Words of Life|Pastor Balan Swaminathan|HIPM

"Prayer changes things around us"

We see a few examples from the scripture:

- When Jesus prayed His appearance got changed

How does prayer release this power of God in our lives?

- A man or woman of prayer is a nuclear reactor

Guy H. King – No one is a firmer believer in the power of prayer than the devil; not that he practices it, but he suffers from it.

Listen to the sermon to know more about releasing God's power in your life. 

Four reasons for why we should have an open heaven:

- Visions & Revelation

Prayer opens the heavens.

We see that in the life of Peter, prayer expands vision. 

I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. (Acts 11:5)

Today God is telling you that

In this sermon we will look at how prayer changes things around us.

- Our Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 9:28, 19)

Prayer changes things and situation. Many of the supernatural miracles are experienced when constant prayer has been made.

Growth is an inevitable characteristic of the creations of God.  Because in Genesis 1:22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”

Nine scriptural references from the Word of God:

- Prayer increases knowledge of God

Billy Graham "Heaven is full of answers to prayer for which no one bothered to ask"

In the spiritual realm, prayer is the key that unlocks the door.

We are going to look at a man who found victory through prayer.  The text is found in II Chronicles 20. I want you to see the before and after of the story.

The condition of that man before his prayer is found in verses 2-3. “Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; already they are at Hazazon-tamar” (that is, En-gedi). Jehoshaphat was afraid; he set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.”----more----

 The situation of Jehoshaphat after his prayer is found in verse 30. “The realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.”

Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah found victory through 

What was the result of Jehoshaphat's prayer?

When Prayer brings victory, it also brings us blessings, great joy and rest for the rest of our lives.

There are different kinds of curses: 

- Biblical curses-God inflicted 

We are talking about prayer breaking curses. 

Four Biblical Principles regarding Giving and Financial Blessings we discussed are the following:

Principle 1: Giving is not the only ingredient of prosperity

Listen to the sermon to know more in detail.

The Five Major Offerings in the OT:

The Burnt Offering – Leviticus 1

The Law of the above offerings – Leviticus 6 & 7

In the OT offerings were made as an act of total surrender (burnt offering), for forgiveness of sin (sin offering), the guilt to be removed (trespass offering), to gain peace with God (peace offering) and to be thankful (grain offering).

In the NT we don’t need to give to God to obtain forgiveness of sin. But offerings were given to God as an act of obedience, out of love, for the building of God’s work, to support poor and orphans, to set our priority, to invest in eternity.

Here is the summary of the sermon:

Principle 1 - Sowing is a time of severe pain

Listen to the entire sermon to know more about the sowing principles.