When Heaven Moves: The Power of Prayer That Changes Everything

Good morning, it's a pleasure to be here, Middletown, Portland

7th Day Adventist Church. I bring you greetings from three

angels in Newington. We love our sister church.

This church will always have a special place in my heart.

It's one of the earliest memories I have of, of church.

Those are fond memories. And I'm I'm happy to see that

every time I'm asked to preach, there's more people here.

Your congregation is growing. Praise God.

OK, so the title of my message this morning is called When

Heaven Moves, the power of prayer.

So prayer is foundational, yet it's often misunderstood.

Is prayer for just a last resort or something more?

Is it just for emergencies or a daily source of power?

Today, my goal is to to help us discover what makes prayer

truly, truly powerful and help build a powerful and effective

prayer life. Let me have a word of prayer.

Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for all of your many

blessings. We thank you Lord, for bringing

us up, bringing us here today, waking us up, and for all of the

ways that you keep and sustain us.

I ask Lord, that you would give me the words to speak and that

the message would be heard that you intend for each intended

person. Please forgive us of our sins.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

So first, I like to start all my messages with a disclaimer that

I don't claim perfection and I don't want to come off

hypocritical. I personally have much room for

improvement, but I and I'm often feel too impressed, impressed to

talk about things that I personally might be lacking in.

So please pray that these messages permeate my life as

well as your own. So grounding in James 516

through 18 as Joe just read. Therefore, confess your sins to

each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Elijah was a human being even as we are.

He prayed earnestly that that it would rain and that it did not

rain on the land for 3 1/2 years.

Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth

produced its crops. So unpacking the fundamental

points there we have the promise of powerful, effective prayer.

And the example of Elijah, important to note that it's easy

to think of these people as mythical figures, but Elijah was

a human being just like us. So the power, the same power

that was accessible to Elijah is is accessible to us.

And it is important to note the caveat of prayer of a righteous

person, but more on that later. So the key points that I hope to

leave with you today, the 1st is that first prayers, first

miracle is changing us and talk about how prayer transforms us

from the inside out. Second key point is God's power

is beyond human measurement. Why faith sees what science

can't measure. And 3rd, the call to to fervent

and faithful partnership and our role in a powerful prayer life.

So on that first key point regarding prayers.

First, miracle is changing us. We often think of prayer as a

way to change our circumstances, but the first most reliable

miracle is how it changes the world within you.

A proper prayer requires us to acknowledge God's sovereignty.

Prayer begins with surrender, not strategy, and prayer trains

us to trust rather than control. When I personally have pride out

the God in desperation from impossible circumstances, when

God answers that prayer and delivers me from the enemy,

these are circumstances that help me understand.

When when Paul writes to the Corinthians, my strength is made

perfect in weakness. It's these moments of weakness

that it would be hard for me to appreciate the true strength and

majesty of God when He comes and delivers me from the situation

that I might otherwise feel self-sufficient in managing all

my problems. It's in our weakness that God's

strength is made perfect. So remember to give thanks and

praise God in all circumstances, even the trials.

I remember, and I think it was actually at this very church

wondering, it was a in a Sabbath school when I was very young

asking why do we have to ask God for things that he already

knows? He already knows everything that

we need. So why do I have to ask for

these things? And recently, I've gained an

appreciation for the importance of asking.

Personally. There's some people in my life

that have gotten accustomed to simply airing grievances, with

the expectation that those grievances or unspoken requests

will be solved for them, either by myself or someone else.

I've started holding these people accountable.

To make a request. Sometimes I need to be very

direct and ask is there anything I can do to help?

And I've learned that if a direct request for help is never

made, it's also very unlikely that you'll receive a thank you.

So if somebody says, oh, the tire is something's wrong with

my car or oh, I'll go fix it or, you know, something like that,

there's not as much appreciation that comes, it seems, in my

experience anyway, when that request is satisfied.

I think that if we don't ask directly, ask God for things,

we're not likely to thank him or even attribute the asked outcome

to his power. So important takeaways is first,

ask God for help. 2nd and very importantly is thank Him when he

answers. It's very, very easy to pray for

something out of desperation when it's solved.

Forget that this was God who who answered our prayer, who who

showed up for us. So this is foundational to

acknowledging His power and sovereignty in our lives.

So a divine invitation, prayer isn't just an option, it is a

command and a loving invitation from God.

Jeremiah 33 three says, call to me and I will answer you.

Answer you. Prayer wasn't our idea, it was

God's. He doesn't just permit it, He

commands it. And this is one of those

situations where God commands us to do something because for, for

our own good. The 4th commandment, remember

the Sabbath day to keep it holy. This is an important command

that I didn't fully appreciate when I was younger.

When I was younger, it was a day that I couldn't do certain

things that I enjoyed doing. As I'm older, I appreciate

respecting and honoring that command for my own good, for my

own rest. If it weren't for this command,

I would probably just work myself into an early grave.

So the command to rest, the command to pray, all of these

commands are are are actually for our own benefit.

So God knows our propensities and he knows we're known we're

we're prone to stray as sheep. So This is why it's important to

study His words. Pay attention to His commands

for our own good. Know that God's commands will

always yield a better outcome for ourselves, even if we don't

yet understand the why. Prayer is a God-given tool for

mental and emotional health. It acts as a psychological

anchor, calming our minds and bringing peace.

Now, there have been many conflicting scientific studies

on the external efficacy of prayer for others, and I'll talk

about that in a little bit. However, there's no scientific

or medical dispute of the internal and personal benefits

of a prolific prayer life. Now these are things that have

been confirmed by medical journals, studies about the real

measurable improvements in the life of someone who has a strong

prayer life in terms of mental and emotional well-being.

There's reduced stress response. Prayer can calm the nervous

system, analogous to meditation. It suppresses fight or flight

reactions and reduces reactivity to negative emotions like anger

has, yields lower physiological arousal, it yields enhanced mood

and life satisfaction, and it yields post traumatic growth and

resilience. Spiritual practices, including

prayer, are linked to better psychological outcomes,

especially in trauma or crisis, promoting meaning, optimism and

emotional resilience. In terms of physical health and

longevity, healthier lifestyle and possible protection against

illness, Frequent spiritual engagement is associated with

lower bread blood pressure, better immune function, and

possibly reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and

mortality. Longer life lifespan, especially

with communal practice. Regular religious service

attendance has been linked with significantly lower mortality

rates over time, possibly due to social support, optimism and

life purpose in terms of brain function and cognitive benefits,

improved attention and perception and greater empathy

and reduced negativity and meaning belonging.

There's a very, it's actually a very long list.

If you, if you look on the Internet, there's no shortage of

evidence supporting the measurable physiological

benefits of of the perilite. So in terms of the anatomy of

connection, the most beneficial prayer is relational, not

transactional. It involves worship and

adoration, recognizing God's greatness and expressing love

and reverence, confession and repentance, acknowledging our

shortcomings and turning toward God, and Thanksgiving,

expressing gratitude for God's blessing and presence.

A powerful prayer life is more than a list of requests.

It's about honoring God, being honest with Him, and cultivating

a grateful heart. It's easy to get into a routine

and take relationships for granted.

This is true of all relationships, spousal, family,

friends, just as our interpersonal relationships

require intentional work. If, for example, you neglect to

keep up with a friend, don't call for a while, don't maintain

regular connection, that friendship, that relationship

decays. Erodes can even happen with

someone you live with, with your spouse.

It requires intentional effort to maintain these these

relationships. And it's the same with our

relationship with God. One thing that I've tried and

not always succeeded, but I continue to try is to make sure

that I don't get out of bed without saying a prayer or even

reach for my phone and check my notifications before I say

prayer. And I think that's a practical

thing that could benefit everybody because if we start

our day with prayer, there's a pretty good chance it's going to

go better. In my experience, generally

start with a a better mood and maintain that that connection

with our God moving on. It's important and I've heard

Elder Bill Reinwald say this a lot and I love it.

It's a quote from Ellen White that says prayer does not bring

God to us. It brings us up to him.

And so the quote is key to understanding prayers purpose is

the main goal is connection with God.

Peace is the beautiful result. Second key point, and this key

point is about saying about how prayer, efficacy of prayer is to

an extent beyond measurement. Make a case for that.

So faith allows us to see what science cannot measure.

God's power operates beyond the limits of the laboratory.

And let me unpack that statement a little bit.

So faith versus science, two different tools and we must

recognize that faith and science are different tools for

discovering truth. My mom recently shared a message

with me. She said that there was a a

message from a pastor purporting that he heard of a study that

said that measurable correlation in brain activity there, there

was somebody to this study that there was people prayed over

here and they were able to measure brain activity happening

as a result of those prayers over in a completely different

location. And so that sounds pretty

amazing and it's attractive at first, but I was skeptical and I

had to do some research. So I found that there are many

conflicting studies on this topic with varying degrees of

conformance to the scientific method.

I don't believe there's anything wrong with the scientific

method. I personally think that it's an

excellent way of simply being able to have a hypothesis and

perform a test and see if your hypothesis is confirmed.

This is a logical process. And so I don't believe true

science and logical observable facts of our world conflict with

God's word. Many scientists will try to use

one against the other, but many other scientists show science is

just an evidence of God's power and majesty.

Everything that we can observe through sciences is more

evidence of, of God's wonderfulness and what he's

built, what he's done, than it is to say, oh, we understand

this now. So therefore, you know, but

anyway, I don't think they're, they're in conflict with each

other. But I have concluded that it's

pointless to try to validate the power of prayer through using

the scientific method. And because there are some

fundamental limitations about the scientific method in terms

of measuring prayer. And this slide's not loading,

but I remember, oh, hang on, it is OK.

So there's some key flaws. One is that if you want to do a

true scientific study about whether or not something works,

prove a hypothesis, you have to create a control group.

You have to be able to say, OK, we're going to have this group

that has people praying for them, and we're going to have

this other group that has nobody praying for them.

First of all, how can you guarantee that nobody's going to

be praying for these people? And even if you could, why would

you do that? But you can't.

So. So that is creates A fundamental

flaw in the scientific scientific method.

How do you measure because you know our our Scripture reading

says the prayer of a righteous person.

How do we know that the people who are praying are righteous?

How do we know that we have no way of measuring these spiritual

things. Only God can measure the heart.

So these are these are things that that make it really kind of

pointless and futile to try to say, aha, we have proof that

prayer. And that's a little bit of what

faith faith is for. But I have a better test.

I call this slide the Power of testimony.

Our evidence isn't found in lab reports, but in life reports

from the Bible to today. Our faith is built on the

stories of an act of God. Is there anyone here who has

experienced something in their life or seen something happen

around them that can only be explained as God's intervention

in response to prayer? I personally can.

And don't be shy because we're asked to be His witness.

It's through our witness and our testimony that God is made, is

made real and shown to others. Acts 18 says you shall receive

power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be

witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to

the end of the earth. This is why our personal

testimony of what God has done for us is so powerful.

Nobody can dispute my personal experience with God, so I

encourage you to share your testimony with anyone who will

listen. Often times I've heard a quote

that said don't tell me about your religion, show me about

your religion. Live your life.

You can give a Bible study to someone without quoting a single

scripture by showing someone how you live.

And God's hearing isn't random. He hears the righteous.

He rejects the prayer that clings to sin, but always hears

A sincere seeker and acts according to his his will.

So he hears this. Here's the righteous reject sin,

hears the sincere seeker, and acts according to his will.

The Bible shows us that there is a framework to answer prayer.

First, know that he rejects the prayers that are linked to our

sinful human condition. Prayers to win the lottery.

Prayers for a new exotic supercar.

Does your prayer glorify God? I've often heard, I don't know

if I've even fallen into this fallacy, but people, you know,

they get a lottery ticket and they pray earnestly to God.

God, if I had $20 million, whatever the number may be, I

could do so much for your Kingdom.

But, and that's there's a fallacy there because the

question is we currently have resources.

We currently have time, a resource that everybody has, no

matter what kind of financial resources you have.

Are you using that resource? What?

How you're using that resource is a direct reflection of how

you would be using abundant resources.

So if you there's a little lesson there.

If you want God to bless you with much, prove that you can be

trusted with little. So we know that God answers the

righteous, the prayers of the righteous, but God also hears

and answers the prayer of all who pray according to His will.

And he always hears prayers from sincere seekers.

When I started coming back to church, probably about 15 years

ago, 20 years ago, I was raised the Adventist.

As an Adventist, I went out into the world, started coming back

to church. I was baptized.

My wife, who had very little experience exposure to church,

started coming to church with me.

Praise God. And this was at Plainville.

And they had a prayer box. And in that prayer box they

would say anybody can write a prayer on a piece of paper and

leave it in that box. And after the service, the

elders pray over the pray over the box.

They don't read them. They pray over the box and the

contents are burned. So she put a prayer in that box

that was very personal and power and, and impossible, frankly.

I mean, nothing's impossible with God.

But this was something that like, I don't know if it was

intended to be like a litmus test, but it wasn't anything out

of, you know, personal, like it wasn't cling to human sin.

It was something that she legitimately wanted and it was a

so she put it in there and got answered.

And that like the answer to that prayer, like was, was the

foundation of her faith. Like that was her first

experience. And now, I mean, she's, she's

baptized now and she's currently over at 3 angels because she's

the treasurer over there. That's why she never comes with

me. She's got treasury

responsibilities over there. But that's, that's a personal

testimony to God answering his sincere seeker, even though she

had no, not very little, only only knowledge of, of God

through my personal, you know, testimony and, and and whatnot.

And I was just, you know, wasn't firmly rooted in faith other

than my foundational understanding that it has a

child. Anyway, personal testimony there

that God answers the sincere seeker, regardless of whether or

not they can be qualified as a, a righteous person.

So my third key point here out of my three points is a call to

fervent and faithful partnership with God.

This was a quote I've heard of a lot from Jamaican speakers, and

I could be imagining this, but I think that this might have been

something that I heard Ernie Elder, Ernie Byron say a lot.

Phil, you can you can keep me honest here.

Did he say no prayer, no power? Little prayer, little power,

much prayer, much power. It's simple.

So this is where the message becomes personal.

The invitation is to move from a passive faith to an active daily

partnership with God. This is a call to move from

lukewarm faith to an active, powerful prayer life that

cooperates with God and a call to action.

We have not sure sure people are familiar with the Laodicean

warning of the Church of Laodicea that we believe the

time that we're living in is a lukewarm faith leads to lukewarm

powerless prayer life. The call is to move from routine

to a fervent hot relationship with God.

If our prayer life and and I think that in the closing key

point is the ABS time that you know, we're first Sabbath of the

new year. There is a New Year's resolution

worth making and keeping. This is this is probably one

that everyone, myself included, could benefit from if our faith

life, if our prayer life feels powerful and may be a symptom of

the Laodicean condition. A faith that is neither hot nor

cold produces prayers that feel the same.

And today's call is to turn up the spiritual heat as we pray to

God, rely on God, and watch God act on our prayers, and our

faith will grow. And in turn, our prayer life and

relationship with God will grow. So I encourage you to talk to

God the same way. Well, maybe not exactly the same

way, but the way that you would talk to a close friend.

Don't just, it's very easy, especially if it's something

that you're doing every morning. It's a good thing to do at night

too, to not get in the routine of just reciting the same

phrase, the same prayer, every time.

If you had a friend that said the exact same thing every time

you saw them, that relationship might, might decay.

So talk to God about your day. Talk to God about your anxiety,

the things that are bothering you, things you need help with.

Praise God for when he comes through for you.

Here's a quote that my mom shared with me as I was

preparing this sermon the first time they gave it for three

angels. That's it's sobering.

But this is a quote from Sister White.

She says, and I'd never heard this prior to her telling me

this. So hopefully this is, you know,

but it's it's a bit sobering. It says I have been shown the

angels of God, the prayers of the Saints to heaven.

But they were. Grieved.

That so few prayers were offered.

So let that sink. In if the angels are, you know,

like, why aren't they asking? Why aren't they asking God for

stuff? So at that moment, some of you

know, you know, my, my brother's condition.

I, I, at that time, I said, OK, well, we got to pray now after

hearing that, then what a better time to pray than right now

because frankly, I don't pray enough.

So, so I had a prayer with my mom about keeping, you know, my

brother who's struggling with a number of things to forgot to

continue to work on him. And so we did that, and I asked

for for continued prayer for anyone who is or isn't familiar

with that situation as well. So our role.

Is to combine faith in action, and this is a uniquely Adventist

approach. Pray with faith and.

Persistence. Align with God's.

Perfect will and cooperate with God through wise choices.

The final invitation. The ultimate invitation is to

embrace. Embrace prayer as the opening of

the heart to. God as to a.

Friend, a constant, vital connection for all of life's

circumstances. Let's end by returning to the

heart of prayer. Not a machine, but a friend.

The invitation is to talk to God as your closest, most trusted

friend and to commit to move from lukewarm to a fervent

prayer life. Heavenly Father.

Thank you, Lord, for all of your many blessings.

Ask Lord that. And we know, Lord, that even the

faith that we have, little as it may be, comes from you.

It's a gift from you, Lord, and it's on us to to foster that

faith, grow it into more faith so that you can trust us with

more and you can work bigger in our life.

Please, Lord, give us the. Conviction to have a better

relationship with you and talk to you more often so that you

can influence our character, make us better people, make us

healthy. Ultimately, Lord, to win souls

for your Kingdom, grow your Kingdom and answer your Great

Commission. Please forgive us for our sins.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Amen.