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ANCHOR SCRIPTURE(S): JAMES 5:16-18; HEBREWS 4:16
MESSAGE TOPIC: COMPONENTS OF PRODUCTIVE PRAYER (1-3)
By: Dr. Paul Enenche
SERVICE OBJECTIVE(S): Understanding the components of productive and effective prayer
Every system that works is made up of functional components, in the same manner, prayer that produces results is made up of functional components.
COMPONENTS OF PRODUCTIVE PRAYER:
1. Relationship with God (Matt. 6:9)
1a. Relationship is the bedrock of communication
Communication stands on relationship
1b. Relationship is the basis and strength of requests
Where requests are made outside of relationship, that process is called begging
Prayer is not the place for begging.
1c. Prayer is the platform for relationship-based requests
SCRIPTURAL EXAMPLES OF PEOPLE WITH PRODUCTIVE PRAYER LIVES BASED ON RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD:
1. Abraham (Gen. 18:17-19; 19:27; 2Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; Jam. 2:23)
Abraham approached God not for things but to have fellowship with God; no wonder throughout Scripture
Abraham was referred to multiple times as the friend of God
2. Elijah (1Kings 17:1; Jam. 5:16-18)
Elijah had a standing relationship with God that had nothing to do with requests
3. David (1Sam. 13:14; Acts 13:22; Ps. 40:1-3; 55:17)
David was known in Scripture as the man after God’s Heart
Where the relationship is strong, the voice is clear
4. Daniel (Dan. 9:23; 10:10-11, 19; 6:10)
Daniel was a man called greatly beloved of the Lord, not by virtue of requests but by virtue of relationship.
COUNSEL:
1. Determine to develop a strong, vibrant relationship with God. (Isa. 65:24; Matt. 6:9)
Let your relationship with God precede your requests from Him
Don’t allow God to hear from you only when there is a need
Don’t let God hear your voice only when you are in trouble
Let God recognise your voice at ordinary times so that He can respond to your voice at unusual times
2. Take time to seek His Face not just His Hand and He will show you His Hand (Ps. 103:7; Ex. 33:18; Phil. 3:10)
If you know His Face, He will reveal to you His Hand
COMPONENTS OF PRODUCTIVE PRAYER:
2. The life of uprightness (Jam. 5:16)
2a. Uprightness of life is key to accessing Divine Presence in prayer (Isa. 59:1-2)
2b. Uprightness of life (the clearness of the conscience) is key to boldness at the place of prayer (Prov. 28:1; Ps. 66:18)
SCRIPTURAL EXAMPLES OF PEOPLE WITH PRODUCTIVE PRAYER LIVES BASED ON UPRIGHTNESS OF LIFE:
1. Elijah (Jam. 5:16-18; 1Kings 17:1; 18:41-46)
Elijah was a man with a valid life of uprightness and unquestionable character. He had a very strong stand with God in righteousness (1Kings 17:1)
Elijah lived upright and saw drastic results at the place of prayer
2. Daniel (Dan. 1:8; 6:10, 20-22)
Daniel was the one who purposed that he would not defile himself with the king’s meat and because of that purpose of heart, his prayer carried weight.
If you will not defile yourself, no devil can deny your force, at the place of prayer.
3. Paul the apostle (Acts 24:16; 1Thess. 2:10; Eph. 6:18; 1Thess. 5:17; 1Cor. 14:18; Acts 19:11-12)
Paul the Apostle was the man of proven character who who exercised his conscience always to be void of offence towards God and men
COUNSEL:
1. Always endeavour to maintain a tender conscience towards God (2Tim. 3:1-2)
Never be used to guilt
2. Promptly confess and forsake known sins and transgressions (Prov. 28:13)
It is better to confess your sin than to excuse your sin
COMPONENTS OF PRODUCTIVE PRAYER:
3. Absolute humility and helplessness before God (Heb. 4:16; Ps. 34:18)
3a. Humility is a qualifier for the Presence of God (Jam. 4:6; Isa. 57:15)
To approach God at the place of prayer, humility is a non-negotiable requirement.
3b. Helplessness in man attracts the help of God (Heb. 4:16)
When we are down to nothing, God is up to something.
The attitude of people is what determines their altitude with God
SCRIPTURAL EXAMPLES OF PEOPLE WITH PRODUCTIVE PRAYER LIVES BASED ON
ABSOLUTE HUMILITY AND HELPLESSNESS BEFORE GOD:
1. Moses (Ex. 33:13-18; Num. 12:3; Ex. 11:3)
Moses demonstrated absolute helplessness at the place of prayer when he asked God to go with him
Moses was very meek, humble and teachable.
Moses who had the highest level of meekness also had the highest level of greatness according to the schedule of God (Num. 12:3; Ex. 11:3)
2. David (1Chron. 29:10-16)
David confirmed his helplessness when He was giving God appreciation at the end of his life
There are people that are nothing and think they are something and there are people that are something but have told God they are nothing so that God can further enhance and position them
3. Jehoshaphat (2Chron. 20:12, 22-24)
Helplessness and humility are what brought King Jehoshaphat victory in battle
4. Our Master Jesus (Luke 22:41-43)
COUNSEL:
1. Refuse every trace of self-sufficiency (2Cor. 3:5)
Self-sufficiency is the doorway to insufficiency
2. Possess or maintain the attitude of humility by recognising God as the Source of all things
(1Cor. 4:7; Rom. 9:16; Eccl. 9:11)
PRAYERS
Father, thank You for Your Word to us today. To You be all the glory Lord, in Jesus’ Name.
Father, I come before You today and I surrender my life completely to You. I confess You as Lord over my life. Thank You for today, I seek Your Face and not just Your Hands, and today I am asking for deliverance from every generational, ancestral and family curse, every work of enchantment and diabolism and everything that has been standing in my way, I receive freedom, deliverance and liberty today, in Jesus’ name! (Gal. 3:13-14; Jer. 31:29-30)
Father, I come before You today, give me the power to decrease that You may increase. Give me the grace to get out of Your way, in Jesus’ Name.
PROPHETIC DECLARATIONS:
- Everything that is not functioning well in your life, is rectified right now!
- Everything that has imposed itself on your life and destiny leaves you right now!
- Every stranger in your life and body, today is the end of that stranger!
- Every colourless and tasteless arrangement of the devil for your life is arrested!
- Anyone ordained to die before their time, it is over! That garment of death is returned back to hell!
- You shall fulfil your days and fulfil your destiny!
- Everything that was lost to you all these years, I declare restoration!
- A long awaited expectation has just been released!
- Every chain you came to church with is broken now!
- Everything closed around your life – every door, womb, destiny or marital door closed around you is opened now!
- Every negative thing that followed you from birth, today is the end of it!
- The gate is open and the agenda of the enemy is thwarted!
Everything that is yours in the possession of the enemy is retrieved and restored!
- Everything dying or dead around your life is coming back to life
- Every cage the enemy has kept you and kept your life, today the cage is broken!
- Every invisible transaction that is responsible for your visible frustration, today it is over!
- Under the next 7 days, may God give you a testimony!
