Effectual Prayer
Rev. R.W. Townsend, Senior Pastor
Mt. Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church
Fall 2010 – Summer 2011
Bible Study Series
Allow me to begin today’s lesson with a question –
What is your desire as it relates to your relationship with
Jesus Christ?
[GOD: THE PERFECT PRESCRIPTION FOR A HEALTHY CHURCH] Fall 2010 – Summer 2011
INTRODUCTION
Your answer was probably
something similar to the
following –
~Notes~
You desire to please Him.
You want a living, breathing
relationship with the God of
Creation, one not based on “haveto’s,” legalism or a set of rules, but
of continual communion through
His Spirit within you.
You see beloved Christianity is not
a legal relationship, it is a love
relationship.
Ten thousand “don'ts” will never
make you one iota more like the
Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself makes you become like Him. But for
this to happen, you must spend time with Him.
In this study we’ll look at five factors that will help you maximize your
quiet time with Him each day. But before we get to the “nuts and
bolts,” ask yourself:
WHAT IS THE GOAL, ANYWAY?
Is your goal in having a quiet time just so you can put an “X” in a box
and say, “Okay, God, I did what you wanted me to today,” or “I feel
better about myself—I had my quiet time”? Or is it to connect with a
living, vibrant, transcendent Being who loves you and wants to speak
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[GOD: THE PERFECT PRESCRIPTION FOR A HEALTHY CHURCH] Fall 2010 – Summer 2011
~Notes~
into your life, communing
with you throughout your
day?
Does God have in mind a
higher goal for your time
together?
Turn in your Bible to
Ephesians 4:13-14. Complete
these important thoughts:
THE GOAL:
v. 13 till we all come to the
unity of the faith and of the
________________ of the
_____ of _____, to a perfect
man, to the _____________
of the ____________ of the ______________ of Christ; v. 14 that we
should no longer be ______________, tossed to and fro and carried
about with every _________ of _____________, by the trickery of men,
in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, v. 15 but, speaking the
truth in love, may _______ ____ in all things into Him who is the head—
Christ.
Notice the use of the words “measure,” “stature,” and “fullness.”
HERE GOD EXPRESSES SEVERAL GOALS HE HAS FOR US.
1. He wants us to come to the unity of the __________.
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[GOD: THE PERFECT PRESCRIPTION FOR A HEALTHY CHURCH] Fall 2010 – Summer 2011
2. He wants us to increase in
___________________ of the Son
of God.
~Notes~
3. He wants to see us grow to the
measure of the stature of the
fullness of ____________.
4. He wants us to be no longer
children, _____________ to and fro
by every change in the wind.
Have you often felt “tossed to and
fro”? ________
Have you observed how easy it is to
confuse a child? How quickly they
can be misled into believing
something that isn’t true! Think
about how easy it is sometimes to
“trick” a child into believing one
thing to get them off track, then later pull out a special surprise for
them. A child can be easily distracted and quickly misdirected. But in
the spiritual realm, God doesn’t want His followers tossed to and fro in
life like a child.
5. This passage reaches a high point in v. 15, the culmination of what
God wants for His children… “that we may grow up (emphasis mine) in
_____ things, into Him who is the head, ___________.”
Our goal should be to grow up —to become more and more like our
Elder Brother, the Lord Jesus Christ— and to come to love Him more.
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[GOD: THE PERFECT PRESCRIPTION FOR A HEALTHY CHURCH] Fall 2010 – Summer 2011
~Notes~
If you are a parent, you’ve
probably had a place in your
home or a child’s room where
you stood him or her against a
marker and noted their growth.
It’s a joy to watch them grow in
measure and stature toward
the “fullness” of their adult
height. Imagine the joy of God
the Father, using the measure
of His Son, watching us
growing toward the fullness of
Christ!
One thing is certain: without
knowing the Word of the Lord
and the Lord of the Word, your
life is not going to make sense
to you. You will be “tossed to
and fro by every wind of
doctrine.”
THE DOMINO EFFECT IN YOUR LIFE
You cannot love someone you do not know. And you cannot know
someone you don't spend quality time with. You cannot know Jesus
without loving Him, for to know Him is to love Him. You cannot trust
someone you do not love. To love Him is to trust Him. To trust Him is
to obey Him. And to obey Him is to be blessed.
The reason we don't obey is because we don't trust. We don’t trust
because we don’t love. We don’t love because we don’t know. It all
begins with a quality quiet time, daily communication with the Lord.
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[GOD: THE PERFECT PRESCRIPTION FOR A HEALTHY CHURCH] Fall 2010 – Summer 2011
Grow up and fall in love. This is the
goal of your quiet time.
~Notes~
Psalm 119
Turn now to Psalm 119:97-105. You
could “drop a line” into almost any
verse in this psalm and pull up a Word
from the Lord to help you in your
quiet time.
v.
98
Thou
through
Thy
commandments hast made me
___________ than mine enemies: for
they are ever with me.
v.
99
I
have
more
_________________ than all my
teachers: for Thy testimonies are my
____________________.
v. 100 I understand more than the
_________________, because I keep Thy precepts.
v. 101 I have refrained my feet from _________ _________ _______,
that I might keep Thy word.
v. 102 I have not departed from Thy judgments: for Thou hast
_____________ me.
v. 103 How sweet are Thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than
honey to my mouth!
v. 104 Through Thy ____________ I get ___________________:
therefore I hate every ___________ way.
v. 105 Thy __________ is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my
path.
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~Notes~
FIVE FACTORS FOR A
MEANINGFUL QUIET TIME
The Proper Period
• Make time—don’t “try to
find time.” This would be like
saying, “I'll find money to give
to God at the end of the
month. Whatever is left over is
His.” Would that work well?
• Make it a priority.
• Find the right time. Be
physically alert. It should be
your very best time, when the
cobwebs are out of your mind
and you can think clearly. Don't
give the Lord your leftovers.
• Find time early in the
day. You don't first take the trip and then read the map.
Spend time alone with God to begin your day.
Turn to Psalm 5:3.
v. 3 My voice shalt Thou hear in the ______________, O LORD; in the
_______________ will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up.
See Psalm 63:1
“O God, thou art my God; ___________ will I seek Thee: my soul
thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land,
where no water is.”
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For some there may be legitimate
reasons they cannot “meet God in
the morning.” For most of us,
however, that’s not the case. How
alert are you—how much energy do
you have at the end of your day?
Choose the best time.
~Notes~
The Proper Preparation
A quiet time is fellowship with a holy
God. Prepare for this time.
 Be focused. Know He’s there.
 Be morally pure and clean.
Some people don't have a quiet
time because they feel
uncomfortable looking God in
the face with sin in their lives.
Come before God asking Him to shine His light upon your life.
Then confess and receive His forgiveness.
The Proper Place
Find a place where you can focus. Jesus said enter into your closet and
pray (Matthew 6:6); simply, find a place of isolation where you can shut
the door on the world and open the windows to heaven. Jesus sought
out places where He could be alone and so should you.
The Proper Provisions
To have an effective quiet time, you need the right tools:
 a readable Bible - Invest in one with plenty of room to jot notes
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~Notes~
in the margins.
• a prayer journal Expect God to give you
something and write it down.
Also use it to record things
you’re praying about.
• a notepad - Write
down your daily assignments.
The minute you sit down to
focus on the Word of God and
commune with Him, a dozen
urgent tasks you must not
forget will crowd your mind.
That’s no accident. Satan will
do everything he can to distract
you. Keep a note pad, write
down that item when it starts
to plague you—then go right
back to focusing upon God.
The Proper Procedures
1. Get still and quiet. Psalm 46:10 says “Be _________, and know that I
am God.”
Calm down, relax, and recognize His presence. Take a deep breath
and focus your thoughts on the Lord.
2. Start with the Word of God. It's better to start by reading the Bible
than to start in prayer. It’s more important for you to hear from God
than for God to hear from you. God already knows all about you, but
you need to know a lot more about Him.
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[GOD: THE PERFECT PRESCRIPTION FOR A HEALTHY CHURCH] Fall 2010 – Summer 2011
3. Read for quality, not quantity.
It’s fine to have a goal to read the
Bible through in a year, or a
similar goal, but that's not the
purpose of your quiet time.
~Notes~
4. Meditate. As you focus on the
Word of God and meditate, let it
permeate you.
Ask:
• Is there a command to obey?
• Is there a promise to claim?
• Is there a sin to avoid?
• Is there a lesson to learn?
• Is there a new truth to carry
with me?
5. Now you're ready to pray. When
you pray, pour out your soul. Be
natural and honest with God. Tell Him how you feel. Pray out loud. It
keeps your mind on track and enables you to stay focused.
6. Record what God gives you. Say, “Father, speak to me. What do
you have for me today?” Then begin to write down what God says to
you and what He tells you to do.
At first you may feel foolish. It may seem risky. But ask your
Heavenly Father to block out any voice of the enemy or thought in
your mind which is not from Him and speak to you. The more you do
this, the more you will begin to recognize His voice and you will hear
from Him!
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[GOD: THE PERFECT PRESCRIPTION FOR A HEALTHY CHURCH] Fall 2010 – Summer 2011
~Notes~
7. Begin to share out of your
quiet time. God did not make
us to be reservoirs; He made
us to be conduits. Tell others
what God is showing you.
8. Finally, obey what God
tells you. Your spiritual train
runs on two rails. One is
revelation; the other is
obedience. If either rail stops,
your train stops. Learn to
obey the Word of God.
You may want to use this
study as a checklist as you
prepare your time, your place
and gather your “tools.”
May
these
simple
suggestions help you have a daily quiet time in the presence of our
loving, almighty, powerful God as you…
“…Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.” 2 Peter 3:18
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