Prayer is essential for the spiritual development of our Christian lives. If we think we can live without prayer, we will begin to trust ourselves rather than God.

The Prayer Ministry begins with each member of the church family bowing in the "prayer closet" and spending time alone with the Lord praising, worshipping, and seeking His heart. The prayer ministry grows out of this personal relationship with God.

It is important to recognize that the youngest Christian has the same access to God, through prayer, as the oldest saint. Prayer is not preparation for battle...Prayer is the battle.

Discover. . . 

• A house of prayer at Stone Corral Community Church...."My house will be called a house of prayer for all the people." (Isaiah 56:7)
  
  
• Getting to know God better through prayer - how prayer changes you - that real friendship with God comes through prayer - that prayer does not fit us for the greater work, but prayer is the greater work.
  
  
• Our Prayer Chain where critical prayer requests are prayed for immediately. In Romans 15:31, Paul asked others to pray that he might be rescued.

Have a Prayer Request or Praise?

Your prayer request or praise item may be turned in on the registration cards located in the bulletin, during Sunday morning or evening services or you may call the Church Secretary (Mary Kirk) at 209.334.2312 during the week. When requested, your prayer request or praise item can be published in Our Weekly Prayer List, an all-church publication designed to encourage our congregation to pray for each other. In addition to personal requests, prayers are lifted up regularly for the nation, missionaries, salvation of lost souls, job seekers, and students.

To find out what God says about prayer, check out the following passages from the Bible.

What is prayer? Matthew 7:7-8
Who should pray? Hebrews 4:16
Why pray? John 12:28
Why pray with others? Romans 15:10
How can prayer be hindered? Psalm 66:18
Does God answer all prayers? 1 John 5:14-15

Unanswered Prayer ~ James 4:3

James writes in his epistle “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” James 4:3.  We know that God hears our prayers, but our prayers are not always answered.  As we examine some of the reasons for unanswered prayer, it becomes quite evident that the fault is not with God, but with ourselves.  We ask amiss.  Let us look at some of the reasons that our prayers go unanswered.

1.   INCONSISTENCY.  In I Kings 19:1-6 we find the Prophet Elijah had just won a great victory over the prophets of the idol Baal.  He had challenged these false prophets to offer a sacrifice to Baal and he would offer a sacrifice to the Lord God.  They would call upon their god to send down fire to consume their sacrifice, and Elijah would call upon the Lord God to send fire.  The one who sent fire would be the true God.  Of course Elijah won by the power of God and the prophets of Baal were slain.  Jezebel, the wicked queen, was angry and promised to kill Elijah by the next day.  Elijah fled in fear from the wrath of Jezebel.  He was so tired that he prayed that God would kill him.  Instead of killing him, God provided food for him that he might live.  Elijah’s prayer went unanswered because of his inconsistency.  If he had really wanted to die he wouldn’t have fled; Jezebel would have killed him.  Often we pray that we might be soul winners for Christ, but our prayers go unanswered because of our inconsistency: we refuse to surrender ourselves to Christ’s service.  We pray for power to overcome a bad habit or addiction, but we are unwilling to submit to Him.  We ask for forgiveness for our sins without repentance.  Let’s keep our signals straight with God!

2.   DISOBEDIENCE.  In Deuteronomy 3:23-27 we find Moses praying that God would let him enter the Promised Land.  Years before God had commanded Moses to speak to a rock that it might bring forth water to the thirsty Israelites.  Instead, Moses struck the rock, not giving God the glory.  His punishment was that he could not enter the Promised Land.  Disobedience in Christian living leads to unanswered prayer: when we fail to love others and forgive and when we become conformed to the world.  We must obey, not rebel, if we want a close walk with God.

3.   TO BE KEPT HUMBLE.  In II Corinthians 12:7-9, The Apostle Paul describes himself as having “a thorn in the flesh.”  He prayed three times it might depart from him, but God simply revealed to him that His grace was sufficient for him; God wanted to keep him humble that he would continue to rely upon God.  Sometimes we have to be humbled to stay true to God.  We often pray, “God, don’t let this happen.”  We desire an easy life with little resistance.  God lets things happen to us as He did to Job that we might rely upon Him.

4.   WAITING TOO LONG TO CONFESS.  In II Samuel 12:12-18a, we find King David after he had committed adultery with his neighbor’s wife and then had her husband, a soldier in David’s army, killed by the sword of the enemy after it was discovered that the wife was with child by David.  David did not confess his sins but sought to cover them up.  When the Prophet Nathan confronted David and David knew his sins were known, it was then that David confessed his sins.  He had waited too long!  God said that the son that was born to David and Bathsheba would die.  David wept and prayed, but God took the son.  God wants us to confess our sins quickly so that He can forgive us.  Chastisement comes as the result of unconfessed sins.

5.   PRAYING TOO LATE.  In Luke 16:19-31 Jesus tells of a rich man who went to hell.  There he prayed to Abraham for water to relieve his torment.  Abraham said that couldn’t happen.  Then the rich man prayed that his brothers, who were still living, might be warned not to come to this place.  Abraham said there were warned by Moses and the prophets.  His prayers went unanswered.  The words of Abraham that would ring in his ears forever were, “Son, remember.”  He would remember his opportunities to pray to God, his opportunities to repent and be saved, his opportunities to love his neighbor, but for this rich man, his prayer came too late.  The Bible says, “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon him while He is near.”

God always hears our prayers; it is never His fault that they go unanswered.  Pray that God’s will be done in your life, and that prayer will never go unanswered.

Chuck Poindexter, Pastor

How To Pray by Mart de Haan I knew what I needed to do. Yet, in the quiet of a chosen place, I gave in once again to distraction. Prayerlessly. Even though I had been praying in the flow of the day's activity, and even though I had been living with a sense of dependence upon God, I seemed to lose confidence before Him. I just couldn't get beyond my own sense of failure. Lingering awareness of unanswered prayer as well as my own countless shortcomings seemed to fill me with doubt. Why should a Father as wonderful as this hear such an unprofitable and unfaithful servant? I had not loved God with all my heart. Hadn't been as considerate of my wife as I had determined to be. Hadn't loved my children as wisely as I'd wanted to love them. Hadn't used material resources as thoughtfully as I should have. Hadn't kept my word to stay in touch with valued friends. Didn't feel I had acted like a genuine follower of Christ should act toward extended family, co-workers, and neighbors. Bills had piled up, some past due, not always for lack of money but sometimes for misuse of time. Feeling addicted to activity and compelled by work responsibilities, family needs, and routine, I sensed I was doing too much with too little faithfulness. Then I remembered something. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He didn't give them a pattern for prayer that began with soul-searching. As important as it is for us to do spiritual inventory on our failures, Jesus didn't make confession of sin a priority in prayer. Notice again how His model prayer begins. Not with inventory of sin. Not with encouragement to recount the errors of our day. Just an invitation to come to the Father with a desire to see Him honored in our world as He is honored and served in heaven. Jesus even taught His disciples to ask for the needs of the day before raising the issue of their spiritual failures. Only then did He teach His friends to say, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" (Matt. 6:12). While this model was probably not meant to be a rigid formula for all prayer, it set the agenda for heaven's priorities. What surfaces here for those who have already believed in Jesus is a pattern of heaven's first concerns. The order is insightful if not always necessary. Does Jesus' teaching about prayer mean we stop admitting and owning our sin? No, not as specific sins come to mind. Everywhere the Word of God pleads with the children of God to turn to Christ again and again from the sins and distractions of life. Everywhere the Scriptures make it clear that we cannot walk with God while at the same time walk in conscious sin. The confession principle of 1 John 1:9 is an important reminder for us to keep short accounts with God. But this is not Jesus' first priority in prayer. So why doesn't Jesus teach us to address that which is so burdensome and troublesome to us? Because He understands our weakness. He understands our pride. He understands our complete inability to live up to the perfect standards of God's love and law. For these reasons He came into our world to be a sacrifice for our sin, to bring us to the throne of His Father's grace. To remove sin as an obstacle to God, He suffered in our place as payment for all of our sin. Because of His sacrificial, atoning death, the first issue of prayer can now be the honor of the One who has so loved us. Far more of an issue than our countless sins is whether in this moment of prayer we are longing for the interests and will of God. Far more important than a rehearsal of our sins is our desire to see God do His will in our heart. If these priorities are in place, we can be confident that the Lord will gradually lead us in a path that will enable us to come to terms with our sinful inclinations and choices. Father, we want You to be honored in our lives, for Your will to be done, and for Your provisions to be our constant source of strength. Forgive us for adding to all of our other sins the mistake of not coming to You in prayer because we are preoccupied with failures Your Son has already paid for.