Power of Prayer Awakening

Pastor Dan Walker, PhD, MDiv

Introduction: Standing on the Brink of a New Year

Today, we stand on the brink of a new year with New Year’s Day tomorrow. This is a time for reflection on the past year and anticipation for the new year. This morning we’re going to talk about the Power of Prayer Awakening – Part 1.

Let’s begin by looking back to a powerful event in American history that demonstrated the power of a prayer awakening. Lets go back to the early 20th century, to 1906 to be exact, to a modest building near Azusa Street in Los Angeles. On the night of April 9, eight men led by William Seymour, an African American preacher were praying and waiting on God for revival.

They had been praying and fasting for days for God to pour out His Spirit according to what happened on the day of Pentecost.

Acts 2:4 (ESV) And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Finally on that night, the Holy Spirit fell on that small group of prayer warriors and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. More and more people joined them in prayer in a building on Azusa Street. The Holy Spirit continued to move in powerful ways, leading to an outpouring of spiritual fits, miraculous healings and numerous conversions.

This revival at Azusa Streat sparked a global Pentecostal movement impacting hundreds of millions of people down to our day. The Azusa Street revival shows us the power of collective, earnest prayer.

Habakkuk 3:2 (NIV) LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.

Today on the last day of 2023, we look back at the day of Pentecost 2000 years ago and the Azusa Street revival 118 years ago. Our prayer is the same as that of the prophet Habakkuk. We stand in awe of your deeds God, in the past, and we pray that you repeat them in our day, in our time.

So, this morning, we begin two weeks of prayer as a church, praying for a great awakening in our church and in our city of St Louis. We’re going to be looking at three important aspects of prayer that will make your prayers more powerful and effective. These truths are foundational for how we enter the New Year together.

The Necessity of Consistency in Prayer

To be consistent is to act in the same way over time. To be inconsistent would be to act in different ways over time. God’s Word says in …

Romans 12:12 (ESV) Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Let’s focus on the last instruction in this verse, to be constant in prayer. Other translations say to be devoted or faithful in prayer or simply to keep on praying. Jesus put it this way in

Luke 18:1 (ESV) And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

Being consistent in prayer is to pray always and at all times. To lose heart is to begin to doubt that your prayers are effective. Or simply to get distracted from prayer by other things in life.

Why is consistency in prayer so vital in each of our lives? Consistency is vital because prayer answers do not normally come instantly. We must continue to pray consistently until the answers do come.

If you give up on praying for something, if we lose heart, we will not see the answer. God’s Word reminds us of this truth in another passage.

Philippians 4:6-7 (ESV) do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

God instructs us to not worry about anything, but to pray about everything. That would certainly be consistent prayer. The result will be that the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds.

Peace comes from knowing that God is in control of everything you have prayed for. Peace comes from believing that the answers to your prayers are coming as you continue to pray and give thanks for the coming answers. The first lesson for the New Year that we must learn and put into practice is to be consistent in our prayer lives.

Living a Daily Rhythm of Faithful Prayer

Why is being consistent in prayer difficult for many people? It is difficult because Satan does not want you to be consistent in prayer. So, he will distract you from prayer and get you to believe that other things in life are more important than consistent prayer.

What does consistent prayer look like? First of all, it looks like keeping a daily time with God for hearing from God by reading your Bible and speaking to Him in prayer. This is a time when you shut out other distractions and focus on God.

For many people, early morning prayer works best, before the day begins. If you’re just starting out, start with 15 minutes a day and grow from there. As you put God first with your prayer life, you will see amazing blessings and experience God’s peace in your life.

To experience the power of prayer awakening, ask God to help you be consistent in prayer. This is a daily dependence that grows stronger with practice. Next, we’re going to look at a second important aspect of prayer.

The Role of Repentance in Prayer

1 John 1:9 (ESV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

For believers, our sins are not automatically forgiven. Each day, we are to repent and confess our sins to God. To repent of a sin is to confess to God that you committed the sin and to turn away from doing it in the future.

Confession and repentance are not continually asking for forgiveness for the same sin, without turning away from that sin. Repentance and confessions are so important because they allow God to cleanse us. Without repentance, sin damages our relationship with God.

James 4:8 (ESV) Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

James tells us in this verse that in order to draw near to God, we must be cleansed and purified by God. That does not happen automatically. We must allow God to do it for us as we come before Him humbly asking for forgiveness.

The promise in this verse is that as you draw near to God, He will draw near to you. Whereas unrepented of sin damages your relationship with God, repentance strengthens your relationship with God. This is a continual process in the life of every believer.

Will you ever get to the point where you don’t need to repent anymore? The answer is no. The Bible teaches that we all sin, but as we grow in the Lord, each of us should sin less and less.

A double-minded person in this verse is someone who says they are a believer, but continues to live in unrepentant sin.

Psalm 66:18 (ESV) If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

If you have unrepented sin in your life, you can pray all you like and God doesn’t listen. If God doesn’t listen, you won’t receive any answers. That is why repentance is so important in prayer.

Responding Quickly to the Spirit’s Conviction

When should you repent? We all should repent daily, it is part of the Lord’s prayer which teaches us to pray daily. The moment that the Holy Spirit reminds you of something you have said, did or thought that is sin, don’t put it off, repent immediately.

When a person has unrepented sin in their lives, they are in a dangerous state that is open to the attack of Satan. When you come to church, there is always time to reflect and repent of any sin. This is especially true when take communion as we do once a month.

The Bible teaches that those who take communion with unrepented sin in their hearts open themselves up to illness and even death. If you sense that you are convicted of some sin when you come to church, that is a good thing. Confess that sin, be forgiven and draw close to God once again.

Standing in the Gap with Intercessory Prayer

1 Timothy 2:1 (ESV) First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,

What is intercessory prayer? Intercession or intercessory prayer is prayer for other people. It is good to pray for yourself, but God wants us to move beyond that to pray, to intercede for other people.

If we would like others to pray for our needs, what should we do? We should pray for the needs of others around us, for God to bless them. This posture of prayer reflects the heart of Christ.

Ephesians 6:18 (ESV) praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

This is one of many verses instructing us to be in prayer at all times. In particular, we are to pray as the Spirit leads us, both with our minds and with our spiritual prayer language. Next we see that we are to persevere in prayer for others, because there is the temptation to give up when the answers don’t immediately come.

In this verse, we are instructed to pray for all the saints, which are all the believers in our church family. How do you know what to pray for regarding others in our church family? Let’s look at the next verse in …

Colossians 4:12 (ESV) Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.

Here is described how a man named Epaphras interceded for other believers. It says that he struggled or wrestled in prayer. Who or what do we struggle or wrestle with in prayer?

We wrestle with demonic principalities and powers. They seek to discourage us to stop praying. They seek to continue to attack the people we are praying for.

So, we must continue with God’s power to pray for people to grow spiritually. That’s what Epaphras prayed for. God desires for us to stand in the gap with intercessory prayer.

Carrying Others Before God in Prayer

Why did I use the phrase stand in the gap? Intercession is often pictured as standing in the gap. The intercessor, the prayer warrior stands in the gap between the person they are praying for and God.

The prayers of an intercessor can bring God’s protection to the person they are praying for. The intercessors prayers can bring God’s blessing to others. Their prayers can bring God’s conviction for those caught in sin and those who are lost.

Let’s come back to the question of who do we pray for? The first response for most people is that they pray for their family. That is certainly the area that you have the most responsibility for.

The next layer of people that you are responsible for if the members of your church family. You might say, well I don’t know them very well, so how can I pray for them? That’s true, it’s hard to pray for people you don’t know much about or even know their name.

That’s why God’s Word directs believers to meet in larger group for Sunday worship and in smaller groups during the week. We call those smaller groups, Life Groups. They are opportunities to get to know, pray with, and study God’s Word together.

Every person needs to be part of our small groups in order to grow in God and to intercede for others as well. As we stand in the gap and intercede for others, God will move others to pray for us.

Conclusion: Entering the New Year with Renewed Commitment

Today, we’re standing on the threshold of a New Year. Only God knows the opportunities and blessing that lie before us. Let us look back to how the Azusa Street revival began with a few people earnestly seeking God in prayer.

Our prayer is that God would do it again and bring the power of a prayer awakening to our city, St Louis. As we step into the New Year, we are given a new opportunity to pray and believe God to move in our lives, families, church and city in a fresh way.

May our prayer lives together and individually grow in power and effectiveness. I believe God is asking each one of us to make commitments to prayer in this New Year. Make a commitment to spending daily time with God in prayer and His Word, at least 15 minutes.

If you already do 15 minutes, increase it to 30, if you do 30 move it to an hour. If you’re not involved in a Life Group or prayer meeting, get involved with one beginning next week. They’re listed in our bulletin.

This morning we’ve talked about the importance of consistency, repentance and intercession. Our AG family has made available some great 30 minutes teaching videos on this topics. You can find them on our church website under Prayer Awakening.

You can sign up there to be reminded of each new video every other day for the next two weeks. Next Sunday, we’ll look at Power of Prayer Awakening Part 2. May we all believe for God to do great things in the new year as we do our part to pray.

📘 Continue the Journey

Reflect deeper and apply this week’s message with the Message Study Guide — perfect for personal devotions, family discussion, or your Life Group.

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