Untitled Sermon (11)

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New Series - The Book of Acts - Beginning February 12

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Community, Prayer, Worship, Teaching...

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Recap

Last week we talked about a prayer that we pray in seasons of pain

We looked at the prayer of Jabez (the guy whose name was pain.)

We pray for blessing

We pray for influence

We pray for presence

We pray for protection

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Intro - I hope we’ve had some day 22 prayers

It is so vitally important that we are a church of day 22 prayers.

It’s easy to do something when it is the focus…it’s harder to make it a discipline when it is kind of on the back burner.

Today I want us to take a few minutes and show us how to have a life that finds consistency in prayer.

We’re going to do our best to unlock the subtitle of our series this week

A LIFE THAT IS BUILT ON PRAYER

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I have a gym membership…but I need to just do it

I’m a 306 Powerhouse angel investor

I’ve been supporting their ministry for quite a while now...

Unfortunately it hasn’t done me much good.

I have access…I bought a tailormade plan last year on an app

SO I HAVE ACCESS…I HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE...

The only thing I’m missing is the activity.

ANOINTING OF NIKE: JUST DO IT.

If I could give you one closing thought about prayer as we end this series it’s this…JUST DO IT!

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1. Make Prayer a Priority

You are not going to accidentally become a person who prays faithfully.

In order for you to be a person of prayer you must be a person who prays

Understand pray is an action verb

We have to take steps to pray

Acts 1:14 ESV

All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

Acts 2:42 ESV

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

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Give your vote to prayer

Notice the terminology “devote”

What does it mean to “devote” yourself to something?

We think of devotion in the context of marriage

Spiritual people think of it as the thing they do in the morning while they drink their coffee.

devote: give all or a large part of one's time or resources to (a person, activity, or cause).

a vote is something to cast for something you support, the prefix “de” means to remove something...

to devote means to remove a vote from something.

How we spend our time and energy is our vote for what matters.

When we are “devoted” to something we show that “devotion” by removing our vote from something else.

We devote ourselves to prayer by spending time on prayer that we would normally spend elsewhere.

The early church was “devoted” to prayer

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Prayer is often thought of as a last resort

We see prayer as more of a sentence than an opportunity.

“Well, I guess all we can do now is pray.”

Prayer is not supposed to simply be a tool we go to when nothing else works.

I submit to you that we might see the product of the early church if we enacted the process of the early church!

They took their vote away from everything else but prayer!

In every situation DEVOTE YOURSELF TO PRAYER

When your kids go to school - devote yourself to prayer

When bad things happen - devote yourself to prayer

When someone does something hurtful to you - devote yourself to prayer

In every situation - devote yourself to prayer.

Prayer should be our first response not our last resort.

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Now that is a pretty conceptual statement but I want to take us from a concept and talk about some practical applications that make that concept more attainable.

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2. Find a place to pray

I’m a vibe guy.

When I was on staff at New Life I spear headed the need for us to renovate our conference room.

I need a creative environment in order to be creative.

I work at coffee shops for this reason!

I like to go to a particular place that is conducive for the task I am setting out on.

You need to find out what that place is for your prayer life.

Maybe its in the woods

Maybe its a particular parking spot at your office

Maybe it’s your closet

Maybe it’s your kitchen table

Wherever it is, find a place that when you get there…your mind knows it’s time to enter into communion with God.

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Jesus had a place

Jesus had a place like this.

Mark 1:35 NKJV

Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.

Jesus liked to go to the garden to pray…some have stated it was because of the view of Jerusalem he would have had from that vantage point.

Whatever the reason…this was the place Jesus liked to go and pray.

Wherever your place is let it have these things as criteria

an undistracted environment

We went on date night this week...

Date night looks different when your married

Before your married, date night is about being with them

After your married, date night is about being focused on them.

Prayer is not just about being with God…it’s about being focused on God

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3. Have a plan for prayer.

We have a plan for everything we do.

We don’t go to the gym without a plan

We don’t go to the grocery store without a list

We don’t go to a meeting without an agenda

But we go to prayer all willy nilly and wonder why it doesn’t go well for us.

I spend anywhere from 10 - 20 hours a week preparing for the thirty minutes that I stand in front of you.

Because I want this to be a time of value

I spend that time formulating a plan.

IF YOU WANT YOUR PRAYER TIME TO BE VALUABLE…GO INTO IT WITH A PLAN.

Over the last few weeks we have talked about a couple of plans that you can bring with you.

The tabernacle prayer

The prayer of Jabez

The Lords prayer (Luke 6)

Create a prayer list.

Think about what you would like to cover in prayer.

WRITE OUT YOUR PRAYERS FOR SOME HELP AS YOU BEGIN YOUR PRAYER JOURNEY!

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4. Pray powerful prayers

What do I mean by praying powerful prayers.

I mean enter into your season of prayer with expectation.

This is not an obligatory box we check…we go to our prayer time expecting to encounter the presence of God!

What if you knew God was going to show up every time you prayed?...

YOU WOULD DO IT MORE!

I want you to go to your prayer time every day this week with an expectation that the presence of God is going to meet you there!

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Acts prayer looks different than ours

We’re about to jump into this series on the book of Acts…their prayer lives looked different than ours.

They had prayer meetings that were anything but uneventful!

Heavenly wind storms, tongues of fire, earthquakes, prison doors opening.

The reason they had such effective prayers is because they prayed with expectation.

The early church also realized that there was never a bad time to pray.

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In Acts 3 a man is healed…so they throw the guys who healed him into prison...

They were threatened pretty severely…they were hated.

But they had to let them go...

As soon as they are let go they go right back to the place they were just arrested.

Acts 4:23–24 NKJV

And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them,

They responded to their mistreatment…by praying.

They didn’t pray for God to wipe out those who mistreated them.

They didn’t even pray self sympathetic prayers of “God get me through this.”

Acts 4:29–31 NKJV

Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

They prayed for healing…they prayed for signs and wonders…they prayed for stuff that only prayer could bring about! and they did so with expectation!

THEY PRAYED BOLD PRAYERS!

Let’s be a people of bold prayer again.

PRAY OUT LOUD!

Bold and quiet are not commonly synonymous

Some of us need to watch War room

James 5:16 NKJV

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Fervent = Greek word “energeo”

Energy - red hot…boiling over

The world is bold…it’s time we be bold too.

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5. Relate to the persons of prayer.

It’s not about the prayer that you pray - It’s about the God you are praying to.

It’s important for us to understand that God is a person in the sense of He is a relational entity to be known.

We stand in divine awe of the mystery of the trinity

God the Father

God the Son

God the Holy Spirit

Three distinct representations working in complete unity as God.

Paul lays out a quick way for us to relate to the persons of prayer in his second letter to the Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 13:14 NKJV

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

(a) The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ (the son)

Remember when in the tabernacle prayer we talked about starting at the cross.

We begin our approach and conversation with God with the son because it is through the son that we have access in the first place!

He is the mediator…the intercessor…currently interceding on our behalf!

Commune with the son in continual awe and wonder at the beauty of the cross!

(b) the extravagant love of the Father

Often we can misunderstand the father because of the sacrifice of the son.

We see God the father as the mean tempermental being in the old testament

And Jesus being the good cop of the new testament.

THiS IS NOT THE CASE, THE FATHER SHOWED HIS LOVE FOR US BY ALLOWING THE SON TO GIVE HIMSELF ON OUR BEHALF!

After we thank the son for our access through the cross..we can celebrate our relationship and come in submission to the father.

Being submitted to someone doesn’t mean you are scared of them.

I have felt both deeply loved and entirely dedicated in submission to my father…and to pastors that I have served under.

(c) the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is your helper…your comforter…your friend.

He’s the best kind of friend because he keeps you on track.

He reminds you what Jesus has said and what the Father’s heart for you is.

The Holy Spirit longs to walk in relationship with you all day long!

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If you want to know how to build your life on the foundation of prayer it’s by doing these things.

Make prayer a priority

Find a place to pray

Have a plan for prayer

Pray powerful prayers

Relate to the persons of prayer