There are three things I want you to learn about prayer this morning. Effectual prayer.
I want you to see the origin of effectual prayer. It is of him.
And then I want you to see the operation of effectual prayer. It is through him.
And then I want you to see the objective of spiritual prayer. It is to him.
When you learn that prayer is a cycle that like everything else in the material world or the spiritual world, that all things are of him through him.
And to him, it will help you to understand how to pray. Effectual prayer, profound truth.
Simply stated, this is love worth finding with pastor teacher and author Adrian Rogers.
Be finding please Romans chapter 11. And we’re going to spend most of our time this morning.
In one verse, verse 36 we’re talking today about the secret of effectual prayer.
Now, I don’t know why I, I we like to put the word secret in our sermon titles, but it’s no secret.
I mean, it’s right here in the word of God, how to pray and pray effectually uh down in the Atlantic Ocean.
There is a great mass of water bounded on three sides that is called the Bermuda triangle.
And some call it the devil’s triangle because in that great massive part of the earth, the ocean surface, it is said that airplanes fly into that Bermuda triangle and disappeared, ships sail into that vast place of water and they disappear the Bermuda triangle.
Many people say it’s a great mystery. I think it’s a myth.
I don’t think there’s anything really to it. I don’t wanna talk to you today about the devil’s triangle.
I wanna talk to you about the, the divine triangle. The divine triangle is not a myth. It’s a miracle.
It doesn’t cause things to disappear.
It brings things into being and that divine triangle is found right here in the word of God.
Look at it in verse 36 for of Him and through Him and to Him are all things now, friend.
That is a wonderful, wonderful thought.
If God will write that upon your heart for of Him and through Him and to Him are all things to whom be glory forever.
Now, what this verse is doing is talking about the sovereignty of Almighty God. It says everything begins with God.
He is the source of all things. Everything is accomplished through God.
He is the uh force of all things and everything returns back to God.
He is the course of all things. All things are from Him and through Him and to Him. Almighty God.
Is sovereign. You see, this is really the theme of the Bible. How does the Bible start?
Well in the beginning, God, all things are from Him or of him.
And then how does the Bible end in the book of the revelation chapter one and verse eight, I’m alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending said the Lord, which is and was and is to come.
It’s the theme of the Bible. All things friend come from him and they go back to him.
Now we said, we’re gonna talk about prayer. Let’s see how this relates to prayer.
There are three things I want you to learn about prayer this morning. Effectual prayer.
I want you to see the origin of effectual prayer. It is of him.
And then I want you to see the operation of effectual prayer. It is through him.
And then I want you to see the objective of spiritual prayer. It is to Him.
When you learn that prayer is a cycle that like everything else in the material world or the spiritual world that all things are of him, through him and to him, it will help you to understand how to pray effectual prayer.
Now listen to me very carefully. We’re gonna talk about effectual prayer. What is the origin of, of effectual prayer?
It roots in the purpose of God. Now, that’s worth writing down effectual prayer.
The origin of effectual prayer is this, it roots in the purpose of God.
Now, here is the great, great secret of effectual prayer. Listen carefully.
The prayer that gets to heaven starts in heaven.
Now, the prayer that gets to heaven starts in heaven for of Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
You see prayer is God’s way of getting heaven’s will done on earth, not man’s way of getting man’s will done in heaven.
What we do when we pray is just close the circuit for of Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
God is a sovereign. God. Why has God uh allowed us to pray? Have you ever thought about that?
Prayer is so mysterious? I mean, God knows what we have need of before we ask Him.
So why should I ask God for what He already knows I need and God loves me.
Why should I have to persuade a loving God to bless me or give me what I need?
What is the purpose of prayer? Could God do it without our praying?
He will not do it without our praying.
And if we don’t pray, we will not have for the bible says we have not because we ask not.
What is the reason for prayer?
Well, let me, let me just give you three of them right here for just a moment.
You see, God has given us the privilege of working with Him.
Now, God in his administration of the universe has called us as laborers together with Him.
The Bible tells us very clearly in, in second Corinthians chapter six and verse one, we are workers together with Him.
What do you think about it? That, that Almighty God has said to Adrian.
Adrian, I want you to help me run the universe. You say that’s, that’s arrogance.
Well, then blame the Apostle Paul. He said, we’re workers together with Him.
We work together with God as we work with one another and we work with God in administrating the universe.
God wants to move through his people. Well, why, why would he, why would he do it that way?
I’ve often used the illustration of flying an airplane. I don’t know how to fly an airplane.
But there have been times when I’ve been up with a pilot, then he would say to me, do you wanna fly this airplane?
I’d say sure. So he turns the airplane over to me.
He’s sitting there alongside of me, of course, and he’s got his hands on his controls.
I have mine on the other controls and I’m flying the airplane now. Folks, I wanna make it very clear.
He could do it without me. I couldn’t do it without him. But there’s the joy of that fellowship.
As he says, I’m gonna let you help me fly this airplane.
God says, I want to let you help me to run the universe.
And the way we’re going to do it is through prayer and So there, there is that uh there is that uh cooperation with Almighty God.
When we pray, we have the privilege of working with God.
And then because of that, we also find there’s that bonding, that bonding that we have did.
You know, if we didn’t pray, many of us would never think about God.
Many of us would take just the blessings for granted. But God wants us to be perpetually dependent upon Him.
So he teaches us to pray. He teaches us to pray. And then prayer is the way of discipline us.
Have you ever prayed and not gotten your prayer answered? Of course.
And, and you say, well, why didn’t God answer my prayer? Is there something wrong in my life?
Have I been out of fellowship with God? Is there un confessed unrepentant of sin in my, in my life?
And many times we’ll find out that there is.
And the Bible says, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.
And I think one of the things that keeps me closer to God than anything else is the no, the knowledge that if my heart is not clean and pure, my prayers will not get through.
So God, uh the, the, the origin of prayer, the origin of prayer is the purpose of God.
The purpose of God. God has, has a purpose in his heart and in his life, he wants to, to work in me through prayer.
Now, folks, prayer did not begin with you as a matter of fact, if you don’t name it and claim it, it has to begin with God.
I remember when the disciples remember reading about the disciples out fishing after the resurrection of Jesus.
And uh Jesus said, um, have you taken anything? Have you caught anything?
Don’t you hate it when you’ve been fishing all night and haven’t caught anything? Somebody ask you that question.
Have you caught anything? Here’s what they said, I listen to it.
They said we have toiled all night and have taken nothing.
The sentence begins with, we, it ends with nothing.
Anything that begins with, we ends with nothing spiritually.
And then uh Jesus said, well, cast jets out on the other side and they said, well, at your word, we will and, and my friend, we have to get God’s word.
Prayer does not bend God’s will to fit our will.
Prayer finds the will of God and gets in on it. We’re gonna say more about that later on.
But remember this, that the origin of effectual prayer roots in the purposes of God for of Him are all things.
Now, here’s the second thing, not only does the does the origin of effectual prayer root in the purposes of God, but the operation of effectual prayer relies on the power of God because not only does prayer come is is it of Him, but it is through Him.
You see, it’s God that gives you the desire to pray.
Did you know that you don’t have a natural desire to pray? You have a natural desire not to pray.
I’m talking about your flesh. Let me give you some scriptures. Romans three verse 11. We’ve already looked at this.
There’s none that understand it. There’s none that seek after God. No, not one. That’s what the Bible says.
You have a natural inclination not to pray. Let me give you another verse.
Romans eight verses five through seven.
For they that are after the flesh, to mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit.
The things of the spirit to be carnally minded is death. But to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God. That is the fleshly mind is at warfare with God.
It is not subject to the law of God. Neither indeed can be.
Your nature does not want to pray.
There’s nothing in you by nature that would cause you to seek God. No, not at all.
But God, when he puts his spirit in you gives you the desire to pray.
Romans eight verse 15 for you’ve not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry.
Have a father. God puts his spirit into our hearts, lets us know that we’ve been adopted into his family.
And then prayer is just natural as natural as a little child saying daddy, father.
But the natural man, the carnal nature doesn’t wanna pray. So how is prayer through Him?
Well, first of all, he gives us the desire to pray and I listen very carefully.
Not only does he give us the desire to pray, he gives us the direction to pray.
I mean, how, how, what are we to ask for?
We don’t know by our own nature, what to ask for?
You know, the Bible says that God will supply all of our need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus.
Sometimes we want things we don’t need. Isn’t that true? Yeah, that’s definitely true.
Have you ever thanked God for unanswered prayer?
I have, I’ve asked God for things I thought I needed and he didn’t give them to me and I, I argued with him but he still didn’t give them to me.
You know what Mrs Billy Graham said, Mrs Billy Graham said, if God had answered every one of my prayers, I would have married three other men other than Billy Graham and every one of them been wrong.
You know, you asking God to give you something that’s, that’s not best for you.
Sometimes we want things we don’t need and sometimes we need things we don’t want. Isn’t that true?
And my dad used to say you need a spanking.
I didn’t want one, but I needed one. He was right.
Well, uh the only the Holy Spirit of God is going to show us uh how to pray for things that we may not want, but that we really need.
And then sometimes we want things that we already have.
We’re asking God to give us what we already have, where we just take what we already have and give it back to God and say of thy own, have we given unto thee?
Sometimes we want things we don’t need. Sometimes we need things we don’t want.
And sometimes we want things we already have.
But the Holy Spirit of God gives us the desire to pray.
And the Holy Spirit of God gives us the direction to pray. So we can know the will of God.
How did Jesus pray? Jesus prayed by this principle?
And Jesus answered and said unto them very rarely.
I say to you the son speaking of himself, the son can do nothing of himself but what he seeth the Father do for what things soever he doeth the Father.
These also do with the Son likewise. What Jesus said is just I, I look into heaven.
I see what the Father is doing. I see what the Father wants. That’s what I asked for.
That’s what I I get. Do you know what worship is worship is placing yourself on the altar until you’re consumed.
Now you’re in, you’re in verse 36. Just go to chapter 12 verse one.
Look at it, I bet you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies, a living sacrifice wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Now, a sacrifice is to be placed on the altar.
And what happened to a sacrifice in the Old Testament was placed on the altar.
It was consumed by fire.
Now, if that sacrifice was not a holy sacrifice, it would not be consumed, it would be repugnant.
God would refuse it. But if it was a holy sacrifice that is without spot or blemish, pure clean, that sacrifice would be consumed.
Now, you have not really worshiped until you placed yourself on the altar and God has consumed you with holy fire.
Now, when you do that, when you do that, when you place yourself upon the altar and let God consume you, you are consumed by Him, then you know what happens.
We’ll look at it. Look in, in chapter 12 verse one.
Uh I brethren by the mercies of God present your bodies as a living sacrifice wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Now watch this and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove.
What is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
When you worship, when you worship with loving lingering prayer, God comes and he consumes you and then He transforms you and you now have the mind of Christ.
You look into heaven. You see things that are in heaven.
You see what is bound in heaven and you bind it on earth.
You see what is loose in heaven and you lose it on earth and you see it is God that gives you the desire to pray.
It is God that gives you the direction to pray.
It is God that gives you the dynamic to pray because you must pray in faith.
And where’s that faith going to come from?
Well of Him and through Him and through Him, you can’t conjure up faith.
You can’t make yourself believe. But when you hear God, when you’ve been alone with God, when you are worshiping God, and God speaks to you, then faith wells up in your heart.
Remember not long ago, we preached from Romans 10 verse 17.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
And we told you that word, hearing is the word, which means not just hearing words but hearing God.
When God speaks to you, you have a of God, then you find that faith in your heart.
Many of us just run into God’s presence.
And we say, listen, Lord, your servant is speaking rather than speak Lord, your servant is listening.
And finally, when we find out what’s going on in heaven, whatever is bound in heaven, then we uh bind it on earth and whatever is loose in heaven, then we lose it on earth.
You see listen, prayer is of Him, it is through Him.
It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the desire to pray.
It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the direction to pray.
It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the dynamic to pray. Prayer is of Him and through him.
Now, the the the origin of prayer is the purpose of God.
The operation of prayer is the power of God.
And I listen carefully and here’s where many of us miss it.
The objective of, of prayer is the praise of God.
Now, did you, if you, if you don’t get that, you’re gonna miss the whole thing.
The objective of prayer is the praise of God.
And I listen to it for of Him and through Him and to Him are all things to whom be glory forever.
You see God is in the business of getting glory to himself.
And the reason so many times that our prayers are not answered is that we’re not interested in the glory of God.
We’re interested in our own personal aggrandizement.
When you get interested in the glory of God, you’re gonna see prayer start being answered.
James said, you have not because you ask not and you ask and receive not because you ask Him is that you might consume it upon your loss.
But we’re to ask God for the glory of God.
Now listen, it is prayer and thanksgiving that complete the triangle of Him.
Through him and to him, Thanksgiving just simply says, Lord, thank you.
Prayer asks, Thanksgiving says, thank you. Thanksgiving enjoys the gift, praise and enjoys the giver.
When we just simply praise the Lord. You know, prayer goes into God’s presence to carry something away.
Praise goes into God’s presence just to stay there forever and ever and ever.
And, and by the way, folks, this is why we pray in the name of Jesus.
This is why we pray in the name of Jesus.
You know, uh he says that we’d ask in his name. Now, listen to it.
Now, listen, we’d ask in his name that the father may be glorified in the sun.
I think about that. Why do we pray in the name of Jesus? They gotta to be glorified.
That’s what it means to pray in the name of Jesus.
And oh, it’s so sweet to pray in the name of Jesus.
Have you ever wake up in the morning and knew it was time to pray and just didn’t feel like praying.
You know, when you wake up sometimes like that, you just don’t feel like praying. Isn’t that true?
You, you just don’t feel like praying. Have you ever done that?
You, you just don’t feel like praying and so you don’t pray and you say well, you know, it, it would, it would just be mockery if I were to pray today.
All right now. So I’ll wait till I feel better. Then later on you get to feeling better.
Maybe you take a couple of Alka Seltzer or something like that, you know, maybe last night you had sauerkraut and ice cream and so you, you, you, you take an Alka Seltzer and then after a while you get a feeling better and you say now I can pray, but I wanna ask you a question.
Do you think God was in that plop, plop fizz fizz?
I mean, was, did that make you more spiritual? No, you just felt better.
You just felt better. Now, folks, when you pray, don’t come, offering to God, the brass of your emotions come with both hands filled with the incense of Jesus name, asking his name.
It really doesn’t matter how you feel. Pray in the name of Jesus.
I’ll tell you I’ve done this before. I’ve come.
Sometimes there’s time to preach on Sunday.
And I say, oh God, oh God, I’ve been so busy.
I hear this that I’ve been running around doing a lot of things good, but none of them good is prayer.
Lord. I, I just don’t deserve your blessings this morning. Oh God, I’m so sorry.
And the Lord says to me, and now wait a minute.
If you had been really doing what you ought to do, then do you think that your prayer would be rewarded because you’ve been such a good boy?
Don’t you realize it’s my grace? They get your prayers answered.
You see folks, it’s not my sweat, it’s his blood.
You pray in the name of Jesus. I’m not saying that we ought not to do right.
I’m not saying that we ought not to serve him.
But there comes a time when you say, oh God, I’m not offering my emotions and I’m not offering my performance.
I am standing on your promise.
I am praying in the name of Jesus and God answers your prayer and then you say to whom be glory forever, you pray in the name of Jesus.
Now, I’m, I’m finishing this message.
But now let me tell you what prayer is, is what I’ve said about prayer.
I’ve talked to you about the origin of prayer. I have talked to you about the operation of prayer.
I’ve talked to you about the object of prayer, a divine triangle for of him and through him and to him are all things.
Now, here’s the bottom line. Let’s just wrap it up. Let me give you a definition of prayer.
Prayer is the holy Spirit finding a desire in the heart of the Father, putting that desire into your heart and then sending it back to heaven in the power of the cross are in the power of Jesus name.
I know you didn’t remember all that. So I’m gonna give it to you again.
Prayer is the Holy Spirit finding a desire in the heart of the Father, putting that desire into our heart and then sending it back to heaven in the power of the cross, for the glory of God, for of Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
And when we learn to pray that way, we’re gonna pray as Jesus prayed and we’re gonna see God do some wonderful things in prayer.