A Burden for Prayer

Today, as I read through How to Handle Prayer, by Charles Stanley, I was made aware of the burden of prayer that we should all have.  I was taking notes and wanted to share them.  I have found today, that many prayer requests were sent to me, which doesn't always happen. Maybe God is trying to teach me something!  I find that I don't spend as much time in prayer, as I do in His word and in other readings - after reading this today, I decided that I needed to change that!  Please read through it with me and feel free to comment through email or on Facebook about your thoughts. I'd love this to be a conversation and a way of building each other up!

PRAYING FOR OTHERS

1.  WHO DO WE PRAY FOR?

-                Pray for those in Authority

·      president, congress, mayors, bosses

·      intercede on their behalf for their needs

·      give thanks for them

-                The Body of Christ

·      those under persecution

·      the lukewarm

·      the cold

·      those in financial need

-                Vocational Servants

·      Pastors

·      Teachers

·      Missionaries

·      Evangelists

WHAT DO WE PRAY?

-                what they need to preach/teach

-                to be able to speak the truth boldly

-                to have a clear message

Don’t criticize these people – pray for each person, especially our Pastors.

-                Laborers

·      people yet to be called for preaching, teaching, singing, leadership roles

·      pray to bind Satan’s powers from influencing their decisions

-                The Lost

·      God’s will is for EVERYONE to be saved (1Tim 2:4-6)

-                Our Enemies

·      Matt 5:44

·      Our prayers should not be based on personal likes/dislikes but on a desire for peace

HOW TO PRAY FOR OTHERS

-                We need a heart of compassion

·      God ignores prayers if there is prejudice or anger

·      We need a good attitude

·      We need to respond to His Spirit, and not react to others

-                Prayer is the Link

·      between God’s resources and people’s needs

·      God is the source and we are the instruments

·      We need to stand in the gap between the need and the satisfaction of that need

·      Jesus stood in the gap between God and all mankind

-                Identify with their Needs

·      spiritually and emotionally, we need to feel what they feel

-                Purpose for suffering

·      one reason God allows us to suffer is so we can identify with others in prayer, instead of stereotyping them

·      when we avoid pain, we limit our usefulness to God  (2 Cor 1:4)

·      We need to ask God to help us see what others see and feel what they feel

·      In order to truly understand their hurts, we have to experience hurt ourselves

-                Desire the Best for Others

·      we need to die to selfish desires and seek only God’s best – no matter what the cost is to us

-                Being a Part of the Answer

·      we must be willing to be a part of the answer if necessary

·      God won’t hear our prayers if isolation (God, I’ll pray for them if you will just fix it) -  i.e. us not willing to be involved

·      If we ask and do nothing, He will listen and do nothing and we can expecting nothing in return

è   DON’T pray for missionaries unless you are willing to go or send your children

è   DON’T pray for others’ financial needs unless you’re actually willing to give

-                We MUST Persevere

·      Keep on praying until the answer comes

·      We aren’t always willing to pay the price : TIME!!!

·      If we’re burdened for someone, we mustn’t stop praying until that burden is lifted

·      We need to lay down our lives for our fiends in prayer

Ask God to show you 3 people to pray for :

-                their burdens

-                their heartaches

-                specific needs

Tell God you’re willing to be a part of the answer

-                ask Him to share their burdens with you

-                ask for a spirit of compassion and love

-                ask Him to teach you HOW to pray and intercede on their behalf

If we pray for each other :

è   Homes will be mended

è   Businesses will flourish

è   Churches will be revived

If you do ALL this, you will never BE the same or PRAY the same again!

                           How to Handle Prayer, by Charles Stanley

Email me at ccamons@burlingtonchristian.org or comment on Facebook if you have any comments to share.