SUNDAY SERMON - A self-righteous person is a person who engages in fruitless struggle to prove that he can achieve something on his own. He is conceited, proud and ignorant.

Instead of realising that he can access the mightiest power on earth and under heaven, he continues alone until he ends up a frustrated and defeated man.

Take heart, because today I want to offer you the best advice ever: If you really claim that God is your father, then call home as soon as you have time.

Many people do not understand the power of prayer. We see in Philippians 4:6-7: "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.”

There are people in the Christian world who are known as ‘prayer warriors’. These people can spend considerable amount of time praying. It does not matter what is the situation they will stop at nothing. Amazing things start happening when we start praying.

Peace, love, direction, insight and forgiveness start flowing naturally. You should never think that the time you spent in praying is wasted time; prayer is actually a savings of time. But again, there are people who believe God already knows their problems so there is no need to pray to God.

Prayer provides power, poise, peace and purpose for a person’s plans and pursuits. Whatever is worth worrying about is certainly worth praying about. God is never more than a prayer away from you. When you feel swept off your feet, get back on your knees.

The problem with most people is the thought that what they want to pray about is so small that God will laugh at them when they pray. My advice is: Pray about it, it may be a small thing and yet it is bothering you.

If you wait to be thrown in the lions’ den like Daniel before you pray, remember God is likely to ask you where you were the other times.

I remember a brother who was having small problem in the office. His employer had asked him to show cause why he could not be disciplined.

When the brother brought the matter to his Pastor asking for payers, the Pastor, thoughtlessly, told him that the employer was actually right in demanding to discipline him, as such there was no need to bother God about the problem.But God hears all prayers.

Remember, a prayer can not be answered until it is uttered. Many people do not pray, they only beg. So pray, do not beg. Jesus says in Mark 11:24: "Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you have received them, then you will have them.”

A beggar is a person who throws himself at another person’s feet to ask for a favour which the beggar may be given or not depending on the whims of the person being requested. The statement we have looked at strongly proves that we have the right to ask.

I am also aware of church leaders who have the gift of prophetic prayer, i.e. they can pray for miracles to happen and the miracles take place. It needs a lot of humility on the part of these people to really move as the spirit moves. Those who have been healed are known to have offered gifts to such prophetic prayer leaders.

There is no way people can pay for healings and restoration arising from prayers. Commercialization of prayers is an abomination in the sight of God. In a future commentary I will look more exhaustively on this topic.

I visualize a time when all Christians will develop the habit of staying on their knees until God opens the doors of heaven to pour down His blessings on them. 

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