Garry Tracy - "Effective Praying"

James chapter 5 James chapter 5 want to thank everyone who is participating in the fasting and prayer focus of our church these 21 days in January look forward to this every year it's always a time of great blessing that comes to us as we seek God and thank you for your participation in that James 15 James chapter 5 verse 13 is anyone among you suffering he should keep on praying is anyone cheerful he should keep reciting songs is anyone among you sick you should call for the elders of the church and they should pray pray for him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord and the prayer offered in faith will save the person who is sick and the Lord will raise him up and if he has committed any sins he will be forgiven therefore [Music] make it your habit to confess your sins one to another and to pray for one another so that you may be healed the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective I'm speaking to you this morning on effective Ray Ray's good I know that everybody in this place today is a prayer you have prayed at one time or another in your life all of you have experienced an answer to your prayer perhaps not all of your prayers but some of your prayers have been answered you're here today as a testimony to that my objective today is to help us through the Word of God to understand that there is a way to have effective prayers in your life and God gives us the answer let's pray together and ask him to speak to our hearts Lord I thank you today for the desire of every person in this building to be here today to worship you we offer to you our bodies as living sacrifices and we come today with a desire to improve and everything that we do and today our focus is on prayer we know that our prayers please you and you want us to pray and so we want to be effective in our praying and I pray that you would direct us today as we look at your word because it's our desire to please you and to see answers to our prayers so that your kingdom would be expanded and established in the hearts of men and women I pray this in Jesus name and for his glory you may be seated I did a quick check this morning of the news before I came to church I think this has been a record this weekend of the greatest winnings in the lottery two amounts were given to individuals this weekend one in the amount of 570 million one person and the other one that one was in New Hampshire the other one was in Florida with 450 million don't you wish no probably you don't because I don't expect that most do you even buy a lottery ticket do you know why you don't you know what the odds were of that New Hampshire lottery one in 302 million not a very good bet right do you know of any place else where you could put your efforts where you could seek for blessings that you might get a better chance of winning yeah you know what I'm talking about today you have a great opportunity to approach your God for the needs of your life the needs of others and for him to assist you in accomplishing the will of God for your life and that is through the avenue of Prayer our God His Word is forever established in heaven and in earth and if we believe the Word of God his word and his promises are established in our lives and so when we pray it is not just a possibility of getting an answer there is a way to have effective prayers in our life the greatest door that God will open for us in 2018 leads to the prayer room the greatest door that will ever open to you this year is the opportunity to approach your God with your needs and with your requests and God has promised to meet us there in our place of prayer and I thank God for that open door that is here today now there are hindrances and there are reasons why some of our prayers are not answered James gives us the reasons why prayers aren't answered number one we know prayer is going to be answered if it's not prayed this is why we are admonished to pray to pray always God answers prayer so let us pray so if we don't ask there's a way to correct that let's pray number two James says we ask for the wrong things or we ask amiss well there's a way to correct that too the Word of God pray the will of God that is revealed in his word don't be just using your own imagination when you pray but when you approach God you don't need to be hitting and missing because the Word of God instructs us as to the will of God so that we can pray right on target the third thing James says that prohibits us from receiving answers is that we don't ask in faith and so we will believe God we will trust his word and he will help us in our prayers the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective now you notice there's little qualification there righteous person does that scare anybody are there any righteous people in the audience this morning one two come on do you trust God for your rights and yeah now you're getting it you know sometimes we think God's not hearing because I'm not good enough for him to answer my prayers that is not a true standing with God you believe that Jesus Christ has provided you with a covering so that you can walk right into the presence of God and that great and mighty open door that is before you into the prayer room you can go there because God has provided your righteousness and what does that mean that means that means that as you approach to God you do believe God that he has saved you and forgiven you and provided for you a way of salvation so that you can stand in right standing before God praise God if you're a believer today if you're walking in the truth that you are a righteous person and you can go with boldness to the throne of grace and God will hear your prayers thank him for it give him praise that he has taken away your sin and provided you right standing with God thank you Jesus Peter said for the Lord you listen to this this is encouraging for the Lord watches the righteous and he pays attention to their prayers you are not invisible you may think the world doesn't see you and there's a lot of people who don't care about you but there's somebody who is watching you and this is not with a look of judgment this is a look of opportunity this is a look of saying I want you to pray so I can answer your prayers the Lord is looking out for the Lord is watching over the righteous now you have just concluded you have come to this decision and understanding today that you are in right standing with God when you're believing on the Lord and walking in his word and living for the Lord to the best of your ability and your desire is to please the Lord and that righteous person the Bible says that God is watching you you don't get his attention once in a while Victoria and I were talking this week about God and His great ability and it was mentioned that although there are many prayers in the world God hears them all at the same time in fact God sees that every Jesus taught us at the Sermon on the Mount Jesus that God sees every little bird default what I put up my bird feeder this week so hanging outside my window or a lot of birds right now he is cold outside and they like to get free food anybody God sees every one of them but more than that God sees us are we not of more value what's Jesus point what I'm saying to you is that the Lord is watching the righteous and he pays attention to their prayers you never pray a player that God does not hear somebody needs to open your understanding today it's not a waste of time to pray God is watching and God is listening to your prayers amen I think your God's the same God that I serve and my God is loving my God is gracious my God is happy about me being saved he's happy when I pray he's happy when I worship my God is looking out for me he's watching me and he's looking for an opportunity to answer my prayers and my requests his eyes are on the righteous Psalm five and eight says lead me O Lord in your righteousness because of my enemies make your way straight to before me this gives us an understanding of what it means to be righteous it means to say Lord lead me because I will follow after you and I need to follow after you because there are some enemies after me now lead me in the way that will that will bless the way that will admonish the way that would be a help and an encouragement to other people and be pleasing in your sight Lord me in that way that's the way of the righteous a lot of people here new life that serve other people in different aspects of ministry at the church lead me Lord so that I can be a blessing to others that my enemy will not have victory over me but my pathway will please you and I can help others so to be led by the Lord and to follow in his straight way is the way of righteousness and when we do that the Lord is looking over us to protect us and to provide for us James said that hearing the word of God and not believing it's deceiving ourselves we must believe that the Lord responds to us that he hears us and that he is watching out for our interest so we believe and we act upon the Word of God and so the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective the second point I want to make to you today is that effective prayers pray the Word of God they pray God's Word now the reason there's two reasons maybe more - I'm going to mention this morning why we pray the Word of God number one when I pray the Word of God it affects me anytime I read the word or think about the word it has a positive impact in my life listen to the word of the Lord Hebrews 4:12 you all know this the Word of God is living and active sharper than a two-edged sword piercing until it divides the soul in the spirit joints and marrow and it judges the thoughts and the purposes of the heart no creature is hid from him but everyone is exposed and helpless before the eyes of the one who has whom we must give a word of explanation or give an account before the Lord the word of God that I speak when I pray is powerful and it doesn't work in me when I speak the Word of God in prayer it affects me it cleanses me it refines me it aligns my will with his word or his will write it it is a way of surgery as we pray when we pray the Word of God the Word of God is doing a work in my life this is what makes us righteous this is what helps us to pray the will of God when we do it in by praying the Word of God sin in us is helpless against the Word of God that we pray that's worth repeating the sin that may be in us is helpless against the Living powerful Word of God that we pray you know what happens to sin when you expose it to the Word of God sin loses sin is removed sin is exposed so pray the word and it'll impact you it'll prepare you it'll set your mind right it'll set your will right so that you're not praying amiss but you're praying the Word of God the Word of God when you pray the Word of God will affect your life greatly the prophecy is like a fire set up in my bones I can't help it I've got to speak the Word of God when I pray and so it impacts us it affects us it cleanses us it prepares us it aligns the Word of God aligns us with the will of God as we pray the word but it's not just that's impacted by the word of God that I pray God is affected by the Word of God that I pray ever heard of a retweet you know what that is if you like what somebody's saying you repeat it you send it out to other people you know what God likes he likes to hear us repeat what he said you believe that God is pleased I'm pleased I tweet and every time every day I take a few minutes to see what's going on and I look at my own Accountancy who has retweeted Gary Tracy that does wonderful things for my self-image it really props to me up and makes me think you know what I maybe I have something worthwhile to say I know those people come Sunday morning to hear me preach but maybe someone else would like to hear something that I God wants to hear us to repeat what he says he likes it he wants us so when you pray don't go praying off doing her own thing find out the Word of God concerning the subject and pray God amen it affects God when we pray the word the word of Jeremiah you know Jeremiah might be like us I expect he was sometimes we don't think that we can effectively pray why would God listen to me Who am I that God would want to hear what I've got to say and so Jeremiah was approaching God with that attitude in God said now you just listen for a minute I made you the way you are so don't you go looking too critical at your way you are we may look at ourselves and see all the weaknesses and the contradictions God did you know that God made you weak what do you think of that do you like that no we don't like that but God made us the way we are and you know what he wants to do he wants us to take what we are in all of our inefficiencies and in abilities and bring it to him because you know what he likes to do he likes to help us he likes to change us and if there's some things in our life there may be areas of your life that never change boy maybe you don't like to hear that there's some people that can you imagine this time you've got to stretch your imagination but there are people in this building older than me and they still got their bumps and they still got their flaws and they still got some weaknesses but you know what they've learned they've learned that God accepts him God believes in them God hears their prayers even though they are you know why because they've turned that weakness over to the Lord they say Lord I need to every day I come before you every day you made me the way I am but I can glorify you because I'm gonna give myself to you and you're gonna straight to me and you're gonna use me and I'm gonna I'm gonna have to depend upon you every day that's one yeah that's one reason why we need to pray without ceasing because we always need the strength of the Lord so your weakness and your inability and your lack of qualifications does not disqualify you when you pray the Word of God and when you believe that God is impacted by your prayers just like God said to Jeremiah and they do in your mother's womb right the way you are and then Jeremiah said okay but I'm so young that's what he said he said I'm too young to answer your call I'm too young to do great things for you and God said no you're not too young I called you I consecrated you I equipped you I prepared you for this work so whatever we may think disqualifies us from being an effective prayer God is saying you just bring that to me and I will bless you and I will use you and I will cover you and I will change you and I will equip you and I will make you an effective prayer our inabilities are not excuses there are reasons that are acceptable to God then God touched his mouth now here's the beautiful part and he said God said to Jeremiah I have put my words on your lips and in your mouth now that changes everything okay so you're too young you're too old you got weakness here you whatever your situation might be doesn't really matter because God's Word he's going to make up the difference does anybody believe this our prayers are not answered because of our goodness our prayers are answered because it's the Word of God it's the will of God it's the promise of God and it changes everything when you pray God's Word it changes everything about your prayer life because now God's Word is in your mouth God's Word is being expressed God's Word is being praying that changes everything praise God so what I'm saying to you today is this when we pray the Word of God it affects us it also affects God he looks at us and he's pleased with our words he said to Jeremiah I'm gonna touch your mouth and I'm gonna put my words in your mouth and now you can block up and you can break down and you can destroy and you can overthrow and you can build and you can plant through my word that's in your mouth pray the word when you pray the word the potential of God is in your prayers when you pray the word the potential and power of God is in your prayers this is powerful the Word of God being spoken by you and me in our prayers Jeremiah 1:12 said then the Lord said to Jeremiah you have seen well but I am watching over my word to perform it now I know that the tracy's got the plow deep this morning I'm giving you something to think about I'm going to help you and help me in our prayers to be more effective now I just told you a few moments ago that because we are righteous and we pray prayers out of that righteous desire of our heart that God is watching us he's listening to us he wants to answer our prayers he's paying attention to what we say but now look at this word Jeremiah I'm watching now my word I've given my word to you now I am watching over my word so that I can fulfill it so that I can perform it so that I can answer it this is why we pray the Word of God because God is watching you and he's watching his word in you as you pray why is he doing that so he can answer God loves to do what he says God loves to fulfill his promise in your life as you speak it it's God's desire to answer the prayers of his righteous people so that he can show himself thrown and so that we can do great exploits through the Word of God this is his desire he wants to answer our prayers and when we pray the word it gives him a reason to fulfill his word in our life so we need to study the word we need to know the word and we need to apply it to our lives so what I'm saying to you today is this that the righteous people can pray powerful effective prayers because as they pray in the Word of God it affects to them and it affects God there's proof of this in the scripture Moses is a good example he's known for a man that was effective in his prayers he was a powerful intercessor for the people of Israel and he was effective because he reminded God of God's Word the Israelites were not obedient they had stubborn streak they were complainers and they were disobedient and God became so angry with them when they made that golden calf and said you have delivered us from Egypt I mean it was fire coming out of God's eyes he was angry with that group don't let us give anybody praise for anything good in their lives except God you be careful who you're praising that's right don't go around too cocky and too proud of what you have accomplished and of your nobility no no you give praise to God because God is emotional you read some of his words you almost think he's unstable I heard someone else accused of that this week yeah so what does Moses do when God says alright I'm fed up I'm not dealing with this group of rebellious people it is hopeless you ever have a situation like that what did Moses do not God he got between God and God's anger boy this man had a relationship with God he knew something about the mercy side of God anybody here know anything about the mercy side of God don't you give up on people look what God has done in your life yeah we forget sometimes what God has done in us and what God has changed in us how God has performed powerful works in us and we need to remember when we are praying for others the promise of God because God had said he would bring them out of Egypt and take them into the Promised Land God has said these are my people they're called by my name I put my reputation on them and God was listening to Moses as Moses reminded God of God's own words this is powerful you know what I think we ought to do when we pray we need to know the Word of God and remind God God you said that I was to cast my cares upon you because you care for me so Lord this is what I'm doing I'm following your word God you said that if I would pray people would be saved and delivered that my prayers could be powerful so Lord I'm praying to you I'm reciting your word today I am calling upon you today because I believe your word I'm reminding you God you said that if I would pray for the sick anointing with oil in the name of the Lord Jesus you would raise them up and they would be healed and they would be delivered Lord I'm praying your word it's powerful it's powerful you're in trouble I kicked over the clock and I don't have any idea what time it is I hope you brought a lunch he won't be funny at 12:30 Moses is reminding God what did God do do you think reminding God of his word affects God God the Bible says repented about that it just means he changed his mind okay Moses I give up you've turned my own word toward me I see what I said before and so if you will continue to lead this people I will save them and take them into the Promised Land you need to pray that prayer for anybody that you know in your family you need to pray for them deliverance and use the word of God and remind God of what his promises are and you hold on to that the Bible says don't cast aside your confidence but lay hold with absolute assurance upon the promises of God when you pray God will give you the desire of your heart because the desire of your heart has now been aligned with the will of God and the Word of God praise God you see we can mature in our praying because we can mature in the word anybody no more Word of God today than you did 2017 then if you don't then your prayer life is going to be stalemated it's going to be stagnant learn the word pray the word and your prayer life will continue to be more powerful as time goes on so God intentionally left us with his mind you think about this God intentionally left us with his mind his thoughts his plans his will his word he did that intentionally so that we would pray that word and it would have an influence upon him in our prayers my last point to you give you some hope here today righteous people's prayers are powerful and effective when we pray the Word of God it impacts us and it also affects God and thirdly we pray in faith must always pray in faith powerful because when you pray the Word of God faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God right in the middle of your prayer now if you're floundering sometimes anybody like me sometimes I find it hard to focus when I first start to pray you know your mind's going but the Word of God gives me focus if I will quote scripture it'll bring my mind like a laser beam right onto the promises of God and what does that do for my faith my faith is increased by the Word of God that I pray I'm about ready to kick my leg right here you know what I'm saying to you today listen listen when you pray the word the whole time you're praying your faith is being supported and built up because your faith is being increased by hearing the Word of God that you're praying and you start to realize I can believe what I am praying because it's not just me it's God's Word that I pray my faith is increased when I pray the Word of God here's a notable statement prayer does not cause faith to work faith causes prayer to work and they're powerful I thank God for that wonderful understanding that we have come to understand today someone once said that when we work we work but when we pray God works rays go that's notable praise God we're left to our own strengths and abilities until we pray but when we pray it's not just what can I do or what can others do it's what can God and so when we repeat the Word of God when we pray we will find it POW in building our faith before the Lord scripture says without faith it's impossible to please God but what's the flip side of that if we pray in faith God will hear and God will answer he rewards those who seek Him and pray before him and come before him and intercedes for him it is his purpose for us to do so real faith is acting on God's word faith is more than just mental assent or agreement faith is doing the Word of God James also said that you cannot build faith without believing and acting on the Word of God prayers are ineffective without faith but if you will believe the Word of God that you are praying and act upon it that increases your faith we confess the word and we hold steadfast to the promises of God 2nd chronicles 16:9 the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is righteous or perfect toward him now here we got God looking again he's not just looking at the righteous he's not just looking at his word but the eye of the Lord goes to and fro throughout the earth because he wants to show himself strong toward those whose heart is following after him the Lord desires to show his power and his ability the Lord summons to his apostles and said you go to Jerusalem and you wait for the promise of the father and you will be endued with power from heaven and you shall be witnesses unto me that means that what people see in our testimony in our prayer in our lifestyle they are going to see more than just the natural they are going to see the Ministry of Jesus Christ continued why because we have been in booth with power from heaven God's desire is to continue what he began with the birth of the church in the 21st century God is going to have a church in the last day that looks just like the first church acts just like the first church believes just like the first church it is a powerful church that he has watching that he is desirey he wants to show himself strong in Supernatural power and ability today like he has always done that's why the Apostle Paul said I didn't come to you Corinthians with enticing words of man's wisdom although he had those just read the book of Hebrews this was a man who was gifted with words but he said I didn't come to you Corinthians with gifted words but I came in demonstration of the Spirit and the power of God that your faith would not stand in the ability of men but your faith would be in God that's what's needed today as a result of our prayers I believe that God wants us to pray prayers that are focused upon his word and his promises so that he can watch us and so that he can preform for us what he has promised he would do I believe this today that God wants us to have effective prayers so he can answer and show himself strong there's a lot of skepticism in our world today the generation I've been doing some reading about the characteristics of the generations that are following me and their since changed through the years for a good reason this generally the younger generation today needs proof of what you are professing how can we give them proof well we give them proof don't we by the exemplary lives that we live we can give them proof by the love and care concern that we show toward them but above all of that I believe they need to see the enactment of the supernatural in our lives and in our churches and I believe this is the will of God to do so he wants to show himself strong the Centurion came to jesus and he said jesus my servant is sick near death and I love that servant of mine I want you to speak the word so that he can be healed and Jesus said I'll come to your home and healing and the Centurion said I would rather you didn't because I perceive you this is my words here right but this is what he's saying I perceive you to be so above me that I am not worthy that you would come to my house all you need to do is speak the word right here right now Jesus if you will speak the word my servant will be healed Jesus marveled at this Gentiles faith and he commented on it the point is this my brothers in my sisters that powerful Word of God this man in hee humility believed that the Word of God would heal his servant that the Bible says within 60 minutes the servant was completely home did you read that the self-same hour it happened just as it was said I want to have this kind of confidence and faith in God that the Word of God will go forth as the scripture says and heal and do his work and be powerful in the work of the Lord I do not believe today that God is reluctant to answer prayer I believe that God desires to answer our prayers and that he's looking for this opportunity today if our musicians would come and our singers we're going to prepare to come to the altar this morning it's critical that we have faith in God and in his word I was shocked when this thought passed through my mind in preparation for this message doubting the Word of God is doubting the integrity of God and it's doubting his ability and his willingness to answer the prayers that we pray in accordance to his word this is so powerful in our lives I know this today you know this today our God is a God of integrity not one word is going to fail the Bible says that heaven and earth will fail they will pass away everything in this natural life is temporary but the Word of God it is forever established in heaven and when I speak his word in my prayers there is a powerful effect upon our lives any failure in spiritual work is a prayer failure any failure in spiritual work is a prayer failure it's a failure to pray God's will and God's word that applies to any part of ministry you know if I fail morally that's a prayer failure because when I pray the Word of God it cleanses me it convicts me and then the same word of God gives me hope and I can repent and I can be corrected and I can be saved from those weaknesses of the human flesh every failure in spiritual work is the prayer failure we may say well it may be a leadership failure well let me ask you this if we pray the Word of God if we pray in the spirit of the word of God will God not give us words of knowledge words of wisdom and show us the way forward when we do I'm saying to you today that access to God is what will save us and give us the profitable ministry that we desire and that's done through prayer I believe that that's why this church is taking this opportunity at the beginning of another year to focus for days on prayer let's stand together [Music] thank you Jesus for your word today hallelujah I praise you Jesus for what you have revealed to us today through your word we stand before you right now Oh God we're a little uncomfortable because we're learning we're discovering things Lord that can improve ourselves and our effectiveness in you and in your word but I know today as I speak to this wonderful church that you are calling us to prayer you are calling us to effective pray to be righteous you are calling us to your word you're calling us to your will that's revealed in your word you're calling us to apply your will to every prayer that we pray you're calling us O God today to come before you with faith and with confidence and to hold fan our confidence in the Lord and Lord we're not just inspire today but we are implementing into our lives the Word of God and you're calling us Lord to be a powerful church you're calling us to be an overcoming Church you're calling us to be a church where miracles aquaphor you're calling us to be a people that have a powerful witness of God's work in our lives you're calling us Lord to demonstrate your spirit and your power so that people's faith would be in you you're calling us today and we're saying yes Lord if these remaining weeks are of our prayer and fasting you are calling us to look at your word to humble ourselves to have faith in God to believe the Word of God as we pray this is what your calling and we're saying yes Lord yes Lord yes Lord I will respond and I will respond to you in my prayers and Jesus day thank you

Channel: Hallelujah Anyhow

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Keywords: garry tracy, new life st louis, effective praying, praying effectively, praying effective prayers, praying effectively in the spirit, prayer effective, pentecostal, pentecostal preaching, pentecostal church, pentecostal worship, apostolic preaching 2018, apostolic pentecostal preaching, apostolic pentecostal church, apostolic pentecostal worship, apostolic pentecostal sermons, apostolic pentecostal preaching videos, apostolic pentecostal preaching 2018

Id: r7wcVmQb9Bg

Length: 48min 50sec (2930 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 10 2018