In this message, Pastor Vance teaches from 1 Timothy 2. Something we often say at hope is that we don’t pray before we work, prayer is the work, then God works. So, how should we pray? That is what we explore in this sermon.
Sermon Notes
Prayer is the Work!
1 Timothy 2:1-8
1. Faith that produced Obedience
2. Passion that produced Unity
3. Desperation that produced Prayer
4. The Spirit that produced Power
We don’t pray before we work, prayer is the work, then God works.
“The story of every great Christian achievement is the history of answered prayer.” – E.M. Bounds (Purpose in Prayer, p.11)
“Intercession is the chief means appointed by God to bring the great redemption within the reach of all.” – Andrew Murray (The Secret of Intercession, p.62)
“This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.” – 1 Timothy 2:1-8
v.3-4 – GOD’S HEART TOWARDS THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH
v.5-6 – GOD’S GIFT TO THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH
v.7 – GOD’S MISSION TO THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH
v.1-2,8 – GOD’S PROCESS TO REACH THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH
“God rules the world and His church through the prayers of His people. That God should have made the extension of His kingdom to such a large extent dependent on the faithfulness of His people in prayer is a stupendous mystery and yet an absolute certainty. God calls for intercessors: in His grace He has made His work dependent on them. He waits for them.” – Andrew Murray (The Secret of Intercession, p.17)
I. HOW IMPORTANT IS PRAYER?
“You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.” – S.D. Gordon (Quiet Talks on Prayer)
II. HOW SHOULD WE PRAY?
1. We should pray urgently
2. We should pray desperately
“The tragedy of the hour is that the situation is desperate, but the saints are not.” – Vance Havner (On this Rock I Stand)
3. We should pray passionately
“When God plans to send a revival, He lays a burden for it on the hearts of those whommake themselves available to Him.” – J. Oswald Sanders (The Power of Transforming Prayer)
4. We should pray expectantly
“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” – 1 John 5:14-15
5. We should pray corporately
“The greatest workings of God come by corporate prayer, and we will not see the power of God in sufficient measure to transform the world around us until we pray together…God in His sovereignty has determined that something happens when we pray together that transcends praying separately.” – John Franklin (And the Place was Shaken)
