Sad to say, this obituary could be read over many churches, as well as, many Christians today. This is an awful, and a tragic death, because it shows the relation of spiritual prayer to spiritual power. You see, the dearth of prayer means the dearth of power; and, the death of prayer means the death of power. Simply put, where there is NO PRAYER, THERE IS NO POWER!

The fact of the matter is, that God has done everything possible to excite, incite, and invite us to pray. However, the reality is that, we do everything but pray.

No doubt if you and I were to receive an invitation to the White House, we would move heaven and earth to get there. Yet, we have received a divine invitation from the Creator of the universe to talk with him, and spend time with Him in prayer.

God reveals to us, in the first part of this verse, that the personal requirement in prayer is simply to pray. It almost seems as if he is talking to each one of us individually here, inviting us to become personally involved in the requirement of prayer. James Merritt expressed it well, by saying, "You can do no more than pray after you pray; but, you can do no more than pray until you have prayed!" Thus, he goes on to demonstrate the truth of this, by showing us that this is a personal requirement because:

IDEA: as of one who would use a telephone to call a friend

. Thus, showing us that this is not a suggestion, or advice, but it is a command.

. We are commanded, and it is demanded that we pray.

. Therefore, it would stand to reason that if God commands us, and demands us to pray, and we don't pray, then we are violating God's law.

. You see, friend, to put in language we all understand, "To not pray, is SIN!!!"

. I like what one writer said, "Prayerlessness is not weakness, it's wickedness!" I believe that Andrew Murray explained it best when he said, "The greatest sin in the life of a Christian is PRAYERLESSNESS!!"

. The songwriter wrote,

It's amazing to me that when people get sick, you don't have to command them to go to the hospital: they go! When they're hungry, they don't need a command: they eat! When they want to be entertained, you need not command them: they find it!

. However, it is amazing that God has to command us to pray.

. When I read that I thought, "You have got to be kidding me. God has made it available to us, and has rolled out the red carpet, and invited us to talk to Him, and we simply say, 'Thank you, but no Thank You!'" What a Travesty! What a Pity!

. Lest you're still not convinced that prayerlessness is a sin, remember what Samuel said to the nation of Israel, "Moreover God forbid, that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you.."(c.f. I Samuel 12:23)

. Think about this for a moment, we all know that Sin Angers God. However, I believe, there is one Sin That Amazes God, and that's the sin of prayerlessness. It has been commanded, and it is Demanded!

. Not only do we see that prayer is demanded, but it is directed.

. Just who are we talking to you when we pray? God answers that rather plainly, by telling us that when we pray, we're speaking directly to Him.

. We need not go through the virgin Mary, or the pope. We need not even go through the church, or the pastor. Praise God, when you and I pray, we ascend into the very Oval Office of heaven.

. There needs to be no appointments made months in advance. There is no waiting in an office. Immediately, we are escorted into the very presence of God.

I once read about the spacecraft Voyager 2, when it had just passed the planet Neptune. After a dozen years of travel, of over 4.4. billion miles, she reached her final goal and began to send back the first pictures of that planet. However, the amazing thing was that it took 4 hours and 6 minutes for signals to travel between earth and Neptune at the speed of light.

. Yet, at the very moment you and I enter prayer, we're ushered into the very presence of God Almighty.

Isaac Newton, the world famous scientist once said, "I can take my telescope and look millions of miles into space; but, I can go away in my room, and in prayer, get nearer to God than I can when assisted by all the telescopes on earth!"

. Usually, the last person we consult, when we have a problem is the Lord. However, as one writer, he ought not be our Last Resort, but our First Resource!

In five, very short words, God tells us what will happen if we fulfill the personal requirement. There will be a promised response. Thus, we see the:

. We see here a Concrete, Confirmed, and Certain promise.

. Not much question, and doubt is left as to if God will answer. He says, "If you do your part and pray, then I'll do my part and perform!"

. You see, friend, now get a hold of this truth, "God not only heeds prayer, he hears prayer!" Why, look around you this morning. Everyone of us are testimonies to the fact that God hears, and answers prayer!

. I believe the great Methodist preacher, John Wesley, said it best, "God does nothing but in answer to prayer!"

. You want an answer, God says pray! What a promise! What a Purpose for Prayer! That's the Certainty of this Response!

. We not only see the certainty, but the complexity in this response.

. This is where many of us become discouraged, disillusioned, and defeated in prayer. We tend to believe that in the certainty of this response, that God has always promised to answer with an emphatic "Yes!"

. However, the truth of the matter is that there is a Promised Answer, not a Particular Answer!

. Think for a minute what would happen if God gave a "yes" answer to every prayer. We would find ourselves in big trouble.

A man stood up to give his testimony, in a Bible conference, and said, "I prayed for fifteen years, as a young man, for God to give me a big church, and a pretty wife." He then said, "He almost answered my prayer. He gave me a pretty church, and a big wife!"

. Our problem is that we're concerned with TIME, but God is concerned with TIMING!

. The answer always comes, but it is in His Time, and in His Way!

. Another misconception among Christians, today, is that if we are not right with God, then God will answer "no!" However, the Bible does not teach that.

The fact of the matter is, that if we're not right with God, its not that He will answer "no," it's

that He just won't listen. David said, profoundly, in Psalm 66:18,

"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me."

We come to the conclusion of this wonderful invitation. As a result of Obeying the Personal Requirement in Prayer, and Enjoying the Promised Response of Prayer, there is also a Seeing the Powerful Revelation from Prayer. You see, God not only heeds, and hears but He honors prayer! Thus, we see that the primary purpose of prayer is not for the things God can give us, but the truths God can teach us. He demonstrates that by saying that there are:

PICTURE: of exposing, revealing, and unveiling something

1. Too often, our prayer life is a monologue. It is one-sided conversation, where we do all the talking.

2. However, prayer is not meant for us to tell God what we want from Him, but where God can tell us what He wants from us!

3. While God does show, and reveal things to us by His Word, He also shows us things in prayer. Outside of prayer, there are certain things that God does not show us.

Neurobiologist Sir John Eccles, was recently quoted in the U.S. News and World Report, as saying, "I have spent all of my life working on the brain and know what a wonderful structure it is. But, examining the brain in all possible scientific ways, doesn't mean that I can know why, when I open my eyes, I see a world of light and color."

4. You see, friend, there are some things that only God can show. One of the ways He shows them is through prayer!

IDEA: As of a city surrounded by a wall, fence, or a fortress"

1. There are not only some things that only God can show, but some things that only He can know.

2. Literally, God is saying, "If you will call, I will answer, and I will show you things that are inaccessible, and isolated from you, and everyone else, but me!"

E.M. Bounds, the prayer warrior from Shelby County, Missouri, who is, in my opinion, one of the greatest writers on the subject of prayer, said: "The greatest person a person can know is Christ. The greatest knowledge a person can have is the will of God. The greatest book a person can glean from is the Bible. However, these will never be known apart from prayer."

3. One of the ways that the deep, dark hidden truths and mysteries of God are known is through prayer.

4. Once we engage, and accept this invitation, God will begin to let us in on things only He can know. That's the Powerful Revelation from Prayer!

A little boy was out in the yard trying to move an old, heavy stove. He was grunting, and groaning. He was struggling, and straining, but it was not going anywhere. His dad watching, and with some amusement.