Title: Don’t Pray Amiss
Memorize: You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. James 4:3 (Nkjv)
Bible Reading: James 4:1-3 (Nkjv)
[1] Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?
[2] You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
[3] You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
Message:
Prayer is a means of communicating with God. It is also a very powerful weapon of spiritual warfare.
In the days of old, simple prayers by men and women with genuine hearts brought about great miracles and the move of God in different parts of the World.
Prayer is a platform through which impossibilities can become possible, but today, many prayer remain unanswered because they are not in line with God’s will.
Today’s memory verse provides another reason for unanswered prayer: lust.
Prayers offered to fulfil lusts, personal ambitions, oppress a neighbour, and so on will not be answered by God.
My dear child, you must ensure that your prayer requests align with God’s Word and His will.
You must examine the motivation behind your request by answering the following questions honestly: Will what I am requesting bring glory to God?
Will it advance the Kingdom of God on the earth? Will it draw people to Jesus or me?
If your answers to these questions are “No,” then your prayers may not be answered.
I pray that my Daddy will teach you how to pray the right way, in Jesus’ name.
Key Point:
If the answers to your prayers are delayed, check your motive.
HYMN 22: SWEET HOUR OF PRAYER! SWEET HOUR OF PRAYER!
1 Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
that calls me from a world of care,
and bids me at my Father’s throne
make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
my soul has often found relief,
and oft escaped the tempter’s snare
by thy return, sweet hour of prayer!
2 Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
the joys I feel, the bliss I share
of those whose anxious spirits burn
with strong desires for thy return!
With such I hasten to the place
where God my Savior shows his face,
and gladly take my station there,
and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
3 Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
thy wings shall my petition bear
to him whose truth and faithfulness
engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since he bids me seek his face,
believe his word, and trust his grace,
I’ll cast on him my every care,
and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
Bible In One Year: Mark 14:51-72, Deuteronomy 23-25
Authors: Pastor E. A. Adeboye and Pastor Folu Adeboye