Invoking The Power Of God Through Prayer

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. (Acts 4:31 KJV)

There is great power available for every believer who will dare to open his or her mouth and pray. People who succeeded the most in the Bible were people who would spend a considerable amount of time in prayer. These people include Hannah, David, Elijah, Elisha, the Apostles Paul, Peter, James, John and the Master Himself, Jesus; He was very prayerful.

Elijah prayed enerstly that it would not rain, and no rain fell upon this earth for three and a half years (James5vs17); Hannah prayed for a child until she looked as though she were drunk (1Samuel 1vs 13); David did not usually go to war without inquiring of God whether or not to go and thus Israel waxed great in war during the times of King David’s reign. At one time he returned from a battle and found everything that belonged to him and his people stolen, including their wives, children and livestock, and the city had been burnt to ashes. At that time David took an Ephod from the Priest and prayed to God. He asked for the permission to pursue the enemy and also he asked for a promise and assurance from God that He would help him and God promised him that he would pursue, overtake and recover everything that the enemy had taken. God lived up to His promise and David recovered everything because he had prayed. (1Samuel 17). The Apostle Paul told the Church in Corinth that he prayed more than all of them (1Corinthians 14vs17) and thus there was a gap between his spiritual growth as compared to theirs. The disparity was caused by their input of prayer. Throughout the Acts of the Apostles, we are told of the adventures that people undertook in prayer. For instance we are told of how the Church prayed without ceasing for Peter. The Bible says at the same time they prayed, Peter was released and he came to the room where they were praying (Acts12vs 5-17). When King Hezekiah was told that he was going to die, the first reaction he made was prayer. He pleaded his cause to God and God resolved the issue and resultantly, he had 15 years added to his life (2Kings 20vs 1-6).

Jesus, before His crucifixion, went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. The Bible tells us that He prayed and sweat came from His body like blood. When He was baptised, He was led by the Spirit of God to the wilderness and there He fasted forty days and nights. There He prayed and the Bible records that He “returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee.”(Luke 4vs 14)

The reason why Christ returned in the power of the Spirit is because He had prayed. This is exactly what I want to talk about in this message. There is great power that is associated with prayer. Many Christians are trying to live and function with the power of the Spirit but very few are willing to invest time in prayer. In Acts 1vs8, the Bible says ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you. There is power that comes with receiving the Holy Spirit but that power can lie idle if you do not pray.

Smith Wigglesworth is an example of people who prayed. We are told that he used to pray for 2hours in tongues every day and resultantly, his name was synonymous with signs and wonders of which included the raising of the dead. You cannot develop a relationship with God if there is a deficit of prayer in your life. You cannot function in the power of the Spirit if you do not pray. The world is waiting for a generation that will seek the face of God in prayer (Hebrews 11:6).A generation of people who are willing to spend hours and hours praying to God and accessing the power of the Spirit. Sometimes the length of your prayer is important. Paul says I pray more than you all. We are told that Jesus would continue all night in prayer to God (Luke 6vs12).

One day Jesus had preached in a certain place. He then sent His disciples away and they boarded a ship to travel to the other side of the sea. He stayed and sent people away, and then He went to pray. The Bible says that evening was approaching so it was somewhere around 6pm I am made to believe. What I want you to know is that He stopped praying in the fourth watch and the fourth watch ends at 3am. So that means from say 7pm to 3am Jesus was praying. After that He appeared to His disciples walking upon the water. When He touched down many came to Him who were sick and as many as touched Him were healed. You see how tremendous power prayer makes available? If you do not invoke the power of God through prayer you can just sit back and remain a toothless bulldog. You can live continually as a victim of circumstance, without being a threat to the devil. Sickness can be at your doorstep anytime, you can easily be at the mercy of death, at the mercy of poverty, at the mercy of worry, of fear and all of the devil’s antics and so anything can happen to you at any time.

That is not your portion child of God. You and I were born to live over and above situations and circumstances. Whatever the devil has planned against you is destined to fail if you are the believer who will dare God and pray. Jesus never lacked, He never spoke to an evil spirit numerous times asking it to leave. He just declared and the evil spirits obeyed Him; all that was a result of a fruitful life of prayer.

I tell you child of God, if you will dare open your mouth and pray, things will change. Develop a lifestyle of prayer. Let prayer become a discipline. Stipulate time to pray. Then from a discipline let it become a habit. And the more you make prayer a habit it will eventually become a delight. A meal you cannot spend a day without. You will see great power available to you as you pray. Your voice will carry great authority in the spiritual realm; but all that is only if you choose to invoke the power of God through prayer. Stay blessed and remember, that

Jesus Is Lord!