PRAYER
FOR ILLUMINATION
God, we come to hear your sacred Word, and ask you to bless us with understanding that we may prayerfully live more fully for you. Amen.
THEME VERSE FOR TODAY James 5:16, NCV
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you.
When a believing person prays, great things happen.
OLD TESTAMENT READING 1 Kings 18:22-39, CEB
22 Elijah said to the people, “I am the last of the Lord’s prophets, but Baal’s prophets number four hundred fifty. 23 Give us two bulls. Let Baal’s prophets choose one. Let them cut it apart and set it on the wood, but don’t add fire. I’ll prepare the other bull, put it on the wood, but won’t add fire. 24 Then all of you will call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers with fire—that’s the real God!”
All the people answered, “That’s an excellent idea.”
25 So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of these bulls. Prepare it first since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but don’t add fire.”
26 So they took one of the bulls that had been brought to them. They prepared it and called on Baal’s name from morning to midday. They said, “Great Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound or answer. They performed a hopping dance around the altar that had been set up.
27 Around noon, Elijah started making fun of them: “Shout louder! Certainly he’s a god! Perhaps he is lost in thought or wandering or traveling somewhere. Or maybe he is asleep and must wake up!”
28 So the prophets of Baal cried with a louder voice and cut themselves with swords and knives as was their custom. Their blood flowed all over them. 29 As noon passed they went crazy with their ritual until it was time for the evening offering. Still there was no sound or answer, no response whatsoever.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here!” All the people closed in, and he repaired the Lord’s altar that had been damaged. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob—to whom the Lord’s word came: “Your name will be Israel.” 32 He built the stones into an altar in the Lord’s name, and he dug a trench around the altar big enough to hold two seahs of dry grain. 33 He put the wood in order, butchered the bull, and placed the bull on the wood. “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the sacrifice and on the wood,” he commanded. 34 “Do it a second time!” he said. So they did it a second time. “Do it a third time!” And so they did it a third time. 35 The water flowed around the altar, and even the trench filled with water. 36 At the time of the evening offering, the prophet Elijah drew near and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. I have done all these things at your instructions. 37 Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that you, Lord, are the real God and that you can change their hearts.” 38 Then the Lord’s fire fell; it consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up the water in the trench!
39 All the people saw this and fell on their faces. “The Lord is the real God! The Lord is the real God!” they exclaimed.
NEW TESTAMENT READING Acts 12:1-16, GNT
About that time King Herod devoted his attention to mistreating certain members of the church. 2 He had James, the brother of John, executed. 3 When he saw how this pleased the Jews, he arrested Peter too. This happened during the days of Unleavened Bread. 4 After capturing Peter, Herod had him thrown into prison with sixteen soldiers in squads of four to guard him. Herod wanted to bring Peter to trial in front of the people after Passover. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was praying very hard to God for him.
6 The night before Herod was going to bring Peter to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers. His hands were bound with two chains, and guards were in front of the door. They were watching the prison.
7 Suddenly, an angel from the Lord stood near Peter, and his cell was filled with light. The angel nudged Peter’s side, woke him up, and said, “Hurry! Get up!” At that moment the chains fell from Peter’s hands.
8 The angel told him, “Put your shoes on, and get ready to go!” Peter did this. Then the angel told him, “Put your coat on, and follow me.”
9 Peter followed the angel out of the cell. He didn’t realize that what the angel was doing was actually happening. He thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guardposts and came to the iron gate that led into the city. This gate opened by itself for them, so they went outside and up the street. The angel suddenly left Peter.
11 When Peter came to his senses, he said, “Now I’m sure that the Lord sent his angel to rescue me from Herod and from everything the Jewish people are expecting to happen to me.”
12 When Peter realized what had happened, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark. Many people had gathered at her home and were praying. 13 Peter knocked on the door of the entryway, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so happy that instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and reported, “Peter is standing at the door!”
15 The people told her, “You’re crazy!” But she insisted that Peter was at the door. They said, “It has to be his angel.”
16 But Peter kept knocking. When they opened the door, they were shocked to see him.
James 5:17-18, NCV
17 Elijah was a human being just like us. He prayed that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years! 18 Then Elijah prayed again, and the rain came down from the sky, and the land produced crops again.
SERMON Prayers
Elijah was a man of prayer. He was God's messenger in the time of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, an especially evil, royal couple who did not not worship the one true God of Ahab's ancestors, but the gods, the baals of Jezebel's heritage. Elijah prayed that God would withhold the rain to teach them a lesson. During that drought, Elijah found refuge with a widow and her son. When her son died, Elijah prayed over him, and the son was restored to life. Later Elijah challenged Jezebel's prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel, as we read in our Old Testament story today. Elijah demonstrated the power of prayer to the One True God when God sent fire to consume the water drenched offering, the altar and even the water in the surrounding trench in response to Elijah's prayers. Soon after that, rains did come.
Daniel is another hero of the Old Testament who believed in the importance of prayer even when he and his companions were exiled to the King's court in Babylon. When the king demanded to know the meaning of his dream, Daniel and his friends prayed for God to reveal that answer. A later king was tricked by jealous advisors to make a law saying no one could pray to anyone but the king. Still Daniel kept his faith practice of opening a window and praying toward Jerusalem three times a day. For that he was thrown in the lion's den, but I suspect the concerned king who liked Daniel was praying in his own way that Daniel would be safe through the night. God answered these prayers by keeping the mouths of the lions closed all night.
In our story from the New Testament, friends in the early church were praying for Peter when he was in prison. When he was released he thought at first it was a dream, but it was real. When he showed up at the door, Rhoda was so shocked she closed the door on him. But there Peter was, in answer to all their prayers.
Our theme verse from James reminds us of the power of prayer. When we pray for others there can be healing. The prayers of the faithful are effective, great things can happen. Whether we are praying for others or for our own needs, these stories and scriptures demonstrate the power of prayer.
Today's scripture cards include these promises:
We are confident that God listens to us if we ask for anything that has his approval.
1 John 5:14, GW
I assure you that if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, then my Father who is in heaven will do it for you.
Matthew 18:19. CEB
Use simple words when you pray. It doesn't have to be long of fancy. Sometimes in a group setting whether with children or adults, I like to use prayers that simply fill in the sentence. "God help____," or "God Bless_____." Lately I've just been using the prayer response, "Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer." knowing that God indeed hears the needs I haven't been able to express in words. I like the Jesus Prayer, "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a Sinner." Sometimes I just say, "Lord, you know the need." whether it's for the siren I heard or knowing someone is in the hospital, etc. You can find prayers in devotionals, our worship bulletins, the Psalms, in prayer books or even the hymnal for many songs are prayers.
Romans 8:26 promises:
"the Spirit helps us with our weakness. We do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself speaks to God for us, even begs God for us with deep feelings that words cannot explain." Romans 8:26, NCV
Keep your prayers sincere and honest. Just pray! I like the acronym P.U.S.H. which stands for "Pray until something happens."
God answers our prayers, but we have to remember that God knows and wants what is best for us. Sometimes the answer is NO, sometimes it is yes, sometimes the answer is wait, and sometimes as Lucado says the answer is "More than we can imagine."
My Story from Monday, August 27 - Friday, September 7 illustrates this. I had written a letter to send that day standing up for myself with regard to some concerns with my apartment. By the next morning, with regard to that and other areas of my life I hit deep despair, but when I got to work I prayed for God to send hope. In less than two minutes a colleague walked through the door. She sat and talked and prayed and ministered to me for an hour and a half, an answer to my prayer. Later I shared with others and asked them to pray for me. I began hearing options to my housing dilemma and started to explore the possibilities. I continued praying as I pursued the suggestion to buy a home, asking that if this is right it will go through. I had never considered owning property until it was suggested as one option. To my surprise I qualified for a grant and a loan. We looked at houses. The realtor told to me to contact my prayer warriors as she put in the bid. I trusted that if this was God's will, the obstacles will be cleared. Eleven days after first hearing the suggestion to buy a house, that bid was accepted. Seeing that God could do this gave me hope that God could also resolve the rest of what troubled me. I let go of my stress as God continued to answer many prayers. God answered with more than I could imagine.
This is incentive to keep praying for our own needs and for one another even for the difficult situations in our lives and around the world. Prayer is a form of expressing our hope.
In his book, Unshakeable Hope, Max Lucado shares the story of Dimitri (pp. 53ff) While I read it straight from the book in worship, I'll summarize the story online. Dimitri was a Russian citizen in a time when expressions of Christian faith were suppressed. When Dimitri and his family could no longer go to church, he began to teach his family from the Bible at home. Others joined them. When they were harrassed by authorities, instead of being discouraged the gathering grew until not everyone who wanted to hear would even fit inside their home but crowded around to hear at windows or doors. Dimitri was arrested thinking this would end it all, but in prison he prayed, he sang a hymn of praise every morning, he reminded himself of scripture promises with scribbled notes he stuck on the walls. The guards tried to stop him, but he continued. This went on for 17 years. Eventually they tried to get him to believe that his wife was dead and his children abandoned. They nearly had him convinced to sign a document renouncing his faith. But the night before that signing ceremony, God allowed him supernaturally to hear the voices of his wife and family praying for him. When morning came, he refused to sign anything, knowing that his family was well. The guards had lied. They beat him and threatened to execute him, but as they dragged him out, hundreds of other prisoners began to sing the song of praise Dimitri had sung to God each day. Eventually those who held him captive gave up, and he was restored to his family.
Prayer is an act of faith and hope, that God is ultimately in charge and we surrender our lives to the one who created and loves us. When you need hope, turn to God and pray.
FOR ILLUMINATION
God, we come to hear your sacred Word, and ask you to bless us with understanding that we may prayerfully live more fully for you. Amen.
THEME VERSE FOR TODAY James 5:16, NCV
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you.
When a believing person prays, great things happen.
OLD TESTAMENT READING 1 Kings 18:22-39, CEB
22 Elijah said to the people, “I am the last of the Lord’s prophets, but Baal’s prophets number four hundred fifty. 23 Give us two bulls. Let Baal’s prophets choose one. Let them cut it apart and set it on the wood, but don’t add fire. I’ll prepare the other bull, put it on the wood, but won’t add fire. 24 Then all of you will call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers with fire—that’s the real God!”
All the people answered, “That’s an excellent idea.”
25 So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of these bulls. Prepare it first since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but don’t add fire.”
26 So they took one of the bulls that had been brought to them. They prepared it and called on Baal’s name from morning to midday. They said, “Great Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound or answer. They performed a hopping dance around the altar that had been set up.
27 Around noon, Elijah started making fun of them: “Shout louder! Certainly he’s a god! Perhaps he is lost in thought or wandering or traveling somewhere. Or maybe he is asleep and must wake up!”
28 So the prophets of Baal cried with a louder voice and cut themselves with swords and knives as was their custom. Their blood flowed all over them. 29 As noon passed they went crazy with their ritual until it was time for the evening offering. Still there was no sound or answer, no response whatsoever.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here!” All the people closed in, and he repaired the Lord’s altar that had been damaged. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob—to whom the Lord’s word came: “Your name will be Israel.” 32 He built the stones into an altar in the Lord’s name, and he dug a trench around the altar big enough to hold two seahs of dry grain. 33 He put the wood in order, butchered the bull, and placed the bull on the wood. “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the sacrifice and on the wood,” he commanded. 34 “Do it a second time!” he said. So they did it a second time. “Do it a third time!” And so they did it a third time. 35 The water flowed around the altar, and even the trench filled with water. 36 At the time of the evening offering, the prophet Elijah drew near and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. I have done all these things at your instructions. 37 Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that you, Lord, are the real God and that you can change their hearts.” 38 Then the Lord’s fire fell; it consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up the water in the trench!
39 All the people saw this and fell on their faces. “The Lord is the real God! The Lord is the real God!” they exclaimed.
NEW TESTAMENT READING Acts 12:1-16, GNT
About that time King Herod devoted his attention to mistreating certain members of the church. 2 He had James, the brother of John, executed. 3 When he saw how this pleased the Jews, he arrested Peter too. This happened during the days of Unleavened Bread. 4 After capturing Peter, Herod had him thrown into prison with sixteen soldiers in squads of four to guard him. Herod wanted to bring Peter to trial in front of the people after Passover. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was praying very hard to God for him.
6 The night before Herod was going to bring Peter to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers. His hands were bound with two chains, and guards were in front of the door. They were watching the prison.
7 Suddenly, an angel from the Lord stood near Peter, and his cell was filled with light. The angel nudged Peter’s side, woke him up, and said, “Hurry! Get up!” At that moment the chains fell from Peter’s hands.
8 The angel told him, “Put your shoes on, and get ready to go!” Peter did this. Then the angel told him, “Put your coat on, and follow me.”
9 Peter followed the angel out of the cell. He didn’t realize that what the angel was doing was actually happening. He thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guardposts and came to the iron gate that led into the city. This gate opened by itself for them, so they went outside and up the street. The angel suddenly left Peter.
11 When Peter came to his senses, he said, “Now I’m sure that the Lord sent his angel to rescue me from Herod and from everything the Jewish people are expecting to happen to me.”
12 When Peter realized what had happened, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark. Many people had gathered at her home and were praying. 13 Peter knocked on the door of the entryway, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so happy that instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and reported, “Peter is standing at the door!”
15 The people told her, “You’re crazy!” But she insisted that Peter was at the door. They said, “It has to be his angel.”
16 But Peter kept knocking. When they opened the door, they were shocked to see him.
James 5:17-18, NCV
17 Elijah was a human being just like us. He prayed that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years! 18 Then Elijah prayed again, and the rain came down from the sky, and the land produced crops again.
SERMON Prayers
Elijah was a man of prayer. He was God's messenger in the time of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, an especially evil, royal couple who did not not worship the one true God of Ahab's ancestors, but the gods, the baals of Jezebel's heritage. Elijah prayed that God would withhold the rain to teach them a lesson. During that drought, Elijah found refuge with a widow and her son. When her son died, Elijah prayed over him, and the son was restored to life. Later Elijah challenged Jezebel's prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel, as we read in our Old Testament story today. Elijah demonstrated the power of prayer to the One True God when God sent fire to consume the water drenched offering, the altar and even the water in the surrounding trench in response to Elijah's prayers. Soon after that, rains did come.
Daniel is another hero of the Old Testament who believed in the importance of prayer even when he and his companions were exiled to the King's court in Babylon. When the king demanded to know the meaning of his dream, Daniel and his friends prayed for God to reveal that answer. A later king was tricked by jealous advisors to make a law saying no one could pray to anyone but the king. Still Daniel kept his faith practice of opening a window and praying toward Jerusalem three times a day. For that he was thrown in the lion's den, but I suspect the concerned king who liked Daniel was praying in his own way that Daniel would be safe through the night. God answered these prayers by keeping the mouths of the lions closed all night.
In our story from the New Testament, friends in the early church were praying for Peter when he was in prison. When he was released he thought at first it was a dream, but it was real. When he showed up at the door, Rhoda was so shocked she closed the door on him. But there Peter was, in answer to all their prayers.
Our theme verse from James reminds us of the power of prayer. When we pray for others there can be healing. The prayers of the faithful are effective, great things can happen. Whether we are praying for others or for our own needs, these stories and scriptures demonstrate the power of prayer.
Today's scripture cards include these promises:
We are confident that God listens to us if we ask for anything that has his approval.
1 John 5:14, GW
I assure you that if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, then my Father who is in heaven will do it for you.
Matthew 18:19. CEB
Use simple words when you pray. It doesn't have to be long of fancy. Sometimes in a group setting whether with children or adults, I like to use prayers that simply fill in the sentence. "God help____," or "God Bless_____." Lately I've just been using the prayer response, "Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer." knowing that God indeed hears the needs I haven't been able to express in words. I like the Jesus Prayer, "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a Sinner." Sometimes I just say, "Lord, you know the need." whether it's for the siren I heard or knowing someone is in the hospital, etc. You can find prayers in devotionals, our worship bulletins, the Psalms, in prayer books or even the hymnal for many songs are prayers.
Romans 8:26 promises:
"the Spirit helps us with our weakness. We do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself speaks to God for us, even begs God for us with deep feelings that words cannot explain." Romans 8:26, NCV
Keep your prayers sincere and honest. Just pray! I like the acronym P.U.S.H. which stands for "Pray until something happens."
God answers our prayers, but we have to remember that God knows and wants what is best for us. Sometimes the answer is NO, sometimes it is yes, sometimes the answer is wait, and sometimes as Lucado says the answer is "More than we can imagine."
My Story from Monday, August 27 - Friday, September 7 illustrates this. I had written a letter to send that day standing up for myself with regard to some concerns with my apartment. By the next morning, with regard to that and other areas of my life I hit deep despair, but when I got to work I prayed for God to send hope. In less than two minutes a colleague walked through the door. She sat and talked and prayed and ministered to me for an hour and a half, an answer to my prayer. Later I shared with others and asked them to pray for me. I began hearing options to my housing dilemma and started to explore the possibilities. I continued praying as I pursued the suggestion to buy a home, asking that if this is right it will go through. I had never considered owning property until it was suggested as one option. To my surprise I qualified for a grant and a loan. We looked at houses. The realtor told to me to contact my prayer warriors as she put in the bid. I trusted that if this was God's will, the obstacles will be cleared. Eleven days after first hearing the suggestion to buy a house, that bid was accepted. Seeing that God could do this gave me hope that God could also resolve the rest of what troubled me. I let go of my stress as God continued to answer many prayers. God answered with more than I could imagine.
This is incentive to keep praying for our own needs and for one another even for the difficult situations in our lives and around the world. Prayer is a form of expressing our hope.
In his book, Unshakeable Hope, Max Lucado shares the story of Dimitri (pp. 53ff) While I read it straight from the book in worship, I'll summarize the story online. Dimitri was a Russian citizen in a time when expressions of Christian faith were suppressed. When Dimitri and his family could no longer go to church, he began to teach his family from the Bible at home. Others joined them. When they were harrassed by authorities, instead of being discouraged the gathering grew until not everyone who wanted to hear would even fit inside their home but crowded around to hear at windows or doors. Dimitri was arrested thinking this would end it all, but in prison he prayed, he sang a hymn of praise every morning, he reminded himself of scripture promises with scribbled notes he stuck on the walls. The guards tried to stop him, but he continued. This went on for 17 years. Eventually they tried to get him to believe that his wife was dead and his children abandoned. They nearly had him convinced to sign a document renouncing his faith. But the night before that signing ceremony, God allowed him supernaturally to hear the voices of his wife and family praying for him. When morning came, he refused to sign anything, knowing that his family was well. The guards had lied. They beat him and threatened to execute him, but as they dragged him out, hundreds of other prisoners began to sing the song of praise Dimitri had sung to God each day. Eventually those who held him captive gave up, and he was restored to his family.
Prayer is an act of faith and hope, that God is ultimately in charge and we surrender our lives to the one who created and loves us. When you need hope, turn to God and pray.