Keys to a Powerful Prayer Life

The story is told of a country boy who was more brawn than brain. He was a hard worker who cut firewood for a living. One day when he went into the hardware store to get a new saw, the clerk told him about a chain saw and promised him that he could cut five times as much wood a day. The country boy bought the chain saw but came back at the end of the next day and said that he didn't cut nearly a much wood with the new saw as he did with his old one. The clerk told him that he had to get up early and work late. The next day he worked from sunup to sundown and was still unhappy. The following day he went back in and demanded his money back. The clerk said, "let's take this saw outside and check it out". When they got outside, the clerk cranked it up and it immediately went, "varoom, varoom". The country boy stepped back and said, "Hey, what's that noise".



It isn’t funny when we try to use something that requires power and we don’t even try to access the power. How could you use an electric corded drill without plugging it in? Or how about using your microwave when it is unplugged? I couldn’t tell you how many times I have tried to use a power tool or appliance when I had no power and all of you have done the same thing. We know better but we just forget that the power isn’t there.

Like the ole boy with the chain saw, we try to operate on our own power. His problem was that he didn’t know any better. Our problem is a little different. We know better but we don’t seem to trust the power source. God tells what He will do if we are righteous and if we truly have faith in Him. Because of our disbelief, we have disconnected ourselves from the source of power.

I want to talk to you about six keys to a powerful prayer life. There are many more but we are only to talk about these today.

1. ACCESS GOD’S POWER.

Back in the late 60’s when I was living in Louisville, a man died who lived in a cheap boarding
hotel in downtown Louisville. Unlike the typical boarding house resident, his death made the
headlines of the Courier-Journal the next day. His name was John Y. Brown, the richest man in
the state of Kentucky. Even though he had millions of dollars at his disposal, he chose to live an
impoverished life. Our plight is similar to his. Even though we are children of God who has
untold spiritual blessings that He is waiting to give us, we choose to live an impoverished
spiritual life. We have as much of God’s blessings and power as we choose to have. You
may want to argue with me on that one but think about it. You have not because you ask not.


Prayer is not some sweet little thing that good Christians do to be religious. Prayer is the
conduit to the greatest power in all of creation. We claim to believe in a God that is all
powerful. A God that can do absolutely anything without reservations. We claim to believe
that there is no task beyond His power. We say we believe in a God with no limitations yet we
restrict God to do only those things we believe He can do. We have therefore put a limit on
God by our lack of faith. For example, we pray for people to be healed but our prayers are too
weak to be heard. Also, we may pray only once or twice and expect God to answer the prayer.
Then when He doesn’t, we cover our lack of faith by saying that it wasn’t God’s will. Not
always, but most of the time, that is a cop out for our lack of perseverance in prayer.

James 5:16 says, “The faithful fervent prayer of a righteousness man availeth much”. That
verse says several things. First of all, our prayers must be faithful, that is full of faith. Secondly,
they must be fervent. And thirdly, they must be prayed by a righteous person.

When we have truly learned that God is all powerful, we will have access to that power
through prayer. Don’t miss this point. The incredible power of the Greatest God in creation is
available to us if we ask. He will share His power with us “You have not because you ask not”.
God will share His power with us if we ask Him to but He won’t if we don’t ask. Jesus said
In John 14:12, “he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater
works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father.

2. PRAY WITH EXPECTATION.

There’s no point in praying if we don’t expect God to answer our prayer. In fact, it may even be a sin to pray when we doubt that God will answer. That is the sin of unbelief. That means we doubt God’s ability to answer our prayer. We don’t really believe Jesus was telling the truth when He said “Whatsoever we ask in His name, He will do”. If we don’t believe God will answer our prayers, why bother. Satan would rather see faithless prayers than no prayers at all.

When you pray, believe that God will answer. Really believe it. Don’t just say you do. Take God at His Word. Claim His promises. Not to claim them is to deny them.

Did Jesus give the disciples the right to cast out demons? NO! He did not give them the right to cast out demons. He gave them the RESPONSIBILITY to cast out demons. When we fail to pray and lay hold of God’s power, we have been disobedient.

3. BELIEVE THAT YOU CAN CHANGE GOD’S MIND.

Our tendency is to think that we cannot and should not try to change God’s mind. I have heard it said that the purpose of prayer is to align ourselves with God’s will. Many times, that is the purpose but there are times when we should seek to change God’s mind. There are numerous Biblical examples where God’s mind was changed. In Deut 9:12-21, God was set on destroying Israel and the prayer of Moses changed the purposes of God. God sent Isaiah to Hezekiah to tell him to get his house in order for surely he would die. Hezekiah prayed and God added fifteen years to his life. Nineveh was given forty days before destruction would occur but Nineveh repented and prayed and God spared the city.

God may have plans that can be changed if His people care enough to persevere in prayer and come before Him in humble repentance. Remember that God hears the prayers of the righteous and He will not hear us if we are living in sin. Cleanse yourselves and fall on your knees and you will see great and mighty things that will stagger your imagination. God is not through with anything or anybody yet. I don’t say this negatively, but God may not have even begun to work in some of our lives yet. Our most productive days and years may still be in front of us even if we are 60, 70, 80, or even older.

To believe that we can change God’s mind should motivate us to a new level of praying.


4. SPEND TIME IN PRAYER.

Surely you can’t be serious about having a powerful prayer life if your prayer life consists of two or three minutes of prayer time every few days. I’m sure you have heard it said that if you are too busy to pray, you are too busy. Tell me what it is in your life that you do that is more important than prayer and if you can convince me that it really is more important, then I will apologize to you for accusing you of negligence. If I have any takers on that, you are free to speak up now or see me after we are finished tonight.

Not having enough time is a cover up for the real problem. Some of the problems we face are the lack of belief that God will actually hear and answer our prayers. Because we are afraid of unanswered prayers, we just don’t pray. We may not know how to really pray. I have two good suggestions for you and these are points number five and six.

5. SPEND SERIOUS TIME IN GOD’S WORD.

Spend serious time in God’s Word and your prayer life will improve. Serious study of the Word will prompt things for which you should pray. There is credible logic in tying Bible Study and Prayer together all of the time. Serious study of the Scriptures will convict you of numerous needs in your own life and in the life of the church. Of course there is such a thing as studying the Bible for the sake of Bible study alone. That won’t help you grow. You’ve got to dig deep in a small area, not attempt to cover 160 acres at a time.


6. PRAY WITH OTHERS.

Whether you struggle with your prayer life or not, praying with others who know how to pray will enhance your prayer life tremendously. I am blessed by being a part of Prayer On Wheels. People thank us for coming to their homes to pray but it is we who go who are really blessed. Many a time, I feel that I am too tired to go. I have had a long day at work and I would like to go home and relax. But when we finish praying, I feel rejuvenated physically and spiritually. I recall one night in a pastor search committee meeting when we had prayed for 20-30 minutes. When we finished, I said, “Wow, I feel good”.

A real side blessing of praying with others is that you learn more about praying. You see how others pray, things they do, and things they say. You pick up new phrases. You participate actively in prayer. With rare exception, our prayers at church are formal prayers when one person prays for the entire group. We generally are passive listeners rather than active participants. Let me explain what I mean by active participants. This is when we do more than just listen quietly when someone else is praying. We may say “Amen”, “Yes, Lord”, “That’s right Lord”, or even groaning. There is nothing wrong with verbalizing support when someone else is praying. When you do that, it encourages the person praying and their prayers get stronger and bolder and more powerful. I’m not suggesting we get verbal in worship services with active participation but we can quietly whisper our support of the person praying.

When one person prays for a group, that’s one prayer. But when eight people gather to pray and all eight pray and everyone is an active participant, that’s 64 prayers. If it were me being prayed for, I will take the 64 prayers anytime.

PRAYER:

Father, we come before you tonight seeking to become praying deacons and a praying church because we know where the power is and it’s not in us. Forgive us of our sins of negligence in prayer because we have not prayed as often or as faithfully as we ought. We have not called on you because we have not really believed that you would hear and answer. We call on you right now and repent of the sin of unbelief that your power might be unleashed in this room tonight and that we might be unshackled from all hindrances to a powerful prayer life. I ask that every man here be touched and filled with your power that our prayer lives will become what they ought.

Lord, what happens in this church is largely dependent on what happens to the men who are in this room right now. I pray that your Spirit will come down and touch us as we continue in prayer. Amen.

PRAYER TIME:

When we come to our prayer time, I don’t want to set an inflexible agenda. I will always have something ready for you but don’t let that be your prayer guide unless the Holy Spirit tells you it is OK. There are two things I want to suggest tonight. The first is for one person to share with your small group how they can best pray for you and then gather around that man and pray for him. Do this for each one in your group. The second suggestion is for each man to take one or two of the scriptures I have prepared and share with the group how this passage speaks to you and our church and let that fuel your prayer time. Or you may want to merge these ideas. Would you gather in groups of five or six at this time to pray?