Education in school?  You can only get so much from books or an instructor.  You have to get behind the wheel, that’s where you learn to drive on the highway.  You learn to drive by driving.  This concept is true for almost anyth...

  Has it ever occurred to you that God launched the Christian church not on good singing, not on good preaching, but through a prayer meeting?  It’s true! Read these passages of scripture: Luke 24:49& 53, Acts 1:12-14 and Acts 2:1-47. Don’t get me wrong, we need good singing and good preaching, but Jesus never said, “My house shall be called a house of great music”, or “My house shall be a house of preaching”.  He did say, “My house shall be called the house of prayer…” (Matthew 21:13). Isn’t it true that if you asked the average church member to tell you something about their church you would hear something like, “oh we have the best music”, or “we have good preaching at our church”, or “we have the best teachers…”  How many do you think would say, “we pray well”or “prayer is what makes our church”? Not many. Today, we get all excited about our attendance figures, our offerings, our music, our youth programs, our huge sanctuaries, but is that really the thing th...

  Genuine prayer is birthed out of genuine need.  If all we do is say to ourselves, “I ought to pray”, it won’t provide the necessary motivation.  We will pray little and our prayers will be little or ineffective.  We must be driven to pray out of heart-felt need. Remember the woman with a daughter who was demon-possessed?   The story is told in Matthew 15:21-28.  Verse 22 tells us she cried out (or pleaded) with the Lord to have mercy. Now nothing grips our heart like one of our children being seriously ill or injured, so we can only imagine this mother’s anguish over the condition of her daughter.  When Jesus does not answer her, she goes begging His disciples, “she crieth after us” (verse 23).  She is desperate. That’s why she cries out like she does.  No one had to tell this woman, “you ought to pray.” Her cries were born out of heart-felt need.  The story has a happy ending.  Jesus honored her faith and completely healed h...

  Fervent prayer goes way back.  We know that prayer was a distinctive priority for the early church (Acts 1:14, 2:42, 3:1, 6:4 and many other verses). Calling on the Lord is seen in the life of the prophets; Habakkuk 3:1, Jonah 2:7, Daniel 7:17 and 9:13, Nehemiah 1:6 and 4:9, David in Psalm 4:1, 6:9 and 17:1. But prayer goes back even before Moses and Abraham!  In fact, the first mention of men calling upon the Lord occurs in Genesis 4:25 and 26. Yes, right in the book of Genesis – the book of beginnings. Before there was anything called the church, before there was a Bible, a choir, or any kind of “service” like we have today, men were calling upon the name of the Lord.  From the godly line of Seth, men somehow sensed they could call out to God and He would answer, He would listen and He would respond! The first prayers had sound! It was the sound of men expressing their needs, desires, and praises to God. My point is this: crying out to God in prayer is not some n...

  In Matthew 18:19, Jesus provides us with a powerful promise, “if two of you shall agree…”  I believe the Lord is giving us a principle here; there is victory in prayer through partnership. Solomon also laid down this principle in Ecclesiastes 4:9, “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor.” We see the benefits of a “team effort” or a “partnership” in several places.  In Acts 16, Paul and Silas prayer together and God gave them supernatural favor.  In Acts 3, notice Peter and John went to the temple to pray together.  They also witnessed a mighty miracle (“the lame man which was healed”). It seems that a break-through came as two men partnered together in prayer.  Why a prayer partner: (1) to help bear one another’s burdens - Galatians 6:20. (2) to add your faith to another’s - that’s double the faith towards anything you might be praying about.  (3) it is a scriptural principle - James 5:16.  (4) it builds c...

  Allow me to encourage you with a thought: our prayers never die.  What in the world do I mean by that? In  Acts chapter 10 verse 2; Cornelius “prayed to God always” and God sent an angel to tell him “thy prayers… are come up for a memorial before God” (verse 4). We must learn to continually be in communication with our Heavenly Father so that prayer becomes as constant as breathing (I Thessalonians 5:17). Evidently our prayers never die, in the sense that God remembers each prayer we pray throughout eternity.  Look at Revelation 5:8.  When John looked over into heaven, he saw “golden vials (or bowls) full of odors (or incense), which are the prayers of saints.” Also in Revelation 8:3 there they are again “the prayers of all saints” before the throne of God. Now back to Cornelius in Acts chapter 10. It was through the faithful prayers of this devout Christian servant, that Peter was sent to him, was shown in a vision (the great sheet) that all peoples are loved...

  In Psalm 50 verses 14 and 15, the Psalmist says, “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” Notice the three key words here: offer, pay, call.  “Offer unto God thanksgiving.”  Many times, we rush right into the throne room of God with our requests, but we should pause and praise the Lord for His goodness and thank Him for His faithfulness, His provision, and His kindness towards us.  We will have a lot to be thankful for every day. Then, we are to “pay thy vows” unto the Lord.  The idea is to keep our promises.  To follow through with what we’ve promised to do.  Have we paid our tithes? Have we done what we said we would do in our relationships with others? Then God says “call upon me in the day of trouble”.  Troubles, trials, are problems, are all a part of life.  No one is exempt from them, not even believers. But when they com...

  There is a powerful lesson about intercessory prayer in  Exodus 17:8-16.  Verse 8 says, “Then came Amalek.”  It was Israel’s first adversary in the wilderness after they had left Egypt.  The Amalekites were descendants of Esau (Genesis 36:12) and they attacked Israel from the rear and were a thorn in their side for many years to come (Deuteronomy 25:17, I Samuel 15).  “Then came Amalek”, could represent many things: our problems, our troubles, our adversaries, our headaches. Things that drive us crazy! Joshua was instructed to gather men to fight while Moses went up on top of the mountain to pray along with Aaron and Hur.  As it turned out the battle was not with those fighting on the field, but with the intercessors on the mount.  God gave the victory as Aaron and Hur held up the hands of Moses. How long does it take us to learn that intercessory prayer is more important than our organizations, armies, wealth and education? There is nothing we ...

  I Thessalonians 5:25 says, “Brethren, pray for us”.  Someone once said “there is nothing that makes us love a man so much as praying for him.”  As we lift our brothers up to the Lord in prayer, and truly pray for them; their well-being, their successes and their needs, it does tend to draw us into their world and that’s a good thing. The trend today is toward isolation.  Each man on his own little island so to speak.  Even with all of our new technologies in communication; cell phones, Blackberries, PCs, Ipads, etc., we still don’t know our neighbors or even our fellow brothers-in-Christ real well.  Often times we may feel isolated and lonely even though we are around people at work or at church. I’ve know several men who took their own lives, who were members of the church where I pastored.  I’ve often thought to myself now, how did that happen?  Did those men not know there were other men who would have prayed them through their problems if on...

  I Timothy chapter 2, verses 1 – 4, gives us a blueprint in praying for others.  Paul instructs Timothy by saying, “first of all”, meaning prayer is a priority!  “Supplications”: petition, beseech, request.  “Prayers”: our communication with God. “Intercessions”: praying specifically for others, you in-between God and someone else. “Giving of thanks”: praying with a grateful heart. “Be made for all people”: no one is to be eliminated because of status, race, influence or creed. “For kings, and for all that are in authority”: this group would include your employer, your pastor, the President of the United States, law-makers, judges, policemen, parents, anyone in your life who has a position of authority.  Respect for authority is a must here.  Paul writes in verse 3, “this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.”  If something is good and acceptable in God’s sight, then we should honor it.  This is a critical principle as it reflect...

  Continuing with some thoughts about intercession – how can we pray for others more effectively?  Rather than just saying as we pray, “Lord, I pray for Bob tonight”, what if we asked for some specific things like: • Spiritual growth (2 Peter 3:18) • Wisdom, knowledge and understanding (Colossians 1:9, James 1) • To endure temptation (James 1:12) • To be faithful to God, His Word, His Work (Matthew 25:21, I Corinthians 4:2) • To trust the Lord in all things (Proverbs 3:5 & 6) • To be honest and ethical - protected from evil (Matthew 6:13) • To develop godliness, generosity, humility and courage (2 Peter  • 1:5-8) • Relationships and influences guarded (Proverbs 1:10) • Convicted of any and all sin (John 16:8) • Guided by truth (John 16:13) • For overall health, prosperity and fruitfulness (3 John 1:2) • For boldness to share the gospel (Acts 4:31) • To be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) Get the idea? We can intercede in a rich and p...

  “And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor” (Isaiah 69:16a)  The great need of the hour is prayer warriors, for our friends, our churches, our homes, our nation and the world.  The ministry of intercession is putting our shoulders under the burdens and needs of others. Most of the great prayer warriors of the Bible were great intercessors; Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David, Daniel, Paul.  Jesus’ great High Priestly prayer of John 17 is a prayer for others.  The scripture says that even now in heaven, “He ever liveth to make intercession…” (Hebrews 7:25).  The Holy Spirit, who now resides in human temples, “makes intercession for us…” (Romans 8: 26,27).   To succeed in the ministry of intercession we must care about the needs of others.  This means getting beyond our own needs.  Paul is a great example of this.  In most of his letters, he mentions his prayers for the saints (I Corinthians 1:4, Philipp...

  “Whatsoever” and “whosoever” – both words indicate no limits and both words are used by our Lord in reference to prayer. In Mark 11:22-24, Jesus begins with a simple admonition, “Have faith in God.”  We know that without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).  Without faith, man can do nothing with God and God can do nothing with man.  Faith is more than believing God (devils believe and tremble).  Faith involves trust.  Faith is the magnet that draws God into our situations.  Jesus taught us to exercise our faith and if we would, nothing would be impossible (Matthew 17:20). Mark 11:23 says, “Whosoever shall say unto this mountain…” The promise is to any of us, to all of us, who have faith in God.  Verse 24 says, “whatsoever” along with verse 23. Wow!  What a bold confirmation to claim as we pray and cry out to God.  I like Paul’s teaching in Philippians 4:6, “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and suppl...

Consider what prayer can do.  Is anything too hard for the Lord?  Prayer opened the Red Sea, brought water from a rock and bread from heaven. It made the sun stand still once and brought fire down from heaven.  Prayer can move mountains, can heal the sick, bring sinners under conviction, bring prodigals home, can give strength to the weak, hope to the distressed, and mercy to the fallen. We should pray continually about everything, no matter is too big or too small to bring before the Lord.  Living the Word through our prayer life means: we pray fervently (James 5:16), diligently (Hebrews 11:6), without ceasing (I Thessalonians 5:17), in faith believing (Mark 11:24), expectantly (Jacob), specifically for our daily needs (Matthew 6:11), privately (Psalm 55:17). In Acts 12:5 they prayed corporately without ceasing for Peter and God responded to the prayers of His church. We should pray for others and their needs, interceding on their behalf.  Praying people move t...

  Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” Learning to wait on God to move or to answer our prayers requires absolute trust.  When we get ahead of God, we rob Him of an opportunity to prove His power and wisdom in our situations.  We must be patient and endure seasons of waiting at times.  Remember Hannah?  She so desperately wanted a child and pray she did, but God granted her desire in His own time. Our flesh hates waiting, so we have to “crucify” the flesh, trust God and allow Him to move on His time-table, not ours. Waiting on God is not wasted time.  James 1:4 says, “Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”  Waiting allows for our faith to grow, and as we develop in character and integrity, we will be ready to accept God’s will, whatever that may be.  Waiting allows us to gather information to assess our options and ...

  The church today is often powerless because of carnality, worldly influence and sin within the lives of the redeemed.  The fact of so much sin in the church is proof that we’re not praying enough or that we’re praying ineffectively or improperly. We are taught in the Word to “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need”, Hebrews 4:16.  We are to plead the blood, to pray in faith and in Jesus’ name,  and expect a reply.  Prayer is not laying hold of God’s reluctance, but rather His willingness to respond, knowing that God rewards of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).   Consider the promises to those who pray:  In Matthew 7:7 & 8; “Ask,  and it shall be given you; seek,  and ye shall find;  knock,  and it shall be opened unto you: For everyone that asketh receiveth;  and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” In Matthew...

  A life of prayer, marked by prayer, filled with prayer, is a sure sign of a true believer.  Just as an infant’s first sign of life is a cry, so the earliest sign of a person born again is to pray.  A common characteristic of all saints is that they pray.  A common characteristic of the wicked is that they do not, “the workers of iniquity call not upon the Lord” (Psalm 14:4). Our first act of faith is to speak to the Lord because we have access to the throne of grace through the merits of the shed blood of Christ (Romans 5:2 and Ephesians 2:18).  Yet a great many Christians are failing in their prayer life! Is that true of you?   Neglecting to pray is neglecting to live one giant aspect of the Word, for so much of the Bible is about prayer.  How can we successfully live the Word and neglect our prayer life? How can a church congregation claim to be living the Word and fail to remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 21:13, “My house shall be called a hou...