Matthew 17: 20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” Notice the relationship between speaking and prayer.
Prayer – God’s Schedule
Acts 16:13 And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Its seems that pray always works on God’s timetable. We have our schedule, and God has His schedule. In this verse in Acts, prayer had been going on some time, look at the phrase “where prayer was customarily made“.
At the God moment, the God time, God acts and prayer is answered. Trying to change God’s clock does not seem to work. Just waiting for God does work.
Fellowship as Prayer
1 John 1:3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. What deep fellowship we see here in this verse, and in such deep fellowship there is an easy path to prayer.
Men Began to Call Upon the Name of the Lord…
This prayer is maybe one the the earliest prayers in the Bible, before Abraham, before Samuel, before Noah, before David, before the Psalms is this simple but profound prayer in Genesis 4:26 And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the LORD.
Notice that the psalmist mentions this much in the Psalms, and also Paul mentions calling on the Lord in Romans 10:13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” 14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
Prayer – Abraham Strengthened In Faith
These verses on Abraham are packed with faith and encouragement.
Romans 4:17 … God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; 18who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” 19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
Consider the seven sections of these verses that add encouragement and faith to our daily experience of prayer.
1. gives life to the dead – what is not working, God can make it work.
2. calls those things which do not exist as though they did – what we cannot find or do or does not seem to be there, God can create out of nothing.
3. in hope believed – this is compounded faith, in the middle of hope there is also more faith.
4. not being weak in faith – Abraham’s faith was very strong just because God spoke to Him. God’s speaking was enough to trigger faith and belief in Abraham.
5. did not waver at the promise of God – because his faith was strong there was not a shadow of doubt or consideration that God could not fulfill the very thing God promised to Abraham and Sarah – a baby boy, a son – Isaac.
6. strengthened in faith – Abraham’s faith got even more strengthened every day while he did not see the fulfillment, but just believed God according to what God had spoken.
7. being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform – Where did Abraham get all this faith and belief in God that what God had spoken, He, that is God, could and would do.
Prayer – You Need to Touch Him
In prayer, one just needs to touch the edge of Jesus.
Matthew 14:35 And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, 36 and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.
Touch is big, love is expressed with touch. Touch is connection and identification. Today in your prayer life be connected to Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus who is fully God and fully man (what a mystery). He can be touched, we can be connected with Jesus in prayer.
Prayer – By My Spirit
Zechariah 4:6 So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,‘ Says the LORD of hosts.
Prayer is not what we can do, but what God by His Spirit can do. It is hard sometime to just trust God to work on something by His Spirit without our might and ability. All we have to do is get in touch with Him and keep in communion with Him, then just let Him do the work by His Spirit. He is full of energy and ability and power and might. Its not by our power and ability, its just all Him that answers prayer in His time and by His Spirit.
Stand Still, and See
In Exodus 14:13 it says: And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. There is something about just standing with God, sometime doing nothing but just believing God in the midst of a rough situation. Just a quiet prayer to have faith in God and in what He will eventually do.