Continuing the January prayer series in Luke 11, Pastor Nana Boadum recaps the first five principles of the midnight-friend parable and presses into four more: prayer taps heaven's resources for earth's circumstances, prayer involves other people's wills, prayer takes time, and prayer requires staying power. The service opened with the prayer of Jabez and closed in extended intercession.
The seven movements
- Pray like Jabez. Before the text: "Bless me indeed, enlarge my territory, let Your hand be with me, keep me from evil, keep me from pain" — and God granted his request. Jesus is still the answer for the world today (1 Chronicles 4:9-10).
- Recap — the first five principles. From part 1: prayer is not self-centered; prayer requires your heart; prayer prompts action; prayer is inconvenient; and the three loaves answer our three-part nature — spirit, soul, and body all fed in prayer (Luke 11:5-8; 1 Thessalonians 5:23).
- Principle 6 — heavenly resources for earthly circumstances. The host goes to a friend for bread he doesn't have. Prayer is going to the Father for what is lacking in our earthly experience — tapping heaven's supply for earth's need.
- Principle 7 — other people's wills are involved. "Don't trouble me; the door is shut; my children are in bed." Between your prayer and your answer stands a chain of human wills that the Holy Spirit works on but never forces. The boss, the family member, the broken relationship — hearts take time to turn (Luke 11:7; Proverbs 21:1).
- Principle 8 — prayer takes time. We live in a drive-through, buy-now-on-credit culture, but Daniel — over eighty — prayed until the answer came, not until day 21 expired. Don't let the fast become an obsession with recipes while the praying stops; and don't retire a prayer after a year that heaven may honor after twenty (Daniel 10:12-14).
- Principle 9 — prayer requires staying power. Because wills are involved and time is required: pray without ceasing. Stay. Depth comes by praying in understanding and praying in the Spirit — Paul's own secret for staying long in God's presence (1 Thessalonians 5:17; 1 Corinthians 14:2, 18).
- Response — salvation and staying power. Prayer is not a magic wand; it begins with "Our Father" — relationship. The altar call for new believers, prayer for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the house standing with one another: "Lord, I stand with my sister; I stand with my brother."
Walk away with this
Don't give up on the prayer you've carried the longest. Hearts are turning, heaven is working, and the staying is the praying. (Pastoral note from the message: persistent prayer is never a command to remain in abuse — "use your head before you lose your head.")