Sermon Summary

This week, Pastor Chris shared about the power of prayer. He expressed the reality that prayer shifts and changes things in cities, in nations, and in culture. It is one of God’s primary means God uses to release His power on Earth. When we learn to have a lifestyle of prayer, we will be strengthened. Prayer demonstrates that we are dependent on God and humbles our hearts. Are you in need of some strengthening this week? If we choose to call out to Him in confidence from within the secret place, we will find strength.

Luke 11:1 (ESV)

1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

James 5:16 (NKJV)

16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Ephesians 3:16 (ESV)

16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

We are strengthened in prayer, when we:

  • Call to Him. – When we find ourselves lifting our voice to God,He shares His heart with us. We can invoke God when we cry out to Him. 

Jeremiah 33:3 (ESV)

3 Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.

Psalm 145:18 (ESV)

18 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

Deuteronomy 4:7 (ESV)

7 For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?

Psalm 91:15 (ESV)

15When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.

Matthew 7:7–11 (ESV)

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Romans 10:12 (ESV)

…bestowing his riches on all who call on him.

  • Pray Rightly and With Confidence. – We pray from a place of acceptance, not for acceptance. We pray confidently, knowing that He is faithful to answer because He loves us.

James 4:1–3 (ESV)

1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

“In many ways it is the life of prayer that discovers a space in which all can live.” Dallas Willard

1 John 5:14 (ESV)

14And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

  • “Confidence”: “free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, assurance.”

Hebrews 10:19 (ESV)

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,

1 John 5:15 (ESV)

15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

Praying according to God’s will includes the need to pray: 

  • Establish Our Secret Place Prayer Life. – There is a declaration of a separation in this. We give God our undivided attention because that’s where relationship takes place. 

Matthew 6:6 (ESV)

6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Mark 1:35 (ESV)

35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

Luke 5:15–16 (ESV)

15 But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. 16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

Why Develop a Secret Place Prayer Life?

  1. You find God in the secret place. He is waiting there for you. 
  2. You find satisfaction or experience what you were created for. 
  3. God reveals His love for you.

Psalm 63:3 (ESV)

3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.

  1. The things He cares about and the way He does things begin to rub off on us. 
  2. In the inner room, God develops clarity, authority, focus, and hope. 

Discussion Questions

  1. Which of Pastor Chris’ 3 points stands out to you the most? Why?
  2. What part does confession play in prayer and relationship with God?
  3. How do you know you’re praying in faith? 

Application Questions

  1. How is your prayer life? Thriving? Nonexistent? Take time this week to evaluate and really answer this question. 
  2. Is there anything you have not asked God for? Prayer for it this week with James 4:2 in mind.
  3. Is there anything blocking you communing with God? Confess and repent to remove the blockade, knowing that He stands at the door and knocks (Revelation 3:20).
  4. Choose a verse to pray during your time in the secret place this week.

Recommended reading during the 21 Day Fast

The Fire that Never Sleeps, Michael L. Brown

The Rewards of Fasting, Mike Bickle