Acts 10:1-4 – Unleashing God – Bible study

Acts 10:1-4 Unleashing God It is obvious from this passage that Cornelius was a praying man. He prayed and God sent an angel to visit him. It is obvious that Peter was a praying man. \#Acts 9:40\ He prayed and God raised Dorcas from the dead. It is obvious that the church at Jerusalem was a praying church. Although they lacked faith in their prayers. they prayed and God sent an angel who released Peter from prison \#Acts 12:12\. It is obvious that Paul and Silas were men of prayer. \#Acts 16:25\, they prayed and God sent an earthquake to open the doors of a prison. All of these Bible passages and many others teach us that prayer unleashes the power of God into this world. This is the promise of God. Joh 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Php 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Mr 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. Question: Why, then, do Christians not pray more? I think it gets down to two reasons. 1. Either we do not believe we need God unleashed on this world. 2. Or we do not believe prayer will do any good. Lets consider them both. 1. Does the world not need Gods power unleashed? a. Would we not like to see diseases eradicated? I saw an articles that stated brain cancer has become the leading cancer death for children ages 1-19. Brain cancer and leukemia together account for more than 1/2 of cancer deaths in children but in recent years, brain cancer has moved to the number one cancer for childrens death. http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/17/health/brain-cancer-leukemia-children- report/ Do we not want to unleash God on that? b. Would we not like to see violence reduced? During the night last night, an explosion occurred in New York City, injuring dozens. The article that I read stated, "a second device with wiring was found blocks away." http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/17/us/new-york-explosion/ insinuating that it was terrorism of some kind. Do we not want to unleash God on that? c. Many have complained about the direction of our nation. A good man, Judge Roy Moore, will face a hearing for standing against a sin that twenty years ago he would have been tried for NOT standing against. Do we not want to unleash God on that? d. I think we would all agree that we need God unleashed on this world. 2. So then, it must be that we do not believe prayer will do any good. a. Not all prayers accomplish what we want. We have all prayed and not gotten the answer we wanted. In fact, using that standardgetting what we wantI think it is safe to say that most of us have more unanswered than answered prayers. b. But does our not getting what we want mean prayer does not work? Is prayer about getting what we want? The answer to both of those questions is not. (1) Not getting what we want is not an indication that prayer does not work. (2) In fact, prayer is not about us getting what we want. For a few moments this morning, lets talk about prayer. I. There are some qualifications for getting your prayers answered. A. I am no expert on prayer. I do not lift myself up as one, but I have studied the Bible and do know there are some qualifications. B. Qualifications 1. You must be saved to get your prayers answered. a. I am not saying God will never answer the prayers of an saved person for He might. b. I remember meeting a man once who fought in the war. He was the proverbial fellow in a fox hole who prayed and asked to get him out. His comrades were being killed all around him and he was under heavy fire. He asked God to get him out alive. He said some might not think God answered his prayer but then he looked at me and said, "but Im still here." c. While speaking with the man, I did not get the impression that he was a Christian, but still God heard his prayer and saved him. d. So I do not say that God will not answer the prayer of an unsaved person; however, I will say that God has no commitment to answer the prayers of an unsaved person so an unsaved person can have no confidence that God will answer his prayer. e. God has only committed Himself to answering the prayers of a saved person. It is the saved persons right as a child of God to be able to talk with God and have God work on his behalf. 2. You must be right with God to get your prayers answered. Joh 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Psalms 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: a. To abide in Jesus is to stay close to Him, to stay connected to Him. That describes the Christians who stays right with God. b. To the backslider, the carnal, and the cold Christian, I remind you that you are living in a state of sin, selfishness, and willfulness. You are choosing those things over Jesus presence, protection, peace, and power. c. You have no reason to expect God to answer you Eze 14:3 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? 3. You must have faith to get your prayers answered. Mark 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. a. I have spoken on faith several times in the last few weeks so I will say only this. b. You cannot receive from God what you do not believe God is willing to give. c. There are some exceptions for the church of Jerusalem prayed for Peters release and then refused to accept he was standing at the door; but generally speaking, if you do not believe God will give it, God will not. d. I fear some will not be saved simply because they refused to believe that God would save them. 4. You must pray in Jesus name to get your prayers answered. Joh 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. a. I bring this up mainly to correct a false understanding. b. When Jesus made this statement, He was not saying that any prayer we pray and tack the phrase "in Jesus name" on to it will be answered. Most of us close our prayers like this but that is not what Jesus meant. c. To pray in Jesus name is to pray something that Jesus would want. It is to pray in Jesus will. d. Jesus used the phrase "in my name" often, 17 times in the four gospels. e. He spoke of giving someone a cup of water in His name, receiving a child in His name, and praying in His name. f. In all of these cases, Jesus was speaking of doing something because it was Jesus would want to be done. g. So when we pray, we must be praying for things that Jesus would want to be done, for things that Jesus would approve of and be doing if He were still here. 5. You must pray in Gods will to get your prayers answered. Mt 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. a. Prayer is not a tool for us to get what we want. b. Prayer is a tool for us to get what the Father wants to give us. c. We must be praying in accordance to Gods will. d. I will have more to say about this in a moment. 6. You must be praying for Gods glory to get your prayers answered. 1Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. a. Everything we do must be for Gods glorynot ours. b. To be quite frank, most of our prayers are not answered because they are selfish prayers, prayers for our own personal gain, prayers that would promote usmost often at Gods expense, prayers that would only prolong our journey into sin and rebellion against God. II. Discerning Gods will in praying A. The hardest thing about praying, outside of praying, is knowing Gods will about praying. 1. As I have already stated, this is essential. 2. Prayer does not change Gods mind about a thing. It never has and it never will. 3. Prayer aligns the yielded believer to God. a. Prayer put us in the place of desiring what God desires to do. b. So prayers that are outside of Gods will not be answered. c. How can I know what Gods will is? B. Learn the Bible. 1. The Bible is the Word of God. It is the mind of God given on paper. 2. Did you know that two are called the Word of God? a. The Bible is called the Word of God and Jesus is called the Word of God. John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. b. Why are the written words of God and the Son of God both called the Word of God? c. Because they both reveal God to the physical world. 3. How do I read the Word of God? a. Some need to change their attitude while reading it. (1) Some only read the Bible to critique it. (2) No human being knows enough to critique the Bible and those who read the Bible for that reason will never learn anything from it. (3) Read the Bible with a learners heart and if that is too hard for you, at least read it with a curious heart. (4) Even if you are a Bible doubter, read it to learn whatever it can teach you and it wont be long before your opinion of the Bible will begin to change. b. If your attitude is not a problem, then (1) Read the Bible. (2) Read the Bible to learn and to understand. (a) I like to challenge people to read through the Bible and have done so for many years; however, there is no reward for reading through the Bible in a year. (b) The reward of reading the Bible is to learn while you are reading it. (3) Read the Bible believing what it says. (4) Read the Bible obeying what it says. Jas 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. C. Divorce your desires. 1. To pray for Gods will means you must purge yourself of your own. 2. Our desires cloud our perception of Gods, and our emotions can totally deceive us into thinking our desires are Gods desires. a. Emotions like love, hate, anger, jealousy, bitterness, can cause us to think God is leading us when in actuality, God is totally against what we are doing. b. How do we deal with them? The best thing I have found is to refuse our desires until God demonstrates and confirms His will in the matter. c. It is not always easy but we must be certain that God is leading. D. Complete the prayer cycle. 1. If asked to define prayer, most will say that prayer is talking to God. a. That is correct as far as it goes. b. I think it is more accurate to say that prayer is communicating with God and communication goes both directions. c. Prayer is talking to God but it is also listening to what God has to say. 2. When you pray, talk to God. a. Feel free to tell God whatever you want. You can express to Him your needs, desires, dislikes, wants, fears, frustrations, aggravations, and everything else. b. Stay respectful, Stay humble, but talk to God like you would talk to your best friend sitting in front of you. c. Before you quit talking to him: (1) Be sure to thank Him for the good things He has done. (2) Be sure to praise Him for the good God that He is. 3. Then let God speak to you. a. This is part of "waiting on the Lord." Isa 8:17 And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. Ps 27:14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. b. So after you have spoken to God for a while, just sit quietly and let God speak to you. c. That is why prayer takes time and quietness. c. The prayer close is not just for secret prayer. It is also for silent reflection and meditation. III. Prayer Power Boasters A. Pray fervently (intensely) \#James 5:16\ B. Pray Determined (until answered) \#Matt 7:7\ C. Pray with fasting \#Is 58:1-6\