Hockey Rules Won't Work in Soccer: Nine Kinds of Prayer

Sermon outline

God has bound Himself to work on earth through people who pray, and since the Bible names many kinds of prayer, each with its own rules, believers must learn to pray the right prayer for each situation, precisely and without confusion.

1. God needs a man: dominion was given to mankind

   God gave Adam and Eve dominion over the earth, they handed the lease to Satan, and God searched for someone to stand in the gap. Jesus came as the Son of Man, was anointed at the Jordan to do the supernatural in His humanity, died, rose and sent the Holy Spirit, restoring the church to the place Adam lost. God is not running everything on earth: He still works legally through people until Jesus returns, so He shows up in your family, work, business and church when you give Him permission.

   Illustration: When people say God is in control of everything, he replies that if that were so, the wars, famines and diseases on the news would mean He has things badly messed up; that confusion drives some to atheism.

   “In the kingdom of God, you've got to go down to go up.”

   • Genesis 1:26
   • Ezekiel 22:30
   • Matthew 3:16-17
   • Luke 4:18
   • John 20:17
   • John 14:12
   • Acts 2:1-4
   • John 19:30
   • Matthew 5:13-14

2. Praying always with all kinds of prayer

   Ephesians 6:18 says "all prayer", which other translations render as all kinds of prayer; Goodspeed says to use every kind of prayer and entreaty and to pray in the Spirit at every opportunity. Prayer is not a shot in the dark ended with "in Jesus' name, amen". If it is not in the Spirit it is not prayer at all, and if you use the wrong prayer in the wrong place you get the wrong result or none.

   Illustration: Every sport has its own rules: a referee cannot use hockey rules in a soccer match.

   “If you use the wrong prayers in the wrong places, you'll get the wrong results or no results.”

   • Ephesians 6:10-18
   • John 4:24

3. 1. The prayer of faith

   This is the prayer of petition, to change things, when you need something urgently, such as for someone seriously ill in hospital. It is based on God's Word: you cannot pray it while wondering whether the sickness is God's will, because you must know that sickness and disease are of the devil.

   “It's urgent, it's heartfelt, it carries passion.”

   • Matthew 21:22
   • Mark 11:24

4. 2. The prayer of consecration and dedication

   This is the yielding prayer for when God wants to use you somewhere specific and you are reluctant: "Lord, if it's Your will, I'll go."

   “It's a yielding to God.”

   • Luke 22:42

5. 3. The prayer of commitment

   When pressure mounts and you are about to become anxious and do not know which way to go, cast your cares on the Lord. The verse does not say to cast them on your friends, your family or your pastor; it takes discipline, and it puts the responsibility on you to believe God.

   Illustration: It takes an act of will to pick up the phone and tell a friend your husband has been worrying you since 1949; why not close the bedroom door and tell your Father instead, and arrive at church carefree?

   “Lord, I refuse to worry about this.”

   • 1 Peter 5:7

6. 4. The prayer of worship

   After the ascension the disciples worshipped and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God, and at Antioch the leaders ministered to the Lord and fasted. Jumping, clapping, singing and dancing in church is not performance but prayer: as you worship, burdens lift and God gives you ideas for your tight spot.

   Illustration: Someone laughs during worship and the person next to them does not know why: God has just given them an idea.

   “Worship is a prayer.”

   • Luke 24:52-53
   • Acts 13:1-4

7. 5. The prayer of agreement, binding and loosing

   Whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven, and there is no poverty or sickness in heaven, so do not accept them where you live; loose the favour and blessing of the Lord instead. Jesus knew the law of words, as His Father created by speaking, and He spoke to the fig tree, the storm, a fish carrying a coin and the catch of fish. He has given the church the same authority, so speak to your house, car, finances and business. When two agree on anything they ask, it will be done, and agreement multiplies power: one chases a thousand, two put ten thousand to flight.

   Illustration: If someone knocked on your door with a black bag of rubbish and said, "I've got a delivery for you," you would refuse it. One rainy Wednesday night after service he got out of the car at his house and told it, in the name of Jesus, "You will sell now."

   “The angels of God is waiting for you to speak.”

   • Matthew 18:18-20
   • Proverbs 10:22
   • John 6:63
   • Mark 11:14
   • Mark 11:20-21
   • Genesis 1:3
   • Matthew 17:27
   • Luke 5:4-6
   • Proverbs 18:21
   • Deuteronomy 32:30

8. 6. The prayer in the Spirit

   When you pray in tongues your spirit prays, and your spirit knows the perfect will of God. Pray and sing both with the understanding and in the Spirit; many lose him in worship because they have not learned to change gears and sing in the Spirit, where God gives ideas and answers.

   “When you're praying in tongues, you're praying the perfect will of God.”

   • 1 Corinthians 14:14-15

9. 7. United prayer

   This is the church gathering to pray together, as in the prayer before the service and the last-Friday prayer meeting. When the early church prayed with one accord the place was shaken, they were filled with the Holy Ghost, spoke the Word with boldness and great grace was on them all. When the church is of one heart and mind, God commands the blessing.

   “So when you get together for united prayer your grace increases.”

   • Acts 4:23-31
   • Psalm 133:3

10. 8. The prayer of supplication

    Supplication is a humble, earnest entreaty or request made to the Lord.

    • Philippians 4:6
    • Ephesians 6:18
    • 1 Timothy 2:1-2

11. 9. Intercessory prayer

    As Abraham and Moses did, intercession is standing in the gap between people who have provoked judgment by their wrongdoing and the execution of that judgment, such as for unsaved family or a believer who has gone cold. When the church gathers to pray for its leaders, members and vision, that is properly united prayer. Intercession is not for a special group: every believer is an intercessor.

    “It is not a special group that pray to the Lord. All of you are intercessors.”

    • Genesis 18:23-33
    • Numbers 14:11-20

12. Putting the prayers together

    A couple whose business is struggling by the middle of the month join hands in the prayer of agreement, name the business and ask for a specific target, such as a fifty thousand rand contract. They bind Satan from harassing the agreement, then change gears into the prayer of faith, thanking God that it is done and speaking in the past tense. When a doubting thought comes at ten o'clock, they silence the devil by the blood of the Lamb, then pray in the Spirit and celebrate. Specific, accurate prayer sends no mixed signals to heaven.

    Illustration: A pilot is not nervous flying his aircraft because he knows his craft; a Christian must know his craft too. Christianity, he says, is a science of laws and principles.

    “You prayed accurately, you prayed precisely, you prayed specifically, you didn't pray in confusion.”

    • John 16:23
    • Romans 4:17
    • 2 Corinthians 5:7
    • Revelation 12:11