Sermon Tone Analysis

there was a statement that was said by a man named Calvin Wittman:

Prayer is, for the most part, an untapped resource, an unexplored continent where untold treasure remains to be unearthed.

F.B. Meyer, the author of the great little book, the secret of Guidance said; “The great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but un-offered prayer”

this scripture is talking specifically about the warring within our flesh.....

i believe that the lord is calling us to be a house of prayer within ourselves…we are the temple of the Lord.

Christ overturned the tables of the money changers because the house of God was to be a house of prayer/worship....

rather than a house of prayer, they brought in things that didn’t belong

they where using the temple of God for something that it was not intended to be used for.

often times we neglect the very thing that is able to help us the most

the bible says that we are the temple of the Lord…the very dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.

Necessity

there are many different types of prayer

personal

healing

deliverance

intercessory, etc.

we are talking tonight about personal prayer…intimate prayer

Instead of it being something we do everyday, like breathing, eating and walking and talking, it seems to have become like that little glass covered box on the wall that says, "break in case of emergency."

It is true that so very often we associate prayer with crises in our life.

judgement is required at the hand of sin.

unless that judgement is averted, the penalty or results of that sin will take its course.

although judgement is a result of our sinful ways…prayer can change the outcome or the very judgement itself.

prayer, in part, is where we ask God for strength and forgiveness…to forgive us of transgressions that we may have.

prayer is often talked about more than anything else , and practiced less than anything else.

And yet, for the believer it remains one of the greatest gift our Lord has given us outside of salvation.

Attributes of Prayer

Sincerity

The first and most obviously necessary requisite of acceptable prayer, is sincerity.

God is a Spirit.

He searches the heart.

He is not satisfied with words, or with external homage.

He cannot be deceived and will not be mocked.

It is a great offence, therefore, in his sight, when we utter words before Him in which our hearts do not join.

We sin against Him when we use terms, in the utterance of which the angels veil their faces, with no corresponding feelings of reverence; or use the formulas of thanksgiving without gratitude; or those of humility and confession without any due sense of our unworthiness; or those of petition without desire for the blessings we ask.

we must have a sense of humility towards God…recognizing our need for him and understanding our inadequacies.

God recognizes a broken and contrite spirit

a spirit of humility which show our respect towards God

rev 3.17

Humility

Humility.

This includes, first, a due sense of our insignificance as creatures; and secondly, a proper apprehension of our ill-desert and uncleanness in the sight of God as sinners.

It is the opposite of self-righteousness, of self-complacency and self-confidence.

It is the spirit manifested by Job, when he placed his hand upon his mouth, and his mouth in the dust, and said, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes; by Isaiah when he said, Woe is me! because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; and by the publican, who was afraid to lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, and said, God be merciful to me a sinner.

Such language is often regarded as exaggerated or hypocritical.

It is, however, appropriate.

It expresses the state of mind which cannot fail to be produced by a proper apprehension of our character as sinners, in the sight of a just and holy God.

Indeed there is no language which can give adequate expression to that rational sense of sin which the people of God often experience.

Prayer Changes Things

prayer moves the hand of God and can change even the things which would normally be.

we read case after case of prayer that at times, changed the mind of God.

Moses changed the mind of God toward the people....God repented of what he was going to do to the people because of Moses’ prayer or petitions to God.

define petition: noun

a formally drawn request, often bearing the names of a number of those making the request, that is addressed to a person or group of persons in authority or power, soliciting some favor, right, mercy, or other benefit

a request made for something desired, especially a respectful or humble request, as to a superior or to one of those in authority; a supplication or prayer:

we pray to God not because we are:

a good person, or because we are demanding things

but rather, we are recognizing our need for God’s divine help and guidance

we are petitioning him for things that we cannot control or change within ourselves.

story of the missionary on furlough.

Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting, one of whom had been seriously injured.

I treated him for his injuries and at the same time talked to him about the Lord Jesus Christ.

I then traveled two days, camping overnight, and arrived home without incident.

Two weeks later I repeated my journey.

Upon arriving in the city, I was approached by the young man I had treated.

He told me that he had known I carried money and medicines.

He said, "Some friends and I followed you into the jungle, knowing you would camp overnight.

We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs.

But, just as we were about to move into your camp, we saw that you were surrounded by 26 armed guards."

At this I laughed and said that I was certainly all alone out in that jungle campsite.

The young man pressed the point, however, and said "No sir, I was not the only person to see the guards.

My five friends also saw them and we all counted them.

It was because of those guards that we were afraid and left you alone."

At this point in the sermon, one of the men in the congregation jumped to his feet and interrupted the missionary and asked if he could tell him the exact day that this happened.

The missionary told the congregation the date, and the man who interrupted told him this story:

"On the night of your incident in Africa, it was morning here and I was preparing to go play golf.

I was about to putt when I felt the urge to pray for you.

In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong, I called men in this church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for you.

Would all of those men who met with me on that day stand up?"

The men who had met together to pray that day stood up.

The missionary wasn't concerned with who they were --- he was too busy counting how many men he saw.

There were 26.

Prayer can even change the hand of fate.....

prayer can move the hand of God and can change the very events of time...

You cannot really be a good Christian and not pray, just like you cannot have a good marriage if you don't talk to your wife.

You can be a Christian and not pray, just like you can be married and not talk to your wife.

But in both circumstances you will be miserable.

Prayer is the pipeline of communication between God and His people, between God and those who love Him.

Paul tells us we must, "Devote ourselves to prayer," (NASB) or "Continue earnestly in prayer," (NKJV).

or, "continue steadfastly in prayer."

The word translated, "continue steadfastly," is one word in the original language.

It can be translated, "persist in, adhere firmly to, or remain devoted to or to give unremitting care to.

the word supplication mean:

A humble request, prayer, petition, etc.

The act of supplicating or asking.

supplication is defined as the act of humbly begging for something, especially when pleading with God in prayer.

God Honors Prayer

Facebook algorithms:

they send us stuff all the time: they know the more we ignore or stay away from it the more disinterested we become

"It is a common temptation of Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and prayer when our enjoyment is gone; as if it were of no use to read the scriptures when we do not enjoy them, and as if it were no use to pray when we have no spirit of prayer.

The truth is that, in order to enjoy the Word, we ought to continue to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit of prayer is to continue praying.