Jesus said that Peter would fail, but He prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail….
from Luke 22: 31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift [you] as wheat. 32 “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to[Me, strengthen your brethren.”
Elijah used this prayer when he stopped the rain from heaven and started it again after three and one half years.
The Lord Jesus teaches us to speak to the mountain. Look at these passages:
Matthew 17:20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
Matthew 21:21 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.
Mark 11:23 “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
So when the Lord gives us a mountain He wants us to speak to it. Let me say it another way. When we encounter some difficult thing in life, the Lord wants us to speak to the thing. How do you pray or speak then it seems impossible and one can only see in faith that God can do something.
In Hebrews it says: Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever. Our God is everlasting, He does not change. But people ask “Where is the God of Elijah?”. He is still here, just waiting for His people to obey, believe and pray. That’s all that Elijah did in 1 Kings 18, he just obeyed God, then he believed God, then he just prayed. His prayer was based on what God said, that caused him to believe and have faith in God.
Hebrews 13:8 tells us, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
| Psalms 24:7 | Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. |
| Psalms 24:9 | Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. |
| Psalms 41:13 | Blessed be the LORD God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen. |
| Psalms 90:2 | Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. |
| Psalms 93:2 | Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting. |
Here we have one of five passages in the Bible on the new covenant.
Ezekiel 36:26 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
Notice the phrase “cause you to walk in My statutes” Surely God wants us to pray, and here God helps us to pray.
Matthew 17: 20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” Notice the relationship between speaking and prayer.
Psalms 88:13 But to You I have cried out, O LORD, And in the morning my prayer comes before You. Have you ever woken up early in the morning with lots on your mind? Well many times this is the Lord calling us to prayer. Prayer in the morning is a wonderful time of intimate fellowship with God. Sometimes its just a groan or a cry or just a sigh. But it is still prayer.
Hannah’s prayer helps us understand that prayer is not always asking (1 Sam. 2:1-10). The biblical author called what she said prayer, but her prayer did not contain any petition, only praise and thanksgiving. This helps up understand prayer from another angle.
Notice this long prayer:
1 Samuel 2:1 And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart exulteth in Jehovah, my horn is lifted up in Jehovah; my mouth is opened wide over mine enemies; for I rejoice in thy salvation. 2 There is none holy as Jehovah, for there is none beside thee, neither is there any rock like our God. 3 Do not multiply your words of pride, let not vain-glory come out of your mouth; For Jehovah is a ùGod of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. 4 The bow of the mighty is broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. 5 They that were full have hired themselves out for bread; and the hungry are so no more: Even the barren beareth seven, and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. 6 Jehovah killeth, and maketh alive; he bringeth down to Sheol, and bringeth up. 7 Jehovah maketh poor, and maketh rich, he bringeth low, also he lifteth up: 8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust; from the dung-hill he lifteth up the needy, To set him among nobles; and he maketh them inherit a throne of glory; For the pillars of the earth are Jehovah’s, and he hath set the world upon them. 9 He keepeth the feet of his saints, but the wicked are silenced in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. 10 They that strive with Jehovah shall be broken to pieces; in the heavens will he thunder upon them. Jehovah will judge the ends of the earth; and he will give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.
I want to read a little portion from the book of John, “And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” In John, chapters 14, 15, and 16, Jesus says to ask in His name at least six, maybe seven times. That means to ask God for things in the name of Jesus Christ. Today, on this program, In the Beginning, we are going to talk about what it means to ask in the name of Jesus. We are going to cover the matter of prayer in the Bible. I want to read from the gospel of Luke, “And I say to you, ask and it shall be given you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives, and He who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it shall be opened.” We have three important words in this little portion: Number one, asking. Number two, seeking. Number three, knocking. These are three forms or types of prayer. Today we want to talk about these three words. What does it mean to ask? What does it mean to seek? What does it mean to knock? And what is the real essence of prayer? What does it mean to pray?In Romans 8, Paul is talking about living in the Spirit, how we need to walk in the Spirit, and how we need to set our mind on the Spirit. Later in that chapter he gets a little bit into the subject of prayer. I want to read from Romans 8. He says, “In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself, intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words.” Paul is saying that a lot of times we feel weak, and we need the Spirit to strengthen us. Not only that, a lot of times we don’t know how to pray. It says, here, that the Spirit intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words.
As an eBook on Olive Tree see Prayer in the Lord’s Name by Drew Haninger.