TEN DAYS OF PRAYER. Day 1 The secret of His power

   Ten Life-Changing Days in the Lord’s Prayer
Welcome to Ten Days of Prayer 2014! God has worked thousands of miracles through the Ten Days of Prayer program since it began as Operation Global Rain in 2006. The Holy Spirit has wrought revival, conversions, renewed passion for evangelism, and healed relationships. Truly, prayer is the birthplace of revival!
We believe your life and the lives of those you pray for will be changed as you join your fellow church members in praying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Here are what some of those who participated in Ten Days of Prayer 2013 had to say:
As we gathered every day in this ten days we experienced the visitation of the Holy Spirit like the apostolic days. There was genuine repentance and brokenness as members gave up their grievances and forgave one another. It was really a time of refreshing for us here in Strong Tower Outreach. ~ Ikenna Joseph, Nigeria
The last few days the prayers have really affected me, and I'm beginning to "get" what God can REALLY do—and it's a lot more than [finding] a parking space at Costco! I am overwhelmed by His grace. ~ From a newly baptized member, as shared with Loralyn Horning, USA
This is the first time we have the full program "10 days of prayer." We can see miracles: A little girl who prays for her parents told us that her father no longer wants a divorce. Another member who said he didn't often testify had the opportunity to offer the book The Great Controversy to a customer. A woman who prays every day for her colleagues had a colleague, a Muslim, ask her questions about Jesus. I feel so much closer with God. Taking the role of prayer leader is a big challenge, but I thank God for sustaining me every day. ~ Mylène Peronet, France
Thank You so much! We are already seeing the results and power of united prayer in our church members and youth. God is so good! ~ William Wolfgramm, New Zealand
Our Prayer Theme: The Lord’s Prayer
During Ten Days of Prayer 2014, we will be praying through the Lord’s Prayer, found in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:1-4. Our Savior’s life was steeped in prayer. In communion with His Father He found His strength, His comfort, His power, and His joy. In these early morning hours of prayer, God gave Him guidance for the day.
The disciples were impressed by Jesus’ habit of prayer and asked Him to teach them to pray. In answer, He repeated the prayer He had given in the Sermon on the Mount. There was much more to the simple prayer than they had yet understood, for it turned their attention away from themselves to God, as well as covering all their needs.
We too need to learn to pray as Jesus prayed. During these next ten days you will discover a depth of meaning in the Lord’s Prayer that you never dreamed possible, find your heart drawn out to God in love and passion for His work, and see amazing answers to prayer.
Daily Prayer Requests
The daily supplication and intercession section includes a number of prayer requests listed that reflect the personal and corporate needs of the world-wide Seventh-day Adventist Church. This section also highlights the initiatives and mission emphases of our world church in 2014.
Mission to the Cities (MTTC)
A special prayer focus for us this year is the MTTC initiative. MTTC is an emphasis of the Seventh-day Adventist Church on sharing Jesus’ love and the hope of His soon return with people in urban settings. It envisions initiatives in more than 630 of the world’s largest cities. These began in New York City last year and will continue throughout 2014, 2015, and beyond. Outreach activities are comprehensive (to address mental, physical, and spiritual needs) and ongoing, creating a lasting Seventh-day Adventist presence in the cities. Outreach methods include LifeHope Centers of Influence, community events, health seminars, small groups, prayer and other revival ministries, women’s ministries, youth ministries, and reaping campaigns and outreaches.
Each day during these ten days of prayer, we will highlight one prayer need for the MTTC initiative. For a list of cities and more information, go to www.MissiontotheCities.org and www.RevivalandReformation.org/777
United Prayer
We’ve all prayed with others before, but you may not have experienced the blessing and power of united prayer. During these ten days you will be blessed beyond measure as you join your brothers and sisters in an open conversation with God. Here are a few tips to make united prayer more enjoyable for everyone:
• Keep your prayers short—just a sentence or two on one topic. Then give others a turn. You can pray as many times as you’d like, just as in a conversation.
• Silence is good, as it gives everyone time to listen to the Holy Spirit. And singing songs together as the Spirit leads is a blessing.
• Rather than using up valuable prayer time talking about your prayer requests, simply pray them. Then others can also pray for your requests and claim promises for your need.
Praying and Claiming Scripture
Reading or praying a short portion of Scripture is a wonderful way to ensure that you are praying God’s will. Praying God’s promises back to Him is an incredible faith builder. God loves for us to pray His Word back to Him in expressions of praise or promises. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16). You’ll be amazed at how you can pray and enjoy it!
Here’s an example of how to pray scripture back to God: 1 Thessalonians 3:13 says, “May He strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all His holy ones.” Then pray something like this: “Dear Lord, please strengthen my son’s heart-level determination to do what is right. Give him your grace to make decisions that lead to holiness. Jesus, may he look forward to your return,… etc.”
Pray for Five
During these ten days of prayer you are encouraged to especially intercede for five people in your circle of influence. These may be family members, friends, coworkers, neighbors, or someone else you are concerned about. During this first night, write their names and prayer need(s) on two notecards. One card is for you to keep to remind you to intercede for these individuals. Your prayer leader will collect the other card at the end of the night. Each following day, you will draw someone’s card out of the box and pray for the people they have listed.
Bible texts in Ten Days of Prayer 2014 are quoted from the New King James Version (NKJV). Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Day One – The Secret of His Power
Suggested Format for United Prayer
“Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1).
Praise (Approximately 10 minutes)
• Begin your prayer time by praising God for teaching us to pray more effectively.
• “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us…” (Romans 8:26).
• Take time to praise God for who He is (His character) and for what He does.
Confession (Approximately 5 minutes)
• Confess our lack of prayer and intercession—both personally and as a people—and ask God to forgive us for failing to commune with Him in prayer and intercession. “Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you” (1 Samuel 12:23).
• Ask God to show you any other sin in your life that needs to be confessed; then take time to silently listen for His answer. Ask His forgiveness and joyfully accept His mercy.
Supplication and Intercession (Approximately 35 minutes)
• Pray for God to give us the Holy Spirit to teach us how to pray like Jesus and truly intercede for others. “I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication” (Zechariah 12:10).
• Pray for a passion for prayer, a conviction of how much we need to pray, and a realization of the power available to us through prayer.
• Pray for prayer groups to spring up everywhere. Ask God how to have more prayer in your church.
• Pray that we will learn to pray for God’s guidance before making plans.
• MTTC: Church leaders working with initiatives in the 630 cities to be wise, Spirit-filled, servant leaders who seek and follow God’s plans and demonstrate successful soul-winning.
• Pray for Adventists, and all Christians, to experience true revival and reformation in their walk with God. Pray that they will be filled with the Holy Spirit, personally know Jesus through the Bible and prayer, and live holy lives. Pray this for yourself, your local church’s members and pastor, and the following groups of people: church leaders at all levels, parents, children/youth, singles, teachers, pastors, health workers, and missionaries.
• Ask God which five people to pray for during these ten and let the Holy Spirit bring people to mind. Write their names (if appropriate) and prayer needs on two index cards. Carry one with you, and put the other in the group box, to be prayed over each night.
• Pray for other requests that are on your heart.
Thanksgiving (Approximately 10 minutes)
• Rejoice that God hears and answers our prayers. See Jeremiah 33:2, 3.
• Thank Him for answering our prayers before we can even see the results.
Songs to Sing (sing these songs, or others, as God impresses you to during the prayer time.)
“Come, Holy Spirit”; “Spirit of the Living God” (SDA Hymnal #672); “Hear Our Prayer, O Lord (SDA Hymnal #684); “I Need the Prayers” (SDA Hymnal #505), “For You I am Praying” (SDA Hymnal #284).
Ellen White on the Lord’s Prayer
“After this manner therefore, pray ye…” (Matthew 6:9).
The Lord’s Prayer was twice given by our Savior, first to the multitude in the Sermon on the Mount, and again, some months later, to the disciples alone. The disciples had been for a short time absent from their Lord, when on their return they found Him absorbed in communion with God. Seeming unconscious of their presence, He continued praying aloud. The Savior’s face was irradiated with a celestial brightness. He seemed to be in the very presence of the Unseen, and there was a living power in His words as of one who spoke with God.
The hearts of the listening disciples were deeply moved. They had marked how often He spent long hours in solitude in communion with His Father. His days were passed in ministry to the crowds that pressed upon Him, and in unveiling the treacherous sophistry of the rabbis, and this incessant labor often left Him so utterly wearied that His mother and brothers, and even His disciples, had feared that His life would be sacrificed. But as He returned from the hours of prayer that closed the toilsome day, they marked the look of peace upon His face, the sense of refreshment that seemed to pervade His presence. It was from hours spent with God that He came forth, morning by morning, to bring the light of heaven to men. The disciples had come to connect His hours of prayer with the power of His words and works. Now, as they listened to His supplication, their hearts were awed and humbled. As He ceased praying, it was with a conviction of their own deep need that they exclaimed, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).
Jesus gives them no new form of prayer. That which He has before taught them He repeats, as if He would say, You need to understand what I have already given. It has a depth of meaning you have not yet fathomed.
The Savior does not, however, restrict us to the use of these exact words. As one with humanity, He presents His own ideal of prayer, words so simple that they may be adopted by the little child, yet so comprehensive that their significance can never be fully grasped by the greatest minds. We are taught to come to God with our tribute of thanksgiving, to make known our wants, to confess our sins, and to claim His mercy in accordance with His promise.
~ Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, pages 102, 103.