Introduction:

“An Exhortation to Prayer”

I.                   Abraham

A.      He Didn’t Seek counsel from the Lord but listened to the voice of his wife:

1.       He tried to figure out the problem

2.       Genesis 16:1-2 – He heeded the voice of his wife

3.       Genesis 15:1-4 – It made logical sense at the time and in the culture

4.       God desires to do exceedingly above and beyond what we ask or think.

II.                Joshua

A.      He should have sought God first in the manner seen in verses 6-9

1.       “If he would have went up as he came down, he would have come down as he went up.”

2.       The Reason we do not pray is Laziness!

B.      Joshua 9

Consequences

1.       Verses 3-4 and 14-15 then 16-21

III.             Samuel

A.      See It as Sin!

1.       After the Holy Spirit has called and called, then it becomes resistance to the Spirit, quenching and sin.

2.       The sin of prayerlessness – 1 Samuel 12:23

3.       Those who are spiritual will see it is a sin – not the carnal!

4.       Spurgeon: “A prayerless church member is a hindrance.  He is in the body like a rotting bone or a decayed tooth.  Before long, since he does not contribute to the benefit of his brethren, he will become a danger and a sorrow to them.”

IV.              The Disciples—Matthew 26:36-46

A.      Resistance to Prayer

Divine Meditations, R. Sibbes (p.164).  “When we go to prayer, the devil know we go to fetch strength against him, and therefore he opposes us all he can.”

V.                 Acts

A.      Key Scripture in Just the First Six Chapter of Acts

1.       Acts 1:14 – The church started in prayer

2.       Acts 1:24 – prayer for leaders

3.       Acts 2:42 – One of the characteristics of the church

4.       Acts 3:1 – The hour of prayer

5.       Acts 4:23-31 – Good prayer focusing on God’s sovereignty

6.       Acts 6:4 and 6:6