Powered By Prayer

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Powered By Prayer</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id148.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Founded on the Bible"><U><B><IMG SRC="007151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id151.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Oriented To People"><U><B><IMG SRC="008151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> Previous/Next Sermon</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.stanbaker.org"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biblical and Theological Studies"><U><B>Biblical and Theological Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Ministry"><U><B>Ministry Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sermon Notes"><U>Sermon Notes</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Personal"><U><B>Personal</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org"><U>stan@stanbaker.org</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>“Powered By Prayer,” Berean Bible Church, January 21, 2001am</B></div> <bR> <div>      Bill Hybels wrote, “I just love the local church. If I could express that thought more poetically, I would, but words seem to fail me. After giving 25 years of my life to Willow Creek, I still find myself choking back tears at a baptism service or shaking my head in quiet wonderment as ever-increasing numbers of people gather around the Communion table. And I believe more strongly than ever that the local church is the hope of the world. What other institution stewards a message with eternity-altering power?” (Foreword, <I>How to Change a Church Without Killing It</I>, Nelson and Appel). If the church is the hope of the world, it must be powered by prayer in order to make a difference.</div> <bR> <div> <B>I. Prayer can make a difference in our culture.</B></div> <div>      1 Timothy 2.1-6: We are supposed to pray for authorities over us in our culture, with an understanding that prayer can make a difference in society. </div> <div>      This is Sanctity of Human Life Week. We must continue to pray for God to intervene in our culture because of our enthusiastic acceptance of abortion and euthanasia. We can act in these matters <I>after</I> we have prayed, but we must not act <I>until</I> we have prayed.</div> <bR> <div> <B>II. Prayer can help us overcome painful circumstances.</B></div> <div>      1 Chronicles 4.9-10: Jabez’ name sounded like the Hebrew word for “pain.” In the Old Testament, a person’s name said something about their character or situation (see 1 Sam 25.25, “He is just like his name – his name is Fool, and folly goes with him,” spoken of Nabal by his wife). But Jabez’ prayer allowed him to overcome the pain he could expect, and God went beyond that to bless him abundantly. </div> <div>      Take your concerns about your circumstances to God in prayer. He may “fix” the situation, or he may give you the grace to endure. Whichever he chooses, we still have to ask him to intervene.</div> <bR> <div> <B>III. Prayer can help us have an effective church ministry.</B></div> <div>      Colossians 4.2-4: Paul challenged the church to devote itself to prayer. Prayer is not an optional activity for a church that wants to be effective. Paul further asked the Colossians to pray specifically that he would have the opportunities to share God’s love with others. </div> <div>      We should pray the same for ourselves, because this is at the heart of effective ministry – sharing Christ’s love, and watching as God leads people to respond to him in faith. But it doesn’t happen without dependance on God expressed through our prayers.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>