Prayer: The Kind God Hears

By Dr. Martin G Tharp PhD

In the early years of the Church, in and during the founding of America, prayer was a nationally accepted form of communicating with God, but it is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Now prayer is replaced with the words of a popular song and people fail to speak to God on their own simply allowing the lyrics to speak for them. It's time for our prayers to be the ones God actually hears!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dr. Martin G Tharp PhD
• Release date: Mar 11, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301409907

Dr. Martin G Tharp PhD

Dr. Martin Tharp has been an avid student of the Bible for many years and holds a Bachelor, Master and eight Doctorates, one honorary and seven earned, including a Doctor. of Literature and two PhDs. He has been in full time ministry for over fifty-seven years and has authored forty-nine books to date, many of which are being used as curriculum in Bible colleges around the United States and abroad. He has also penned a number of gospel songs and recorded thirty-three albums as well as being actively involved in a school ministry to Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom for the past thirty-eight years, and Dr. Tharp has been honored twice by members of parliament in Ireland for their work in the Protestant and Catholic schools. He and his wife, Sharon, along with Maranda Howells, travel extensively across the USA and the whole of the British Isles holding evangelistic crusades in the churches of both countries.

Book preview

PRAYER;

The Kind That God Hears!

By Martin G. Tharp, Ph.D.

Copyright 2013 Martin Tharp Ph.D.

Smashwords edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes; This ebook is licensed for your own personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.. Scripture quotations identified KJV are from the Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, King James Version. Copyright 1984, 1991 by AMG International, INC and the Living Bible Copyright 1971, 1986 by Tyndale House Publishers INC

Table Of Contents

Introduction

1. Prayer; A Gathering Darkness

2. Biblical Proof Of The Necessity Of Prayer

3. Fasting And Prayer; Two Imperatives One Purpose

4. Pray Without Ceasing

5. The Cost And Lingering Benefits Of Prayer

6. Power In Prayer

7. The Guide To Extending Our Prayer Life

8. The Prayer Of Faith

9. The Keys To The Kingdom

10. The Discipline Of Prayer

11. Prayer That Will Unlock The Heavens

12. Praying In The Spirit

13. The Purpose Of Prayer

14. Prayer; The Shepherds Staff

15. Praying Evangelistically

16. Prayer; According To His Will

17. The Synopsis Of The Doctrine Of Prayer

Bibliography

About The Author

Introduction

Prayer is a subject which has captivated the Christian community for generations. The number of sermons which have been preached on prayer is innumerable! This book was not born out of a desire to attempt to persuade anyone of a new and exciting revelation, on the contrary, the sudden urge came as I was in the process of preparing to deliver the keynote address for the National day of Prayer in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Much like the previous thirty two books I have written, the persuasion by the Holy Spirit suddenly causes all other projects to be placed on hold in favor of that which was burning inside my spirit. When I accepted the invitation, my first thought was; Why me? Since I have never been recognized as a particularly notable orator on the subjects which accompany special days such as Mothers Day, or Fathers Day, Easter Sunday New Years or a myriad of other special occasions, it came as a surprise.

I must admit that after fifty years in the Ministry, I am still probably considered one of those old fashioned preachers with some old fashioned ideas. Which is why I have very strong convictions about regimental study habits and a disciplined prayer routine, for after I have studied to the best of my ability and prayed until there is nothing remaining to pray about or for, then my dependence rests on the power of the Holy Spirit, and the anointing which can only come from the throne room of Heaven!

During my preparation for that speaking engagement, the urgency to take my own advice simply overwhelmed me! I encourage people everywhere I go that A SHORT PENCIL IS BETTER THAN A LONG MEMORY and IF YOU CAN THINK IT, INK IT!

Although I was not exactly true to my own advice, I began to write nevertheless. While I may be old fashioned, I have recognized that there are definitely a few benefits in this twenty first century that I enjoy and have taken advantage of, such as a laptop computer which is never far from my side!

Every book that I have written thus far has actually begun in a similar fashion, an impression on my mind which simply will not allow me to concentrate on anything else, including the five additional books I am working on which are in various stages of completion.

Even though this book was not in print in time for my National Day of Prayer speaking engagement, it is of no consequence to me. The most important thing is that it is now finished and I am in the editing stages before committing it to the printing press. By the time anyone will have the opportunity to pass judgment on the merits of the finished product, I trust that the Holy Spirit will have cleared the decks of my mind and I will find another subject burning within me, urging me onward one more time!

Chapter One

Prayer; A Gathering Darkness

I was born in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1935 and raised in Texas. Unfortunately, my family was torn apart because of alcoholism which finally resulted in a broken home. My dad worked on a fairly wide variety of jobs during my impressionable years and my mom and dad divorced when I was five years old.

Although my mother was awarded custody of myself, Chuck, Gene, Dorothy and Jimmy, before I was six, I persuaded my mom to allow me to live with my dad. Since there was no such thing as television during the early forties, the major form of advertising was on the huge billboards which were placed strategically along the highways, or on the side of barns dotting the landscape of all the major highways across rural America.

Brill-cream had them all across the country declaring A little dab’ll do ya! Burma-shave was another iconic advertisement that was always divided into at least six to eight parts, stretching for miles before you arrived at the final segment in order to get their entire message.

However, there was one billboard that literally seemed to be everywhere which made a lasting impression on my mind! It was the one which had a man with a Bible in one hand with his arm around his wife and three small children clinging to the two of them which stated;

The Family who Prays Together, Stays Together!

It was a concept which I spent most of my earlier childhood hoping beyond hope that somehow, someway, someday, the message on that billboard would depict my parents. There was a time in America when no-one was ashamed to carry their Bible with them wherever they went and there was no argument or sense of humiliation or embarrassment if someone decided to say a prayer in public.

I was around eight years old when a very normal event for the era gave me one of the most vivid memories of my dad. It was the occasion when we sat down at the counter in a small café and the waitress brought the plate of food to the man sitting next to us. He removed his hat, bowed his head and began to pray over his food. That was the day when I realized that being a hopeless falling down drunk had not destroyed my dad’s respect for God or for someone who had the courage to call on His name in a public place.

Dad removed his hat and bowed his head, nodding for me to do the same and although I bowed my head, I couldn’t help noticing that there were several others who had followed suit. The man was praying quietly, unaware of the fact that most of the thirty-five or forty customers had enough respect for his humble prayer to stop talking and eating, bowing their heads in silence until his amen had been said!

Just over one year later in the spring of 1944 my older brother Joseph Owen, who served in the Second World War and fought at Iwo Jima and Quadal Canal, showed up out of nowhere while I was shining shoes on the streets of Carlsbad, New Mexico. Within an hour, I quickly decided that my brother must be a genuine hero, based on the number of medals on his chest and the tremendous amount of respect he got from every soldier stationed at the nearby Army base, who quickly snapped to attention and saluted him as they passed him on the street.

The first thing he did was to take my dad and I to a nearby café and treated us to a good meal. When the food arrived, I was a little embarrassed when Joe removed his cap, bowed his head and said a prayer, blessing the food. Although my dad quickly took off his hat and bowed his head, I sneaked a peak around the room, hoping no one was noticing my brother saying a prayer, because at that time I was certain that a hero did not need to pray!

I could hardly believe my eyes as every man there removed his hat, stopped talking or eating and sat or stood in silent respect, including the cook and two waitresses, while Joe quietly thanked God for the food, his safe return home and for the privilege of eating a meal with his dad and his little brother! I was amazed at how many men were wiping their eyes (including my dad) when Joe finished his sincere prayer of thanksgiving!

Later that evening out of curiosity, I asked him if he was ever afraid, or if he or any of his buddies had ever prayed when they were fighting overseas? Son, any man who fought in the war and says he was not afraid, or says he did not pray, is a liar! When you have bombs falling all around you, grenades being thrown in your direction and bullets whizzing past your head, or when you are forced to shield yourself with the dead bodies of your friends who have already been killed by snipers, machine gun fire or blown up, fear will make you pray! Everyone around you will be praying, so you won’t be on your own! Marty, I am convinced that calling on God is what brought most of us home!

Joe reached over and laid his hand over mine and said; Marty, NEVER be ashamed to ask God for help! Many men who claimed to be atheists were crying out to God right alongside the rest of us!

Unfortunately, the innocence and honesty of that day has long since disappeared! Vanished like the fresh breeze which brought along with it an honest concern for each other, demonstrated by the kindness shown from neighbor to neighbor.

The schools which I attended in New Mexico and West Texas opened every day with prayer and the reading of a Bible verse, followed by the pledge of allegiance to the American flag which hung proudly in the corner of the room. Once each week, we recited the Ten Commandments which were engraved on two large stones set in the brickwork on the front of the building in Sierra Blanca and on a large marble plaque in front of the school in Carlsbad. In each location it was as if the Ten Commandments were mandated laws given to us by God Himself to live by and abide by!

Although I was only nine years old when the incident with Joe occurred, I have never forgotten the image which has become a permanent fixture in my mind of my brother in full dress uniform, his chest covered in medals, with his head bowed in a café full of people, and praying! Not just saying a few obligatory words, but really praying with no apparent regard for what anyone around us thought!

In all the years I lived with my dad, the closest I had ever seen him come to praying was those two incidents when he bowed his head as someone else prayed!

When I became a Christian at twenty-three years old, prayer became an integral part of my life. At twenty-five, I answered the call of God to become a Minister of the Gospel and within a few short months I slowly but surely acquired the knowledge of WHY, prayer had become such an indispensable component of my Christian experience.

I accepted the Pastorate of my first Church at twenty-six years old and quickly discovered that I not only lacked the knowledge necessary to be an effective Pastor, I also lacked the skills necessary to deal with their high expectations. The day I arrived, the large sign which dominated the front of the Church still had the name of the former Pastor on it, followed by an array of college degrees which gave me an instant inferiority complex. Especially the following week when the man who had been contracted to do the work of changing the name on the sign had finished exchanging my name for his, then turned to me and requested the information of how many degrees would follow my name on the sign!

At that moment the sudden feeling of inadequacy was highly embarrassing! There were no collegiate honors or awards of which I could boast, for the simple reason that I had not graduated from high school much less attended college! I made a decision not to concern myself and refused to allow my lack of education to hinder the work of God! What I lacked in knowledge and skills, I made up for with total dependency on my God given ability to touch Heaven in my prayer life.

There was an anointing of God which seemingly descended from Heaven on every service in our Church and I soon discovered it was not just because of me. My first week there I noticed there were two elderly sisters who were just leaving the Church as I arrived at nine o’clock nearly every morning. They hardly ever said a word to me, they just hugged me, smiled and were on there way. I soon discovered that they had decided their new young Pastor needed some extra backing from a Heavenly source and they were praying for me and the Church from six in the morning until my arrival at nine!

For the first couple of months I had been praying at home before going to my office, but when I realized how strong the dedication of those two ladies had been, I began to join them at least two or three times each week at six in the morning where we bombarded Heaven for nearly three hours. The anointing of God on our services which was acquired through a dedicated prayer life of those two sisters and myself, brought us from a small congregation of fifty, to one of more than five hundred in just over one year!

What the man with all the degrees had been unable to do in over ten years of ministry, God had allowed us to accomplish in one! It slowly dawned on my thick skull that it is not the degrees which a man earns, that qualifies him in the eyes of God, it is a sincere dedication to the calling. I have earned far more degrees over the past thirty-five years than the man whose educational prowess had made me feel so inadequate, but my philosophy is that all my degrees and a dollar will buy you a cup of coffee at McDonald’s! All ten of my degrees have been earned for the sole purpose of enforcing my adherence to the Scripture which urges me to;

"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15).

It was actually a little goading from an old friend, Dr. Charles Travis, which propelled me into academia with a vengeance! Through his urging, I received my first degree in my late thirties and incredibly, I felt like I had conquered the world! Walking down the aisle to receive my Bachelors, set in motion an overwhelming desire to learn and earn! I decided that if I earned any further degrees they would be beside the point of my studies and certainly not for the purpose of impressing anyone.

Because of my thirst for knowledge, I now hold a Bachelors a Masters, and eight Doctorates! One honorary and seven earned! I made the determination to study diligently early in the pursuit of my Ministerial calling, for while attending a Pentecostal Bible conference, where it seemed that all the special speakers were in their late sixties or seventies,