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Prayer Enrichment Session
March 25-26, 2006

Newark Seventh-Day Adventist Church
Heath, Ohio

 

Pastor: Tom Hughes: Speakers


Friday Evening

Pastor Tom Hughes: “A Powerhouse of Prayer”



Sabbath Morning

Elder Gloria Whitling: “A Living Example”



Sabbath Afternoon

Debbie Hughes: “Pray Without Ceasing”

Marie Wilkison: “Intercessory Prayer”

Ardyth Loveridge: “How Does God Respond To Prayer?

Aly Benitez: “Teach Us To Pray, Lord”
Women’s Ministry - Prayer Enrichment Session Newark Seventh-day Adventist Church
March 24 and 25, 2006 Pastor: Tom Hughes

“A Powerhouse of Prayer”
Pastor Tom Hughes

There he is in the most holy place standing before Ark of his testament with his priestly garments on and you can go before him. Through prayer you can go boldly before the throne of grace and find help in time of need.

Did you know every sincere prayer is written down by the angels, and taken to God every single time you pray? So often, you think that God doesn’t hear you but every sincere prayer is written in the book of remembrance in heaven – every one.

You are in direct contact with God. You don’t have to go through a priest; you don’t have to go through some other mediator. Jesus Christ is the only Mediator between God and man; we can go directly to God. And he says Come boldly. Don’t come timidly. Come boldly.

“Father, can I interrupt you for a minute? I mean I don’t want to bother you.”

“You’re my son. Come in! Come in boldly, don’t dilly-dally, don’t be timid. Come on, I want hear anything you have to say. You’re my son, I love you. What do you need, son?”

“Well, I know you are angry at me because I’m so sinful.”

“What?”

“You’re upset with me, I’m sure, because I’m so sinful.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well you know those things I did yesterday…”

“Yeah, but you asked forgiveness for those this morning.”

“I know, but I still…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“But you know those things I did yesterday.”

“No I don’t. I don’t know. I can’t remember them. You know, it’s a funny thing; I look at you, I see a white robe; I don’t see any sin. What are you talking about?”

“Well, I just feel bad that, you know, I messed up yesterday.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I remember them no more. I cast your sins in the depths of the sea.”


Yet we come timidly like we don’t belong there; like we’re orphans or worse yet – can I use a very biblical but kind of naughty word that begins with a “B” for an illegitimate child – and we tiptoe in like we’re dirt, like we don’t belong there, like we’re not really part of the family. And God says you’re not illegitimate, you’re adopted. I adopted you. Everything I’m giving to my Son, Jesus, I’m giving to you. Come boldly! Would you quit groveling and pray! I love you.

My children don’t grovel before me, and I know how you would feel, too. You don’t want them to grovel in front of you. You don’t want them to come to you in all fear and trepidation and feeling like they can’t talk. I want my kids to know they can talk to me about anything! Amen?

I have a confession to make. I’m in love! I’m in love with Jesus Christ! And I am passionate about Jesus Christ! He is the Lily of the Valley. There is none fairer than He, and prayer is about communing with your Savior! That’s why we’re here tonight to learn about prayer. And I’d like to see the Newark Church take this vision of being a praying church and not just being a church with potential, not just being a productive church, a doing church, but being a powerful house of prayer! I don’t know if we’re there yet; that’s what I want to talk to you about. We’re going to see where we belong on this chart as we begin our presentation.

Father in heaven as we begin this prayer walk with you I pray that you’ll not only bless this program tonight but everything that takes place tomorrow. I especially pray that you would anoint Gloria (Whitling) as she is praying and preparing for her sermon tomorrow. I ask that you would anoint her; this is her first sermon in public, she’s very nervous about it, and I just pray that your Spirit would anoint her. Help her to know she’s among friends and may you use her in a mighty way tomorrow. Thank you for her ministry and her leadership in the Women’s Ministry team. Thank you for all the team members and everything they’ve done. I thank you’ll anoint the lips of each speaker including my lovely Debbie and all the rest that are speaking tomorrow – give them special wisdom and vision, and may this prayer conference be even better than last year, and may we be drawn closer to you. Thank you for all your blessings now and be with us in this program. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.



I have a friend; his name is Randy Maxwell, and he is an absolutely beautiful Christian man. Now I’m sure he had a much greater impact on me than I ever did on him because we just got to talk for a few minutes on several occasions. I have corresponded with him a little bit – but when I saw his presentation . . . H. M. S. Richards told me one time, “When you hear somebody preach a sermon and they say it exactly the way you would say it, and you could just pick that sermon up and preach it,” he said, “pick it up and preach it.”

I said, “Are you saying just to take it?”

He says, “Just steal that sermon! Just grab it, and put your name on it and go preach it!” He said, “You know why I tell you that?”

I said, “Why?”

He says, “Because truth belongs to God.” He says, “None of my sermons belong to me they came from the Holy Spirit. They were written by God and I preached those sermons based on my inspiration through the Holy Ghost.” And he says, “The way I look at my sermons: Take it, preach it, and use it. Truth comes from God. It’s free. I don’t charge for my truth. Now they might put it in a book and encourage you to go buy the book.”

Randy Maxwell has many books that are wonderful and I didn’t have to steal it, Randy e-mailed the PowerPoint Presentation that he uses in his presentations. Now there’s an unselfish person. He’s got a book out with all this stuff in it and you can get the book. But it so perfectly fit my concept of my vision that I just asked him to e-mail it to me. And when he did I just tucked it away because I knew someday I would have an opportunity to present it to a church that had the potential to make this dream come true.

So let’s look at how we can make our church a powerhouse of prayer. Let’s assume that facts and statistics tell part of the story but what I’m saying to you is that what will get the job done is not facts and statistics and knowledge alone, it is faith. Faith says to knowledge, “Take my hand. I will take you somewhere where you cannot go in and of yourself.

Is your faith strong or weak? Is the Newark Church a church of faith? Do you look around and say, “How are we ever going to do all this? Where’s the money going to come from? How’s God going to ever make this happen, it seems so impossible.” Whine, whine, and whine! J Is God a god of infinite resources? Is there any shortage of money in God’s pocket? So the question is, how do we access those resources? I’ve got a great way! Faith! Faith is the key that opens the door of God’s resources! And I’m going to show some stories of faith and how it worked tonight that will help you to understand.

The Belmont Church in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1971, they had 60 members and no pastor. Today, 3500 worship there. They open at 5:00 a.m. for daily prayer. Staff and leaders pray. They have prayer cells intercession group for children and women. Special groups of prayer warriors just for kids made up of kids and a few adults. They teach their kids from the time they’re little to get together in groups and pray together. And the kids to the praying! Now we’re doing that at the school and we hear some really neat prayers! And some weeks, they’ll pray like crazy and some weeks, they’re quiet as church mice. And it’s really fun to hear the kids’ prayers.

Altar’s Gate United Methodist Church. They were $250,000 in debt and they had eight members. You think you’re in bad shape? You’re in great shape! A thousand in attendance by 1993. They have an altar service. They have a prayer cover for their staff. Now that’s very important; you’ll hear more about that later. They have a special prayer room where people will just go and have prayer together. They also have a weekend prayer vigil and they have seminars like this on prayer on a regular basis.

Nine elements common to churches that are houses of prayer:

Prayer is visible from the pulpit. Prayer is something that is emphasized up front.

Prayers are offered throughout the service. Leadership is committed to prayer.

Prayer is an agenda item on the church board; and I’ve tried to do that.

Prayer is part of the Christian Education that is taught there. They teach their kids how to pray. Can you imagine? Kids go all though our schools – do we ever have a course in how to pray? How do you pray? What do you say? How does a person do it? These are important things that they encourage their teachers to make as part of their curriculum.

The pastor has a strong prayer covering.

Prayer is the first step, not the last resort.

We need to get to the place where we say, “Okay, we want to do that. Have we had prayer about it?” We need to pray first and make sure it’s God’s will for us. No, we’re too busy. We’re too in a hurry. We just want to get it done. We just want to do what gotta do. In some churches, their highest objective is to have the board meeting or whatever meeting as short as possible. Their only objective is to do it as quickly as possible and get out of there. Well, okay, I understand that. We’re all busy we don’t want to waste time but don’t we want to take time to pray? Isn’t that really the most important thing? If prayer is out first step as individuals, it should be our first step as a body. Now I need to do that more too. I’m here with you. We’re all going to do this together, I hope.

Intercession is an integral part of prayer life.
You have a prayer chain. When somebody gets sick you call the prayer chain. People get a phone call, “Yeah, yes, you’re okay and then forget about it and never even pray.” I’m not going to ask you if you’ve ever done that but what I’m saying to you is when you have a disciplined prayer church, when you get that phone call, you turn the TV off, you get down on your knees and you pray right then and there for that person. You take it serious. You are a prayer warrior! You are fighting the fight of faith with your sword in hand and you are doing what God has called you to do that day! You are on the prayer warrior team and when you get that call to pray, you go to prayin’! You don’t just hope you remember later when you have your prayers before you go to sleep.

Intercession for the pastor or an elder, whoever is preaching the sermon, whoever is teaching – you see right now while I’m talking, in a powerhouse of prayer there would be three or four people who are already committed to praying for me while I give this talk so the Holy Spirit is baptizing me while I’m talking and answering your prayers in a way that He wouldn’t do if you hadn’t been praying for me. That’s what’s called a “Prayer covering.” It’s important.

Praying churches have a director of Prayer Ministries.

Do we need to pay more attention to that and get more organized when it comes to prayer?

Now what I’m telling you all is that I’m trying to cast a vision. I’m a busy fellow like you are. I’m very busy with a lot of things going on, but I want our members to take hold of this and make this theirs and help me to have this happen. I can lead you, I can tell you it needs to be done – I can’t do it. I can’t make you pray! I can’t make you say, “Hey, Doris, hey Bill, can we make a make a little trio – you know Jesus said ‘Wherever two or three are gathered I’m in the midst,’ can we have our little prayer trio and meet after prayer meeting and have prayer, or maybe open prayer meeting an hour early for people who want to come and pray? Prayer meeting starts at seven o’clock. “Midweek Bible study. Doors open at six for prayer.” I don’t know, it just seems like it could happen here.

What can happen to an individual or a church when there is sin, a lack of desire for prayer, or an absence of skill in how to pray?

So here are three things that will hinder our church and us as individuals.

First let’s talk about sin. Sin can deny your potential and force you to not have your potential released and God’s power flow through your life. If you have a cherished sin the Bible says, “If a man turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayer is an abomination to the Lord.” In Proverbs 28:13, it says if we confess our sins we’ll have mercy, but “whosoever covereth his sin is not wise.” So if you’re covering your sin up and cherishing it you’re not going to be a powerful prayer warrior.

So the first thing you need to do is put your sins on the altar. You don’t have to change, you don’t have to stop, and you just have to go to Christ. When you go to Jesus and fall in love with him, he’ll make you love him so much, and he’ll put so many good things in your life, he’ll push the bad things out.

I remember when I was in the Army before I got converted, I was runnin’ the bars, and I’d have Jack Daniels or a beer or whatever. And I remember how God just kept filling my life up in my early days when I first gave my heart to Christ with so many good things I didn’t have time to go to the bars. These buddies of mine would come around and go, “Hey, Hughes! You wanna go to the bar tonight?” I go, “Actually I have to go to this meeting with this guy.” “Well, you sure?” “Well, yeah, I told ‘em I’d go, I gotta go.” So I never did have a night where God didn’t cram something in there! I never did go back to the bar with those guys! And about three months later I was a Seventh-day Adventist, and my life was changing rapidly! But God just puts so many good things in your life you don’t have time for the dumb stuff and you just start to let it drop off. So sin, we’ve got to get rid of that. That’s going to hamper your potential. So we can all every morning on our knees ask God to forgive us, and wash away our sins.

Unwillingness: The lack of desire for Prayer
I’ve quit preachin’ and I’m gonna go to meddlin’ right now. I’m sorry, if you’d rather watch your television than pray, you’ve got a deep spiritual problem. If you’d rather pick up your Time magazine and read it than read your Bible, you’ve got a spiritual problem. If you’d rather watch some “dope” opera and read some dumb romance novel than read your Bible, you’ve got a deep spiritual problem. Am I saying you should never watch dope operas? Pretty much. Ladies, I hope when Jesus comes it’s not in the afternoon; that’s all I’ve got to say. Now if you’d rather read your People magazine than read your Bible you have a lack of desire for prayer. If you don’t hunger and miss it when you don’t pray, you have a lack of desire for prayer. That means you’re not in love. That means you’ve lost your first love. I have one word for you: REPENT! Repent sinner! Repent. Get on your knees and ask God to forgive you for your lack of desire to pray. Ask God to forgive you for losing your first love. Ask God to forgive you for falling out of love with His Son that he gave who shed his blood on Calvary’s cross to that you could you have your sins washed away. Repent! Repent! Repent! This world has nothing in it that can even come close to Jesus and his loveliness and his beauty! What on that television set is worth you giving up a half-hour on your knees talking to your Savior!

There is no voice on earth sweeter to me than hers (Debbie’s) except for Jesus Christ. Now she call me and yell at me and I’d rather have her call me and yell at me than hear some other woman call me and be nice to me. Call me crazy. I’m in love. I’m in love! When you’re in love that’s the way it is! If you love Jesus, you can’t wait when you wake up to talk to him because he gave you life and there he is right there giving you another day. And you appreciate it, don’t you?

Now what about the absence of skill in how to pray? “Now Pastor Tom, I’m going to quit preaching and start meddling with you.” Have you taught your people how to pray? Where are these people supposed to learn how to pray if the preachers and the elders don’t teach them how to pray? Now you notice how I slipped in the elders there. They’re my co-laborers and they can share a little of the blame! They get to preach once in awhile too. But to teach our people how to pray is so important. And you know who’s taking the lead in this, Gloria Whitling, our new Elder. She has had a burden for prayer. Last year and this year you (women’s ministry) had a burden for prayer. I take my hat off to the ladies of the church! You’re the ones that asked me to preach because you wanted to emphasize prayer! If they didn’t come to Pastor Tom who knows when I would have gotten around to it. So God, bless these ladies who want to emphasize prayer.

This lack of skill that can be corrected very quickly. If you have confessed your sins and gotten the sin out, the unwillingness, and now you have a desire for prayer, and the lack of skills corrected, then God’s power can be released. Isn’t that what we want?

So can you try to do those three things:

Ask God to give you a desire for prayer,
Ask him to take the sin out of your life,
Ask him to help you to learn how to pray.

Now some of you have already forgotten more about prayer than I will ever know so you may not need to be taught too much. But you may need to be organized and empowered to do a ministry of prayer and I want to try to do that for you.

Evaluate your church’s will or desire and evaluate their skill and expertise. Now I think we have some very powerful prayers in the Newark Church and there is a lot of skill but there can always be more and we can always improve.

Now there are four types of churches:

The Promising Church – we certainly are that.

The Progressing Church – and I’d say we’re probably that as well. We are making progress in many ways. Think of the things we’ve done and accomplished over the last two years. We’ve accomplished a lot. We’ve done a lot. We’ve had a lot of programs and seminars and things that are very important, and we have not been lazy we have been active. We have a community service center that is ministering to the poor on a weekly basis; we have all sorts of good things going on so I would say we may even be in the Productive Church category. But we could produce so much more than we are, but we’re not going to do that, we’re not going to avoid being simply a doing church and become a great church, a powerful house of prayer until we do some things that we’ll need to do to organize.

Now here’s a church, the Brooklyn Tabernacle – May 17, 1998, this is their bulletin:

“Worship 9:00 a.m.
Midday Worship 12:00 noon
Afternoon Worship 3:00 p.m.
Evening Worship 6:00 p.m.
Victor Torres will be our guest speaker.”

He used to play for Bill Haley and the Comets by the way; he was their bass player.

“Prayer Meeting 7:00 p.m. Doors open at 5:00 p.m.”

Look at this down here: “Children’s Prayer Meeting (ages 5 to 7) meet in the Upper Room.”

Little disciples meeting in the Upper Room!

“Doors open a 6:30 p.m. Please escort your child to the classroom and pick your child up by 9:00 p.m.”

Six thirty to nine! And they’re praying. What are they praying for? They have lots of things that they pray for. But do you see what I mean, look at the commitment – 5:00 p.m. they open the doors for people to come in and start praying. Now we do a midweek Bible study, we do singing, we do some Bible study, and we do some praying. And it’s not just praying, it’s a lot of study, probably a half-hour of study. Fifteen minutes of prayer, 15 minutes of singing. But there is no reason why people couldn’t get here at six o’clock and come in here and just spend an hour of prayer or get together. Three of your friends, “What should we pray for tonight? Let’s pray for…this, this and this.” And then the three of you go in that corner, and three up here, and three over there and you start praying. Why not? Why couldn’t we do that? That would be neat, wouldn’t it? I think things would start happening in our church.

Now what I’m saying is (that) you can’t wait for everything to be organized. It takes five years to develop what I’m talking to you about tonight and it all starts with you making a commitment to make a change in your life.

Now how would you rate the Newark Church in will? Do we have the will to be a powerhouse of prayer? Are we willing to change our life, make commitments, and get involved or do we want to keep going along same old, same old, or do we want to actually make a change in our own personal life? That’s the will part and you have to decide. See, you can rate yourself. You rate your church over here, 10, 11, 12… Then the skill level. Let’s say we don’t have a lot of skill but we have some, so we’re a 10. Ten and 10 would put us about right here. So we’re in the Productive Church range and it’s going to take a lot more will and a lot more skill to get us over here. But you can get there if you want to and we’re going to talk about ways to do that.

How do we jumpstart our prayer ministry at the Newark Church? First of all, you have to have patience. Now here’s how we pray for patience: “Dear God, please help me to be patient and I want it right now!” Not. That’s not how you develop patience. “Too many have begun as positive change agents in their churches only to give up after a year or two disgruntled and bitter toward their churches and their leadership teams. The only enduring motive for prayer is that God is worthy to be sought.” —Dr. Daniel Henderson

Is God worthy to be sought out in prayer? Then shouldn’t we be praying a lot more than we are? So we need patience. “We must view corporate prayer not as a program but as a lifestyle, not as a quick fix, but as a lifelong focus.” That is significant that statement. Is it your lifestyle to be a powerful prayer warrior? I’m not looking for a quick program where we just have a little prayer meeting for a couple of weeks and then back to business as usual. I want to see if we can change our whole attitude, our whole way of looking at prayer and begin to be praying! It’s been said, “If you want a new pastor, pray for the one you have.” I’m telling you when you pray for me I can feel it! When I was down at Bike Week (Daytona, Florida) God would just bring those people to me. I wasn’t even looking and they’d just be coming up because prayer was moving them to me. People were praying, “God, the people that he needs to talk to, give him an opportunity to witness. Please find those people and bring them to Pastor Tom.” They told me that when I got back. I told Debbie when I was down there, “Man, the church is praying. I’m telling you they’re praying. They’re praying so much I’m working to death here. I’m working harder than I do when I’m home. I’m supposed to be vacation!” Church, stop! Relax! Give me an afternoon off here! I never said that by the way I was just kidding. J

Persistence – That’s so important to be persistent – to be patient and persistent. The process of establishing a full-fledged ministry within a local church can take three to five years. When we appoint a director of prayer, it will take them three to five years to get the church organized and disciplined, and praying.

Work in faith and leave the results with God. Pray in faith and the mystery of His providence will bring its answer. At times, it may seem that you cannot succeed but work and believe, putting into your efforts faith, hope, and courage. After doing what you can wait for the Lord declaring his faithfulness and he will bring his word to pass. Wait not in fretful anxiety but in undaunted faith and unshaken trust.—7 Testimonies pg. 245.

Preparation – God’s people must first be awakened to the importance of prayer then they need to be equipped in prayer. And that’s what we’re trying to do tonight is awaken you to the importance of it.

Priorities – Select a prayer leader. Meet with the church leadership. Tie in the church’s mission and goals. Fast and pray with a team. Now get this one—this is where the rubber meets the road. Fast and pray once a week for 30, 60, or 90 days. Publicly ordain the local church prayer leader. We elect a prayer leader then we bring them here to the church, put oil on their forehead, lay our hands on them and anoint them as the prayer leader of our church. How fast do you think we’d raise the money to do the work we need to do if we could have fasting and prayer for 60 days once a week?

Establish Pillars of Prayer – a strategic plan of prayer for your church, a prayer shield for the leadership. And you can read about that in

2 Corinthians 1:11—“You also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many.”

Ephesians 6:18-19—“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”

Philippians 1:19—“For I know that this will turn out for my salvation through prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.”

Colossians 4:2-4—“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; 3meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, 4that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak."

2 Thessalonians 3:1-2—“Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified, just as it is with you, 2and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith.”

Prayer Evangelism Focus – A survey of pastors in 1991 conducted by the Fuller Institute:

90 % of pastors’ work more than 46 hours per week.

That would be a light week I would like to have. Could I have a 40-hour week? Would that be okay?

Eighty percent (80%) believe pastoral ministry has affected their families negatively.

Thirty-three percent (33%) say that being in the ministry is an outright hazard to their family.

Seventy-five percent (75%) report a significant stress-related crisis at least once in their ministry.

I can say Amen to that!

Fifty percent (50%) feel unable to meet the needs of their job.

Amen! I’m in the 50%.

Ninety percent (90%) feel they are inadequately trained to cope with the ministry’s demands.

I don’t feel that. My church did train me very well for this job.

Seventy-percent (70%) say they have a lower self-image than when they started in the ministry.

I’m in the 30%. God has blessed, and healed, and changed me so much over the past 35 years I can do nothing but praise him and be happy for the privilege of working for Christ. And I’m not saying that just to say it. I really mean it. If I were in the 70% I would tell you! I don’t have a lower self-image than when I started in the ministry and I have a better self-image because I realize I’m a sinner saved by grace and my only glory is in the cross of Jesus Christ; so, I know my limitations. Remember Clint Eastwood: “A man’s gotta know his limitations.” Well I know my limitations. “Without me, you can do nothing,” and “I can do all things through Christ.”

Forty percent (40%) report a serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month.

Man, I’ve got one really nice church; I’ll tell you! I have had a church or two where I could say that about but it certainly wouldn’t be here.

Thirty-three percent (33%) confess involvement in some inappropriate sexual behavior with someone in the church.

Do you remember all the scandals that we just had go through where all these thousands of people had been violated and not just in the Catholic Church, but in other churches as well. And I’m reminded of Revelation 17 and 18 where it says that Babylon became the cage of every foul and unclean spirit. Remember that verse? Certainly when someone takes advantage of someone . . . like we had this teacher you know it was a very famous case – because she was attractive, she got off with no jail time – they talked about the double standard and all that. Certainly, a child should be protected and if people violate that then they should also be rebuked for it. And you’ll remember that oftentimes it wouldn’t have been so bad but the church covered it up, didn’t require that the person get counseling or help.

You know if somebody has a problem and says, “Okay, I have a problem. Can I get some help?” they go to counseling. That’s different. But when somebody just tries to hide it and keeps doing it and moves from place to place and does it over and over wouldn’t you say there’s big difference there? When Jimmy Swaggart had his problem his church offered him – they said they would keep him in the ministry and not disavow him of his credentials if he would go to two years of counseling. And he refused to do it and just went out and started his own church. Now if he would have done it I would have respected him and thought well of him but because he didn’t that told me that he was still in denial and that what he did was wrong and that he needed to change. Now I don’t judge him, I am a “fruit inspector” though. God says you’re not allowed to judge but it does say you will know them by their fruits. Right? Now I may not be able to judge that he’s not a Christian but I can inspect his fruit and say he should have taken the counseling. And I wish him well believe me, I do. People that have problems I wish them well, I want them to get healed and become happy in Jesus because that’s the only thing that’s going to help them.

Seventy percent (70%) do not have someone they consider a close friend.

Now that’s sad. Now I know why because when I went into the ministry they said, “Do not become too close or emotionally involved with your church members.” I was in the ministry about six months and I had to make a decision – either I was going to say that’s a bunch of hooey or I was going to you know be distant.

And I said, How can you love a church member and minister to them and not get personally involved? How can you go to the hospital and help them when they’re sick, or ill, or dying and not be personally involved? I’m personally involved! J And God made me to carry the weight, he put big broad shoulders on me and a big heart and a willingness to be sympathetic and kind and an ability to absorb pain and not let it destroy me and not let it hurt me and not let it harm me and he turned me into a big old sponge that I could just suck up all that grief and give it to God! That’s a gift. That’s a miracle. That’s not something I was born with that’s something God gave me when I was born again!

And those of you that I have ministered to you know what I mean. There is a divine ministry going on when I’m in that hospital with you, when I’m in that funeral home with you. You know that that is not me, that is Jesus himself through me reaching out to minister to my church members. I don’t have to carry it all, I help Jesus. I’m just a little boy carrying my dad’s axe. He cuts down the tree but I still have a part to play. He didn’t even need me to carry the axe; he let me carry the axe! Okay? And I’m privileged and happy to do so!

Now your ministry should be the same. When you go out to minister for Jesus let him work through you. Pray and plug into the power and let the power flow through you to other people and Jesus will be in your body and your mind looking out through your eyes touching them through your hands hugging them with your arms. That’s what will happen. That’s what Jesus does. I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me…Amen? But you can’t get it unless you’re plugged into the power!

Prayer Evangelism Focus to facilitate revival and release the power of God.

How many of you would like to see revival in the Newark Church? Would you like to see that – see people on fire for God, people excited for Jesus? We want to release God’s power here in this church. We want to prevent being a “doing church” where we just do and do, and do. I’ve seen so many of our churches burn out because all they do is work, work, work; they’re not having prayer, and every single one of them that burned out told me at some point that the reason they were burning out is because they weren’t praying, they weren’t spending time with Jesus. And it’s every single time. So if you’re feeling burnt out, you’re part of the doing church, you’re just working, working, working – stop and pray! Just stop it. Just stop. Carve out a couple hours a week or 15 minutes a day, figure out a time, carve it out, and pray. The best cure for burnout is communion with God on your knees. Don’t be a doing church, be a praying church first.

The purpose of this is to produce deeper Christians. Do you want to get deep or do you want to be shallow? If you’re a mile wide and an inch deep, and you’re wondering why your life seems to have no purpose why you need the antidepressants, and why you’re always drinking the caffeinated drinks because you’re so bumbed out and you need a little kick, so you’re guzzling the coffee and the caffeine to try to give you a little boost . . . If you’re a mile wide and an inch deep spiritually how long are you going to live that way? Why not stop being a mile wide and an inch deep and stop and sink your anchor down deep into the word of God? Why not get deep? Remember what Jesus said to the apostles, Launch out into the deep. Cast your net on the right side of the boat and you’ll get a harvest. Threw it in: 150 fish! All because they listened to Jesus. You can’t get deep with God if you’re in shallow water. You have to take time. Little time in prayer, little faith. Little time in Bible study, little faith. Much time in prayer, much faith. Much time in Bible study, much faith. How strong do you want to be? Want to lift weights and get strong, you have got to read your Bible and pray.

To introduce a sense of expectancy and fellowship with a living God.

In other words, here on Sabbath morning when we have our Sabbath morning sermon, when we have our prayers, and we have prayer requests we have an attitude of expectancy! We’re expecting God to heal people. We’re expecting God to do great things in our church. We’re looking for those answers to prayer! We have our little prayer journal, and we have our prayers written down, and we have a little space underneath for the answer when it comes. We’re expecting God to do something.

And, fellowship with the living God. Communion with God through prayer actually puts you in touch with God and you commune and fellowship with him. You need to fellowship with God. So there they are.

Rekindle a Love for the Lost.

Do we really love the lost? I had a lady call me from a homeless shelter this week. She called me up, she said, and as a matter-of-fact the young lady that comes to church here, I can’t remember her name it just slips me, she was her neighbor and she told her to call me. And her friend was being abused and beaten by her husband and he was beating on the door of this lady’s apartment where the victim had run for assistance. And she called me up and she told me a little bit of the history of how she was in and out. She had moved out, moved back, moved out and moved back four or five times. And I’ve had a lot of experience with this and I know basically how these things work so I said to her, I said, “Dear, when you are willing to call the homeless shelter and move out of this man’s house, when you’re willing to get your stuff and move to the homeless shelter, you call me back and I’ll help you. But until you’re willing to go to the homeless shelter and get out of this house and get out of this relationship with this abuser, if you’re just going to stay there and try to work through this I’m not going to help you.”

Now trust me, they were a boyfriend and girlfriend, this guy had beaten her up and put her in the hospital. He was not a person you want to stay with, okay, especially if you’re not married to him. If you’re married, it’s a little bit different; I play things a little bit differently. But in this case, she needed to get out and I mean now. I didn’t want her dying that night. So my only advice to her was “Grab your stuff, get to a homeless shelter. When you do, call me.”

Now I’ve told that to many people. Not many have ever called me back. Two days later, I get a call, “Pastor, I’m in the homeless shelter. You said to call you; I’m ready, what do we need to do?” Hallelujah! But we prayed, we prayed together. And when I was done praying with her she cried, and that prayer, that prayer, did more for her than all the talking I could have done. Jesus reached into her heart, rewired her, she’s at the homeless shelter tonight. She wants to come to church here if she can get a ride. She has not transportation. She does have a job at Denison, she’s working, and she’s looking for a place to stay. So if any of you want a ministry there’s a lady who wants a ride to church. I sent her name to Gloria who’s our Women’s Ministry leader. While we’re at it doing this Women’s Ministry conference on prayer, we might as well talk about evangelism and helping a woman in need. Amen? There’s an opportunity for you. Do we have a love for the lost? Are we willing to go out of our way? Are we willing to drive two streets over, pick somebody up, and put ourselves out to bring somebody to church?

To become a source of healing and comfort in the community.

I wrote a song once called Too Busy Today…

“Oh, Lord, please don’t make me go out of my way,
I’ll work for You tomorrow, Lord,
But I’m just too busy today.”

I wrote that some because there was a lady who wanted to come to an evangelistic meeting. She lived something like two miles away – nobody would go bring that woman to that meeting – nobody in the whole church – and I had to go pick her up. On top of all the other things I had to do at that evangelistic meeting, I had to do that; I couldn’t find one church member. So when I say, “Do we have a love for the lost and do are we a source of healing and comfort in the community?” that’s important. A source of healing in the community means a woman who is being beaten up by a man can get help from us! We will love her and help her because she’s in need!

If we wish to do good to souls, our success with these souls will be in proportion to their belief in our belief in an appreciation of them. It’s not so much important that you go to help them it’s that you believe in them! And your belief in them gives them faith and courage for them to believe in themselves! That’s why is says in Desire of Ages that Jesus didn’t see people as they were he sees them for what they can become when he loves them and gets involved in their life.

If your church were to disappear tomorrow, how long would it be before the neighbors realized you were missing? If we closed the doors tomorrow, would they even notice you weren’t coming here? Now I guarantee if you close the doors of the Community Service Center they’re going to notice you’re not there. You see what I mean? It’s so easy to talk to you; you’re already doing half the stuff I’m worried about. Okay? You are already a source of healing and comfort in the community. Can we grow? Can we do better? Yes. But we’re trying aren’t we? And we’re succeeding. We’re not just trying, we’re succeeding; we’re getting some things done. We could get more done but we’re doing it, we’re out there trying, we’re giving it our best shot, and that’s important, isn’t it?

The legacy of Ralph’s wife and others who have poured their heart and soul and their blood, sweat and tears into that Community Service Center, we are reaping the benefits and standing on the shoulders of all those great pioneers who did that for us and now we have an opportunity to change the Newark community for good. Everyday we have that opportunity. And with our radio station, our Community Service Center, our Web Site, and our programs that we’re putting on the radio and the tings we’re getting out, we ought to be able to make a magnificent impact on Licking County. All I want is Licking County for Christ. Is that too much to ask? And all I want in addition to that is Licking County to understand the truth of the Bible and the Sabbath and all the truths that we have to share with them. I think we can get a lot of it done and I think God will help us to get it all done eventually. Even a journey of a thousand miles has to start with a first step. I want to go a thousand miles with you. We can only take it one step at a time. The first step is up to you. You have to become a praying Christian, then our Church Board has to become a praying church, and then our church members have to implement the plans of the church. Can it happen? Amen!

Look at this. Here’s a prayer ministry done by the Spokane, Washington Church. They made these little cards; they went around and wrote, “This prayer was prayed for by your neighbors and the church.”

They’ll write a little note as to when they were there. They’ll go around, they’ll stand in front of the home, a group of them will pray for that home, then they’ll take the card and leave it in the door. They’ll pray for everybody in the house, they’ll pray for the family, they’ll pray that God will lead to Jesus, they will pray for God’s blessing on the house and then go to the next house. They have teams that pick like our little neighborhood across the street, and teams go over and the each pick a street and then they meet back. Not talking to them, not asking anything of them, just praying for them and leaving a little card.

Now how fun would be to have a group of you, “Oh, I can’t talk. I’m not a good public speaker. I’m too shy.” Are you too shy to stand on the sidewalk and say a prayer? Are you too shy just to hold hands and pray for the one that’s praying? Come on! We can do this! It isn’t that hard. We can do it! Isn’t that a good idea? Wouldn’t it be neat if somebody did that? We all wait for somebody to do that and nobody usually does! I’d rather have anybody do it than somebody or nobody. Anybody can do it. As a matter-of-fact I’d rather have everybody do it; leave nobody home.

Napa SDA Church

“What’s better than Saturday morning cartoons: Sunday Morning Inspirational! You’re invited to Praise in the Park, a one-of-a-kind outdoor community praise and worship celebration. Child -care activities for ages 1-12. Free community dinner!”

I would have put free community vegetarian dinner. You know? They like that.

“Casual dress required.”

Required – means don’t show up in your tie and your dress. Put your pants on and leave your tie at home.

“Bring sunscreen and your biggest smile. It’s a block party. Come, meet your neighbors, make new friends, and be blessed at the grove right behind the church. See you there!”

Pretty neat, huh?

“Welcome to our Outdoor Church”

And look at all the people that came out! They weren’t just church members; about half of those people are visitors. Isn’t that neat? Hey! Why couldn’t we knock down a couple trees back here and build a pavilion – as a matter-of-fact we could sneak down in the middle of the night, they have a real nice one right down here at this other church and we could just tow it up here. Why couldn’t we build one of those and have an outdoor church here and do it once a month during the summer and advertise it to all the people around and just everybody come and have a big old celebration. Just enjoy ourselves on the second Sabbath. Instead of just having it in the church, let’s do it outside make a big picnic of it, have a big praise celebration, have loud music, have balloons, invite the whole community. Have a Sabbath fun day! Wouldn’t that be great?

Prayer Outreach Triplets

Now here’s an idea for you. Wouldn’t this be great to do something like this, Gloria?

Groups of three people who covenant to pray regularly for specific family members and acquaintances.

You have three people, two friends, you get together and you pray and you write down who you’re going to pray for and you give each other each other’s prayer list, and you pray together, and you pray at home and really write down the prayers, and then write down the answers in your little prayer book when they come. You know how much fun it is to keep a prayer journal and then when you get an answer to write it down? If you would start doing that now when you’re 60 and you’re old, and you’re feeling discouraged like you’ve never done anything, and then you get your little prayer warrior book out and you read all the answers that God gave you to prayer? Isn’t that wonderful!

How they pray…

They pray for a relationship between group members and seekers for needs in these people’s lives. So they’re praying for their relationship between group members and seekers. These three are picking out some of the seekers who are coming to the church. They’re not Adventists yet, they’re just looking, they’re studying, they’re searching, and these three say, “Oh, ________ are coming to the church. Let’s pray for _________. Let’s pray for a good relationship so that we can develop a relationship to them, become close to them and we can minister to them and help them. And then they pray for the needs in these people’s lives. They get to know them, they share some of their prayer needs with them, they start praying not only individually but also as a group and they hold each other accountable. Gloria might say to Cheryl, “Cheryl, did you pray over your list this week?” Cheryl says, “Yes, but how about you, Deb?” “Well, I’ve been kind of busy.” “Too busy to pray?” “Yeah, I have to admit it, I’ve been too busy to pray.” “Well then you’re too busy, right? Let’s pray for Deb. Let’s lay hands on Deb and pray for her so that this week she’ll have prayer.” Hold each other accountable. Don’t let the other person just get away with it, make them be accountable.

Why do not believers feel a deeper more earnest concern for those who are out of Christ? Why do not two or three meet together and plead with God for the salvation of some special one and then still for another. In our churches, let companies, small groups, be formed for service. As they work and pray in Christ’s name their numbers will increase.

Could it be that we’re not growing as fast as God wants us to grow because we’re not praying in groups of two or three like Jesus told us to do?

How To Pray for Seekers

John 6:44 – God draws them to Himself.

So God is the One out there drawing these people to Himself that…

Acts 17:27 – they may seek to know God.

1 Thessalonians 2:13 – they believe the scriptures.

2 Corinthians 4:4 – Satan is bound from blinding them to the truth.

So the devil is not allowed to blind you to the truth unless you let him do it!

John 16:8-13 – the Holy Spirit works in them.

Acts 3:19 – they turn from their sins.

John 1:12 – they believe in Christ as Savior.

Matthew 7:21 – they obey Christ as Lord.

Colossians 2:6, 7 – they take root and grow in Christ.

See these are the things you are praying for these new believers that are coming to you. There’s somebody named Larry and his son Jared who comes to church here. Does anybody have them on their prayer list? Is anybody praying every week for them that they come in? Yes! We have two that raised their hand! Every day! Hallelujah! So that’s what we want to do. We want to know what we’re doing and do it on purpose, not hit or miss, study and know why we’re praying, look those verses up, understand what our mission is and then carry it out. It’s not too hard to do.

Rationale – Why do we want to become a praying church: To confront sin and learn God’s ways of victory.

We want to have victory over our sins.

To restore the Holy Spirit to his place of prominence in our worship.

To humble ourselves in the eyes of the Lord.

We get too proud, too big for our britches and prayer humbles us and brings us back. When you get on your knees, it lowers you by about two feet.

To facilitate unity within the body.

A praying church is a unified church. Amen?
The Concert of Prayer

Elicit agreement and visible unity in extraordinary prayer for revival.

Networking the body of Christ - Believers are united sharing mutual concerns. When you pray for Christie’s mom, when you pray for Debbie’s brother-in-law who needs a liver transplant, when you pray for Marie as she’s grieving, when you pray for Tammy because she’s missing her daughter who’s away at school you draw closer to that person. You are bonded to that person and that prayer ministry together will bond you together and draw you closer to each other and you won’t feel so alienated, you won’t need to immerse yourself in the worldly activities, the dope operas, the TV, the sports, and stupid stuff that really doesn’t matter in eternity. You will have such a deep connection with these people that you won’t feel depressed. You’ll feel like your life has purpose and has meaning. Prayer is the best antidepressant there is!

Now just let me say one little caveat here so I make sure no one misunderstands me. There are some people that are born with a lack of Serotonin or other chemicals in their brain that makes their elevator stop about two floors down. They sometimes need antidepressants to get their elevator to the first floor. They are not taking drugs or being bad because they’re doing that. Under a doctor’s care sometimes because of chemical imbalances, that kind of thing is necessary. But I’m telling you this right now, God can heal anything! Your real answer for healing is Jesus Christ!

Some say “Pastor I can’t drive down to Reynoldsburg, that’s 20 miles from here.” Reynoldsburg people say “Oh well we just can’t drive there, you know? We just can’t do it.” Well, maybe we can’t but what a blessing it would be if once a quarter we all got together and had two churches praying? That would be really neat, I think, with one voice, short prayers, one central theme prayer through song and scripture where you’re praying through the song as it’s being sung, you’re praying through the scripture as it’s being read.

“The time has come for a thorough reformation to take place. When this reformation begins the Spirit of prayer will accentuate every believer and will banish from the church the spirit of discord and strife.”
The way you can pray is many. When I look in the Bible, I see where Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven, lifted up his hands, and prayed. Solomon when he dedicated the temple knelt down on his knees, lifted up his hands, and looked up to God and prayed. Jesus taught us how to pray when he taught us the “Our Father…” That’s probably the greatest prayer ever prayed and you should talk to God as you would to a friend – just like you talk to your best friend, that’s the way you talk to God. Now don’t talk to God like a father, a stern father, talk to God like your Daddy! “Our Daddy which art in heaven” is the literal translation. Jesus taught to you pray, “Our Daddy…” “Dear Daddy…” a daddy you love to hug and kiss and have him tuck you into bed at night. That’s your daddy.

You can model that with your children. In other words, “Let me show you.” Take their hand, pray for ten minutes, and demonstrate a prayer: “Dear God, hope you’re having a good day today. Thank you for being my dad…” and you can demonstrate it to them. A lot of times a simple prayer with them will show them more than you trying to tell them. I think a lot times that’s true. We have a lot of meetings like this but what we need to do is get out and put it into practice. I challenge you this week and every week to “pray without ceasing,” to have your morning and evening worship, and to pray like you have never prayed before! Jesus is coming soon, and only faithful prayer warriors will be ready to meet him in the air!

God Bless you and good night!

Resources:

The Praying Church Source Book
1-800-777-7270
1-800-333-8300

Pray Magazine
Bimonthly, six issues. $20 per year
1-800-691-PRAY (7729)

Transformations Video - The Sentinel Group
1-800-668-5657
www.sentinelgroup.org

Randy Maxwell – Web site
www.tagnet.org/ifmypeoplepray
eaglesnest@rmci.net



Women’s Ministry - Prayer Enrichment Session Newark Seventh-day Adventist Church
March 24 and 25, 2006 Pastor: Tom Hughes
“A Living Example”
Elder Gloria Whitling

Today I want to talk to you about how actions speak louder than words. Our actions tell others more about who we are and what we believe than all the words that come out of our mouth. Anyone can get up and read a piece of paper and some can really put meaning in the words but it is what you do before and after you speak that will convict others of how much you believe what you said.

I want to share a story with you about a man born in a metropolitan area. His parents were poor and didn’t have much of an education. His father was a tradesman; his mom was a “stay-at-home” mom. She worked hard to make ends meet on her husband’s salary. They had to move several times in his youth but he always felt the love of his parents no matter where they went. This child was a good child. He was very considerate of his parents and always listened to and obeyed them. To them he was very special.

As he grew older they noticed that he was different from the children of the neighborhood because he wasn’t one who wanted to be part of the groups of kids that thought it was fun to cause mischief. He tried to make friends and play with them but when they would fight or want to steal and then lie about it he didn’t want to go along with them.

Soon the other children didn’t want to play with him. He was considered a “party pooper.” He would try and tell them that what they were doing wasn’t right. They would make fun of him and call him names but he still would not be part of their groups.

He learned to find pleasure in staying home and helping his mother around the house. He could help with the sweeping, go get water for her or walk to the market and buy what she needed. He also really enjoyed the time he spent with his Dad who was a carpenter. He enjoyed the feel of the wood in his hands as he helped his dad make tables and chairs, carts and barrels. The smell and feel of wood dust was in his veins. He was the tool man of his time.

As he grew older, he did change but not as you would expect. For most young men of his time as they grew up they enjoyed the company of their friends after work hours in the local pubs drinking and partying together. Not so with this young man, he still enjoyed the time with his family. Often he could be seen going out to the hills by himself. When asked what he did, he would reply “I was talking to my heavenly father.”

Boy oh boy did the young men like to tease him about that. Whoever heard of praying in the evening or early morning hours? Those were party or sleeping times. But he had spent a lifetime of being considered different so their teasing didn’t bother him. If anything it made him sad, it was that their life had so little meaning. Often he would try and explain the importance of praying and of living a life showing honor to their parents and God. Yet, in the fullness of time He was ready to fulfill the Lord’s will. He knew exactly what God wanted him to do and He was ready to go forth.

How many of us can say that we have spent enough time in prayer that we know exactly what God wants us to do? Are we ready to go forth as the Lord directs? Now, I am sure you all know that I am talking about Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. He is suppose to be our roll model, someone that we are to look up to and strive to be like. In your daily lives do you look up to Jesus or have you put him on a shelf somewhere and left him there?

Each year the General Conference sets aside one Sabbath as a day of Prayer. On this day we are to STOP and reflect on our prayer life. This is not always easy to do because it is not a tangible aspect in our life. Unlike going through our closets or cabinets and sorting through our accumulated stuff, we must sort though how we spend our time in prayer and set-up a plan for improvement. Remember: Jesus went to the hills to commune with his Father, do you set aside special time daily for talking to your heavenly Father? Or do you catch it when you remember and have a few spare minutes or when you have an immediate need.

When God created us, He gave us both a physical and a spiritual component to make us the persons we are. Both parts need to be nourished and groomed in order to maintain good health. The physical side is easy to take care of. By feeding it the right diet, giving it exercise and keeping it clean and well groomed, you will stay in relatively good health. So what about the spiritual part of us? Is it the same? Do we feed it, exercise it, and keep it well groomed? I say YES! Our spiritual side needs to be fed daily, exercised daily and groomed daily and PRAYER is the tool used to do this. When properly exercised, Prayer will enlarge the heart until it is capable of containing God’s gift of Himself to you.

Most of us Christians live our lives by using 85% of our own natural light, our own wisdom, and our own power. We give God about 15% control in our decisions. Then we wonder why we feel something is missing in our lives. The solution is so simple. Just turn on the switch! By using the switch of prayer, the Holy Spirit intercedes and causes the Father’s light to flow over and around us in our lives. He encompasses us with peace, joy, serenity, and security. Prayer makes the difference. The power is already there. All that is required is that you turn it on.

So what is prayer?

Prayer is the line of communication between God and man. Through prayer, we become friends with God and we work at building a trusting relationship. God will never force us to pray, but prayer is a privilege that we, as God’s children, are given. With time, you will find that your prayers become more of a conversation with Him. Prayer will bring you up to God where you can share your hopes, joys, sorrows, and defeats with Him. You can talk to Him about the day at the office, at school, at home or any activity of the day. Ask Him to give you understanding of situations that you face in your life. Ask questions of things you don’t understand.

God longs for this kind of companionship with each of His children. But remember to wait on the Lord and listen to what He has to say. You do know that 50% of a relationship involves listening. Also, remember that relationships require the involvement of at least two people. You can not have a relationship with God if you don’t spend time building that relationship. Jesus found strength for His days’ work through the time He spent in communication with His heavenly Father. Do you find Strength for your days’ work through prayer?
Just like in any relationship be prepared to experience times of Happiness, Joy, sorrow, and despair.

We are Happy as long as the relationship seems to be going our way. (When God’s will and our will are running parallel.)

Joy is unexplainable extreme happiness that surrounds you and seems to bubble out of you for no reason. I believe it has to do with the security of being at total peace within our relationship with God.

I can imagine that Jesus experience Joy at His baptism. When He came out of the water and God descended like a dove to just above Him and He heard His Father’s voice say “This is my Son in whom I love; with him I am well pleased”. Matthew 3:16-17, Mark 1:10-11, Luke 3:21-22
Sorrow is an emotion that we all have to deal with at some time but with the comfort that God willingly gives us, we can continue on with life.

Jesus has been given the name “A Man of Sorrows.” He experienced sorrow to the tenth degree.

The disappointment of his closest friends not being able to stay awake and pray for him to have the strength to face his future. Imagine having a close friend deny knowing you when you need a friend the most. What about the burden he carried of all the sins of the world. He needed the strength and support he received from His heavenly Father. Prayer was his link to his Father. Jesus used prayer as his lifeline.

Despair is the one emotion that can cost us the most. Despair is the loss of hope in our relationship with God. This is the most dangerous place to be in a relationship.

Jesus even went to the breaking point of despair when just before his death he cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34

But his lifeline was not broken with his Father because he refused to accept the defeat he felt. He was still able to call out “Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit.” Luke 23:46. Then he died. His lifeline had kept him secure and faithful to the end. Praise the Lord!

Jesus had spent his life here on earth building and maintaining a relationship with his Heavenly Father. He set the example of devoting time to talking with God. He has shown us that you must communicate with God to succeed against all the trials of each day.

To walk in a life that is dependent on prayer is not easy but are you willing to try and dedicate time to make the change?

To better understand prayer let’s look at Four Principles of Prayer.

1. The first principle is that the Holy Spirit helps us know what to pray. Romans 8:26 tells us, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” Have you ever started to pray and your mind is blank to any prayer thoughts. Only thing you can think of are some rote prayers that you learn as a child. Does this leave you frustrated? Or maybe you are hurrying from one appointment to another and try to pray in the go between times and feel that there is no one on the other end? This is where the Holy Spirit’s help comes in.

2. The second Principle is that the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf. In Romans 8:27 we are told “And He that searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” There are personal benefits in having the Holy Spirit pray for us. One is that He is able to fully express to God what we find difficult to say. It is the sincerity and depth of the feelings that the Holy Spirit has on our behalf, which cause His groaning to transcend our words, which can’t be expressed to the throne of the Holy Father above. What our heart wants to say but doesn’t seem to have words for full expression the Holy Spirit intercedes with groaning that the Heavenly Father understands.

3. The Third Principle is – God hears our hearts in Prayer more than our words. Is there not comfort in knowing that when you pray, God is listening to your heart as you utter words? God is intimately concerned for our well being. Anything that matters to us is important to Him as long as it is according to His will. Matthew 6:7-8 tells us, “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”

4. Last but not least is Principle #4 - Prayer is always answered. I know that some will say this is a false statement. That God doesn’t always answer prayers. But I say He does always answer prayers, He just doesn’t always answer them the way we want him to. Romans 8:28 says “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him…” God will not answer any prayer that will lead us out of his control and into Satan’s control. Sometimes God will open our spiritual eyes and show us what we can do to bring about an answer and then He gives us the ability to do it.

Now, let’s talk about the ways that God does answer Prayer.

“’No,’ ‘Slow,’ ‘Grow,’ and ‘Yes.’”

Let’s take a look at them.

“No.” - This is the answer that we like the least. If we don’t have enough faith, we think that God is failing us. But maybe it is just that our request is worded wrong. One thing to remember is that even Jesus received a “no” to His request to not have to go to the cross. You will find this in Matthew 26: 36-39. And, like Jesus said, “Not as I will, but as you will,” we need to accept the “No” graciously.

Another reason for NO is that sometimes our request doesn’t fulfill God’s larger purposes and so He turns us down. Of course, some requests could be morally wrong or they could be for petty and selfish wants. Obviously, God would say no to those requests.

“Slow.” - There are times when God’s answer is slow in coming and to your way of thinking. It is close but not exactly, the way you wanted it to be. Maybe your timing is wrong - If we want to live our lives according to God’s will then we have to recognize that He will know when it is the best time for us to have certain things in our life. Waiting is one of the hardest things to do especially when the years go by and we see no fulfillment of our dreams and hopes. It is a good thing to learn to wait since we spend a good amount of our lifetime waiting. Whether it is waiting on God, our spouses, our children, or waiting in line somewhere, we are waiting.

In Genesis 13: 14-17, God is talking with Abram and tells him that he will have offspring as numerous as the dust of the earth.

Skip over to Genesis 15: 2-6, once again Abram and God are talking and God reminds Abram that he will have offspring that are as numerous as the stars of the heavens. This is the second time that God has spoken to Abram about having offspring.
Now as we continue with Abram’s story in Genesis we find that Abram and Sarai figure that God isn’t really going give them their own children and decide to take matters into their own hands. They failed to wait on the Lord. How often do we do this very thing in our lives? Do we also, have more hardships as Abram and Sarai did because of growing impatient and thinking that we can handle the matter. We must remember that patience is an acquired virtue.

In 1 Samuel, chapter 1, we read about a woman named Hannah who had been praying for a child for years but had remained barren. Yet, she still prayed and wept bitterly to the Lord. In the fullness of time, God granted her request.

The bible has a lot of stories about people who had to wait on the Lord for their answer. “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength!” Isaiah 40: 28. Unfortunately, not all of them waited patiently for the Lord to answer their prayers.

A third way of an answer is: “Grow.” At the time of your request, your spiritual condition is not ready for an answer. You need to do some more spiritual growing. This will require waiting, searching, and maturing in God’s grace. James 4:3 says “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives…”

The most sought after answer is “Yes.” God will answer yes when your request, timing, and spiritual condition are just right. When you will know how to best use what you have asked for to bring glory and honor to God.

Don’t forget to praise the Lord when you receive a Yes answer. We all like to be thanked when we do a good deed to someone else.

You know Jesus never gave a sermon on unanswered prayer because from His viewpoint all prayers are answered. They are answered “No,” “Slow,” “Grow,” or “Yes.”

God will always answer your prayer. So ask with a believing heart and trust in God’s judgment of the answer. In Psalm 34:4 we read “I sought the Lord, and He answered me.” Praise the Lord!

How Should I Pray?

It is not necessary to pray long and elaborate prayers. Just let the words and thoughts flow from your heart. Remember the Holy Spirit will fill in the gaps. In Matthew 6:6 Jesus tells us “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen….”

Psalm 62:8 “….Pour out your hearts to Him for God is our refuge.”

When talking to God just tell him what your heart is feeling. In joy, praise Him for He is worthy of all praise. In times of sorrow cry on His shoulder, our God has a tender heart and He will comfort you. In times of anger, express your anger to Him. He will listen and then He will show you how to let the anger go.

A simple, believing prayer comes straight out of our heart and goes straight to God’s heart.

Jesus has also said that it is necessary to come as a child to the Father.

In Matthew 18: 3 Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Mark 10:14-15 says, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth; anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

So cultivate the childlike faith of the young child whom, when ready for bed, went into the family room and announced “I’m going to say my prayers now. Anybody want anything?”.

Are we all Called to Pray?

YES, God is calling each one of us to a time of prayer. When He does, we need to go to Him and ask boldly for His guidance in decision making, and in the activities of the day. Our prayer life is a responsibility that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Through out the bible there are many commands that call us to a life of faithful prayer. Ephesians 1:18 says “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you…”

Prayer is the doorway to becoming aware of God’s will for your life.
Colossians 4:2 says “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

We should be Thankful for all the good that the Lord brings into our lives. We need to express openly our praise and adoration. God is worthy of all praise all the time.

I want to share one experience of mine on a very quick answer to prayer that I am still thankful to this day.

This event happened when Clyde, Jami and I had been living in Mississippi for a little over a year. Clyde needed to get some textbooks from a schoolteacher at the elementary school on Bass Memorial Academy grounds. Our son was also attending school there so we decided to make an after school trip to get the books and then take our son out for dinner.

When we left I almost sat next to Jami on the back seat of the Chevy Astro van that we had in order to work on some schoolwork but decided against that and rode up front instead. (If I had sat next to her, I would not have been wearing a seatbelt.) Praise the Lord for a change of plans! Bass Academy is about a 45-minute drive away from Biloxi. When we turned onto Highway 11, we ran into some rain and heavy winds. We aren’t really sure just what happened but the van started fishtailing. Clyde wasn’t able to get it back under control and I just had this sinking feeling that we were going to spin around and go into a ditch backwards. When the spin started I closed my eyes and prayed “Dear Lord, please protect us especially Jami. If anyone needs to be hurt let it be me or Clyde and please don’t involve anyone else in this accident.”

I opened my eyes and everything was still and semi-dark. It took about 5 seconds to realize that I was hanging upside down in the van. Then I became aware of Jami screaming for help. Back then the back seatbelts were only lap belts and she only had support around her abdomen.

Within minutes, we had the help of a young man who was trying to open the doors and found that the only door he could open was the rear doors. He was attempting to crawl in to get to Jami. Clyde & I were also working our way out of the seat belts and going to the rear of the van. Clyde got to Jami first, got her down, and then handed her to the man. He took her out of the van. Clyde crawled out and I followed. He set up her wheelchair and we worked at calming her down. Within five minutes, there was an ambulance on the scene. We thought that we were ok but they stayed around and it was a good thing because Clyde started developing a headache and a stiff neck. They put him in the ambulance, and then checking Jami, some bruises were starting to show on the right side of her head. Since she has a shunt, we decided to also have her transported in order to be checked out. One thing that we were aware of almost immediately is how there was no oncoming traffic or traffic right behind us. This is a two-lane road and there is always some traffic on it. Thank you Lord for no traffic right then.

But within two minutes of the accident, there was traffic. It seemed like a lot because it was going home time. I walked around the van and realized that it was going to be totaled and then realized that the three of us had walked away from the vehicle. Thank you Lord for answering my prayer!

The ambulance took all three of us to the hospital in Hattiesburg. I was just a passenger. I went with Jami and stayed with her until her brother arrived and went and sat with her so I could go and see about Clyde. (I bet you are wondering how Chris got there. One person who stopped asked what they could do and I asked them to stop at Bass and get word to our son that we had been in an accident and were okay. An office worker went and brought him to the scene of the accident to see us. The Highway Patrol officer was still there and told him where we had gone. Mrs. Brown then brought him to the hospital.) When I was walking over to see Clyde after his x-rays God gave me a scripture and I knew then that everything would be ok. The scripture was Jeremiah 29:11. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

I had never noticed this scripture before but it was right there in my head. I shared this scripture with Clyde and tried to convince him that there was nothing he could have done to prevent the accident. Clyde suffered whiplash; Jami had multiple bruises from being thrown around in the backseat, and as for me I walked away from the accident without a scratch. (Actually I did have one scratch and that was because I went back into the van to look for my purse, which I didn’t have with me.)

Just before Jami and Clyde were released from the hospital, I called a friend to come and get us. Later that night after getting home and settling down, I went and found that verse and read it. I felt that God only gave me a part of the verse to calm me but then He prompted me to read through to verse 14. Jeremiah 29:12–14 reads, “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord.” WOW!

What a promise! God says that we will find Him when we seek Him with all of our heart.

Thank you Lord for your promise of hope. Thank you for answering my prayer immediately and thank you for saving my family.

I say we have an awesome God and He does answer prayers! Amen!

Yes, we do have an Awesome God and there is one thing that He wants the most. That is a personal relationship with YOU. With this relationship, He can lead us to heaven for an eternal life with Him.

Are you willing to follow the example that his Son set while he walked on the earth and was dependent on prayer to keep open the communication between him and his Father?

Are you willing to be a Living Example?

In closing, I hope that you will spend more time in daily prayer, devotions, and bible reading so that you can develop a relationship with the Godhead.

Remember the Four Principles of Prayer:

1. The Holy Spirit will help you to know what to pray.
2. The Holy Spirit will intercede on your behalf.
3. God hears our hearts in Prayer more than our words.
4. Prayer is always answered.

It is answered “No,” “Slow,” “Grow,” and “Yes.”
We must wait on the Lord and in the Fullness of Time, He will answer our prayer.
So are you willing to be a LIVING EXAMPLE? Are you willing to go into a communication business with God and develop that LIFELINE?
I truly hope so for your eternal life depends on it.



Women’s Ministry - Prayer Enrichment Session Newark Seventh-day Adventist Church
March 24 and 25, 2006 Pastor: Tom Hughes
“Pray Without Ceasing”
Debbie Hughes

Thessalonians 5:16-18—"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

What does it mean to pray without ceasing? Unceasing, incessant prayer is essential to the vitality of your relationship with the Lord and your ability to function in the world. But exactly what does it mean to pray without ceasing?

The first time someone hears about the concept of praying without ceasing it may conjure up the image of Christians walking around with their hands folded, heads bowed, and eyes closed, bumping into things. Maybe you think of someone in a constant kneeling position, praying, praying, and praying. If this is the picture, you envision it is an entirely false one. To truly “pray without ceasing,” a soul goes through life in constant contact with the Lord. It doesn't mean non-stop verbal praying - it means an attitude of prayer. It means to live with Christ in such a way that you can talk with Him, or listen to Him at any moment. There should be nothing between your soul and the Savior. Praying without ceasing is consciously living each moment in the presence of Christ.

God’s will is that each of us gratefully acknowledges His hand in all circumstances, not for all circumstances. Circumstances change; God does not. The Christian has an obligation to remain aware of God’s Presence and goodness regardless of appearances. Continuous prayer involves an attitude of openness to God in all situations and a practice of talking to God about all situations.

Jesus reminds us of a fact that is essential in our lives if we want to be happy:

We have to pray always, continually, without ceasing (Luke 18:1)...always!...at home, at work, when we relax, when we eat or play, at times of joy and sorrows...continually, keep on praying without ceasing! We often pray only when we can do nothing else, but prayer should be our way of life.

To “pray without ceasing” is living in continual God-consciousness, where everything we see and


experience becomes a kind of prayer, lived in deep awareness of and surrender to Him. It should be instant and intimate communication - not unlike that which we enjoy with our best friend.

To pray without ceasing means when we are tempted, we hold the temptation before God and ask for His help. When we experience something good and beautiful, we immediately thank the Lord for it. When we see evil around us, we ask God to make it right and to use us toward that end, if that is His will. When we meet someone who does not know Christ, we pray for God to draw that person to Himself and to use us to be a faithful witness. When we encounter trouble, we turn to God as our Deliverer.

In Colossians, Paul writes, “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2).

Ellen White expounds on this in her devotional My Life Today, p. 16, entitled “Prayer Never out of Place” . . .

“There is no time or place in which it is inappropriate to offer up a petition to God. There is nothing that can prevent us from lifting up our hearts in the spirit of earnest prayer. In the crowds of the street, in the midst of a business engagement, we may send up a petition to God, and plead for divine guidance. We may speak with Jesus as we walk by the way, and He says, I am at thy right hand. We may commune with God in our hearts; we may walk in companionship with Christ. When engaged in our daily labor we may breathe out our heart's desire inaudible to any human ear but that word cannot die away into silence, nor can it be lost. Nothing can drown the soul’s desire. It rises above the din of the street, above the noise of machinery. It is God to whom we are speaking, and our prayer is heard. Every earnest petition for grace and strength will be answered. . . . Ask God to do for you those things that you cannot do for yourselves. Tell Jesus everything. Lay open before Him the secrets of your heart for His eye searches the inmost recesses of the soul, and He reads your thoughts as an open book. When you have asked for the things that are necessary for your soul's good, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them. Accept His gifts with your whole heart; for Jesus has died that you might have the precious things of heaven as your own, and at last find a home with the heavenly angels in the kingdom of God. If you will find voice and time to pray, God will find time and voice to answer.”

Matthew Clarke Commentary states:

“You are dependent on God for every good; without Him you can do nothing; feel that dependence at all times, and you will always be in the spirit of prayer; and those who feel this spirit will, as frequently as possible, be found in the exercise of prayer.”

Thus, life becomes a continually ascending prayer: all life's thoughts, deeds, and circumstances become an opportunity to commune with our Heavenly Father. In that way we constantly set our mind “on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2).

Dwell not on the time you have failed to live this way, nor despair of never being able to do so. Start right now is my prayer for all of us in Jesus name, Amen!

Women’s Ministry - Prayer Enrichment Session Newark Seventh-day Adventist Church
March 24 and 25, 2006 Pastor: Tom Hughes
“Intercessory Prayer”
Marie Wilkison

We all know that intercessory prayer is the act of praying on behalf of another person. I would like to suggest that it is also a ministry of love. I’ve come up with four things that we need to do to prepare ourselves for intercessory prayer.

1. Recognize the Need. Christian prayer is conscious communication with God. Prayer is not telling God what to do; it is rather, sharing our needs with him. To believe that God knows best and is ordering all things for the best doesn’t cause us to cease working for that best that God has for us. It’s not that we tell God what to do, it is that we are God’s children created for relationship with him. Indeed, the working of God’s will within us and with others is often dependent on our praying. May I suggest that since we do believe in the power of intercessory prayer that we begin with ourselves, praying that we will be sensitive to the urgent needs around us.

True and Willing Love. Remember that God is love. Recognizing God’s love for me and intercessory prayer is essential for two reasons: (1) Believing that God loves me affects the way I pray and the content of my praying. Believing that God really loves me is the bridge of understanding over which I walk to a belief that God loves others just as well. Therefore, I can pray for others in confidence knowing that God loves them just as much as he loves me. Remember: though we may be limited in our capacity to love, God is not. We seem to transfer to God our inability to love with no strings attached; thus, thinking he is limited in his loving. It is the nature of true love to give up, even to sacrifice, and forget self for the sake of others. The New Testament word for this love is “agapé” – unselfish, other directed, with a feeling of active goodwill, taking the needs of others and making them our own. Love for others becomes in us the spirit of intercession. True love prays.

Recognize our Helplessness. Depend on God. Love is powerful. Compassion is a compelling force. Even so, though our compassion is deep and our love is limitless we may remain helpless in some situations. What do we do? This sense of helplessness on our part is the very strength of our intercession. It becomes the soul of our intercession. Many are witness to the fact that the redemptive power of intercession which flows from persons who know how limited, how utterly insufficient they are to meet the needs of those they love. In our helplessness, we are brought to the place where intercession is purified and becomes powerful. We come to the place of utter faith for God to do what we cannot do.

Confidence in God and Persistence. There’s not higher honor that we can bestow upon God than to believe in him fearlessly. To have confidence that despite the agonizing delay or devastating silence or the painful apparent refusal an answer will come and the answer will be a blessing. Repetition in prayer has an accumulative effect. Repetition is not simply duplication but it is an unfolding of the case. Praying again and again is the dynamic organ of novelty through which God allows us to see new facets of the need and new facets of our own experience. Repetition in prayer is like reading the Bible. If the meaning of the passage does not come the first time then we read it again, and again, and again.

So, in conclusion, intercession is truly a ministry of love. Through intercessory prayer, God does something that would not otherwise be done. Intercessory prayer opens our minds to hear what else God wants to tell us about the way we can minister to others.

Intercessory prayer:
is a ministry of love and caring.
becomes a launching pad for our service to others.
becomes the power base of our relationships with others.
is the investment of ourselves in God’s design to help other people.

Praying for people will bring you to love them. Loving them will lead you to serving them.
Serving them will be the open door through which God can move in to save, heal, and make whole.
Women’s Ministry - Prayer Enrichment Session Newark Seventh-day Adventist Church
March 24 and 25, 2006 Pastor: Tom Hughes

“How Does God Respond To Prayer?”
Ardyth Loveridge

My first thought was, Well, why wouldn’t he respond to prayer? He loves us! John 3:16 is probably the most widely know verse of the Scripture and it tells exactly how the Godhead feels about you and me. And so when we think about that Scripture we can know that God loves us even though we are a group of people who have rebelled against that love. He regards us as his children. He redeemed us. He paid a price that we cannot even understand that we might, at some time, inherit the kingdom and be sons and daughters in the royal family.

Now you think about that. You will not just be plain John Williams or Ann Jones. You are going to be a son or a daughter of God a member of the royal family, in the royal family by both adoption and blood. The blood of Jesus and the adoption he offers us as his children.

My! How could we expect him to other than to respond to us when we come to him? Gloria mentioned in her remarks in worship service that building that relationship is what forms a highway for us to eventually be saved. So when we think about God answering prayer, he gives us the privilege of calling him “Our Father.” We share that privilege with Jesus the Son. He is our brother by redemption and by blood, and he has made us part of his family.

So I guess this name that he has given to us to use to speak to him, as Our Father is a sign of the love and the trust that we have toward him. If we have an earthly father who loves us, and who works in our behalf, and who provides for us, and who examples for us the life of Christ, we think about him a father that is without value. But God the Father has given us the privilege of calling him “Our Father.” And when we speak to him in prayer as a child speaks to his father asking his favor or his blessing, it’s as music to his ears. He loves it. He loves us.

Secondly, he hears us. I have five or six points: One is “he loves,” and the next is that “he hears us.” If you look in 2 Chronicles 7:14, it relates about Solomon’s dedication of the newly-built temple; his prayer to God that that temple might be an abiding place for Him and the Holy Spirit and that it might be a gathering place for His people where they would learn to love and reverence Him and give Him all of their attention and when he knelt in front of that temple and prayed. When he had finished, the Scripture tells us that the Shekinah glory from heaven came down and filled the temple and inhabited the mercy seat; that fire came from heaven and took care of the sacrifice was there to be made.

You know God has pledged to us that if we come to him he will hear us. Do you remember the text of Scripture that the Lord says, “If my people who are called by my name will pray, I will hear them, I will save them, and I will heal their land.”? A complete redemption. He does here us. But you know there is a stipulation in that Scripture that says that we must first humble ourselves. If we will humble ourselves before God, he will do these things for us.

I read a very stirring passage from Christ’s Object Lessons and that passage says that the anthems of the celestial choirs; amid that, God hears the cries of the weakest human being. There is nothing that blots out our prayer. He hears it. The next statement (same passage) is that we may pour our hearts out to God in our solitude or in our walking by the way and our words reach the throne of the Monarch of the universe. It is God to whom we are speaking, and our prayer is heard.

Thirdly, he is trustworthy. I Kings 8:25 says, “O, Lord God of Israel, there is no other God like you in heaven or earth. You keep your promises and you hold to the covenant that you made to your people. You shower them with your love and bless them who keep your righteous law.”

He invites us in Matthew 11:28 “(whole verse)…I will give you rest.” But he goes on to say, “Take my yoke on you and learn of me.”

What does that yoke represent? It represents service for God, doesn’t it? He said, Take my yoke, take my opportunity of service, and make all that it’s possible for you to make of it.

There was a man that had two sons and he said to his first son, “come, go work in my vineyard today.” And he said, “Yes, sir, I will.” But he didn’t go. And he and another son that said when he asked him to go work in the vineyard, he said, “No, I’m not going.” But the Scripture says he went. Now Jesus asked those who heard him tell this parable, he asked them, “Which of these boys did the will of their father?” and his hearers said, “The second one.” Do you agree with that, the one that said, “no I’m not going to go” but he went? Sometimes we kind of neglect things that we should, could, or might do and don’t go. But if we change our mind, and go and work in the Lord’s vineyard, then we’re doing his will.

You know Jesus has promised to be our burden-bearer. When he said, “Come, and I will give you rest,” he said essentially, “I’ll take your burdens, I’ll take your cares, I’ll walk with you, I’ll teach you, I’ll be everything to you that you need.” But because of that relationship, he has also given us an opportunity to serve. He invites us to do his work.

Fifth, he communicates. In Daniel 9, Daniel was praying for himself and his people and he was in earnest about what he was saying. And do you know that the angel Gabriel was commissioned from heaven? And the Scripture says while Daniel was yet speaking Gabriel was beside him. He came to give him understanding and wisdom. It is commonly said that if you were to read Daniel’s prayer it would take you three minutes to read it. Before three minutes were up Daniel was accompanied by the angel Gabriel who had come from heaven. That’s real travel isn’t it! That’s one thing that absolutely boggles my mind is how we’re going to go to heaven. I know it’s going to happen and I know it’ll be alright, it’s all worked out, but I think How can all this group of people go to heaven? How are we going to be transported? Are there roadways through heaven that we’re going to go on? It only took Gabriel less than three minutes to get to Daniel. So God communicates with us.

And lastly, he answers. Gloria said something in her remarks about he the answers to prayer. And she said, “‘No,’ ‘No,’ ‘No,’ and ‘Yes.’” But I want to ask you if there is a “Yes,” “No,” and “Wait awhile”? And more often than once we seem to think that if God does not immediately answer our prayer that there is something amiss. This is not always true. And sometimes in a set of circumstances where we think yes is the absolute right thing for him to do it doesn’t happen that way. And Gloria alluded to Jesus’ reply to his Father in Gethsemane, “please take this cup from me if it’s possible.” That cup involved crucifixion. And the Father said to him, in essence, “No, you must finish the plan,” and Jesus was willing to do that. He was willing to do that and three times he made that request. His heart cried out for relief and it cried out for release from the burden that he was carrying. But he added a postscript to that and he said, “Nevertheless, thy will be done.” And that “No” that came to him we should be eternally grateful for because it’s the difference between our salvation and being forever lost.

I ran across a gem from the book Ministry of Healing and it says, “No cry from a soul in need, though it fail of utterance in words, will be unheeded.” {MH 93.1}

“…God is too wise and good to answer our prayers always at just the time and in just the manner we desire. He will do more and better for us than to accomplish all our wishes. . . These experiences that test faith are for our benefit…” {MH 230.4}
My Father a promise he has given to me that he will walk with me each day. His love and his wisdom will all satisfy and hope will brighten my way.

Unclouded skies may not always be mine; Life’s storms will come and have their way.
His care overspreads me and I’m secure, And my heart rest in him come what may.

He loves me of this I am sure. I’ll trust him though fears annoy. His loving Son has bought my soul, And a new life in him I enjoy.
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Women’s Ministry - Prayer Enrichment Session Newark Seventh-day Adventist Church
March 24 and 25, 2006 Pastor: Tom Hughes

“Teach Us to Pray, Lord”
Ali Benitez

Luke 11:1-13, “He was praying in a certain place and after he had finished one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples." 2He said to them, " When you pray, say: 'Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. 3'Give us each day our daily bread. 4'And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone in debt to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.' 5And He said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6for a friend of mine has arrived and I have nothing to set before him’; 7and he answers from within, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' 8"I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. 9"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and a door will be opened for you. 10"For everyone who asks, receives; and everyone who searches, finds; and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11"Is there anyone among you who if your child asks for a fish; will you give a snake instead of a fish? 12"Or if the child asks for an egg, will you give a scorpion? 13"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"


What we take from this story is that the key to prayer is perseverance. Never stop praying; do it continuously. Like Debbie said, “if you’re walking and you trip, tell him ‘Did you see that?’” Anything that you do, anywhere that you are, talk to God.

I am a resident assistant at Denison University. One day I was reading where Jesus saying, “Suppose one of you has a friend and you go to him at midnight and say to him…” A friend comes and knocks at your door at a late hour in the night and you really do not want to answer the door. You’re kind of tired, you want to go to bed, but there they are knocking. I have a special resident that really gets worked up about things. I have a sign posted on my door that says “Community Hours.” You can come and talk to me from 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. It is usually about 10 or 11 p.m. that she wants to knock on the door! I’m in bed and I hear, “Aly?”

God, no. It’s eleven o’clock. I have class in the morning! Maybe I’ll just stay quiet. So I stay quiet. She leaves. A half an hour later she’s back. “Aly?” And I think to myself, No, it’s late. Go back. She leaves. An hour later, two in the morning, I hear, “‘Reezay!’ (my nickname) could you just open the door for me, please?” Okay. J So it’s that persistence that she has and I think, I must.

And the same thing happens with this man here. Even though inside him he had the wrong spirit when he thought, You, know, this isn’t the time. I’m sleeping; it’s the persistency the other person had that allowed for him to answer. The same thing works with God. We need to know him in order for him to answer. He can’t just answer prayers when we sit there and do nothing.

I read in one of Ellen White’s books, “What do we ask for when we pray?” Have you ever thought about that? What should we say? You know it’s funny how I catch myself thinking that maybe I can change God’s mind. Maybe if I just ask him, and I keep on asking him, he’ll give me what I want. But that’s the wrong spirit. He says that we need to seek in order to be able to give; that our prayers should consist of asking God to help us give to others and not to ourselves.

“In like manner the disciples were to seek blessings from God. In the feeding of the multitude and in the sermon on the bread from heaven, Christ had opened to them their work as His representatives. They were to give the bread of life to the people. He who had appointed their work, saw how often their faith would be tried. Often they would be thrown into unexpected positions, and would realize their human insufficiency. Souls that were hungering for the bread of life would come to them, and they would feel themselves to be destitute and helpless. They must receive spiritual food, or they would have nothing to impart. But they were not to turn one soul away unfed. . .” {Christ’s Object Lessons 140.5}

There are people out there dying to know about God. If we are not asking God to help us to feed us spiritually, what kind of bread are we able to give those who need?

“They must receive spiritual food, or they would have nothing to impart. But they were not to turn one soul away unfed. Christ directs them to the source of supply. The man whose friend came to him for entertainment, even at the unseasonable hour of midnight, did not turn him away. He had nothing to set before him, but he went to one who had food and pressed his request until the neighbor supplied his need. And would not God, who had sent His servants to feed the hungry, supply their need for His own work? {COL 140.5}

We are called to serve. We are to get more people to the feet of Christ. Our prayers should always consist of asking God to help us give. And when we ask, “Our prayers are not to be a selfish asking, merely for our own benefit. We are to ask that we may give. The principle of Christ's life must be the principle of our lives. ‘For their sakes,’ He said, speaking of His disciples, ‘I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified.’ John 17:19.

The same devotion, the same self-sacrifice, the same subjection to the claims of the word of God, that were manifest in Christ, must be seen in His servants. Our mission to the world is not to serve or please ourselves; we are to glorify God by co-operating with Him to save sinners. We are to ask blessings from God that we may communicate to others. The capacity for receiving is preserved only by imparting. We cannot continue to receive heavenly treasure without communicating to those around us. {COL 142.3}

We can’t just keep our prayers to ourselves. Once our prayers are answered, we must go out there and teach others the difference it has made in our lives as well. We must remember also that if we want our prayers to be answered, we must do as God asks. We cannot ask something in return if we haven’t put anything into our relationship with him. I think about that when we get our paychecks. We like it but we put work into getting it. The same way it is with our prayers. If we are to receive something, our life should be lived as it is reflected in Christ.

“The promise is "If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." John 15:7. And John declares: "Hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected.” 1 John 2:3-5.” {COL 144.1}

This semester has been very tough for me and my family. They have gone through a lot of transitions during this time. But I have realized that in all my prayers I hadn’t asked with a certainty that it will be given to me. Like it has been said all during this conference, “Ask and ye shall receive.” I know this, and it kept bothering me. And I would go to class and think What was that prayer for? Because I’m just saying it, and saying it; and it sounds repetitive like the Pharisees hoping something will come but I didn’t really believe that God could possibly help me out in these situations. But I always kept it in mind and it bothered me.

Then, on a Wednesday, a friend that I have known since I’ve been at Denison but that I’ve never really talked to – I just know her name and major – saw me sitting alone at a table in the cafeteria. She just sat down matter-of-factly; as if she was saying, I’m going to sit here. So I thought, Okay. She looked at and said; “I know your story.” I chuckled and I thought to myself, My story? My life is that great, huh? I had no idea what she was talking about. Then she said, “I just want you to know one thing.” I thought, All right? She said, “You don’t have to be afraid.”

I’m looking at her and I’m thinking, Speak to me, Lord! I have no idea what story you have in your head but I know God knows my story, and you have something to tell me today. So she said, “I’m going to tell you one thing that I have learned (she’s an international student). You need to knock on every door possible. I know that it seems right know that all doors closed for you and that nobody’s opening up. But I promise you that once you knock on that one door that will open, five more open up behind it.”
My situation is very personal, but it made a lot of sense. And I said, “You know, you’re right.” It’s like my prayers were weak prayers to me. I didn’t put any faith in them. I’m going to pour my heart out to God because he knows already what’s going on but I didn’t have any faith that he could do anything. And now, next week, I have meetings with three people both in Admissions and Residential Life that are all getting it together to help the situation work out for me.

And so, brothers and sisters, keep on knocking as she said. It may seem like all the doors are closed but we must persevere in our prayers and once one opens, five more open up behind it.



Closing Prayer (Pastor Tom Hughes):

Father in heaven, thank you for accepting us when we were your enemies. When we hated you; when we didn’t want anything to do with you, you loved us anyway. When we cursed at you and acted stupid and foolish, and said things we shouldn’t have said; lived lifestyles that we shouldn’t have been living, you didn’t care, you loved us anyway, no matter how broken our lives.

No matter how sorry our stories, you somehow looked through our problems and you saw our needs and you prayed for us. When you prayed (in John 17), you prayed for those who would believe because of the words of the apostles. That’s us. You prayed for us with your own lips and we are here. Forgive us for our sins. Wash us in the blood that you shed on Calvary’s cross. Nail our carnal nature, Lord, we are so self-centered and lazy, and so many times, we just want what we want and we won’t listen to your Spirit.

But Father, we ask that you would crucify that part of us and resurrect us. Kill that caterpillar, resurrect that butterfly, and help us to spread our wings. Help us to be people of prayer. Help us to love one another and help us to share this love and this message with everyone we come in contact.


Now make your face shine upon all those who came today. Bless them with your Holy Spirit. Pour out a special Sabbath-day blessing upon all those who are in this audience tonight, those in this meeting right now. May your Spirit, right now, fall upon them like the Latter Rain. Bathe them in your presence.

Father, we’ve been praying for the Latter Rain to fall upon us so that we can finish your work. How unworthy are we to ask such a thing but here we are. We’re looking to be deeper Christians. We want a real relationship with you. We want to change our lives personally and give them meaning, and hope, and purpose, and we want to change the lives of everyone we meet. But we’re so little. We’re so small. We’re just caterpillars, but you can give us wings to fly. You can create in us a new creature. You can make us new, and holy, and righteous, and good. Through you, we can be transformed into your children – sons and daughters of God.

Bless us with your presence now. We say yes to Jesus! We want to fall in love with him and we want to be lovers, just like He is, to all we come in contact with. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.