Peter Anderson: Prayer

 Every miracle has a genealogy. 

Prayer throughout the book of Acts... devotional study idea!

Four principles for effective prayer:

1) Prayer + the will of God = effective prayer

1 John 5 vs James 1

1 John: If you ask anything according ot his will he hears us, hears us, God serving prayers

James you don't have becasue you don't ask with right motives. he doesn't hear us, self-willed prayers.

"If I throw out a boathook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God." E. Stanley Jones.

Daniel 9: "I daniel understood from the scriptures... so i turned to the lord and pleaded with him.."

We have to develop a closeness with the Spirit.

When you pray in tongues you are praying completely in line with the will of God... but you have no idea what you're praying about. 

I pray in tongues more than any of you. Why? Because of faith. it bypasses our minds, that if our minds knew what we were praying about they'd shut down the request with doubt.

"The heavens are the heavens of the lord but the earth he has given to the sons of men." - Psalm 115:16

God in his sovereignty has sovereignly decided to put us in charge. Like a landlord who puts tenants in charge of his property, he gives up his rights to access and enter whenever he wants. 

The devil had been given the kingdoms of the earth, we gave him our keys... but Jesus (Mt. 28) got it back on behalf of mankind.

John Wesley: God does nothing but in answer to prayer.

2) Prayer + agreeing with people = effective prayer

Matthew 19:18 'if any of you agree... (symphoneo) on anything together...'

A. T. Pierson. "There has never been a spiritual awakening in any country or locality that did not begin in united prayer."

3) Prayer + fasting = effective prayer

Planting church in Gambi Nigeria. 

Daniel fast. Why is fasting so effective? It is a God given mechanism for triggering humility in your soul. 

David said: "I humbled my soul with fasting..." Psalm 35:13

It triggers humility in my soul. One of the most common reasons for unanswered prayers is pride. 

Universal truth because it happens in heaven as in earth. "Those who humble themselves will be humbled, those who humble themselves will be exalted." Augustine called pride the mother of all sins: it gives birth to all the other sins.

There's a lot of nonsense when it comes to thinking about spiritual warfare. 

Jesus dealt with the devil but he never left the ground. Did Daniel have any idea what was going on? no. Did he address the angelic realm? no. did Daniel's prayer effective what was going on in the heavenlies? yes.

4) Prayer + perseverance = effective prayer

Amplified version of Luke 11. Ask and keep on asking...

Consider the difference between impetus and momentum. "if prayer is ever forgotten the revival will move from impetus to momentum." think of cars. impetus is the accelerator pedal. momentum is once we've already got going, but if we take foot off pedal we'll start to slow down.

George Muller. The great point is to never give up...