40 DAYS OF PRAYER
Part 3 – Getting Results In Your Prayers
(Psalm 37:4-5)
April 7, 2019
Dr. Mark S. Hartman, Lead Pastor
INTRODUCTION
The key to spiritual renewal is getting past the obstacles of sin, doubt and broken relationships.
Psalm 37:4-5 Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.
1. PRAYING FOR RESULTS STARTS BY PRAYING WITH PASSION. (PSALM 37:4)
A. Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.
B. The word, “desire” means something you crave and seek with passion.
C. Mark 11:24 Therefore, I say unto you, What things you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them.
Matthew 7:7-8 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
2. PRAYING FOR RESULTS REQUIRES THAT I FOCUS ON “WHAT” NOT “HOW”. (PSALM 37:4-5)
A. Psalm 37:4-5 Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.
B. There are primary and secondary prayers:
1. Primary prayer – we tell God the deep desire of our soul.
2. Secondary prayer – we try to tell God how to fulfill the desire. Most of our unanswered prayers are the secondary prayers.
2 Corinthians 12:7-8 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
C. If you want to be successful in praying, learn to focus on “what” is your deepest heart’s desire and leave the “how” up to God.
D. Why doesn’t He do things how we want Him to do them?
1. God has a better perspective than we do.
2. God has a better plan than we do.
Isaiah 55:8 This plan of mine is not the way You would work it out.
3. God has a greater purpose.
Isaiah 40:10 God says, ‘My purpose will stand and I will do all that I please.’
3. PRAYING FOR RESULTS THEN HAPPENS WHEN I OPEN MY HEART TO WHAT God wants. (PSALM 37:4)
A. Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart.
B. To delight yourself in the Lord means that you want to please Him. His will has become your will.
C. When you want what God wants, then you can have whatever you want.
D. 1 Corinthians 2:9 However, as it is written: No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.
4. PRAYING FOR RESULTS REQUIRES THAT WE COMMIT OUR NEED TO GOD’S CARE. (PSALM 37:5)
A. Psalm 37:5 Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.
B. How do you know you are truly trusting God with the need?
1. Your fear has gone.
2. Your complaining has ceased.
3. Your impatience has calmed.
5. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO TRUST GOD TO ACT IN OUR LIFE AND REJECT HIM AT THE SAME TIME.
Action Steps I Will Take This Week …
- While in prayer, I will be more in tune with what are the true passions of my heart instead of just passing whims.
- I will spend more time focusing on the “what” of my prayers and leave the “how” up to God.
- I will seek to align my wants with God’s, instead of trying to convince God to do what I want.