The Power of Effectual Prayer

What's the secret to an answered prayer?

Welcome to Love Worth Finding. Beloved pastor and Bible teacher Adrian Rogers said, Jesus is the glue of the galaxies. Everything starts with God, operates through God, and returns back to him. If you think about it, this divine triangle is exemplified in our salvation. God first loved us and brought us to himself through Christ. We live the Christian life through the power he gives, and one day we're going back to him. How does this divine triangle empower us in our prayer life? If you have your Bible, turn to Romans chapter 11. We'll look at verse 36 as Adrian Rogers reveals three transformational truths about the power of effectual prayer.

Turn, if you will, please, to the book of Romans, the constitution of Christianity, Romans chapter 11, and we're going to look primarily at one verse tonight. Before we look at that verse, I want to tell you there is a place in the Atlantic Ocean called the Bermuda Triangle. Sometimes it is called the Devil's Triangle. It is said that in that body of water, a vast body of water, sometimes airplanes have been known to mysteriously disappear.

Sometimes ocean liners and boats and fishing craft have just disappeared. People have vanished in this so-called Bermuda Triangle or Devil's Triangle. Now, I think that is more myth than mystery, and I don't put any stock in that, but there is another triangle, not the Devil's Triangle, but a divine triangle, and it is not myth. It is miracle, and we're going to read about it right here in Romans chapter 11 and verse 36.

Listen to it. For of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever. Now, that is a divine triangle.

I want you to see how that works. We're going to be talking about the power of effectual prayer, and you're going to find out that in God's economy, there is a cycle that things come, first of all, of him, and then they go through him, and then they return back to him, and that is the cycle of victory that we have. Really, that is the theme of the entire Bible. Everything starts with God. Everything operates through God.

Everything returns back to God. For example, the first verse in the Bible says everything is of God. Genesis 1, 1, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. It all begins with God, and then in Revelation chapter 1 and verse 8, Jesus said, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, which was, and which is to come.

Do you see the way that this divine triangle begins and it continues and it ends? For of him and through him and to him. Think, for example, in the material world. How did the material world come to place?

How did it all come to be? Colossians 1, verses 16 and 17, for by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created by him and for him and he is before all things and by him all things consist. In that one verse, you see the same truth that, first of all, the physical world, he, our God, is the power of creation. It is impossible to believe that everything came from nothing. Listen, we believe in God by faith, but the atheist has a whole lot more faith than we have.

He, by faith, believes that it all just happened. Some scientists totally reject that. Sir Fred Hoyle at the British Academy of Science, who is a leading mathematician and astronomer, shook up a lot of people in the scientific community when he said this, and let me quote him, We must now admit to ourselves that the probability of life arising by chance, by evolution, is the same probability of throwing six on dice five million consecutive times. And then he goes on to say, let's be scientifically honest with ourselves. The probability of having life arise to greater and greater complexity in organization by chance is the same probability of having a tornado tear through a junkyard and form out the other end of Boeing 747. And this is a scientist talking, Sir Fred Hoyle of the British Academy of Science.

He said, random and impersonal chance does not create complexity and design. No, all things are by him, but not only is he the producer of creation, he is the preserver of creation. That same verse that I just read to you said, by him all things consist. Jesus is the glue of the galaxies. He's the one who feeds the sun with fuel. He's the one who veils the moon with beauty. He is the one who guides the planet on their courses.

Take his hand away and everything would disintegrate. It is God who just does all of this. You see, Jesus is the producer of creation, he's the preserver of creation, and he is the purpose of creation. The verse I just read to you from Colossians says all things were created for him. What's the world coming to?

What's the universe coming to? It is coming to Jesus. It is true in the physical world, it's true in the spiritual world. The only reason you know him is because he sought you. We love him because he first loved us. By nature, we're all running from God. If God couldn't run faster than we could run, none of us would be saved.

A friend I want to tell you, he takes the initiative. He first loved us. He takes our salvation and brings us to himself.

We have nothing to boast of. We live the Christian life through the power he gives, and one day we're going back to him for it is of him, by him, through him, and to him are all things. The same thing in sanctification.

It all begins with him. I used to think as a young Christian if I could just be good enough, if I could live clean enough, pure enough, then maybe God would fill me with the Holy Spirit. That was so foolish because there's no way that I could live the Christian life apart from the fullness of the Holy Spirit. That doesn't mean I can cling to sin and have God fill me, but it does mean this, that friend, holiness is not the way to God. God is the way to holiness.

That's so important that you learn this. You know, some people want to get some money, they want to borrow some money, and they have the idea if they can go to the banker and prove to the banker they don't need any money, maybe he'll loan themselves. Well, friend, we used to think that about God. You know, if we could just say to God, now God, I'm perfectly clean and pure and holy, now fill me with the Spirit.

No. You see, it is of him and through him and to him. We come to him empty-handed and say, Lord, I'm in a mess. And God says, all right, I'm the one to put that desire in your heart, and I'm going to fill you with the Holy Spirit.

It's the same thing in stewardship. What do we give to the Lord when we bring our money here? What he's given to us. Now, what do you have that you've not received? In the truest sense, how can you give anything to God? What do you have that you've not received? It is of him and through him and to him. When our children were little, they'd go out and buy me a Father's Day present. You know what they bought me a Father's Day present with? Money I gave them.

Sure, but I enjoyed it. The whole thing is of him, through him, and to him. That is the divine triangle. Now, having that in mind, I want to talk to you about effectual prayer, and I want to tell you three wonderful truths about prayer. Now, listen to me now.

Don't check me out. This is transformational, and this is truth. I want to apply it to your heart. Let's think, first of all, of the origin of prayer. It roots in the purposes of God.

That is so important. The origin of all effectual prayer roots in the purposes of God, for of him are all things. Now, I've told you before, the prayer that gets to heaven is the prayer that starts in heaven.

Of the things that get to heaven of him are all things. Prayer is not some way to get earth's will done in heaven. It is God's way to get heaven's will done on earth. You see, God is sovereign, and we're sinful. There's no way that prayer would work if it did not begin with God. But though God is sovereign, his sovereign throne is the throne of grace, and we can come to a sovereign God by grace. And grace means that God loves us before we loved him.

Hebrews 4 16, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Now, have you ever thought about the fact of why we pray? Prayer is a great mystery. Why do we pray? Why do we tell God what he already knows? Why do we ask God to do what he already wants to do if it already starts in his heart and mind? Why do we pray? Why does God lay that burden upon our heart?

Let me give you three reasons why we pray like this. First of all, God gives us the privilege of working together with him. 2 Corinthians 6 verse 1, For we then are workers together with him. What a glorious privilege to work with God.

I mean to think of it. Paul said we are laborers together with him. I've often used the illustration of sometimes I will fly with a person in a private airplane and sit up in the cockpit side by side, and that person will let me fly the plane. Well, friend, if he weren't there, I'd be a pilot all right.

I'd pilot in the field. But he's there to override my mistakes, and yet I'm flying that aircraft. Now, he could do it without me. I could not do it without him.

But together we're having fellowship. That's the way prayer is. God could do it without us.

We could not do it without him. But God has given us the privilege to pray. Prayer bonds your heart to God. And prayer is also the way that God disciples us. Have you ever asked God for something and didn't get the answer, let me see your hand? Of course you did. And you said, well, why did God not answer my prayer?

A boy may ask a girl for a date, and she says no. And he said, I wonder why. I wonder if I have bad breath. So he gargles. And then later on he said, I wonder if my fingernails are messy. So he cleans his fingernails. And he begins to clean up and dress up.

And then after a while, she may say yes. Now, that's the way God is. God is working on us, and God disciples us through prayer. Prayer is God's way of when we have prayers that are not answered to cause us to examine our hearts. And prayer binds us and bonds us to God. God does not want us to be independent of him. Now, all prayer begins in heaven.

If you want your prayers answered, you're going to have to hear from heaven. John 15 verse 16, Jesus said, you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he may give it you. Now, Jesus said, I've chosen you. You didn't choose me.

I chose you. I ordained you that you would bring forth fruit. And whatever you ask the Father in my name, I will do. That means I am the origin of the prayer.

In my name means I have signed the purchase order. Now, the disciples went out fishing one night, didn't catch anything. And Jesus said, well, cast your net on the other side of the boat. And the disciples said, look, we've toiled all night and have taken nothing. It begins with we. It ends with nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word we will.

And then listening to him, they cast out the net and caught a boatload. The whole point is this, that prayer begins with God. So many times we're trying to bend God's will to our will. Prayer is not bending God's will to our will. Prayer is finding the will of God and getting in on it. Don't be like the little boy who was heard praying, Tokyo, Tokyo, Tokyo, Tokyo.

Somebody said, what are you doing? He said, I've just had a geography test and I'm praying to make Tokyo the capital of England. You're not going to change God by prayer. God's will is what prayer lays hold of. Prayer is not bending God's will to our will. Now, that is the origin of all prayer. It roots in the purposes of God.

Now, here's the second thing I want you to notice. Not only the origin of prayer, but the operation of prayer. It relies on the power of God. Now, even if you knew the will of God, you still need the anointing to pray. Did you know that you need God in order to pray? God is the one who gives you the desire to pray. I remember Romans 3, verse 11, I told you, there's none that seeketh after God, no, not one.

Your old nature does not want to pray. Romans 8, verses 5 through 7, for they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit, the things of the spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal man, that means the fleshly man, is enmity against God. That means warfare against God. For it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. You will never train the old man to love prayer.

You might as well try to train your dog to love opera. Your old nature does not want to pray. It is God that gives you the desire to pray.

He has put His Spirit in your heart, crying, Abba, Father. If you have no desire to pray, it is because you're not walking in the Spirit. Now, God gives not only the desire to pray, God gives the direction to pray.

He teaches us what to pray for. Matthew 6, verse 8, be not ye therefore like unto them, for your Father knoweth what things you have need of before you ask him. God knows what you need to pray. God knows what you need. Is that a comfort to you?

It ought to be. Sometimes we might want things that we don't need. Sometimes we ask God, for things we don't need.

Mrs. Billy Graham said, if God had answered my prayer, I would have married the wrong man on four different occasions. God gives you the desire to pray, and God gives you the direction for praying, what to ask for. We say, Pastor Rogers, why doesn't God therefore direct me more? I'll tell you one thing, there is so much in this Bible that we do know about, that we ought to pray about, we don't pray about.

Why do we whine about the things we don't know about? There are so many things that are revealed to us clearly, clearly. Now, listen to what Jesus said. Jesus in his humanity, I want you to notice how Jesus did not originate his prayers, but he listened to the Father. Put this down. John 5, verse 19, then answered Jesus and said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son, speaking of himself, the S-O-N, can do nothing of himself.

Did you hear that? I mean God incarnate, God in human flesh. He said, I can't do anything of myself, but what he seeth the Father do, for what thinks ever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. Jesus said, I stay tuned to heaven, and whatever I see, whatever I hear, that's what I say, that's what I do. Friend, when you come to God and abide in God, God is going to speak to your heart.

We need more loving, lingering, listening prayer, because the prayer that gets to heaven is the prayer that starts in heaven. All things are of him and through him. I've had experiences in my life that are so phenomenal, so phenomenal, where God has spoken to me and I have obeyed, I've asked God for something that God laid on my heart, and it just happened in such a way that I cannot believe it's coincidence. I could name, not a lot, but enough experiences like that that make me wonder why I don't stay more in tune with the Lord.

I'm not holding myself up here as a paragon of excellence in this matter. And I believe that God many times just speaks to us clearly and plainly in plain English about his will, and we know it's of him, and sometimes it's not always that dramatic. But I'm telling you, it is God who originates the prayer. He is the origin of this prayer, and he is the operation of this prayer. Now, here's the third and final thing as we think about prayer, and that's the objective of effective prayer. It results in the praise of God. It roots in the purpose of God. It continues in the power of God, and it always results in the praise of God. Now, God does not hear selfish prayers.

God is in the business of getting glory to himself. There's one verse that most adequately defines prayer to me, and it's John 14, verse 13. And whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

That's it. When you ask in my name, Jesus said, I will do it that the Father may be glorified in the Son, for of him and through him and to him are all things. Now, praise and thanksgiving complete the triangle of prayer.

First of all, there is a petition, and then there is praise. You see, thanksgiving enjoys the gift, but praise enjoys the giver. Don't just merely thank God for what he has done for you, but praise him. Look at the verse again, verse 36, for of him and through him and to him are all things, to whom be glory forever. The purpose of prayer is to glorify God. When you learn that secret of wanting to glorify God, you see, prayer goes into God's presence to carry something away, and that's wonderful. But praise goes into God's presence to remain there forever. Now, that's the reason we're to pray in the name of Jesus.

Listen to this verse again in John 14, verse 13. And whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son? What does it mean to ask in his name? Does that mean to say whenever we pray for whatever we want, we just say in the name of Jesus and that somehow sanctifies it?

No. When you're asking in his name, it means, first of all, with his approval. Could he sign his name to it? Secondly, with his authority, is it something that he himself approves and therefore gives his authority to? And thirdly, is it for his acclaim or for his glory? Don't just rattle off in the name of Jesus if you're not really praying for his acclaim, with his approval, and in his authority. Now, when you pray, pray in the name of Jesus. And when you pray in the name of Jesus and ask him for whatever you ask him for, ask yourself this question. Am I praying this prayer because God the Holy Spirit put this thing in my heart, either through the written Word or through his Spirit? Am I now praying in the energy of the Spirit rather than the energy of the flesh and is the desire of my heart that God would be glorified? For of him, it all starts with God.

He knows what things we have need of before we ask him. And then it is through him, we pray in the Spirit and not in the energy of the flesh as he gives us the desire and the direction to pray. And then the prayer goes right back to him, and he is the one who receives the glory. And when we begin to pray this way, then God begins to work in a very supernatural way. Here's the best definition of prayer that I've ever learned. Prayer is the Holy Spirit finding a desire in the heart of the Father, putting that desire into our hearts, and then sending it back to heaven in the power of the cross. For of him and through him and to him are all things.

And this is very simple but very wonderful. He, Almighty God, is the purpose of prayer. He is the power of prayer. He is the origin.

He is the operation. He is the object of all true prayer. God is the origin, the operation, and the object of all true prayer.

It's a wonderful truth today. And at Love Worth Finding, one of our great honors is to come alongside you, not only with the truth that we present, but also with prayer. We want to pray with you and for you. So go to our homepage, lwf.org slash radio, and scroll down to find our prayer wall. You'll find the option to either submit a prayer request or pray for others, or you can do both. This resource is one of our favorite ways to keep the ministry and the community praying continually for one another.

We can't wait to hear from you. Again, go to lwf.org slash radio and scroll down to our prayer wall. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message, request one by the title, The Power of Effectual Prayer. Call us at 1-877-LOVEGOD to order.

You can also go online to lwf.org slash radio to order, or write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Well, thanks for tuning in for this insightful message. As you spend time with God today, maybe right now, remember, praise and thanksgiving complete the triangle of prayer.

Prayer goes into God's presence to carry something away, but praise goes into God's presence to remain there forever. Be sure to join us next time for more real truth that never changes, right here on Love Worth Finding. It is so encouraging to hear from you about how God's word is changing you. I want you to listen to what a listener wrote to us recently.

Love Worth Finding is part of my daily routine. I receive and read the daily devotionals. I listen to the radio programs every day and often use other resources on the website. Pastor Rogers left a solid legacy behind for each of us to follow.

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