Title: Just Kneel Down / Isaiah 38:1-8
Contents
Title: Just Kneel Down (Sunday, November 2nd)
Text: Isa 38:1-8
When the gospel came to a small village in the mountains of Africa, most of the villagers came to believe in Jesus. They began to practice prayer as the missionaries taught them. The villagers made their own prayer places in the forest a little far from the village. And he went to his prayer place more than twice a day and prayed. Several prayer paths were established from the village to the place of prayer. The villagers called the path their own 'prayer path' or 'My life way'. However, if you neglect prayer and do not find a place to pray, grass will grow. Then a friend of faith will come to you and tell you this. "Brother, there is a lot of grass on the way of life." If there is still no change, a few people go to his prayer center together, pray for him, and then come back to him and say, "Brother, we have paved the way for you. The Lord is waiting for you there, and we will go with you." It is said that they walked the road together and helped restore prayer. Prayer is the way of life.
John Wannamaker defines “prayer is holding hands with God.” If God holds hands, God is with them, and God works together, all problems will be solved because God works through prayer. . If you pray a lot, God works a lot, if you pray a little, God works little. If you pray long, God's work will become longer, but if you pray short, God's work will also become shorter. Some people glorify God by receiving answers and blessings through prayer, while others do not receive God's help and blessings because they do not pray properly, and cannot approach God. I bless you in the name of the Lord that you will receive an answer through your kneeling prayer.
First prayer works
One of America's most famous celebrities, Jimmy Durantera, once got to appear on a show for World War II veterans. Due to my busy schedule, I decided to only do a one-man show for a few minutes. When the brief one-man show ended, thunderous applause poured in. But he didn't leave the stage, he just kept running the show. 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes passed. When the show was finally over, the show planner asked him. "No, I thought you'd only do it for a few minutes, but what's the matter?" "Yeah, I planned to do that too, but look at those two people in the front row of the stage." The show planner looked through the gap on the stage to see two veterans, each clasping each other with one arm remaining.
Even if we lack many things, God will surely help us if we work hard with what we have. The problem is with us. They don't even try, they just complain that God doesn't help. Therefore, even if we are lacking, if we go to God in prayer, God actively pushes us. In the text, Hezekiah's prayer, regardless of illness, is "a prayer toward the wall." It is a sign that we will look to God alone. There are the best leaders in the country in the royal palace, but we will not look at them, but only look at God and rely only on God.
Martin Luther, the Reformer, visited and met his friend Philip when he was near death one day. The situation is hopeless, but Luther turned his face away from everything and turned to the wall. I prayed earnestly for that friend, remembering all of God's promises. Then the friend survived. Luther was also a man who went to the wall for a friend who met a crisis and found only God.
Are you facing a great crisis that can never be solved by human strength? Are you facing adversity, trials and tribulations that you cannot comprehend, and limiting situations that you can no longer handle? Please pray to Him with your face only to God. Only when the problem is solved from God can it be completely solved. Like King Hezekiah, we must pray toward the wall. When you are in trouble, you only feel hopeless when you look around. Now we have to look only to God. You have to cry out, 'There is no God but God, no one can help but God, so we depend only on God, and ask God to help and work'. Please believe that prayer to God works like this. Look to God and pray.
Second, prayer works miracles.
When any human means or methods are of no avail, only prayer is effective. That's why Psalm 118 says, "Better to take refuge in the LORD than trust in men, and better to take refuge in the LORD than trust in princes." No matter how powerful and capable people are, relying on them and getting help does not solve all human problems. When you are faced with an unsolvable problem, nothing is impossible if you rely on God and pray to him. A prayer that believes in God and asks for it is truly the power to work miracles.
Jeanne Guillon, a woman of faith, said, 'Prayer is a stronghold that Satan cannot invade. Satan besieges, attacks, and makes a fuss around the fortress. But Satan cannot harm us as long as we remain faithful and firm.' Prayer has amazing powers that humans cannot even imagine. So, when human beings face their limits, they pray, and prayer surprisingly accomplishes things beyond their limits. So prayer works miracles. A powerful force that even the power of evil spirits cannot dare to resist is given through prayer. May you live a life that works miracles through prayer.
Third, prayer changes lives.
Asa, the founder of Coca-Cola. G. Candler was an alcoholic. He was always drunk. His willpower was weak. I tried to declare to people around me not to drink alcohol several times, but failed every time. One day he was on his way home drunk when he heard a voice from his heart like a thunderbolt. "He who rejects his instinctive demands succeeds". Candler returned home and told his wife the story. My wife confessed that she was praying earnestly for Candler's 'not drinking' at that time. The couple held hands and prayed in tears, and Candler found spiritual rest through his wife's prayer. And completely freed from the temptation of alcohol. He had stopped drinking because of the power of prayer, not of his own will. Since then, Candler has been thoroughly tithing, which is 10% of his income. The Coca-Cola Company has grown into a world-class company by repeating great developments after the founder declared sobriety. A person's prayer has the power to accomplish great things. One man's prayer changed his life.
The power of prayer changes people. Prayer changes families, societies, and nations. Do you have a family that must change? Do you have a friend or neighbor that needs to change? You must pray without your head. Life must be changed through prayer. If you pray, you can only change. Pray for husbands for their wives, and wives for their husbands. Pray constantly for your children. That way you will be able to see each other change. Prayer changes.
It's from a novel called Moby Dick. People are chasing whales on whaling boats. Sailors row their oars with all their might to conquer the mighty sea. But there is one person who does nothing. He just sits on the deck and doesn't move, he's a harpooner. When a whale appears, it's the one who lowers the harpoon at the crucial moment. The harpooner may seem unproductive for a very long time, but when the crucial time comes, he is a necessary person to be productive. We must gain strength through prayer. This is not a waste of time, it is the most effective investment. All of us Christians are to be prayers, not storytellers or talkers. Some theologians have said that Christianity is a religion of prayer. Because the life of faith is the life of prayer.
Are you struggling right now? Please light the fire of prayer. Be a person of prayer. When you pray, good things happen. Prayer makes all of us happy. Please change through this Seire special early morning prayer meeting. Only those who have changed will be used until the end. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will live a life that glorifies God by being transformed through prayer.