Powerful Prayers that Receive Answers (James 5:13-18)
God can answer my prayers because he is a God of power. George Muller, who had received over 50,000 answers, prayed for the salvation of two friends for 60 years. One returned to God right before Muller’s death, and the other returned to God after he had died. When we begin an important work with prayer, we must have assurance until we receive the answer.
1.What are conditions for our prayers to be answered?
Let us look at James 5:13-18 and read it responsively. The title of today’s message is Powerful prayers that receive answers. We believe in Jesus Christ but why do we have to pray. We received salvation by God’s grace, and that was not because of our faith it was actually God’s grace that came upon us first. Among the many people God called me and gave me salvation. Therefore, this faith isn’t because we believe but God gave us the grace to believe. Even now God is working through his word. The way for us to communicate with God is through prayer. Then what exactly is prayer? Why do we have to pray?
And even among the prayers we are learning about powerful prayers that revive answers. The reason we have to pray is because God has his plan. Of course that is right, God has his plan and he moves forward. We don’t know God’s plan so that’s why we have to pray. And as we pray for God’s plan we don’t know there’s also a fixing of ours. If we don’t pray then you don’t know if you are right or wrong, so first of all we pray to know God’s plan and even though the person who is praying, their minds are drenched in nothing that has to do with God, they still pray. But as we pray, our prayers will continuously develop. Yes, that is right all of the incorrect things will be corrected and we will be developed in the ways of God. And the answers that come after our prayers are great as well.
God gave us five covenantal blessings. He gave us a blessing to be the source of blessing. And he gave us the representative blessings where he says, “Through you.” All people on earth will be blessed, he gave us the blessing of the age. He says “I’ll make you into a great nation” and he has given us this blessing. Those who bless you I will bless, those who curse you i will curse. He has given us these irresistible blessings. And because we believe in Jesus Christ, these blessings are before us.
As we pray those who are oppressed by demons will flee. The one who prays will be liberated from demons, but also the one who they’re praying for will receive blessings. Then after this prayer, the work will happen upon the remnants. What happens if we don’t pray? You’re not going to know God’s plan very well. Why not? Because you’re too filled wil your own thoughts. We always have our thoughts. Those are the thoughts that have been completely stuck in not believing in Jesus Christ, we make our decisions and want to go forward with our thoughts but God has his plan.
In the introduction God has his plan and he answers us. There was a man named George Muller who prayed until he received answers. George Muller received 50,000 answers and he prayed for the salvation of two friends for 60 years, one returned to God before Muller died, and the other returned to God after Muller died.
When we begin an important work in prayer, we must have assurance until we receive an answer nobody can stop the one to pray. The one who thinks a lot will be destroyed because they thought a lot but when we pray we will continuously receive answers. At some point the works take place, the ones who don’t pay will look down on them. Thinking that nothing is taking place but without a doubt the work is taking place. This is what it means for the prayers we go to go to work because there’s a time schedule that God answers us
We’re not discouraged because everything is within God but the one who did not pray will be discouraged easily and give up on things easily. There’s nothing for us to give up because we are following God‘s plan. Those who pray will receive healing there’s never a matter whether things are working out but not but as we keep praying God will change us.
We love God, and we also love other people. We forgive and save those who are incorrect and we save people who are in problems with our prayers. And for the people who have more physical strength we help those who are physically weak. That is what it means to obey God’s commands. You are saving. That is the 20 commandments. Love of God, love of people. Even if you do this well the blessings of God prepared for you will be poured upon you. If you say you love God but hate people, that is not loving God. Because you don’t have faith, you don’t have human relationships either. Even in our business this word must be fulfilled. You should take sympathy for those who don’t have much and then help them. Even your business must be the business that saves people. And even your job must be the job to save. Because that is God’s will. Then all of the prayers of this person, God will answer. There is nothing so complicated and study the Bible so deeply.
We simply receive grace moment by moment, and we follow the answers the word gives us but the word is very simple. To what point do we have to love? You just love all mankind. To what point do you love? You love all 237 nations. Then that person will be used for 237 national business. It’s very simple. People who love themselves and their family will be acknowledged by their family. And people who are living for their job will be recognized by their job. People who live and give their life for the nations will be recognized by the nation. People who live for the world will be recognized by the whole world. To what extent do you love? That is your vessel. If the only one you think about the only one you love is yourself, then it only ends with you. Only my family, even if you’re recognized in your family, you will not be acknowledged anywhere else. Those who live for the church will be acknowledged by the church. For the people who devote their time and energy for the region, they will be acknowledged and used to save the region. That is the truth that never changes. Those are not my words but these are the words of a professor that is 130 years old. He had his friends and his friends lived for the nation. He lived for more than 100 years and he was looking back at his life, and he realized those who live for the family only know their family. And he was a professor at Yeonsung University and those who did profession only for money, they just made money and died that way, but the people who devoted themselves for the Yeonsung university will be promoted to the ranks. But the people who lived only for the money wouldn’t be prompted like that, and the people who lived for the nations will be used for the rest of their lives.
Even now, he is over 100 years old, he is still being called all over the nations. And he said that when he was a little out of ignorance that this is the word of the Bible. That’s how he expressed the Bible, your vessel is about how much can go into your heart. People who devote and try their best for the university, it’s not as if their material possessions and their family collapses, everything is contained. And those people will meet their end when they’re no longer needed in these high positions. But the people who devoted themselves to the nation, even after they were retired, they were continuously used.
God’s command, we must love God and love people then to what extent must we love people? That is the vessel which you will be used to and you must rely this to the new believers. If a believer who only knows about themselves teaches another new believers, then the answers will be difficult. If there’s someone who puts the church on a back burner whenever their family has an event, it will be hard for that person to receive answers. And if someone is only interested in the events that are going on at the church but has no interest in missions or evangelism, then that’s the answer limit they will receive. But if your living for the nation and for evangelism, then in reality you’re living for the church and family as well. And inside of that all of their life will be contained. This is the condition of people who continuously receive answers.
(1)Acts 12:5-8
(2)1John 5:14
(3)1 John 3:24
(4)John 15:7
In John 15:7 says that, “If I remain in you and you remain in me, ask whatever you wish and it will be answered.”
(5)Matthew 18:18-20
Matthew 18:18-20 says that when two or more people gather together to pray I will be among you. Your prayer meetings with two or three people without a doubt you will receive answers. And no matter what we will absolutely receive answers. The timing is not up to us. It might be to our kids or us.
(6)Luke 18:1-18
Luke 18:1-18 tells the parable between a widowed woman who persistently went to the wicked judge for a resentencing. Even if a wicked judge will reevaluate the answer he gave because of the persistence of a widow, don’t you think your father will answer you, all the more. So I hope that you will stop thinking, stop worrying and pray instead if you can’t pay alone then bring one or two people to pray together.
(7) James 5:13-18
James 5:13-18 says, Elijah prayed for no rain for 3 and a half years and then he prayed for it to rain and it rained. The conditions of a prayer that receives answers in persistence. Continuation. You cant argue because God is the one giving answers. But if you don’t pray at all, you don’t know whether you will receive answers or not. So both for you and new believers, when you begin prayer you must know this. If something keeps happening, just pray because the one answer is God. How do I pray? Just close your mouth and start praying. That’s the way of the mind of someone who lived their life for humanistic tendency, “How do I pray well, how do I succeed?”
And if we were to go watch baseball in La Dodger stadium, “How can I go there and not sprain in line for so long?” They’re always fats I. Thinking of these methods. “How can we not wait our turn and go to the apartment faster?” They’re just used to thinking in that way. “Oh I heard that if we pay them money we can go in without staying in line. And you think it’s the same thing with God because you’re used to it. You’re so used to thinking in the way of paying under the table. That does get through God so keep on praying continuously. And as you keep on praying God will develop your prayers, correct what is incorrect and develop our prayers.
2.What answers did people of faith receive from God?
We are people who believe in Jesus Christ and the people of the Bible believe in Jesus Christ, so what did the people in the Bible do to receive answers? First of all they were continuously praying and among those are the people who receive answers, so that means I can receive answers as well.
(1)Moses (Exodus 15:23-25)
In Exodus 15:23- 25 the people of Israel are wandering in the wilderness and they come to the waters of Mara. It is so bitter that they die if they drink it, so Moses prayed and it turned sweet. Is it because he is special? No, God gave him the answer because this answer was necessary in this problem or situation.
(2)Elijah (James 5:17-18)
It was the same for Elijah, that was the passage we read today James 5:17-18. Elijah earnestly prayed no matter the rainfall. Do you think God worked that way because Elijah was so special? Elijah prayed for there to be no rain for 3 1/2 years because he needed the answer and then when he prayed again the heavens gave rain. The earth produced its crops and people need to have crops on earth to live. I believe that if you pray you will receive answers.
(3)Elisha (2 Kings 6:8-23)
And 2 Kings 6:8-23 talks about Elisha. During the age of Elisha, Aram nation was continuously attacking the Israelites. And every single place the Aram nation would go to attack the Israelites, the Israelite army would already be waiting there. And the Aram king came to the conclusion that there must be some kind of spy that is alerting the Israelites where Aram would attack otherwise they can’t be so accurate. And from that the henchmen of the king responded “That’s not the case the Israel has a prophet named Elisha that hears everything that we say.” And king Aram says, “That’s easy, we have to kill that one man.”
Where is he? He is in the city of Dothan raising disciples. Because God gave the command to Elisha to find the 7,000 disciples that have not bowed down to Baal. And once you find them, you have to raise them up. The 100 prophets Obadiah had rescued were also among the 7000 disciples. So, after Elijah took that mission and went up into heaven, Elisha took up the mission after him, and Aram attacked them. Then at night, the Aram army surrounds the city of Dothan completely, so that no one can go in or out, so they can kill everyone, then Elisha’s servant goes out in the morning and sees they are surrounded by the Aram army, so he wakes up Elisha.
“Lord, there is a big problem,” what is the problem? “The Aram nation is surrounding the city. The words Elisha says, “Open your eyes and see that those who are with us are far greater than those who are against us.” Elisha didn’t have an army, at that moment, God opened the eyes of the servant and he saw there were chariots of fire and the army of the Lord surrounding them.
In Psalm 103:22 it says the armies of the Lord are moved whenever His will is being fulfilled. God told Elijah to find and raise up the 7000 disciples who haven’t bowed a knee to Baal, and that cannot be broken down. It’s faith. This is God’s will, how could Aram ever stop that? And that’s the praying Elisha, he saw it through faith. The stronger the Aram nation is, the stronger our God, who is stronger than they, will work. That’s not a blind faith, but that’s because what he was doing was aligned with God’s will, then of course it won’t be stolen away, then of course God will protect us with an even greater army. When Elisha prayed, then all the eyes of the Aram nation went blind and he dragged all of them up to Jericho.
He gives them food, water, and prays, “Lord, do we have to kill the entire army?” The Lord says no, and later on, the Aram army opens their eyes and realize they’re completely taken captive by the enemy, but they’re being fed and given water, so they relay this news to the King of Aram. Do you think the Aram nation rose up again? They knew that if they rose up again, they would be broken because Elisha was there.
Yes, it was important to pray, but what did Elisha pray for? God is raising up the workers. Even people who are not aligned with God’s mission in Israel were taken as captives and slaves, but how is it that Elisha was staying still but God mobilized His heavenly armies? We’re the same way, is what we’re doing aligned with God’s will? Are we truly a church who will do world evangelization to raise the multiethnic people and the remnants, if that’s what we’re praying for, nothing will be a problem for us. It’s the same for us. If we’re not able to do this, we’ll say things like, “We faced a problem.”
(4)Daniel (Daniel 6:10-15)
In Daniel 6:10-15 it talks about Daniel. Daniel was put into a place where he was surrounded by the threat of death. He was sentenced to death legally and at the point not even the king could stop that. However three times a day just as he done before he got done on his knees and prayed giving thanks to God facing Jerusalem. Just as he had done before he prayed. Don’t pray just because you are facing a problem. Pray just like you always had before and only then will you have thanksgiving towards God when you do have a problem. If you die you simply die because even if you die that’s not death. If you die then God‘s mission for you is complete but in order for God‘s mission to be continued, God saved him. People who are constantly praying just like Daniel will receive even greater answers when they face big problems. If a person is never praying and then they face a problem, then it will be a big problem to them.
(5)Peter (Acts 9:36-41)
In Acts 9:36-41, Tabitha died, but she was revived through Peter’s prayer. Before this point, Peter was a coward and didn’t really pray that much. In fact, when the Lord told him to pray, he was falling asleep. It’s the same for us, when we try to pray, we cannot, but when we pray, we’re always falling asleep. That’s reflective of our spiritual strength, it’s not up to us, but because we don’t have the spiritual strength, we can’t stay awake. That’s why, when the Lord was crucified he ran away; he didn’t have the strength. That was the Peter who prayed for the dead Tabitha of Joppa, and she came to life.
3.What is required for us to be people of powerful prayer?
What are the conditions to pray prayers that receive answers?
(1)Acts 1:14
The members of the Early Church joined together constantly in prayer, what does that mean? It means they’re constantly in prayer. What about while you’re at work? Constantly pray while at work, whatever you’re thinking about, constantly pray. How do you pray? Just pray, according to what you think or whatever you’re working on. They joined together to constantly pray, and God will give you the thoughts and change you, God will give you the power you need so as you’re working continuously pray.
Hold onto your business and continuously pray so that your business may be used to save lives. People who don’t pray will go according to their thoughts, and God will intercede on the behalf of those who pray, then you’ll have the business where God’s business comes upon you. You have to understand that, if I’m not able to pray, my future will just go in the way that would fulfill my physical needs.
On the inside, you may think, “If I don’t pray, I can still live better than unbelievers,” that’s a very dangerous thought, and if anything, I hope you will get rid of that dream altogether because God will never do that, so I hope you won’t have the incorrect thoughts. If you’re not able to pray now, you can foresee your future where you’re just feeding yourself once or twice a day, but if you pray while you work, then God’s power and wisdom and guidance will appear in the work you do.
“With my power, I can barely feed myself three times a day, but with God’s power, this will go all the way to world evangelization.” That’s why the members of the Early Church had nothing, but because they gathered together constantly in prayer, God answered.
(2)Acts 3:1-12
Peter and John went to the Temple at the hour of prayer, so they scheduled a time to pray. If you schedule a time to be within God’s power, wisdom and guidance, then how could you fail? As soon as you wake up in the morning, start first with this, and when you leave for your work and begin working, you pray for your work. When you meet someone, you pray to God while meeting with them. The reason we pray because God provide for you and God’s will must be fulfilled.
So, when you go into your workplace, you have to have a time and place where you can pray. Then, who could overcome that person? We try to do it with our brains, but the average person doesn’t have the brains to run to the forefront of the fourth industrial revolution, so we’re not better than other people, and you don’t have the skills that’s much better than other’s either, but you expect something great in your thoughts, but ironically, great things can’t come to you.
People are all the same, that person’s thoughts are similar to your thoughts, and if you’re in a business, they’re all in competition so it’s all the same. The reason you continue to have this useless hope is because you have a shamanistic mentality, “One day, I’m going to make it big,” that person doesn’t know God well. There is no “one day, all of a sudden” for God, but people who don’t believe in God will think, “Maybe one day, I’ll run into someone who’ll change the course of my life,” but the Bible never says that.
The Bible talks about how people are guided by God. It never says, “Coincidentally, all of a sudden, like a shooting star in the sky, you’ll meet someone who will change your life,” but there are some people who think that way and the reason is that they have the shamanistic mentality, and that’s because you’ve watched the wrong movies and you’ve been twisted up by the books you’ve read. God guides us moment by moment, God guides us already having prepared our blessings, and that’s why we pray.
If we have to make something out of nothing, then of course we would have to try really hard, but God has already prepared blessings for the children of God, so that’s why we pray. I must first receive healing regarding prayer in order for me to relay the proper prayer to the remnants and the new believers. Whether they listen to you or not is something that’s not up to you, and it’s not something that should bother you, either. Our mission is to relay the accurate message.
Whether they listen to you right now is in God’s hands, but our focus is on our mission to relay the accurate message. “Is prayer really going to make this happen?” It’s not about that, but through prayer, we receive God’s guidance, moment by moment.
(3)Hebrews 11:6
We cannot please God without faith, and anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. We can only pray when we have faith, and we pray because when we pray, we believe God has a reward prepared for us. “Do we have to live our lives getting free handouts like this?” It’s not free, this is something given to me by the great price of Jesus Christ on the cross. Because this is something you can never gain on your own, Jesus Christ had to die on the cross, and only then can you receive these blessings.
(4)Romans 12:1, 3
Offer our lives as a living sacrifice. Therefore, we’re not just worshiping in the church, but you are worshiping and praying in your everyday life. Live as a person of faith, you measure yourself by faith because you have faith, so do things according to the faith God has given you. There’s no reason to compare.
(5)1 Corinthians 15:58
Do not be shaken. Let nothing move you because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Therefore, nothing will be in vain while you’re in prayer, why? Because God has prepared something for you. You are not asking for God to give you something that isn’t there, but you’re asking God to give you what has already been prepared and promised.
If there’s a problem in the church, we have to pray for it. If it’s a problem for you, it means you don’t have the power, and so you either give up or you talk a lot. That’s why you should pray because the problem will no longer be a problem when God’s power comes upon you, so it’s all about the prayer topic because it’s what God has prepared.
(6)1 John 3:22-24
These are the verses pertaining to God’s commands, we receive from Him anything we ask because we do what He commands, and as we said earlier, the Ten Commandments are summed up by loving God and love people, and do what pleases him which is to love people. God doesn’t give us money but He gives us the grace to love people, right? World evangelization is loving the people all over the world, and that’s God’s promise.
God will work upon those who hold onto this word and pray. Your business must be used and fulfilled by God; it cannot be irrelevant to God. If your studies and the Word are separate, that’s not right; they must be aligned, and your business must be used to resolve the problems in the church. Because there’s a lack of people, we fill that lacking.
The business I’m doing must be used to solve the problems of the region, but the reason you’re not able to understand the Word of God is because you’re so interested in bringing the money to yourself. The reason why even when you listen to the Word of God, you understand but you’re really not aligned with it is because you’re aligned with me, my things, and my success. It is possible that we are living our walk of faith with a standard that is completely not aligned with God, so whenever there’s a problem, they say, “In my opinion,” they say a lot of words, and that’s what politicians do.
But this is the place where Chrsitians who follow after God’s Word and God’s plan, and that’s prayer, and this is the fastest way, and this is where we’re called to be. Let’s say you have a big problem and you’re running to solve that problem, how will you solve it? You have to pray and receive answers. The great answers are prepared for you but you are putting them aside, because you ask, “How can I do this?” So you keep talking from your experiences in the world, “This is not what the church should do.”
What’s going to happen later on, after time passes? Only the one who holds onto the problem and prays will receive answers. The answers come to you in the form of problems, because if it’s something you could do on your own, it’s not a problem. It’s not a problem for myself, but if I can’t do it by myself, then I try to run away from it or attack it myself, but if I do pray about it then God gives you the answers and guides me through to solve the problems of the church and the region. Therefore listen to the announcements from the church as well because the announcements are the ways we are realistically being used, there are some people who run away without listening to the announcements, or they’re still listening but they don’t think it’s relevant to them they only care about the word of God, they’re not going to be able to receive answers because the announcement is the way that the Word we have just received is being fulfilled through us. If you don’t realize that, then the Word of God is just in your thoughts, irrelevant to your life. May you have God’s grace.
(7)Ephesians 5:18
In other words, continuously pray until you receive the filling of the Holy Spirit. It’s the same as saying, every time you drink, drink until you’re drunk. Pray until you receive the filling of the Holy Spirit. Stop arguing or wondering what the filling of the Holy Spirit is, just pray until you get it. You’re going to waste your entire life, trying to analyze everything. So many theologians lose their lives trying to analyze and break apart things “What is this, what is that, how many angels can fit on a pin?” Is evangelism taking place or not? just evangelize until it all works out. We’re all going to die anyway, why does it matter if it’s working or not? The Lord is going to do it.
Look at George Muller, he prayed for two of his friends to receive salvation, one received salvation right before his death and the other one received his salvation after Muller died, but the answers were given regardless. As you pray for evangelism, there are people whom God has prepared, so you don’t even have to say anything to them. God has already prepared everything throughout their lives, so when the timing is right, God will open their mouths to save.
I’ve already told you my testimony as an unbeliever, you think evangelism is so difficult don’t you? But you think it’s difficult because you don’t believe God answers through prayer, so you want to do things the easy way so you keep going after people who believe, of course it’s true that just because someone says they’re Christian, doesn’t mean they believe because the culture of America Christianity, many people will still not believe. But there are people who have been given this time schedule where they will believe. Even if I don’t do anything, God has already made them so thirsty for the gospel, and that’s the very important meeting.
That meeting might take place right now or in a month or in five years, we don’t know, so that’s why we pray. If possible, in many places, because even when you think logistically, going into many regions is better than just one region. Let’s say you live in an apartment complex and you want to evangelize to them there, but that might not be their time schedule. It’s God’s time schedule, but if someone’s time schedule is prepared, even though you don’t say anything to them, you can see. All the people have already been prepared to receive salvation, and God has touched people to the point they can receive Jesus Christ. If you meet someone like that, and you give them the gospel of Jesus Christ, they are already prepared to receive it. We’re looking for those people. We’re not persuading people, we’re simply looking for the people God has prepared.
If this doesn’t go into you, then you’re going to make something so difficult although children could do it. You just have to understand this, it could be today, but we don’t’ know that, and that’s why we must always be vigilant. This person said no yesterday, but God could change them overnight. There’s businesspeople and remnants like this, because God is moving everything towards evangelization, because evangelism is a time to completely reveal the glory of Jesus Christ. It is for that purpose that God has given you your job and that you meet the people you’ve met, and everything happens, I put my standards there, and I do my work, it’s not difficult, you just have to hold onto it. We’re not telling you to do anything because God has prepared everything; you’re simply thinking about it while working, then if today becomes the right day, you simply tell them, but if you don’t know this, you’ll ask, “How a, I going to save them and raise them up if it’s not you?” But God does it.
There are others who go to generic churches, and if you deliver the message to them a few times and they do not react, just give up on them, but you also have to move quickly to see the people behind that person. That person has no sense of faith, if anything, they meet you so they can use you, but that’s not the end. There are people who have been prepared to meet Jesus Christ behind that person. You have to know that and hold onto that in order for you to give the message that is fitting to those connected to this person.
There are some people who meet with young children, and what’s going to happen if you meet with little children? If you look carefully at the children, you can see the spiritual state of their family. Then, with that, you talk about the kids to their parents. Then, the time schedule is right if you’re able to give the gospel to the parents through the kids because there’s not a single unnecessary meeting. Even if this person is very obstinately refusing to receive the Word of God, behind that person, there are those who are destined to receive Jesus Christ, and you must pray towards that.
If you look at everything through this logic, then as you do your business or job, you have your customers and business partners, it’s not just a business partner but the people to receive salvation through this person, but you say it doesn’t work out because you don’t see the people behind that person; you only see the individual, but God’s plan is that there are people whom God’s time schedule prepared to receive salvation through the doors of this individual. You have to do your business so you can do this, it’s for this purpose that you yield what you must yield; it’s for this purpose that you can forgive and do whatever you can.
But you don’t know or believe any of this, so you think of evangelism so simply, “It wasn’t this person,” then fine it wasn’t that person, but there’s no such thing as an unnecessary meeting, because even if a person is so full of evil, there are so many people around that person, so then you’ll understand what you must do.
You have to keep giving the messages that say, “Do you know anyone like this? Do you know anyone who would need this kind of message?” but if you’re always thinking about the benefit or loss, then you … why? Because of the life movement, and God pours everything upon you for the sake of the life movement. Because Jesus Christ has already mobilized all the plans of heaven and finished them for salvation, all the many prophets who died in the Old Testament were looking forward to Jesus.
This is the reason for the church but if you don’t value this, you’ll need healing. You say someone has received healing and has become the summit when their studies and job and everything aligns to this purpose because God is guiding us forward, already having prepared the 237 nations, and that’s why even if you just pray, you receive all the answers.
Prayer
God we thank You, may we have the powerful prayer that receives answers. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray, amen.