The Power of Private Prayer
During a sermon series at V1 Church titled “Upper Room,” several leaders taught on the importance of prayer in a Christian's life. In the first part of this sermon series, Long Island campus Pastor – Erika Santise passionately emphasized that prayer is every Christian's primary need for closeness with God.
The Lord’s Prayer
In Matthew 6:5–10 Jesus gave clear instructions and modeled how He wanted His followers to pray. When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites, but pray in private and your Father who sees in private will answer you publicly. He instructed His disciples not to pray with vain repetition, and then proceeded to pray what is now called “The Lord's Prayer.”
“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. “
After Jesus honors God, He said we should pray for what's happening in Heaven to invade the earth. Praying for God’s kingdom in heaven to be done on earth is to pray with full faith. There is no sickness in Heaven, no lack, no sorrow, so pray in that fashion.
Private Prayer
Pastor Erika noted that every believer should want to live under an open heaven. We gain access to the open heaven during our private prayer time. We need to focus on being close to God when we pray. “Private prayer is not for results, it is for relationship,” she explained.
When a believer loves to be in the presence of God, they automatically enter into private prayer. People of faith must learn to talk to their problems about God, not the other way around.
In James 4:8, we are told that anyone who draws near to God will result in God drawing near to them. As people of God, everyone should desire to take steps towards God. The beauty of that is that when we take a step, He also takes a step towards us.
“If your coworkers can take a smoke break, we can take a prayer break,” Pastor Erika encouraged.
The V1 church campus pastor challenged everyone to take their prayer life deeper with God by making time to commune with Him throughout the day. Prayer is a necessity! People often try to get all they need from other people, but there are things they can only get from God. V1 Church encourages community, but it is important to note that we should be latching and leaning on to God, not people. When we have a close vertical relationship with the Father, then we will have good relationships with others.
James 4:3 also warns about praying amiss, meaning praying with the wrong motives. When we press into private prayer and are in the secret place, our motive must be right. Pastor Erika encouraged believers not to be discouraged when prayers aren't answered immediately. Galatians 6:9 says that people of God will eventually reap a harvest of blessings if they persevere.
“Delayed is not denied, if you are still breathing you better still be believing,” she declared.
Go Back to Bethel
If we read the account in Genesis 28, we read that Jacob had a dream where He saw a ladder and at the top of the ladder angels were ascending and descending. God appears at the top of the ladder and blesses Jacob, promising him land, numerous descendants, and protection. He woke up from the dream, poured oil in that location and named that place Bethel because he felt like this was a place of an open heaven, where He could meet with God. Pastor Erika said we should all use the imagery of Jacob's encounter at Bethel as a call to return to the place of one's initial deep connection with God.
"Today God is calling us back to a place where we first encountered Him, where we felt a deep love for Him and we want to be where He wants us to be in that secret place, in our private devotion with Him,” she continued.
The minister concluded with a charge for everyone: "Go back to Bethel, where He will remove the stress because now you are processing with God the deep things in your heart. Go back to Bethel, where He enlarges your capacity to receive more of what He has for you. Go back to Bethel, where He gives you the courage to make bold moves and take greater steps of faith."
The power of private prayer can ignite your Bethel!
About the Author
Jeannie Ortega Law is a chart-topping singer, evangelist, media personality and author from New York City. She can be reached on social media: @JeannieOrtega or emailed at Info@JeannieO.com
At V1 Church we believe in teaching Bible-based relationship principles so that you can your family can be strengthened. Connect with us using one of the links below – we’d love to see you and help you walk through the process of reconciliation.