How Important is Prayer
James 5:13-18
Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.
- Prayer Produces Wonderful Results
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- James 5:16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
- James 5:17-18 Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.
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- Prayer Opens Doors
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- Matthew 7:7-8 Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
- Revelation 3:7 Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. This is the message from the one who is holy and true, the one who has the key of David. What he opens, no one can close; and what he closes, no one can open.
- Matthew 7:11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.
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- Prayer Opens the Heavens
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- 2 Chronicles 7:14 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
- Acts 10:3-5 One afternoon about three o'clock, he had a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming toward him. "Cornelius!" the angel said. Cornelius stared at him in terror. "What is it, sir?" he asked the angel. And the angel replied, "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering! Now send some men to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter."
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An open heaven can be described as an unhindered manifestation in the earth of all that heaven is, of God’s presence and glory. Natural laws can be temporarily or permanently suspended as heaven breaks in. Signs and wonders, miracles and healings, revelations and unusual manifestations of power begin to occur. To varying degrees poverty, sickness, disease and human degradation are driven back by the over powering love of God. The most unlikely are swept into the kingdom and significant wealth can flow into the church.
- Prayer Keeps Us From Temptation
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- Luke 22:46 "Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation."
- Luke 21:34-36 Watch out! Don't let your hearts be dulled by carousing and drunkenness, and by the worries of this life. Don't let that day catch you unaware, like a trap. For that day will come upon everyone living on the earth. Keep alert at all times. And pray that you might be strong enough to escape these coming horrors and stand before the Son of Man.
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- Prayer Produces Harvest
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- Matthew 9:38 So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.
- 1 Timothy 2:1-4 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and the understand the truth.
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- Prayer Is To Be Our Norm
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- Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.
- Romans 12:12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Never stop praying.
- Matthew 21:13 He said to them, "The Scriptures declare, 'My Temple will be called a house of prayer,'"
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Conclusion: Your prayers are important. Your prayers matter!
