How To Pray 1.1.23

How to Pray January 1, 2023 * Prayer leader-Pastor * Scripture Reader-Michelle Lewis (Luke 18:1-8) * Handout: The Hour That Changes The World * Handout: 31 Day Bible Reading Challenge Good morning and Happy New Year! I'm Bill Isaacs and we welcome you to Lake Erie Church as we begin a new year. As we open the new year, we continue a tradition that began in 2019...you must now pick up all your stuff and move to a new seat for this year-can't be on the same row as you are now-let's go! This month we are going to focus on PRAYER and God's Word and we are providing a packet/handout for you each week. In today's packet, you will notice 3 things- * A Prayer Wheel (graphic) that contains 12 topics for prayer that you can use to organize your prayer time. Originally this was part of Dick Eastman's Hour That Changes the World. You can use this to focus your prayer time-if you are planning to pray 12 minutes-you can use each one for 1 minute or in an hour prayer experience, you spend 5 minutes with each section. I've used this for many years and found it very helpful to keep my prayers focused and not drifting. * A 31 day Bible Reading Challenge (graphic) with selected Scriptures to read each day in January. I'm challenging every person to join this challenge with me and Shelley. Each day has a specific passage of Scripture to read and reflect on. * The sermon notes for today. *Write down everything God is saying to you-if He is not saying anything to you today-then you are probably not focused on listening to him! In the lobby you will find a couple of recommended books you can purchase. I'd love to give them away but I do need to recover our costs and if we run out we will get more. Each book is $17 each or both for $30 * How to Pray by Peter Greig (graphic of book cover pulled from Amazon) * How to Hear God by Peter Greig (graphic of book cover pulled from Amazon) *consider putting both books on a slide with the picture of Peter Greig I'm not a book hawk but these two books have had a profound impact on my journey with Jesus in 2022. I strongly encourage you to pick up a copy and read them in the coming year. If you want to draw nearer to the Lord, these books can help. PRAYER 1. During this month, we are going to open the sanctuary for prayer before the service from 9:30-9:55am (the worship team will finish by 9:30 and we invite you to come early to join in prayer. 2. There will be prayer groups on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 10am. 3. I'm asking every ministry team leader to schedule their team for a regular time of prayer. Some of those may be facetime video prayers, zoom prayers, and others will happen at random places. We Are Calling Lake Erie Church To Pray. * We are asking you to make your home a place of prayer * We are asking you to make your automobile a place of prayer * We are asking you to make each day a time of prayer We do so because we are DESPERATE * To see people come to Jesus * To see people healed * To see miracles occur * To see the activation of so many prophecies spoken over this church and our people (separate slide) "We are stretching to the heavens to flip the big Red switch on the wall called REVIVAL" (Peter Greig) We are reminded of God's PROMISE... (2 Chron. 7:14) and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Let's look again to the passage that Michelle read to us... (Luke 18:1-8) One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that THEY SHOULD ALWAYS PRAY and NEVER GIVE UP. There was a judge in a certain city who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy. The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, I don't fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I'm going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests! Then the Lord said, Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don't you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! Introduction: I want you to think of someone you know who has a prayer life you admire. * What is it about their prayer life that gets your attention? What if you could pray like them? You can, though I don't advise it...because prayer is not about mimicking someone's prayer life-it's about developing your own prayer life. Trust me God is just as excited about your prayer life as He is about anyone else! That's the way God is about you- *God is captivated by the way you pray, the way you live, the way you think. His greatest desire is to walk with you every day and that you can talk to Him in the way you want to talk, the way you do talk. I come from a legacy of prayer. My mother taught me to pray. I watched my parents pray at home, in church, during crisis times. Our family has prayed all night long. We've prayed as a family when a loved one passed. I've prayed my whole life in the car, on my knees, with tears, on the floor, walking the streets, I'm not unfamiliar to prayer. Yet, the older I get the more I find there is much for me to learn about prayer. * I've prayed in times of desperation * I've prayed in moments of release * I've prayed in faithful anticipation * I've been disappointed with my prayer life * I've been lazy sometimes to pray I'm often not satisfied with my prayer life Everybody thinks about prayer in different ways. * The challenge is not to prescribe ONE WAY to pray because if you do then it becomes RITUAL. * If you try to pray like someone else, you will be too MECHANICAL and not sincere- Question.... What would happen if you asked Jesus (as the disciples did) "teach me to pray"? So let's do that-in this prayer, let's ask Jesus to help us learn how to pray. I want you to remember 3 things today about prayer Keep it SIMPLE * We often make prayer too complicated. o Special words o Special tone of our voice (King James Version voice) o Too conscious of posture o Do you have to close your eyes to pray? * We don't have to get it right every time. (Matthew 6:7-8 MSG) The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don't fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. Here are 2 things to remember... * Don't Overthink Your Prayer Life * Don't Compare Your Prayer Life To Others Keep It REAL * Sometimes we are afraid to be real with God. o Have you ever said to God, "I don't like you right now, I don't think you love me and I'm not sure how to get myself straight again!" I have. o Have you ever said to God, "I don't think prayer works, in fact, I don't think it matters that I pray, you are going to do what you are going to do so I don't know why I bother to pray!" I have. o Guess what? Lightning didn't strike and God did not hate me because of it. * God invites you to make your prayer real and because God is real, He will meet you in your reality. o Your life is messy, your marriage is a mess, your kids are undisciplined, your finances are awful-tell Him. He already knows... o Don't ever forget... * Sin is real * The devil is real * Evil is real * God's power is real * Prevailing prayer are like brass knuckles to KO the enemy o Embrace the AUTHORITY of your prayers * Prayer is not necessarily loud * Prayer is not necessarily emotional * Prayer does not necessarily involve crying o But prayer is POWERFUL and CRUSHING to the attacks of the enemy! * Pray with authority! Keep It UP (Luke 18:1) One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. * What does it mean to "Pray without ceasing" (I Thessalonians 5:16-18) Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. * It means to make prayer a daily and constant piece of your life. Things I often say as I go through my day... * Thank you for Lord for this day * God I ask you to bless_____ (they came to my mind) * If you will, I ask you to heal _______________ * We can and should pray formally * We should pray passionately * We should pray consistently Conclusion: Prayer has a PLACE-where we meet with God Prayer has a PRESENCE-where God meets with us I want you to grasp something with me- * There are people who pray an hour every day. * I visited Seoul, Korea where people pray all night long on Prayer Mountain. The amount of time you pray is not as important as what you do with the time you do pray. Question: When will you know you've prayed enough? * Prayer is not about length of time you pray * Prayer is not about what you say or don't say * Prayer is about entering into the PRESENCE of God. When you enter His Presence-you will be powerfully impacted by the Glory of God. And that Presence will go with you the remaining part of your day or night. (Hebrews 10:19) And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. The greatest prayer is the prayer for salvation. God I am a sinner I believe Jesus died for my sins I believe Jesus will forgive my sins I'm sorry for my sins I choose Jesus