"Teach Us to Pray"
Teach Us to Pray • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewTeach us to pray privately so that we can enter your presence with assurance and peace.
Notes
Transcript
Welcome to the Grove Community
Welcome to the Grove Community
Online or in the room we are glad you are here
We want to see you thrive.
to have hope, purpose, assurance and be filled with joy
IF YOU ARE HERE TODAY AND YOU DON’T HAVE HOPE, PURPOSE, ASSURANCE OR OVERWHELMING JOYI am glad you are here. We are here to help you.
Teach us to pray
Teach us to pray
Intro: Physical Fitness compared to Spiritual Fitness + Prayer is the ‘flabby” spot in our spiritual being.
As a church I want us to have rock hard prayer life
Teach Us to Pray Privately
Teach Us to Pray Privately
This message is in conjunction with the series praying powerfully, passionately, and publically
What’s the use in praying?
What’s the use in praying?
For some, its useless because there is no god.
To others God is sovereign and prayer is unnecessary because God will do what God will do.
For the rest of us, we’re more like “if all else fails, pray about it.”
Prayer is awkward, its hard to focus, it can leave you frustrated, it can leave feeling hurt when things do not go as you wish
So why Pray?
Because God Commands us to
Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving.
Devote is an imperative verb in Greek that is a command not a suggestion
It also means to continue at all times and in all places.
In acts 1:14 they were devoting themselves to prayer all the time in all places.
“As for me, I vow that I will not sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. I will teach you the good and right way.
We are commanded to pray because in prayer is where we find God’s guidance.
However God also listens to our prayer
Know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for Himself; the Lord will hear when I call to Him.
So why Pray? Because God commands us to, He guides us through prayer and he hears our private prayers
Application
If God commands us to pray there is advantages to praying.
If God has promised to teach you the good and right way, then prayer is essential to thriving in the lifetime.
Knowing God hears all prayers at all times should raise our confidence
So why is praying so hard?
So why is praying so hard?
Because There is a battle is for our minds and our hearts.
In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul discusses several topics. Chapters 5 and 6 focus on the concept of authority and submission among individuals.
Men are to submit to the authority of God
Wives submit to the authority of their husbands as God’s design
Kids Submit to the authority of their parents.
And slaves (employees) submit to the authority of their masters (bosses)
Paul knew this is a difficult teaching to accept and even more difficult to obey.
Men want to be gods ourselves. It’s why we start wars and treat the world like it’s our plunder
Wives do not naturally recognize their husband’s authority let alone submit to them
Kids protest their parent’s authority all the time. Submission is not easy
Bosses can easily lord their authority over their employees and employees can find it hard to respect and follower their bosses
Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength.
Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil.
For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.
Now, just for emphasis sake, if we skip down to vs 18
Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.
We would see that Paul is using the entire section from v.10 through the chapter to compel his readers to engage in prayer because we are
Weak and unable to fulfill the commands in ch 5-6 apart from prayer and God’s Spirit
We’re easily outmatched by the powers of spiritual world around us. Therefore we are to suit up
This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.
Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest,
and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace.
In every situation take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word.
Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.
You see, the armor mentioned in order to take a stand against spiritual attack and the temptation to remain timid about our faith is not to be put on so that you can charge after the devil and his evil forces.
truth like belt,
righteousness as a chest plate,
cleats dug into the gospel of peace,
faith as a shield,
a helmet of salvation
and the Word as a sword
are all used to prevents you from the attack in your mind.
The attack against your prayer life.
The Devil would love nothing more than to convince you that you do not have what it takes to go to God for help.
He is trying to keep you from prayer because he knows If you can find God you will find your victory.
But I am now convinced that these weapons are not used to attack the devil they are used as symbols of conformation that we belong to Him and are granted access as a child and ambassador of God.
You cannot expect to hear from God if you do not enter his presence seeking truth, ready to hear truth
You cannot enter his presence when there is unconfessed unrighteousness in you heart.
I cannot feel safe to pray to a holy God unless I can stand firm that Jesus has brought peace between...
Faith in God shields me from all the distractions and assures me I will hear from Him.
being completely protected in salvation allows my mind the freedom to explore the Godhead
Knowing the Word enables me to know the language of God and hear from Him directly
Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.
For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough in Him to speak as I should.
Only God can renew our hearts and mind to be in line with His Will
On the ground of our own goodness we cannot expect to have our prayers answered. But Jesus is worthy, and for His sake we may have our prayers answered. But if we trust in Christ, if we hide in Him, if we put Him forward and ourselves in the background, depend on Him and plead His name, we may expect to have our prayers answered.
George Müller
Application
The church should be in constant prayer for one another.
For our closeness to God,
for boldness of the Gospel in our speech,
for victory over spiritual warfare,
and for the church to bare fruit.
Not based on our worthiness but based on Jesus’ worthiness
Reiteration
I started by comparing our prayer life to our physical fitness. Private prayer is where we develop a rock hard prayer life and a healthy walk with God.
What if all your personal needs could ONLY be prayed for by others.
Would that impact your decision for choosing a church?
How important would finding a prayer centered church be if they were your ONLY chance at having your personal requests heard?
Charles Stanley Mentioned when his grandmother passed away he felt in his soul the absence of a prayer warrior lifting him up.
That is the idea that Paul is wanting from your private prayer time. That you enter into God’s presence so secure and certain that your needs are covered that you use your time to lift up others instead.
Sure, our physical status as a church may be small in stature, we may not be the biggest, or strongest.
we may not have the deepest pockets or the finest of all the new state of the art facilities like other (gyms) or churches
But what if our strength was the one thing that they all admit to be lacking. What if we prayed so well that people felt it and saw it every time they were around us.
I believe we would all say I imagine not being apart of The Grove.
In order for that to happen we need to enter into the Lord’s presence in private spaces and pray.
Pray often and pray for the right things which we will continue to look at in this series.
For know, I want you to consider this:
“What if everyone in here was relying on you to lift them up in prayer, could they count on you?
Look to the person to your right and say “I got you!”
to your left and say I got you!
tap the person in front of you and tell them I got you!
Look back to that person and tell them I got you too!
Pray everyday this week.
Pray for the Church, pray for boldness of speech
Pray everyday this week.
Pray for the Church, pray for boldness of speech
Tell a friend what you are doing and ask them how you can pray for them.
Tell a friend what you are doing and ask them how you can pray for them.
Challenge
Challenge
(Next week)
Waiting for an answer to prayer is often part of the answer.
Prayer Changes Our Situations
Prayer Changes Our Situations
Ephesians
Prayer is the only way to move God to action.
Prayer Changes Us
Prayer Changes Us
Take a minute and breath
If we continue in our prayers and never get an answer, it will confirm the natural unbelief of the human heart.13
A. W. Tozer
Waiting for an answer to prayer is often part of the answer.
John Blanchard
Challenge
Challenge
Challenge
Challenge
Challenge
Challenge