Joseph Prince - What's The Point of Prayer?
This is an excerpt from: Pray For Good Success Today
We learned that prayer is mentioned with qarah. Prayer is mentioned. And it's not a long prayer. If you count the length of the prayer, sometimes the most powerful prayer is a short prayer. Yes, we have instances of Jesus praying through the night, amen. We have instances of certain protracted prayer in the disciples lives. We have corporate prayer, they operate together. But most of the prayers you see are short prayers. You consider the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples, "Our Father who art in heaven". You count with a stopwatch, it's fast. But this idea, religious idea, you gotta spend hours in prayer is not from God. And one time, we made a law out of one-hour prayer. I still remember that. I tell you, I put a clock there. I started praying. And I thought, "Oh, one hour already".
I look at my clock, ten minutes. But when you don't do that, when we're talking to our good friend, you know, in a cafe, we sit down there, and then we always say what? "Whoa, the hour just fly". How do you think God feels, right? You know, prayer is conversation with God, amen. So you don't just dream, "By grace, I'll have success, lah. You know, by grace, I'll have success". Did you pray? I said, "Did you pray"? All right, I'm gonna talk to my son afterwards. You know, he did something just now. Did you pray that God would give you wisdom, favor with him, that your words will go deep? Did you pray? It's a small things to pray. God is telling us this is conscious weakness, that "I cannot convince him, but only You can". This is conscious weakness and dependence on God, dependence through Christ, that you will get through to him, amen. Oh yeah, I gotta make an important decision, you know?
In fact, I confronted with a number of important decisions to make, you know, for someone else even. I gotta ask God, "God, give me wisdom". But if I think that I'm smart, "Oh yeah, you know, let's look at the pros and the cons, and the pros and the cons". No, all the pros and cons cannot put you at the right time at the right place. We shared that before, even stopping accidents. Smart people die, professors die, doctors die, amen, in an accident that's not even their fault. Other people's fault. Wrong time, wrong place. It's not their fault. I'm just telling you, church, we need to depend on the Lord. So the amazing thing is that before he had finished speaking, Rebekah appeared. So even when you are praying, God has answered.
So God is outside the time zone. He sends the answer that you're gonna pray later on, on this earth. He sends the answer before you pray because He knows you will pray. What do you think? Rebekah was cooking, "Yeah, put in some turmeric, put in some chili powder. Wow, it's a very spicy food". All right, as she's cooking and all that, "Ah", no watch. "I have to go in ten minutes time". Look at the sun dial. "Ten minutes time, I have to go and take water and all that". Poof, she disappeared. Then poof, she appeared in front of the well and that elderly man is down there praying. Do you think it happened like that? No, God already sent the answer, put the desire in her heart, all right, and put the desires in all the other young women's heart, all right, "No, I have to do other things. I'm very busy. I cannot go to the well today. My brother can go to the well".
You know, something like that happened, so God was answering prayer before it was prayed. So the prayer that He put in your heart to pray, you think you are praying, but actually He put it in your heart to pray the prayer that He wants you to pray, and the answer is on the way. There's a beautiful promise here in Isaiah 65, "It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking". And that's what happened to Abraham's servant. "While they are still speaking, I will answer". You know what Jesus said when He taught on prayer? "Whatever things you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them". Wait, wait, wait, when do you believe you receive them? When you see it happen? When you touch it, you can feel it in your body, you can see it outside? When the manifestation comes? When? "When you stand praying," Mark 11, verse 24. "When you stand praying, believe", sorry, one more time. "What things so ever you desire when you pray, believe you receive them and you shall have them".
So when do you believe you receive? While you're praying. It's this, "While they are still speaking, I will answer". I believe that when I pray, God answers. You gotta have that posture, you know, you are redeemed by the blood of Jesus. Again, all these religious thoughts and all that, you know, you gotta find out your sin before you can talk to God, before God can hear you and all that, you know, and your unconfessed sin and all that. That's why I'm telling you this kind of consciousness can rob you of a prayer life. You gotta know that you're forgiven of all your sins, amen, and thank God for that. True confession is homologia, to say the same thing with God about our sins.
What did God say about our sins in the new covenant? They are all forgiven by Jesus' blood. Confess that. The more you believe that, you won't fall into sin, I'm telling you, because you won't be sin-conscious. Before you fall into sin, you are sin-conscious, okay? Pray, God hears your prayer. You're a child of God, pray. Every situation, pray. Be like every day, it's not so much hours of prayer, it is like the whole day, all right, any situation comes up, you are praying. You find you are lacking or something, pray. "That pain I felt in my body, Pastor Prince, can you pray for me"? Did you pray? "I fell late this morning, got no time to pray". You got no time to pray? You got time to eat or not? You got time to go toilet or not? When you feel the urge, you do it, right? Right? Prayer is so simple. God is so close. Another thing that, you know, you gotta demolish all these religious thoughts, "You must get close to God. You must get close to God". You are so close already. You are in Christ. You know where are you or not? Seated in Christ at the Father's right hand.
So sometimes in times past when I pray, "Father," like God is so far away, "Father! Father in heaven"! and I'm trying to psych myself into a place where I think that I'm close to God, it never works. The more I try to be close to God, the more further I am, because why? It's a negation of the truth, and the Spirit of truth cannot bear witness with a lie when he has, let me put it this way. When I'm already in Christ, I'm so close to God. The Holy Spirit bears witness with that truth. If I act like I'm so far away, amen, there's nothing for the Holy Spirit to bear witness. It's a lie. So when you act like God doesn't hear your prayer, God is so far away, or I didn't go to church for a few days or whatever, amen, then repent of that and just come back. And thank God that he's forgiven you of that sin of not attending physically.
Okay, I'm just joking, all right? Ha ha ha, you know I gotta slide it in all the time, okay? I just don't want you to miss the corporate anointing. Amen, people? Pray, amen, and know that while you are praying, not after, while you are praying, God is hearing. God is already sending the answer already. And sometimes just like Abraham's servant, poof, it appears right before you. So another thing I want you to see is this. While he was praying, what did he pray? "Give me qarah," in the Hebrew. In your English Bible, it says "success," right? So listen, pray for success. The amazing thing is that, you know 3 John 1:2, right? It says... what 3 John 1:2 says what? "Beloved, I wish above all things that you prosper and be in health".
Now, that's the King James version. You know what's the word there, "I wish"? It's actually, "I pray". It's used in other places for prayer. Do you know you can pray, I pray for my children, I pray for my spouse, I pray for my church, and I pray this for you also. I pray that you prosper and be in health, even as your souls prosper. You see, the Bible says, "You have not because you ask not". And this mentality, "You know, God knows my needs. You know, God knows my needs". Exactly, but if you live like that in a marriage, you are heading towards a divorce. There's no way your wife will tolerate. Somewhere along the way it's gonna be breakdown, breakdown, breakdown until the end. If you don't talk to your wife about your concerns, your needs, and all, there's no communication. "She knows, lah. She knows me, lah. She knows me, lah. She knows me, lah. She knows me, lah. Then one day she left. I don't know her". And it's too late.
Communication is the lifeblood of the relationship. You know, if you have a concern, tell your wife, amen? When she has a concern, she'll tell you. And listen, guys, she want your shoulder or your hearing ear. Remember this when she talks. Not so much your mouth talking back to her, giving solutions. Sometimes women are like that. They talk, talk, then they feel better, all right? Don't give solution. We guys are different. You see, the thing you must do is this. We come with solution too fast and she haven't finished talking. Ladies, am I right? I'm a guy, guys. I know from experience. I have a solution. Look, look, look, look, Wendy. Thank God for you, Wendy. You got Pastor Prince to counsel you. Okay, so what you do, right, there are three things you must do, okay?
Come on, baby. Baby, listen, there are three things you must do. She haven't finished talking yet. All she want is to pour out and I'm giving her my mouth instead of my shoulder or, what is it, my hearing ear, right? Listen, "Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm". Then she'll say, "Okay, I think I got the answer already". I didn't say anything, but she got the answer. Sometimes these things happen, right, that they got the answer as they are talking through. Your teenage son, your daughter, and all that, it's the same. They know they talk to you, they get lecture. They call it lecture, all right? Surprise them. From today, surprise them. When they talk, listen. And the urge will rise up. "Ooh, ooh, he's doing something that I've done before and I know the answer". Shut up, and you will make things beautiful in his time, amen?