 Praise the Lord, church. Praise the Lord again. Today is a wonderful day. Our church is a unique church. It is a global church. And we have several programs for every department. Today is a special day for the women in this church. So in most, almost I would say those who are able to do the program today, let's say we approximate maybe 90% of the churches worldwide will be having women standing in the pulpit to praise the Lord in this wonderful prayer day for women internationally. And for our viewers who want to appreciate all the women who are standing in several pulpit today and participating through singing and through preaching and uplifting the Lord who has brought us this far. And in honor of this day, our international day, I want our ladies to stand up. Please stand up for a minute. I want to say a short prayer for you. Because we have something which happened to us this year. We lost our general conference women's director just one month ago, sister Edadon Small. And I want to put a short prayer for her. Heavenly Father, we still continue praying for our leader's family. We lost our leader for the general conference women's ministry department, sister Edadon Small. She is resting, awaiting for the resurrection morning. And as we are celebrating this day, we are celebrating without her. But we want to thank you because she made all the preparations of this day. Even for the program of this day, we want to thank you for the services that she did for you. I pray for all the women that you may remind us this day to serve you when we are still alive. We pray that that day we shall rejoice together and say this far we have come. Thank you, Lord, for hearing our prayer in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you so much, ladies, and thank you for the great day that we have prepared. And I want to appreciate the women's ministry's leader for Nairobi Central Church, Sister Elizabeth Coros, for inviting me to come and speak to Central Church today. And our theme for the day is ignite your prayer light. When you talk about the word ignite, ignition, that means something is off. So there is something which is off and something must come to life. So when we talk about igniting our prayer life, it means that somewhere, somehow, something has gone wrong. And when we talk about something which has gone wrong, you must do something about it. That is why we are talking about today ignite your prayer light. I want to believe that each one of us here has a way of prayer life. There is a way you are doing your prayer life as a Christian. There is a method you are using to keep your spirituality alive. Today we are not talking about corporate prayer. We are not talking about congregational prayers. We are not talking about a gathering of family prayer. We are talking about your personal prayer life. And we are going to see why it is important to have an ignited prayer life. The power in prayer. And when we are talking about igniting our prayer life, that means when we don't have prayer life, we are off, we are off the road. We are off the power that God wants us to have. I want to remember 33 years ago when I started my prayer life as a youth. And I promised God I will be doing up my 24 hours prayer every first of the month. And I want to tell you young ladies were in this meeting or watching me. Make use of the time when you are young. You can be a very powerful prayer warrior. I succeeded even when I was in the university. I used to go to the university and pray alone until morning. Then I got some few people who joined me to pray. And I did for four years when I was in canvas and to make it a story short. When I got married I started doing and things started changing after my first baby. I was keeping the one after the one, two, three, four babies. It was coming one every quarter prayer life. I had changed my prayer pattern and I realized something was happening because I was looking for company to do my prayer life. Like I needed my spouse to join me for the prayer life. I realized things may not be the same. I came back and ignited my prayer life and said my dear I'll be praying for you. But on first I'll be praying all night, all day for myself because I need the power of God. There is some way you realize that something has gone different and you must come up and start your prayer life again. There is a time we lose our personal prayer life because we now grasp them. I think they're corporate prayer life. Especially in our families when people are not willing to pray you also give up. You say people are not coming, everyone can be for themselves and God for us all. And some people are dragging to come for worship. We have to have corporate prayer life all the days in our families, in our churches. But there is something special when you have your personal prayer life. Praise the Lord, I've been a pastor for the last 30 years in this church and I've realized less prayers and less power. More prayers and more power. We have no option whether you are in ministry or you are a mere church member when you don't have a powerful prayer life. You are also powerless in your work. That is why our scripture today talks about power. Our scripture is talking about power and it says all power has been given unto you. Which is this power that Peter is talking about that all given unto you. Power has been given unto you. And this power which has been given unto us is divine power. It is not the power that is granted unto us. Like usually when pastors we are not joining the couples together you say by the powers granted me by the government and the church. This is not the power we are talking about because when you mess up all those powers are taken away from you. I'm talking about the power which is divine. It says is divine power has been given for a godly life through our knowledge of him. Who called us by his own glory and goodness? Through this he has given us his very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the divine nature. Having escaped the corruption that is in the world caused by evil desires who gives us the power to have the prayer life. You may want to ignite the power once upon a time when I was young. I still love marathon. I used to run. I used to run. I used to race. I hope you are not checking my weight right now. I'm talking once upon a time. When things were serious I used to race and I love marathon. But when you also check the marathon even those who watch marathon before they start there is always a race which they run and in that race there is somebody scaring the torch and the first person goes and ignites the torches and those torches are the ones which gives light to the field and it gives power so that the athletes will feel the power. They feel jump started. There is power in light. There is power in fire. There is power in it. Because when your prayer life has gone down it means you need something to jump start you up and this power only comes from the honor of the power. By the way, when did you last pray for yourself? When did you last set yourself apart and have a time for prayer? But you may ask me pastor why should I do that because the Lord already knows what I need and why should I pray? And that is what the devil has put in our hearts most of the time that he knows it all. God says we have to pray. Matthew 11 28 says come to me. All you are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. The feet of Jesus in prayer. This is where we lay our burdens. I want to believe that those who are watching and listening each one of us have their own share of burdens in life. Some of us may have the burdens of sicknesses, financial burdens. I am telling you it's not easy. Some of us may have family burdens. We may have challenges which are becoming very heavy on us but God says when you come at the feet of Jesus you lay down all your burdens. They become lighter. Prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to our friends. Know that it's necessary in order to make known to God what we are but in order to enable us to receive him. Prayer does not bring God down to us but it brings us up to him. Book said to Christ page 8. It is necessary to pray. Prayer lifts up to God. It is necessary to have time for prayer. Did Jesus have a prayer life? Because as Christians our desire is to be like Jesus. Our desire is to follow the footprints of Jesus. In the book of Matthew 14, 23 after he had dismissed them the crowd he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night he was there alone praying. Jesus had a personal prayer life. When he had finished with the multitude he went aside to energize himself to talk to his God for the mission that he had given him. He had time to rejuvenate himself to reignite himself one again because people can drain you out. What can drain you out? They suck you. They take away your strength. That is why when Jesus had dismissed the crowd when you have dismissed your wife and children your husband and children you go aside alone and pray and ignite yourself for the Lord. The book of Luke chapter 6 verse 12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray and he spent the night praying to God. He was a divine but he realized the importance of prayer and one of those days he went out to the mountainside to pray. It is not very amazing. It is not very good because the children of God found us weak. He has found us alone. He has found us without strength. He has found us without protection so he can do anything once with us. Protection we need from God. We escape all the blessings that we need from God and because the point is of prayer he had made sure that in your life you don't have time to pray. Even when we are going for work can you pray first? It is waiting. We don't have time to pray for ourselves. In the book of Matthew chapter 5 verse 13 How can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. Have you lost your saltiness for God? Have you lost your saltiness for God? Remember when you started your journey with God how excited you were, how energized you were how you had a lot of fire in you. That same book of Matthew chapter 5 verse 14 to 16 says you are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a barrel. Instead they put it on a stand and it gives the light. Let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and grieve for your Father who is in heaven. When we avoid the prayer time and we lose the light instead of becoming the light we become the darkness. Instead of attracting the people to God we become the darkness just checking your house. In those houses I think that the modern houses are having the same issues. When you are using an ordinary bulb you can see how all the insects want to come where the light is. Who doesn't want light? Especially these days when light goes off and you know your phone will go off and your laptops people get so stressed because there is no light. There is importance of light and that's what the Lord says please accept the divine power that God has given us. I'm going back to the text the text that we read which is our key text. There is the importance of that text that I want. All divine power all divine power has been given and to you is checking the foundation. Because he said the foundations are shaken what will the righteous do? That means when we don't have the power which God has given us our foundation has been shaken we have to review our foundation. We have to review where something went wrong. In that book of 2nd Peter 1 3 2 4 says what have we been given? It says all things have been given and to us all power for life and for Godliness. There is nothing that the Lord has denied from us. Christ has used his divine power to give us all even his gift of salvation. Where does this gift come from? In that verse 3 and 4 the quality and significance of the gift largely is dependent on where the gift comes from. Peter identifies the source in two ways. How can I reignite my prayer life? How can I get this divine power? Peter identifies two ways. Number one, in that verse 3 the knowledge of Jesus Christ. We get this divine power through the knowledge of Jesus Christ. That means by reading the word of God we get the fire back to us. That means our divine power can be restored when we read the word of God. The knowledge of the word of God brings grace and peace as well as salvation and a life of Godliness. The generation growth in holiness comes from a saving knowledge of the one who has called us. When Christ is saying I have invited you it's not a mere invitation it is an effectual call a call that always produces the desired results. When Christ calls it is results automatic. And in the book of John chapter 10 27 it says the ship hear my voice and follow me. We are seeing that book of 2 Timothy and it says the promises from Christ pray according to the promises we have been made to be partakers of divine nature so when we pray we pray according to the promises of God and we receive the gift of divine nature. I want to take you to the book of Leviticus chapter 12 verse 12 and 13 and the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it. It shall not be put out and the priest shall burn good on it every morning and lay the burnt offering in order upon it and it shall burn thereof the fath of the peace offerings. In the Old Testament the priest was not supposed to put out fire at the altar. The fire was supposed to burn day and night so that wherever the children of Israel brought their offerings they were ready to consume the offering. We cannot allow our lives to be out of the fire of God. It is the evidence of being spiritually alive. When there is fire you cannot be the same. If you have the fire that has been ignited in your prayer life you cannot be the same. When there is fire you cannot be normal. When there is fire fire changes everything once upon a time someone's house was burning down and in this house it was hosting and aunty was very sick working with crutches in this house and the house started burning down and everybody was running out of the house and they remember that somebody was sick maybe was not come out of the house but let me tell you when they realized outside the first person who went out was the aunty with the crutches when fire came and she was the first one to come out she even forgot the crutches in the house. When there is fire things change when you have fire things cannot be normal so God says there is importance of prayer ignite your prayer life ignite your prayer life because with prayer change with prayer God we need to improve our prayer life how should I pray how can I have an ignited prayer life number one pray according to God's word sometimes we are our serious prayers but the best way to have a good prayer life is to pray according to God's word and according to God's will there are many many ways that people pray but let us pray according to God's word number two talk to God as a friend number three write down your prayers number four pray according to the scripture of promises number six be inspired by the prayers of others I get inspired by the prayer of others in the bible when you want to ignite your prayer life you have to pray according to God's will you write down your prayer you pray according to the promises of God because in the bible and in the text that we started with according to the promises we are answered in the book of first chronicles chapter 4 verse 9 and 10 talks about the prayer of Jabez Jabez the word Jabez the mothers have named us or our fathers names that they chose for themselves when Jabez was named the mothers had a reason first chronicles 4 9 to 10 Jabez made sorrow but his prayer shows that he desires the complete opus of his life made sorrow the meaning of Jabez he pleased to God for a blessing an enlightened territory for God's presence and for strength to keep him from evil so that he may not cause pain again to others when the parents named him Jabez made sorrowful he said I will pray I will pray against my name he prayed against the name and said God change me so that I do not become a pain to the rest of the people as I became a pain to the parents pray for change of things that follow you from birth refuse them in Jesus name and he will give you an answer to prayer we are talking about getting inspired by other people's prayers we look at the prayer of Anna in the temple Anna was childless when she got the fire prayer and she was in the temple she prayed God remove my shame if you give me a sign I will bring him back to the temple did God answer the prayer yes he did prayer has several benefits prayer has several benefits of others the prayer of Jehoshaphat in 2nd chronicles 20 verse 12 2nd chronicles 2012 Jehoshaphat was facing a great enemy and this he was so fearful and he prayed for help he had no idea what to do so he said his eyes upon God and he wanted for the reverence I want you to get one point from there Jehoshaphat was facing a great enemy in that book of 2nd chronicles 2012 he was so fearful he prayed for help he had no idea what to do he said his eyes upon God and he waited for the reverence even when you don't know what to do just pray he prayed and he waited he was fearful but he prayed in that same book in verse 15 2nd chronicles 2015 the Lord answered and said to not be dismayed the battle is not yours the battle is mine and the prayer was answered even some of us when we don't feel like I am so fearful I am blind and wait upon the Lord He will come upon you and the lawyer we have to be inspired Matthew 7.7 and it shall be given to you and you will find knock and the door will be opened to our beauty God is answering our prayers we knock we ask praying for an offspring it took so many years but according to the promise the prayer was answered when Jacob's prayer for a blessing God answered according the blessing in Genesis 28 verse 20 to 22 that means it is our duty to pray and make the connection with God I want to give a symbol illustration which happened to my friend and I've said it somewhere else before my friend it was the year 2011 they were having a group of women and women like participating in buying items for one another so this time it was about buying fridges they bought a fridge for this lady they went and prayed for it and she installed a fridge she had not used her fridge before and they told her how to pack the food in the fridge and she packed everything in the fridge and life was good and the next day she went to school because she was a teacher she had packed lunch ready lunch the next day she went with the food it was smelling a bit the third day she came complaining and said oh my fridge is not good you bought for me a bad fridge and this fridge cannot work so can we return it their friends went home and they were trying to pack a wrong fridge only to check that she had never packed in the fridge the plug was lying down and the food was full in the fridge this is the life of a prayerless Christian you can be packed with so many verses you can be packed with so many activities you can be packed with so many good things but if you are not black to the power the food will start rotting and this is the sacrament of the devil it will allow you to have your lesson it will allow you to go for the choir it will allow you to have for outreach but if you are not black to the source of power everything in your life starts rotting there are so many benefits there are so many benefits of prayer and I pray that the devil does not deny us the benefits of prayer because with prayer we have the power and the divine blessings the Lord has given us the first blessing of prayer is that prayer connects us with God prayer close us to God prayer is what brings the fridge and the plug to the power this fridge is packed close us to God and we have to be on our knees we have to ignite our prayer life prayer is one of the most essential duties of every human being without prayer without maintaining our Christian work prayer elevates prayer strengthens prayer enables it is a thought talking with God the book of R&D white volume 2 page 313 prayer has several benefits and we realize that prayer draws us closer to God prayer enables us to resist evil prayer enables us to resist what evil in the book of 1 Peter 5 8 be alert and observe our mind your enemy the devil is prowling around like a rolling lion looking for someone to devour in the book of Matthew 26 41 watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation benefits of prayer number one we said prayer connects us with God number two prayer enables us to resist word temptation Colossians 3 verse 2 set your mind on things above and not on other things and you will live a spiritual life prayer prayer is power in prayer improves our mental health prayer improves our mental health in Philippians 4 verse 6 to 7 do not be anxious about anything but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your request to God and the peace of God which transcends all understanding with God your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus prayer is powerful we cannot avoid prayer in our lives prayer increases thankfulness number four thankfulness verse 3 in Daniel chapter 5 verse 16 to 18 rejoice always pray continually give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus prayer prayer increase our thanksgiving when we don't pray we will find ourselves complaining and very sad in the book of Psalms 146 verse 1 to 2 praise the Lord praise the Lord of my soul when I leave I will praise you I will send your praises to my God while I have my being when we pray we get the strength rejoice always and continually rejoice because the Lord has given us the secret of prayer this day if you are passing through time of lawlessness in prayer be read in our texts in our texts that all divine power has been given unto you in Luke 19 turn the Bible says even I have given you power to tremble over scorpions and they will not hurt you power all things I will be given to you for holiness all things if you are missing anything for the holiness of life for our spiritual holiness and for our power through my son Jesus Christ all power all divine things have been granted unto you all you need is the secret of prayer when you touch prayer it is a password to your holiness you touch prayer is a password to your answered prayer prayer is a password you cannot open your phone without a password you cannot go to your bank and you throw your money without your password prayer is a password because all divine blessings have been granted to us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior may the Lord grant you this divine power may the Lord illuminate you and give you power in Jesus name let us pray our mighty God in heaven we pray that today you reignite our power of prayer that you may put in us the fire to pray give us a secret which has been lost give us the power which we have lost before so that all that we ask according to our will has been granted to us we shall overcome temptations because of prayer we shall live a holy life because of prayer we shall work in the midst of fire because of prayer we shall live in the lion's den because of prayer and we shall be victorious in Jesus name may God bless you and keep you