Building your Legacy. – Pillar 1 – Prayer – By Pastor George Lehman
To build your legacy you will need pillars to support your legacy.
“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” – Martin Luther
James 4:2 (NIV) – You desire but do not have, so you *kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.
*Kill – Your faith; Your dreams; kill other people’s success; kill people’s victories / their callings.
James 4:3(Amp) – [Or] you do ask [God for them] and yet fail to receive, because you ask with wrong purpose and evil, selfish motives. Your intention is [when you get what you desire] to spend it in sensual pleasures.
“More probable is that James is echoing Jesus’ sermon on the mount that a man with unrighteous anger in his heart toward his brother is as liable to judgment as a man who commits murder (Matthew 5:21-22).”
This is possibly one of the most important Pillars of your legacy.
For many Christians prayer is a huge struggle (If it wasn’t, we would see more people at prayer meetings than koek en tee)
If you are weak in prayer, you will be weak in every area of your life.
If you are serious about building a legacy, then you must be serious about prayer.
It is only through prayer can we discover, experience, and achieve God’s purpose for our lives. To walk worthy of our calling.
It is through our prayers that we leave a solid legacy for the people we care about.
There are so many people who are mad at God.
They have a problem or a situation they want God to change.
And He hasn’t yet done what they wanted Him to do.
So, they sulk, rant and rave, complain and blame and God for not helping them.
The strange thing is when I ask them if they prayed about their problems, they look at me with a dumbfounded expression and tell me NO I have not.
People will go to great lengths to get their needs met – as James says:
James 4:2 (NIV) – You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet* but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.
*(Desire, want, wish, yearn to possess, and strong envious desire)
We can either face our problems in our own strength and ability.
Or we can turn to God in prayer so we can face our problems with His strength and ability.
Prayer takes us out of the Driver’s seat and puts us in the passenger seat.
The Bible is clear that God has a purpose for every one of us.
Jeremiah 32:19 – “great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds. Your eyes are open to the ways of all mankind; you reward each person according to their conduct and as their deeds deserve.
Choosing not to pray limits that purpose.
Building your Legacy Apart from God’s power we are limited.
In our own strength we can never do all that God created us to do.
The key to every great man and women of God who left a lasting legacy – they were all prayer warriors. God just wants praying Christians not just an elite force.
We could mention Nehemiah or Daniel
Abraham: It was He’s rule to stand before the Lord in prayer
With the alter of Sacrifice was the alter of prayer
Genesis 18:27 (NIV) – Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes.”
David: Every Psalm is a prayer.
Psalm 109:4 (NIV) – In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
Elijah: What a prayer warrior
James 5:17(NIV) – Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
Isaiah: What a great prophet of God
Isaiah 65:24 (NIV) – Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.
Paul: this is the key to Paul’s legacy.
Acts 9:11 (NIV) – The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.”
Jesus: Our ultimate example: Remind you: John 17:4 -“I glorified you on earth having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.”
1 Peter 2:21 (NIV) – To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
Mark 1:35 (NIV) – Very early in the morning, while it was still dark Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
Luke 5:16 (NIV) – But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed
Luke 6:12 (NIV) – One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray and spent the night praying to God.
Acts 10:38 (NIV) – How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. (The success of Jesus’ legacy is He prayed)
Prayer is one of the most important pillars of building a lasting legacy.
Becoming a man and woman of prayer will not happen by accident.
To learn to pray you must PRAY.
Prayer is a spiritual challenge that takes commitment and effort.
The recipe for spiritual victory always includes prayer.
Close with:
Franklin Field says: “The great dividing line between success and failure can be expressed in five words: “I did not have time.”
“When prayer delights you least, then learn to say: “Soul, now your greatest need is that you must pray.”
Keep on praying because you are building your pillar to support your legacy.
AMEN
