Prayer With A Purpose

I greet you in the Name of Jesus the Christ!!

God is good all the time, and all the time God is good!!!

We are surely in a time now that we must trust God.  You know we can trust Him – we can depend on Him – we can rest in Him – we can give every situation we’re facing to Him, and He will deliver.  His Word is a preceding Word:

• Isaiah 55:11  So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:  it shall not return unto me void (empty), but it shall accomplish (achieve; complete successfully; manage; fulfill; realize; attain; perform; execute; consummate; conclude) that which I please, and it shall prosper (flourish physically; grow strong and healthy; thrive; bloom; blossom; progress) in the thing (a word; a matter as spoken of) whereto I sent it.

So when and as we pray, we must pray on the grounds of God’s Word.  And when we pray on God’s Word, we will be “praying with a purpose”!

Prayer is merely communication with God and is a powerful weapon when used with faith.

What is “purpose”?  It is an aim or goal reached.  And when we’re praying for something specifically, we should not be satisfied until we get results.

• St. Mark 11:24 demonstrates the power of faith when we pray:  Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
• Philippians 4:6 demonstrates praise and thanksgiving:  Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

So “prayer”, when used with not only faith but praise and thanksgiving, is a “POWERFUL WEAPON”!

Now days, prayer should be our first response rather than a last result.  Many of us have to be backed in a corner with no way out before we can even get excited about prayer.  We start out, but just as quickly as we start, we’re finished.

Some of us pray, and then we have distractions, and we become discouraged and give up.  Some of us pray sometimes or every once-in-a-while.  And there are those who don’t pray at all.  Let me tell you a prayer-less life is a powerless life!  There’s a saying – “much prayer, much power; little prayer, little power; no prayer, no power”!  And the devil is banking on the latter – that we do not pray.  

If prayer is not powerful, why are there so many distractions when we do?  Because the enemy knows what prayer can do, especially “prayer with a purpose”.  Therefore we must make time for it.  Determine in your heart and mind that you will make time for it.  No one wants to be powerless – and there’s no need to be because Jesus has made it possible for us to come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.  (Hebrew 4:16)  But it starts with you and me and a determination:  “PRAYING WITH A PURPOSE”!

When we pray, this is not a time to be giving orders to God but to report for duty.  It’s not the time to try and twist God’s arm to satisfy our selfish needs but to put ourselves in His hand.  Prayer is placing ourselves in His Presence to receive what we really need and KNOW that it’s our highest privilege to talk and listen to God.  

• 1 John 5:14  If our prayer time is minimal we shouldn’t be at all surprised when we face problems we can’t solve:  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us.

The disciples were so impressed they petitioned Him:  Lord, teach us to pray (Luke 11:1).

Jesus prayed before sunrise (Mark 1:35); after others had gone to sleep (Matthew 26:40); in the wilderness (Luke 5:16).  He spent His entire night in prayer.  When He prayed at His baptism, the heavens opened (Luke 3:21).  It was while He was praying that He was transfigured (Luke 9:29).  He prayed so intensely His sweat became blood. (Luke 22:44)  He even prayed for those who crucified Him (Luke 23:34).

If Jesus prayed, how much more us?

Remember, our prayer is “NOT”, I repeat, “NOT UNANSWERED”!  We have not because we ask not.  We pray enough to get “BEYOND”.  How many know we can call on Him, and He’ll answer?  Do I have any witnesses that you’ve called and He answered?  See, this is a personal experience.  

• Jeremiah 33:3  Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.  

Listen, Jeremiah was shut up in the court of the prison.  What prison do you seem to be in?  It doesn’t matter:  God still hears!

I know we’ve been praying up until this moment, and God has answered so let us continue “praying with a purpose”!  Let’s take on a new attitude concerning “prayer”.  Trust and believe the devil is trembling even now because he knows when we pray on the grounds of GOD’S WORD, it shall not return void.  And the devil knows as we hear and receive, believe, and speak it in the atmosphere, it shall accomplish that which (the Lord) pleases and it shall prosper in the thing whereto (he) sent it.

God is sending His Word to us today to not just be hearers but doers of His Word  (James 1:22).

How do we “pray with a purpose”?  We pray on the grounds of God’s Word.  We start with “thanksgiving, praise and worship, which brings us into God’s presence!  When we’re praising, we’re affirming our faith – without faith it is impossible to please Him.  (Hebrews 11:6)

“Thanking” Him in good and bad times will keep us focused on Him who is the source of our strength.  As we’re praising and giving thanksgiving, it’s disarming the deadly weapons of Satan and rendering them helpless at our feet.

How do we “pray with a purpose”?  When we pray earnestly for others, we’re “praying with a purpose”.  As we take it upon ourselves to pray for others, we enter the realm of intercession.  To enter this realm we must have a heart that truly loves God and all the things He cares for.  

Jesus Himself was an intercessor and makes intercession for us (Romans 8:34; St. John 8:25; St. John 17).

You see, Jesus closed the gap between us and God when He died on the Cross and rose again.  Because of that, we can intercede in prayer on behalf of others who are Christians and those who are lost.

What is intercession?  Pleading on one’s behalf is intercession.  This prayer requires persistence.  True intercession seeks to know God’s will and see it fulfilled whether it benefits us or not regardless of what it costs us.  Guess what?  We are all called to intercede for one another:  (Romans 8:26-27; Ephesians 6:18).

Let’s look at what intercession does:  You can be miles away from another Christian.  It doesn’t have to be a Christian - just someone in need.  The communication of that need can be relayed to you, and you can know instantly that that person is in need, and you can turn right around and send the very strength of God back to that person by the Spirit.  That’s what prayer is – that’s what ministering is – giving to one another the power we possess.  DEEP CALLING UNTO DEEP (Psalm 42:7).

Praying in the Holy Ghost, the spirit also helps our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26).  When we’re praying in the Holy Ghost that means we stop talking, and your Spirit is talking!  You may not know what your spirit is saying, and that’s because the Spirit is praying with groaning which cannot be uttered.  When we do that, we’re talking directly to God (1 Corinthians 14:2).  When we pray, we pray in words we can understand.  We will be saying what we want to say, but when we get to the place that the Holy Ghost takes over, we won’t be saying what we want to say; we won’t be saying, “I, I, I” need “I” want, but we will begin to say things “Adam” (the first man – the old man) cannot say!

If we be honest – don’t we pray a lot of times saying things like “Lord, bless sister so and so” and “Lord, give her strength – help her to grow up in you” – “Lord, meet all her needs”.  The point I’m making is this - that’s the way we usually pray!

The Holy Ghost doesn’t pray like that.  When we pray with words all the time, we give out of words to say.  Then what do you do?  You start all over again saying the very same thing.  You just start at this point praying for “brother so and so”.

When you pray in the Holy Ghost, call out the situation or problem and the person’s name, and pray until you get a breakthrough.  You will know if you got a breakthrough because there may be an outburst of laughter, etc – an overwhelming assurance – or an outburst of praise.  That’s “praying with a purpose”!

What will we pray for?  St. Luke 4:18  (1)The gospel to be preached to the poor: (2) Healing for the nations (physically and spiritually):  (3) That their understanding be enlightened; (4) That people will be delivered and made free from the clutches and bondages of the devil:  (5) That the nations may be one with the Father.

Prayer is the key!  When situations go awry people get together and protest – march in the streets.  There’s nothing wrong with that – it does get attention - but I believe with all my heart, if we as a people would come together in “prayer”, calling out the situation, calling out the names, calling out the circumstances - my God, for sure we would see the move of God on our behalf as never before!!  2 Chronicles 7:14  If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Remember the patriots of old – and others “prayed”:

Genesis 20:17 – Abraham prayed unto God.

Numbers 11:2 – Moses prayed unto the LORD.

1 Samuel 2:1 – Hannah prayed.

1 Samuel 8:6 – Samuel prayed.

2 Kings – Elisha and Hezekiah prayed.

2 Chronicles – Hezekiah prayed.

Ezra 10:1 – Ezra the priest prayed.

Nehemiah 1:4 – Nehemiah prayed.

Job 42:10 – Job prayed.

Isaiah prayed; Jeremiah prayed; Daniel prayed; Jonah prayed; David prayed.

Let’s bring it over into the New Testament:

Matthew 6 - Jesus prayed;

John 4:31 - the disciples prayed.

Acts 16:25 - Paul and Silas prayed.

NOW TODAY, 2017, we all must “PRAY WITH A PURPOSE”!!!

~ Evangelist Mary Perry