Sermons found for the topic Prayer

Why We Pray - Romans 15:30-33

A quarter-century ago, when we were living in the Los Angeles area, I attended an all-day seminar on prayer led by Warren Wiersbe. Those who know Dr. Wiersbe will not be surprised when I say that it was an extremely p More

Emergency Prayers - Romans 15:30-33

This is the final sermon in the series, Praying with Paul. We started on the first Sunday of January and we come to an end on the final Sunday of April. In my first message I introduced our church theme for 2003, "Lor More

Wanted: Bold Believers! - Colossians 4:2-4

Learning how to pray effectively is essential for spiritual growth. Based on the prayers of Paul, we can learn to pray boldly for the commitment of those on the front lines of spiritual conflict, for open doors of opportunity for evangelism, for courage despite difficult circumstances and persecution, and for clarity in presentation of the Gospel – especially encouraging pastors. More

The Positive Power of Prayer - Daniel 9:1-23

I suppose that most of us know the final words of James 5:16, "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." This oft-quoted promise reminds us that when righteous people call out to God, their prayers act More

Helping Through Prayer - II Corinthians 1:8-11

Prayer helped Paul when he was depressed and discouraged, giving him hope and encouragement through trust in God. Praying for others and the prayers of others for us glorify God, partnering with Him to help those in need and heightening joy as our prayers are answered. More

Beyond Your Dreams - Ephesians 3:14-21

Pray boldly for spiritual strength, teaches Paul. God is faithful and we can trust Him. He is more than able to do even more than we ask.. Through prayer, we are filled with the Holy Spirit and grow spiritually, understanding the height, breadth, length and depth of Christ’s love for us. More

Don't Settle for Second-Best - Philippians 1:9-11

In this message I want to give you some very practical advice that could energize your prayer life. As we begin moving in that direction, here are three opening observations to think about:1. Prayer is both the easies More

Life-Changing, Heart-Moving, World-Shaking Prayer - 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

"Prayer is not everything but everything is by prayer." So said Ray Ortlund. All Christians would agree with that statement. No matter what our background, instinctively we know that prayer is central to the Christ More

"In Jesus' Name, Amen" - John 14:13-14

"And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it" (John 14:13-14).These words of Jesus contain a remarkable promise. T More

The Hardest Prayer You Will Ever Pray - Matthew 6:10

Some prayers are harder to pray than others. I learned that thirty-three years ago when my father died. One October day he felt a pain in his shoulder. The doctors later said it was transferred pain from a bacterial i More

Three Levels of Prayer - Matthew 7:7-11

Today we are beginning a new sermon series called Adventures in Prayer. For the next seven Sundays we will look at some of the great prayer promises of the New Testament. Right up front I want you to know that I have More

When You Pray, Never Give Up - Luke 18:1-8

My goal in this sermon is very simple. I hope to convince you of the importance of persistence in prayer. I want you to see that God is greatly glorified when we continue in prayer over a long period of time. Or to sa More

Praying For the Sick - James 5:13-16

If you have read the title, you know exactly what this sermon is about. Praying for the sick is something we are all asked to do from time to time. It is certainly something that all pastors do every week. That fact a More

Praying for the Lost - I Timothy 2:1-6

"Prayer is the lifeline of New Testament evangelism, the oxygen for its holy fire. The New Testament was born in prayer. It knows no evangelism without prayer, and no prayer which does not lead to evangelism." Those a More

Open My Eyes, Lord - Ephesians 1:15-23

I wonder if we would be happy if our prayers were published so that others could read them. That's a fascinating thought, isn't it? What if every prayer you prayed, word for word, somehow ended up on the Internet so t More

If God is Sovereign, Why Pray? - Matthew 6:8

When we surveyed the congregation last year several people asked this question. I would suppose that most Christians have wondered about it at one time or another. Certainly skeptics have thrown it in our faces to dis More

When God Prays for You - Romans 8:26-27

With this message we come to the final installment in the series called Adventures in Prayer. When we started I said that I wanted to encourage you about the boundless possibilities of prayer. It's easy to feel guilty More

How to Pray for Anyone About Anything - Philippians 1:9-11

How would you rate your own prayer life? If you had to give yourself a grade, would it be A … B … C … D … or F? Or as someone suggested, how about the word "Incomplete"? Before you decide on an More

Lucky to Love - I Thessalonians 3:10-13

"Prayer is not everything but everything is by prayer." So said Ray Ortlund. All Christians would agree with that statement. No matter what our background, instinctively we know that prayer is central to the Christian More

How to Pray with Power - Colossians 1:9-14

Life has meaning and is worth living when we pray for God’s will to fill our lives. Trusting God with control or our lives encourages us through hard times as we follow in faith. Our commitment to God’s will means we can live a life that that pleases Jesus and makes us part of His amazing agenda. More

The Blessed Benefits - Psalm 103:1-5

Many of us need to give God a “one-minute praising” for all his blessings. We’re sure good at telling the Lord what we want him to do for us. We need a good dose of Psalm 103 to wash out that complaining spirit and replace it with a heart of gratitude to the Lord. More

Why You Need Your Enemies and Your Enemies Need You—Part One - Jeremiah 29:7

Our sovereign God allows enemies to enter our lives for our ultimate good. They are often people we are close to; family, people at work, or even in our church. God’s message to us is to love, bless, and pray for them. In doing this, He will bless us. We cannot be set free until we set them free to be blessed by the Lord. More

If I Should Die Before I Wake - Hebrews 11:20-22

The stories of Isaac, Jacob and Joseph show us what faith looks like at the end of life. Here is one mark of genuine Christianity. When you come to the end of your earthly journey, you still hold on to what you believe. Because Jesus died and rose again, we can face our own death with confidence, knowing that the Lord will not abandon us when we need him most. More

The Church on its Knees: Unleashing the Power of United Prayer - Acts 1:12-14

"Prayer is that slender nerve that moves the muscles of omnipotence." Charles SpurgeonI don't often begin a sermon with a confession but this week it seems the appropriate thing to do. Over the years whenever I More

By Faith - Hebrews 11:1-2

Faith is the law of the kingdom. It is “belief plus unbelief and acting on the belief part.” Every blessing of the kingdom is available to those who put their faith to work by “acting on the belief part,” moment by moment, day by day, one little step at a time. More

How Can I Be Filled With the Holy Spirit? - Ephesians 5:18

In order to be filled with the Holy Spirit, we need two things—emptiness and openness. If we live another day without the Holy Spirit’s control in our lives, we have only ourselves to blame. God has made himself fully available to us. Have we made ourselves fully available to him? More

Choose Life! - Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Whoever occupies the Oval Office for the next four years will make decisions that will guide our nation far into the future. Which way will we go? How should we make up our minds? This sermon argues that we should “choose life” by taking our Christian convictions with us into the voting booth. More

Why You Need Your Enemies and Your Enemies Need You—Part Two - Jeremiah 29:7

Our enemies are a gift from God. If we didn’t need them He wouldn’t send them. God has a beneficial purpose in sending enemies our way - to make us more like Christ. Therefore, the person we might consider an enemy is, in reality, our best friend. More

Mountain-Moving Prayer - Mark 11:22-24

"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will More

The Mystery Of Unanswered Prayer - II Corinthians 12

The man stood over my desk and said, "You won't believe the things that have happened to me." Then he proceeded to tell a tale of woe the likes of which I had not heard in quite awhile. As I listened, it seemed to b More

A Place to Pray - Acts 4:23-31

"If you do not know that life is war, you will not know what prayer is for." John PiperThe sun had almost slipped beneath the horizon in the little village of Pucuro in the Darien region of Panama, not far from t More

When God Prays for You

Many years ago when I pastored a church in suburban Los Angeles, I attended a weekend youth leaders' conference featuring messages by a pastor from a large church in a nearby city. The night I attended the pastor prea More

Praying for Your Prodigal - Ephesians 1:18

I received an email with a heartrending question:I have a daughter that I don't believe is saved. I pray for her but often times I can't. I suppose that I'm angry she isn't responding and feel incapable of helping her More

Martin Luther's Highway to Heaven - Romans 1:16-17

It is a mark of our changing times that many people have only a vague idea who Martin Luther is. Most of us have heard his name but we're not sure where he's from or what he did or when he lived. Some of us even get More

Ballistic Christianity - Matthew 9:35-38

“Then He said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few…’ What did Jesus mean? He meant there were many people ready to be harvested for the Kingdom. All around us there are broken, bleeding, hurting people, ripped apart and left to die, they are ready to be reached if only someone will go to the harvest fields. If only someone will tell them about Jesus. Where are the harvest fields today? Let me name a few …. More

Christian Boldness in an Age of Tolerance - Genesis 18:16-33

I would like the Moody Married Students Fellowship for the invitation to address you this morning. As much as I am glad to be here—even on Friday the 13th—I am much more thankful for the topic assigned to More

Joy in the Trenches - Philippians 1:27-30

Dr. Ray Pritchard issues a stirring call to live worthy of the gospel. We can make an impact for Christ in our world if we will stand without division, strive without compromise, speak without fear, and sacrifice without shame. More

Do Not Take Your Holy Spirit From Me! - Psalms 51:11

"Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me" (Psalms 51:11). It is sometimes said that no Christian should ever pray this prayer, but I wonder if that is correct. Clearly David feared b More

WMBI Commentaries - Various

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A Few Good Men - Genesis 18:16-33

On this Memorial Day we honor the men and women of the armed forces, both those who have served with distinction in the past and those who serve our country today. Most of you are familiar with the Marine Corps sloga More

A Friend in High Places - Hebrews 4:14-16

If you were raised in Chicago, you no doubt recognize the name of Mike Royko. For over 30 years he was the voice of Chicago to the nation. At the height of his career over 600 newspapers carried his columns. After he More

The Strategic Prayer Initiative

THE STRATEGIC PRAYER INITIATIVE by Ray Pritchard Several years ago Mike Jebb came up with a revolutionary idea: What if Christians took prayer seriously? What if, instead of praying “when we feel like it,” Christians began to pray the way that soldiers go to war? What if our prayer room became a “war room… More

Resurrection Hospital - 1 Kings 17:17-24

Of all the episodes in the life of Elijah, this is probably the most troublesome. There really isn't anything else like it in the Old Testament. In our text Elijah lays himself out over the body of a dead child and th More

God's Word Has Not Failed - Romans 9:6-18

For many people no question seems as puzzling as the problem of unanswered prayer. Why is it that some things we pray about are never answered? We could all spend hours remembering times when we prayed and prayed, o More

God Finishes What He Starts - 1 Thessalonians 5:23-28

"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do i More

The Jesus Prayer

THE JESUS PRAYER by Ray Pritchard Recently I read Elisabeth Elliott’s fine book, Keep a Quiet Heart. One of her chapters describes the “Jesus Prayer.” It is a prayer that arose in the Orthodox tradition over 1,000 years ago. Though the prayer appears in various wordings, its most basic form goes like this: &#… More

Forgiveness and the Lord's Prayer - Matthew 6:12

"Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors" (Matthew 6:12 KJV).The fifth petition of the Lord's Prayer seems simple enough, but simple things can sometimes be very deep. Everyone agrees that this is a difficult w More

Life Has Been Good - Various

This is the fifth year I have been privileged to give a State of the Church address to Calvary Memorial Church. In my first message I quoted the great Chicago architect Daniel Burnham who said, "Make no small plans. More

How to Tame Lions - Daniel 6

The story of Daniel in the lion’s den is one of the best-known and best-loved stories in all the Bible. Little children love it and Sunday school teachers love to tell it. In the days of slavery this story becam More

What Is Saving Faith?

"Pastor Ray, how can I know that I am truly saved?" The young man standing before me was obviously in some distress. His story was familiar. He had been raised in an evangelical church where he had accepted Christ as More