A Passion for Prayer

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A Passion for Prayer

• Pastor Rex Deckard

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The Bible has a lot to say on the subject of
Prayer When to pray.

• MARK 135 In The Morning
• DAN. 610 Three Times A Day
• I THES. 517 Pray Without Ceasing
• LUKE 612 Continued All Night
• ACTS 102 Prayed Always
• I THES. 310 Night And Day Praying

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Researcher George Barna reports that while 86 of
Americans profess belief in a prayer-answering
God, only 58 of them set aside time to pray
each day. Highly effective praying people all
report that prayer doesn't "just happen." One
has to make time for it.
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Where to pray
MARK 135 A Solitary Place
ACTS 246 From House To House
MATT. 66 Enter Into Thy Closet
ACTS 31 The Temple
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TYPES of PRAYER

• There are a variety of ways that we come to God
  to pray

Petition
Supplications
Intercessions, Travail
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How to Pray

• JUDE 20 In The Spirit
• JAMES 515 In Faith
• MARK 1124 Believing
• JAMES 516,17 Fervently Earnestly
• HEB. 416 Boldly
• ACTS 36 Positively

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The Early Church and prayer
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But even if we know when, what, where and how,
what we must have isPassionate prayer!
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William Sciscoe says,

• It is entirely possible to be busy, but barren.
• Speaking words on our knees is not always
  praying.
• Prayer must find a passion!

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Passionate prayer is needed for the kind of world
that we live in today! Paul said,

• Making mention of you in my prayers ... that God
  ... may give ... you ... wisdom and revelation
  in the knowledge of him ... that ye may know ..
  exceeding greatness of his power..."
• The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man
  availeth much! James 516
• Effectual energeo

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THE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION HAS A MOTTO "IF I
FALTER - PUSH ME ON. IF I STUMBLE - PICK ME UP.
IF I RETREAT - SHOOT ME!"
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PRAYER LIFTS MEN OUT OF THE EARTHLINESS AND LINKS
THEM WITH THE HEAVENLIES. MEN ARE NEVER NEARER
HEAVEN, NEVER MORE GOD-LIKE, NEVER IN DEEPER
SYMPATHY AND TRUER PARTNERSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST,
THAN WHEN PRAYING. Ravenhill
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THE MOST POWERFUL FORM OF PRAYING IS POSITIVE,
AGGRESSIVE, MIGHTILY OUTGOING AND CREATIVE. IT
MOLDS THINGS, CHANGES THINGS AND BRINGS THINGS
TO PASS. Ravenhill
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PRAYER IS THE ONLY ELEMENT IN WHICH THE HOLY
GHOST CAN LIVE AND WORK.
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PRAYERS OUTLIVE THE LIVES OF THOSE WHO UTTERED
THEM OUTLIVE A GENERATION, OUTLIVE AN AGE,
OUTLIVE A WORLD.
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IT IS ONLY WHEN THE WHOLE HEART IS CRIPPLED WITH
THE PASSION OF PRAYER THAT THE LIFE-GIVING FIRE
DESCENDS, FOR NONE BUT THE EARNEST MAN GETS
ACCESS TO THE EAR OF GOD.
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HEAVEN IS TOO BUSY TO LISTEN TO HALFHEARTED
PRAYERS OR TO RESPOND TO POP CALLS.
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ONE NIGHT ALONE IN PRAYER, MIGHT MAKE US NEW MEN,
CHANGED FROM POVERTY OF SOUL TO SPIRITUAL
WEALTH, FROM TREMBLING TO TRIUMPHING.
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WHAT THE CHURCH NEEDS TODAY IS NOT MORE MACHINERY
OR BETTER, NOT NEW ORGANIZATIONS OR MORE AN
NOVEL METHODS, BUT MEN WHOM THE HOLY GHOST CAN
USE MEN OF PRAYER, MEN MIGHTY IN PRAYER.
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THE SERMON IS FORCEFUL BECAUSE THE MAN IS
FORCEFUL. THE SERMON IS HOLY BECAUSE THE MAN IS
HOLY. THE SERMON IS FULL OF THE DIVINE UNCTION
BECAUSE THE MAN IS FULL OF THE DIVINE UNCTION.
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PREACHING THE WORD IS ESSENTIAL SOCIAL QUALITIES
ARE NOT TO BE UNDERESTIMATED, AND EDUCATION IS
GOOD BUT UNDER AND ABOVE ALL ELSE, PRAYER MUST
BE THE MAIN PLANK IN THE PLATFORM OF THE MAN WHO
GOES FORTH TO PREACH THE UNSEARCHABLE RICHES OF
CHRIST TO A LOST AND HUNGRY WORLD.
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THE SERMON CANNOT RISE IN ITS LIFE-GIVING FORCES
ABOVE THE MAN. DEAD MEN GIVE OUT DEAD SERMONS,
AND DEAD SERMONS KILL. EVERYTHING DEPENDS UPON
THE SPIRITUAL CHARACTER OF THE PREACHER.
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IT WAS CLAIMED FOR AUGUSTUS CAESAR THAT HE FOUND
ROME A CITY OF WOOD, AND LEFT IT A CITY OF
MARBLE. THE PASTOR WHO SUCCEEDS IN CHANGING
HIS PEOPLE FROM A PRAYERLESS TO A PRAYERFUL
PEOPLE, HAS DONE A GREATOR WORK THAN DID
AUGUSTUS IN CHANGING A CITY FROM WOOD TO MARBLE.

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THE APOSTLES KNEW THE NECESSITY AND WORTH OF
PRAYER TO THEIR MINISTRY, SO THEY APPOINTED
LAYMEN TO LOOK AFTER THE DELICATE AND ENGROSSING
DUTIES OF MINISTERING TO THE POOR, THAT THEY (THE
APOSTLES) MIGHT, UNHINDERED, "GIVE THEMSELVES
CONTINUALLY TO PRAYER AND TO THE MINISTRY OF THE
WORD." SURRENDERING THEMSELVES TO PRAYING,
PUTTING FERVOR, URGENCY, PERSEVERANCE, AND TIME
IN IT.
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Thetus Tenney says,

• There is no lack of power, plan or provision
  available to us through God. "...we have
  received ... the spirit which is of God that we
  might know the things that are freely given to
  us of God" I Corinthians 212
• All these things are freely given to us, but are
  ineffective unless we realize them and release
  them!

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Paul wanted us to experience

• "And what is the exceeding greatness of His
  power to usward who believe, according to the
  working of His mighty power"
• Ephesians 1 19

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Passion comes from desire

• DESIRE IS NOT MERELY A SIMPLE WISH IT IS A
  DEEP-SEATED CRAVING AND INTENSE LONGING FOR
  ATTAINMENT. DESIRE PRECEDES PRAYER, ACCOMPANIES
  IT, IS FOLLOWED BY IT.
• DESIRE GOES BEFORE PRAYER. PRAYER IS THE ORAL
  EXPRESSION OF DESIRE.
• THE DEEPER THE DESIRE THE STRONGER THE PRAYER.
  WITHOUT DESIRE, PRAYER IS A MEANINGLESS MUMBLE
  OF WORDS. SUCH FORMAL PRAYING, WITH NO HEART, NO
  FEELING, NO REAL DESIRE ACCOMPANYING IT, IS TO
  BE SHUNNED LIKE A PESTILENCE.

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Passion can come from desperation and fear, as
well

• Peter was in prison and the Church was being
  hunted down like criminals- and so they prayed.
• "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." And then
  in verse 33 "And with great power gave the
  apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord
  Jesus and great grace was upon them all."

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Evangelist Joe Hankins says,

• God not only wants His people to pray, but He
  also wants them to agonize in prayer.
• I have this conviction, a conviction as deep as
  my soul, that there never was and there never
  will be a real Holy Ghost, Heaven-sent revival
  until God's people agonize in prayer. I just do
  not believe that one ever comes any other way.
  When there is a revival, somebody has paid the
  price on his knees, maybe just one man or one
  woman.
• (continued)

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Yes, I believe that one person who is willing to
stay at the throne of grace until God opens the
windows of Heaven, one person who prays in the
spirit of the song, "I Would Not Be Denied," can
bring a revival from Heaven. I think Pentecost, I
know Pentecost would not have come had nobody
prayed.
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the Bible is full of promises of revival and the
power of God in answer to prayer. I put the two
together because to me they are absolutely
inseparable and synonymous. A revival means the
power of the Holy Spirit coming upon the people
of God. That is what it means to me. You can
organize, you can preach, you can sing, you can
have enthusiasm, you can have tent meetings, but
you can have no revival without God's power.
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Prayer warrior Vesta Mangun asks,

• Would you answer for me, what is prevailing
  prayer of faith? First, permit me to tell what
  it is not.
• It is not programs, education, personal charisma,
  personality, oratory, administration,
  advertising, how we win friends, influence
  people, architectural triumphs, real estate,
  embellishment of music, robed choirs, stained
  windows, carpet, pews, aquderments, polishery,
  refinement, or money. Everything we do must be
  underlined by prayer.

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The prevailing prayer is not fox hole praying,
half-hearted, lukewarm,spasmodic, blowing hot,
blowing cold, or just when you are in trouble.
It is not a little lay me down to sleep bed
time prayer either. The prevailing prayer of
faith is the spirit itself making intercession
for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. It
is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who
believe in it working in us.
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It is the mighty weapons to the pulling down of
strongholds. It is the wrestling against
principalities and powers, against the rulers of
darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness
in high places. It is the portrayed prayer,
groaning prayer, fasting prayer, weeping,
speechless prayer, and the effectual fervent
prayer of the righteous it avails much. It is
the ascending and descending, taking petitions
and bringing back answers. It is the most perfect
form of prayer.It can touch the highest heaven
and can shake the lowest hell
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600 B.C. Sun Tzu, a Chinese General and ancient
expert on the art of war says that

• "When you are stronger than the enemy, strike him
  at his head.
• Didn't Jesus use similar words,
• "You can not take the house of a strongman
  unless you first bind the strongman"?

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Prevailing, passionate, fervent prayer storms the
Devils strongholds and strikes him at the head!
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The driving force behind passion is

• Intense desire
• A burning love
• A strong sense of calling, purpose and identity
• Fear for the safety of the things and ones that
  we love
• Great vision and faith

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