Rev. Johnson V

9^th October 2011

Praying is probably the single most important thing that a believer does in his/her life. Prayer is where the power comes from. In prayer, is where God infuses our humanity with His Divinity and purpose. Prayer is P = priority, R = repentance, A = adoration and assurance, Y = yearning , E = expectation  and R = results.

·       Make prayer a PRIORITY. Praying should be the first thing that you do in any situation. We should learn to put first things first. Psalm 5:1-3 talks about seeking God early in the morning. Morning signifies the start of our day, it need not necessarily be a particular time. But before we give our time to anything else, let us focus our attention on Him. If we make God our priority, He will make us His priority. And once we pray about something and commit it to Him, we can trust Him to be be involved in it.

·       REPENT. Repentance involves turning back to God; to do an about-face; to get on the right track with God. Sometimes we all get distracted, but we need to repent and remind ourselves of what is important. Psalm 32:5 shows us that if we acknowledge (repent) and confess our sins, God will forgive our sin. When we repent, God could remove the consequences of our sin. When we repent, we must take time to repent of each sin individually, rather than asking God to cleanse us from our sins in general. We commit sins one after the other and not collectively. Shouldn’t we then repent in the same way?

·       ADORATION & ASSURANCE – Adoration is seeking God’s glory in every situation. Whenever we pray, it should be bring praise and glory to Him. Psalm 66:20 shows us how sure the Psalmist was about God hearing him. God answers every prayer.

·        YEARNING – is a constant desire to make prayer our number one priority. Psalm 109:3-4 teaches us to be men and women of prayer. We should seek God in prayer in every situation. Praying should be our first response to whatever situation we face.

·       EXPECTATION – the biggest problem that plagues the church today is that people pray without expectation. Psalm 54:2-4 shows us how David approached God. He said that the Lord is his helper, and that He will accomplish all that concerned him. When God gets involved, there will be a God-sized difference. But many times He wants us to grow and mature in our faith. God expects us to grow and mature to receive our blessing, and to even keep our blessing. Walking in blessings also requires maturity.

·       RESULTS – In Psalm 4:1, the psalmist is telling God that He has enlarged him in the midst of his enemies. Very often we fret over our problems and situations. But God intends for them to promote us. When the wind seems to be blowing against you, that’s the time to spread your wings and allow the wind to lift you up as you fly. In order to have the right attitude, you must have a heart of faith, and that comes with prayer.