Prayer is seriously powerful business. So often, though, we treat it as a perfunctory task to be checked off our daily to-do list. How can we shift our attitudes from boredom and obligation to joy and expectation?

The Lord always inclines His ear to His children. In this message, Dr. Stanley shares the foundational principles of effective prayer, and encourages us to confidently approach God with our petitions and requests.

[Music]

praying is serious business with God I’m

talking to the creator of the whole

earth I’m talking to the one who doesn’t

have to speak he can just think it in

the vid I’m talking to a God who can

change anything anywhere in a timea

according to his will

[Music]

four decades ago we started in touch

ministries to lead people worldwide into

a growing relationship with Jesus Christ

throughout the years we’ve seen God’s

greatness his love and his blessings in

such awesome ways that we just want

everyone to know him so let’s open God’s

Word and seek Him together next on

InTouch prayer that moves God you often

wonder why your prayers are unanswered

you know some scriptures and you talk to

God but somehow so many of your prayers

go unanswered

there must be some reason have you

thought about why have you looked at

your life to ask the question is there

anything in my life it would cause God

not to answer my prayers

1 have you thought about this have you

thought about they God to whom you are

making your prayers you say well

everybody believes in God well everybody

doesn’t believe in the one through God

and many people pray to a god and they

expect God to answer their prayers and

some had they don’t get answered and so

you give up on praying and you think you

think well the Bible’s not really true

the Bible is very true from very

beginning to the very end so once you

listen carefully to this message because

it just may be that you will discover

one of those reasons your prayers are

unanswered listen carefully so turn if

you will to Acts chapter 12 this is a

familiar passage and I want us to read a

few verses but we’ll take probably most

of this chapter beginning in verse 1

the scripture says now about that time

Herod the King laid hands on some who

belong to the church in order to

mistreat them and he had James the

brother of John put to death with the

sword and when he saw that it pleased

the Jews he proceeded to arrest Peter

also now it was during the

days of the unleavened bread after the

Passover and when he it seized him he

put him in prison delivering him to four

squads of soldiers now four squads would

be 16 they were there to guard him and

to bring him out before the people so

Peter was kept in the prison but prayer

for him was being made fervently by the

church to God I remember that he was

made fervently by the church to God

would you say that you pray fervently or

do you just say well I I don’t know

whether it’s further than that but I

just pray well let’s look at what’s

going on right here and maybe it

discovers something about your own

prayer life

so this Herod he had James killed and

that seemed to satisfy the Jews who

hated the Christians and so then they

thought that worked so he had Peter

arrested and put in prison so Peter is

now in prison and his death is imminent

very evident that he intends to kill him

that he intends to bring him out before

the people and killing with a sword as

he did James and he figured that that

would satisfy the Jews by killing

Christians and so the result is that the

Christians gather together

the scripture says in Mary’s house and

there they gathered together to pray for

Peter they remember probably James was

killed without any warning

and so here’s Peter their leader who is

going to be killed they know he’s going

to be killed and so they’re praying but

they have to be struggling to some

degree with that because James already

died and they know how a prisoner is

imprisoned by the Romans and so they’re

praying and praying for God to release

him and so I want us to just

a few verses if you will and look if you

will verse six on the very night when

Herod was about to bring him forward

Peter was sleeping between two soldiers

bound with two chains and guards in

front of the door were watching over the

prison and behold an angel of the Lord

appeared in a light shone in the sail

and he struck Peters side woke him up

saying get up quickly and his chains

fell off his hands and the angel said to

him gird yourself put on your sandals

and he did so and he said to him ref

your cloak around you and follow me and

he went out and continued to follow and

he did not know what was being done but

by the angel was real but he thought he

was seeing something having a vision

when they had passed the first and

second yard they came to the iron gate

that leads into the city which opened

for them by itself and they went out and

went along one Street and immediately

the angel departed from him so so what

happens when Peter came to himself he

said now I know for sure that the Lord

has sent his angel and rescued me from

the hand of Herod and from all that the

Jewish people were expecting now I want

you to think about something the two

words here then really got my attention

when I read this and already many times

if you go back to the fifth verse notice

what it says so Peter was kept in the

prison

but prayer for him was being made

fervently listened fervently by the

church to God

and those two words just jumped off the

page to me to God if I should ask you

who is the god you’re praying to more

than likely most of you seated here and

most of you who believe us could say

well I’m praying to the one true God

that when I pray he’s when I think about

but I want you to think about the people

who pray who don’t necessarily pray to

the one true God and what I’ve

discovered is this one

talk to somebody who does not know the

Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and

they talk about praying I’ll say well

who do you pray to

well I just pray to God well like like

who is this God well he’s the God I pray

to and the more you talk to them the

more you listen here’s what you discover

many people have mentally created their

own God and I can tell you what he’s

like he’s not necessarily holy and

eternal in all the things we say but

he’s our God that they’ve created in

their minds who suits their lifestyle

that’s the way they want to live so that

there’s not a bunch of conviction going

on and so not only that they have

defended themselves against all

Christians do you believe in God yes

indeed what kind of God is he was none

of your business a religion religion is

a private affair and I have my own God

and they don’t realize that they’re

giving themselves away when they say

that I have my own God and there’s

nobody else’s business I think religion

is a very very private matter well okay

so who is this God they can’t tell you

who he is because they haven’t they have

built their own God and this God agrees

with them about what they want to do

where they want to go how they want to

dress what they want to drink and what

kind of sexual relationships he’ll have

there was this God just fits them

perfectly and so they say that I believe

in God yes I do you pray to Him yes I do

what do you say to him well now you’re

getting personal I’m I gonna tell you

what I pray to him they can’t because

he’s not God he’s a God that they

created in their minds but listen they

will never tell you he’s holy he’s

righteous he’s a God of judgment he

hates sin they’re like I say that they

gonna talk about the God who has

patterned his desires after their desire

the way they live and so many people who

they’re praying then I prayed to God so

somebody says well what kind of God does

a Christian pray to I’ll tell you he is

the God who created

this world he’s the God who destroyed

this world by flood he’s the God who

gave us the Ten Commandments

he’s a God who broke down the walls of

Jericho he’s the God who gave to David

the Psalms he’s a god who’s given to us

the prophets like Isaiah Jeremiah Daniel

he’s the God who has given to us the

Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God and our

Savior now if that’s not the God you’re

praying to you got a homemade gun and it

doesn’t work he’s a holy God he’s a

righteous God he’s a perfect God he’s a

God who here’s an answer prayers he’s a

God who loves us unconditionally he’s a

God who forgives us of our sin but he’s

a God who does not tolerate sin because

he knows that sin is a destroyer of the

very people he loves

if you don’t have that God you don’t

have God you have a homemade God you

have one that suits you listen to this

who has no power to promise you anything

nothing we can say because of the

scripture absent from the body present

with the Lord what can you say about

your God I can tell you what you say

well I guess I just everything just goes

to nothing I just disappeared no you

know well I guess God is a God of love

he treats everybody the same no he

doesn’t you can come up with all kinds

of excuses about your God but you do not

talk about judgment you do not talk

about righteousness you do not talk

about a day of judgment you do not talk

about standing before a holy God and

given a counter your life and I notice

you don’t talk about hell you may talk a

little bit about heaven because you

believe that everybody’s going there is

that really true no it’s not and so your

God is God to you but your God can’t do

anything for you

he has no power whatsoever because it is

a God of your imagination the God who is

the one true eternal God is the God we

just described a few moments ago

he’s the God who gave us the Ten

Commandments and the Beatitudes and all

the awesome scriptures we have in the

Bible now the reason I ask you what gods

you’re praying to is because if you’re

not praying to the one through God it’s

not making it a difference in your life

now these Christians hearing about

Peters imprisonment they got together

and they began to pray and to end a seed

for him and it’s interesting when you

look at this passage and think about

what was getting ready to happen that

even in their prayers they had to be

struggling a little bit I think I would

have been if I’ve been one of them so we

saw a few moments ago what happened so

Peters in prison God sends his angel

takes him out and then he goes to Mary’s

house he knew that’s where they were all

praying knocks on the door and this

young lady comes to the door the

scripture says when he knocked at the

door at the gate a servant girl named

Rhoda came to answer when she recognized

Peters voice you think she would have

run she would have opened the door and

run back and said here’s Peter know what

she did she heard him and she she didn’t

he mope over those she just ran back and

said it’s Peter and what did they say

I can’t be Peter it may be an angel but

he can’t be up he steals them they’re

knocking trying to get in and they’re in

the siding it can’t be him I mean

they’ve been praying fervently forgot to

set him free and he sets him free and

they’re still back there saying no it

can’t happen so that’ll give you some

wandering faith and so they said to her

you’re out of your mind

look at this they’ve been in a praying

crying out to God she says he’s at the

door they say you’re at the you’re out

of your mind and so she kept insisting

and so but Peter continued knocking and

I wonder what he was thinking and when

they had opened the door they saw him

and were amazed so God answered their

prayer what I want us to look at here

and I want us to say this again and

again because I don’t want you to I

don’t want you to miss this

the Bible says they were praying to God

let me ask you that how many of you pray

to God now listen carefully what happens

is in our mind we fix our mind upon God

to pray to Him and we call him a verse

God you said if I ask anything in your

name that you did I messed this is Jesus

name

praying to you and so we started praying

and next thing you know we’re off to

something else and God gets lost in the

whole issue and finally the way we put a

period to it we say in Jesus name Amen

we don’t even know what that means

in Jesus name Amen so so much of our

praying is not profitable because we

don’t pray to God I’m praying to God

about my finances I’m praying to God

about my husband or wife I’m praying to

God about my children I’m praying their

words he must be uppermost in our

praying and our thinking otherwise

we drift off into all kinds of things as

we said before and sometimes can’t even

remember what it was so let’s think

about it for a moment maybe you have a

prayer list somebody says a lot I just

remember what I want to pray for it

don’t tell me that I know that if you

don’t make a list of what you’re really

concerned about you don’t put much

emphasis on it and then new things that

come into your life to pray about things

that you hear about things that maybe

your friends have loved ones and so

forth and so here watch this

when you have a list thank you dear God

for answering that prayer thank you dear

God for answering this prayer and if you

don’t have a list let me ask you how

many times do you remember all the

things you’ve prayed for and that God

has answered or not answer and so

praying is serious business because it’s

it’s the way we communicate with God he

communicates to us so if I’ve got a list

and I look at that list I may not go

down my list

all the way every day or every time I

get on my knees and I certainly I don’t

for the simple reason that list gets

longer but God is uppermost for most I’m

praying to the Heavenly Father about

and I’m not gonna go praying along and

get off on something else and forget to

whom I am praying and what he’s like God

is honored when we come to him he’s

honored when we talked to him and he’s

willing to hear an answer our prayer he

says callin to me I will answer you and

show you great and mighty things which

you do not know if he can part the Red

Sea knock down the walls of Jericho and

if he can give us the Ten Commandments

he can answer any prayer we pray that

fits his will and his plan for our life

and so so what you notice something else

here about them it says the scripture

says so for him prayer was being made

fervently by the church fervently you

know what that means there’s some

enthusiasm there’s some feeling there’s

some belief fervently let me ask you a

question do you love your children

fervently fervently means my heart is in

it when I’m talking to God fervently it

means I’m I want to quote him a

scripture and we quote scripture in our

prayer not to remind God of anything but

to what do what to remind us of what

he’s promised us when we come to him

praying to him and so the preferably for

example when Jesus was facing the cross

the scripture says he was praying in

Luke the 22nd chapter he was praying

fervently that is he was agonizing and I

wonder when is the last time you could

honestly say I pray fervently for him

that means you put your whole heart into

it

it means you probably maybe were weeping

in their behalf that you were saying God

I’ll do whatever you say do whatever it

takes to help them through this

situation they’re going through yot in

Jesus name and so fervently it means you

it’s wholeheartedly and oftentimes we

say to somebody I’ll pray for you we

don’t I think we shouldn’t say that if

we don’t mean it

now if I tell somebody I’m gonna pray

for them I’m gonna pray for them I want

to do something to remind me that I told

them I’d pray for them and so sometimes

I say yeah make a list

now watch this if you want God to do

something many things coming to him one

time it’s not gonna cut it it’s not

because some issues in situations got us

to have time to arrange the situations

in order to answer your prayers so if

you just pray once and say well God

didn’t answer my prayer you didn’t give

him an opportunity to answer your prayer

the way he wants to answer it and the

way that he gets the most credit and

that you were blessed and you reminded

next time you have a request that’s the

way you come to him he says call unto me

when I will answer you and show you

great and mighty things which you do not

know about you don’t even understand and

so if I say to you do you have a list

it’s for this way if you are dead

serious I bet your prayer life and about

the people you praying for you’re gonna

do something that reminds you to keep

praying until God changes the

circumstance and that’s why I have a

list you said what kind of list you just

put at the top of the prayer list and

right then that you can put that name

down and the good thing that I found

that a long time ago was to put a date

down by this is a date I started it

maybe three days when I can put another

day down answered prayer it may be three

months six months and I prayed for

people longer than that and some people

are prayed for and prayed for and prayed

for I still came put a date down by it

but watch this but at least I’m reminded

at least I can still pray for that

person for God to change them in some

way I’ll provide something in their life

the issue is am i praying with fervency

because I love this person because I

care not gonna pray for everybody the

same you’re not going to the closer

people are to you the more you probably

pray for the more sincere your prayers

are gonna be

the more intense intentionally you’re

gonna pray for somebody that you

genuinely love or somebody that you see

hitting in the wrong turn wrong

direction I want to see how to work in

their life and so he says we’re to pray

fervently and then the third thing I

want you to notice his simplest and that

is prayer that moves God maybe made by

those in agreement with each other in

agreement with each other and in the

will of God for example if if I have a

big burden on my heart about something

I’m gonna talk to somebody it’s sitting

right here for example and I’m gonna say

to that person here’s the thing I’m

really concerned about and that’s you it

lets you not pray about this together if

something watch that there’s something

about agreeing if any two of you shall

agree on earth as touching anything of

the father’s will he gets involved and

so there’s something about praying

together and let’s put it this way the

deeper your hurt the more your pain the

more likely you’re gonna ask somebody to

pray with you not just pray for you but

to pray with you and if I should ask you

today how many of you have a prayer

partner but so I don’t need anybody

praying for me yes you do we all need

somebody to pray for us God is so

willing to grant us the needs the

desires of our heart when we come to him

with a clean heart an open mind willing

to listen to him willing to be obedient

to it so the most powerful thing you and

I do is to pray with a pray to God we’re

to pray with fervency with heart we do

pray and his will what he wants and what

he desires for our life and one of the

best things we can do watch this

it helps us it helps somebody else is to

have someone we pray with watch this

because we all need to be held

accountable a person who wants no

accountability is into something they

shouldn’t be into that’s why they don’t

want to have to give an account

accountability is a safety zone for us

but what I save where I go who I go with

what I spent the words I want to be

accountable that’s that’s safe somebody

I says I want freedom you want freedom

to destroy your life freedom to get in

debt freedom to have relationships with

people you have no business having

relationships accountability is a safety

net for every single one of us and God

knows we all need to be safe safe

walking in his will and in his way so

the church in these days they were smart

they all got together and prayed for

Peters release and much much to their

surprise he was released and what

happens

he lives a long time after that now I

descend to ask you this if you had to

describe your prayer life what would it

be like well I say my prayers at night

well let’s get this

what do you mean say your prayers at

night I understand what you’re saying

but if you just Fred night before you go

to sleep I can tell you right now you’re

gonna get in trouble because first of

all you may be about two-thirds sleep

before you start praying so you don’t

even know what you’re saying no words

you might as well say the prayer that I

remember my mother taught me Berlin life

for I knew what was going on now I lay

me down to sleep I pray the Lord my soul

to keep if I should die before I wake I

pray the Lord my soul to take

that’s better than nothing but it isn’t

the best kind of pray now if we laugh

about him in prayer serious business

pray to Almighty God through His Son

Jesus Christ who died on the cross and

shed his blood Pierce and praying to be

saved to Almighty God through His Son

Jesus serious business praying for a

neat service missus praying for one

another serious business praying for the

nation serious misses pray

serious business listen not only serious

it’s powerful business praying with

fervency makes change in people’s lives

and it can make change in a nation and

God’s people need to be praying amen and

probably thank you that you please when

we pray willing to hear us willing to

answer us willing to strengthen us

willing to build our faith up willing to

teach us how to love you and we pray

today in Jesus name right now any person

seated here any person listening

wherever they might be if their prayers

are to count help them to understand

first of all they must make a personal

commitment of their life to Jesus Christ

for the forgiveness of their sins which

opens the door to prayer and makes it

possible and before that happens

there’s no employee it is only talk and

so we pray that somebody today would be

saved

made him maybe many people would be

saved but Lord God that you’d have your

way in their lives and in each one of us

who calls ourselves Christians who names

the name of Jesus that you had got us

that all of us would be praying people

is my prayer in Jesus name Amen if

you’ve been blessed by today’s program

please visit us at intouch.org e

in touch leading people worldwide into a

growing relationship with Jesus Christ

and strengthening the local church this

program is sponsored by in touch

ministries and is made possible by the

grace of God and your faithful prayers

and gifts