Prayer For Effect
Pastor Don Carpenter
Pray / Plan / Build / Nehemiah 1–11
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The sexton of a metropolitan church noticed scraps of paper in a certain pew in the sanctuary after each Sunday service. One day he made bold to examine the crumpled pieces of paper. He found such notes as: “Mary—ill; Bob, needs job; her rent due; my needs …” After a few weeks of this, the faithful custodian shared the mystery with the pastor, who alerted several members who sat in the area where messages were found to please identify, if possible, the person who was leaving tidbits of information each Sunday. The quiet plan succeeded. In due time, the minister adroitly engaged the lady in conversation in his study conversation in his study about the intriguing practice of leaving notes addressed to various people in her pew.
Smiling, the gentle lady declared that the bits of paper had deep meaning for her. “You will think it silly, but sometime ago I read, ‘Take your troubles to church with you.’ So I write down my concerns, burdens, and needs on little pieces of paper, take them to church, pray about them, and leave them there. I feel God is taking care of them!”
Tonight we start a new series entitled “Pray/ Plan/ Build” focusing on the incredible story of Nehemiah as he rallied a beleaguered nation to rise up and rebuild after years of defeat and humiliation. In the next few weeks may God stir our hearts to be like this hero of the faith, moved to do great things for our great God. It all starts with the urgency of prayer. and what kind of prayer taps into the most power of God. Following his example, let us learn how to pray for affect!
We Need to be Intellectually Affected
Psalm 37:4–5 KJV
Delight thyself also in the LORD; And he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Commit thy way unto the LORD; Trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
A. ASK about the state of God’s work!
Nehemiah 1:1–2 KJV
THE words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,
That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
1. Be alert as to how we are perceived in the community
2. Understand that our impact depends upon our perceived health
B. Note AFFLICTION– distress/misery because of the enemy’s victory
Nehemiah 1:3 KJV
And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
Acts 4:18–23 KJV
And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.
For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done.
For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was shewed.
And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.
C. Note REPROACH
1. Disgrace
2. Because of lack of victory
3. God gets glory when we produce fruit, not when we are barren.
D. Note the condition of the ministries of God now – Jerusalem’s walls were burned
We Need To Be Emotionally Affected
Nehemiah 1:4 KJV
And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,
James 4:7–10 KJV
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
A. Sit down – in amazement
B. Weep – let it affect you!
C. Mourn – as you would lose a loved one
D. Fast – to distressed to eat!
E. Pray – driven to action
Abraham Lincoln:
“I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of those about me seemed insufficient for the day.”
We Need To Be Personally Affected – Driven to prayer
A. Acknowledge God’s greatness
Nehemiah 1:5 KJV
And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:
1. The God of Heaven
2. Creator
3. Great… in scope and dimension
4. Terrible – One to be feared
5. Covenant Keeper – you are going to hold Him to it!
B. Acknowledge our total dependence upon God
Nehemiah 1:6 KJV
Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned.
1. Listen to me!
2. Look at this!
3. Pray day and night
Luke 11:6–8 KJV
For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
C. Pray with a penitent heart
Nehemiah 1:7 KJV
We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.
1. Repentance follows when you get a clear vision of who God is.
Isaiah 6:5 KJV
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
2. Effective prayer comes from the righteous.
James 5:16 KJV
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
D. Remind God of His promises – Pray Biblically
Nehemiah 1:8–9 KJV
Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
E. Make it personal
Nehemiah 1:10–11 KJV
Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.
O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.
1. Your church
2. Your soul winning
3. Specific requests that line up with God’s will and work.
Acts 4:29–31 KJV
And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,
By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
George Mueller was known for his powerful prayer. In the course of his ministry to the orphans of England, he never asked for financial assistance from men – only God… and he constantly received what was needed to the penny.
Once while on his way to speak in Quebec for a engagement. On the deck of the ship that was to carry him to his destination, he informed the captain that he needed to be in Quebec by Saturday afternoon.
As the captain related the story, he said “’It is impossible,’ I said. ’Do you know how dense this fog is?’”
“’No,’ he replied, ’my eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God who controls every circumstance of life. I have never broken an engagement in 57 years; let us go down into the chart room and pray.’
He knelt down and he prayed one of the most simple prayers. When he had finished I was going to pray, but he put his hand on my shoulder and told me not to pray. ’As you do not believe He will answer, and as I believe He has, there is no need for you whatever for you to pray about it.’
“I looked at him and George Mueller said, ’Captain, I have known my Lord for 57 yrs. and there has never been a single day when I have failed to get an audience with the King. Get up, Captain, and open the door and you will find that the fog has gone.’
“I got up and the fog indeed was gone, and on that Saturday afternoon George Mueller kept his promised engagement.”
SOURCE: Jeff Strite in “The Power of Persistent Prayer” on www.sermoncentral.com.
Exported from Logos Bible Software, 11:51 AM January 4, 2023.