pray without ceasing

exp

AIM:. – what do you want to achieve?

To increase the prayer life of congregation

PAUSE/ REPEAT/ SLOW DOWN. EYE CONTACT/ SMILE/ PROPHETIC

. GET PPL INTERACTING WITH me (USE OF QS) ENSURE CULTURE FLOWS THROUGHOUT

INTRO; prop – speak faith/ intro self/ …… (here speak the faith).. e.g. breakthru any ceiling

Q: who has rather a busy life?

Q: Who could do with a few more hours in the day?

When time gets scarce we have to cut stuff out, so……………..

Q: What’s the minimum amount of time a C is supposed to pray each day?

If I can do the bare amount then there’s loads of time for other stuff. Agree?

Friend who prayed loads saw lots of stuff happen. But then didn’t.

I hope you don’t! But often when life gets busy prayer can be the first thing that goes.

SCRPITURE – Ephesians3.14-21

14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,[a] 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.[b] 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

STORY Of walking up a hill, kidz wanted to go to top but I was tired & I had other stuff to do back at the house and stopped halfway

Easy to plateaux. I got bored of the view after awhile but the kidz got to see so much more further up and never got bored.

V18 – God’s love is beyond knowledge

V20 – God’s power is beyond our imagination

V21 God’s glory is beyond a single generation, it is from glory to glory, gen to gen

Beyond, beyond, beyond. There’s always further to explore with Jesus.

WHAT ARE WE DISCUSSING TODAY & WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Prayer or “Living in conversation with Jesus”

I’ve used the phrase conversation to drill down that prayer goes well beyond simply transmitting words to God. Its not us doing all the talking. We are to listen while we pray. Allow Jesus to lead us. As we discussed last week faith comes by hearing so as we pray be open to Jesus imparting Spirit and truth and faith and life will supernaturally rise.

It is my aim in my personal life to take my prayer life to higher levels than ever before, to walk a path where I am continuously connecting with Jesus in fresher ways and my desire is that we all walk in that direction together. Life comes from connection with God.

So what is prayer and why on earth SHOULD we do it?

Why? prayer transforms lives/ situations. From my own life I’ve seen huge problems at work get resolved thru prayer to Jesus. I’ve seen God move powerfully in all of the jobs I’ve worked in as He’s turned things round for the good, be it rowdy classes who become hard-working students in a matter of days, major insurance problems that I couldn’t see a solution to get sorted out in seconds and this is before I get into all the ppl I’ve seen who have had hope restored, healed p/e/s. Prayer transforms, breathes new life/ hope into ppl, sees miracles. Faith-filled prayer opens doors/ opportunities/ overcomes opposition/ builds KoG. No lost causes if we are prepared to pray.

Eph 6v 18 - And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

1. Devotional Prayer

2. Declaration prayer. – declare into atmso

3. Intercession – sense God’s heart

4. Fighting prayer- speak out Word of God into situations to overcome opposition

5. Persistent prayer – persevere in prayer to see KoG advance

2-5 – are generally praying outward. Today we are focussing on devotional.

Out of all the prayer types this has to be no.1 as this really represents r. and it was r with God that Jesus came to the earth for. John 3.16 and John 17.3. God passionately desires close personal r with each of us and has made it possible thru wiping away all of our sins on the cross and offering out forgiveness to all who choose it.

DP is where we put time aside to be with God, ridding ourselves of all distractions. Where we come to Jesus without an agenda. We are not praying for things, we are simply fixing our eyes on Him/ we could be worshipping Him, thanking Him or simply sitting in His presence/ soaking in His Spirit. It is here where our souls are satisfied/ perfect peace/ flooded with joy/ r with Jesus is strengthened/ where we put our roots down in Jesus and grow.

Ps 46.10

Be still, and know that I am God!

Slow down. As we still our souls from the chaos of life we open our hearts afresh to the love/ peace of God/ to connection/ where life can be imparted in and rev of WHO GOD IS. Our hearts only get to grow in this heart rev as we slow down and still them.

I can pray at a million miles an hour – transmit words. But I’m not really enjoying it, I’m not growing and I certainly don’t hear. My natural inclination is to live the day as fast as I possibly can. To get thru every task as quickly as possible. At my worst I’m even eating as fast as I can rather than enjoying the food. And all along God whispers “slow down. I want to speak” Because its only in the stillness that we hear Him. Where we sense what He’s been saying to our hearts for awhile. Where we tune in. When I slow down, I hear Him loads. I sense His promptings, I sense His loving presence/ His Spirit. When I slow down I am far more aware of Him with me. I live in peace – not stress. God’s peace.

So, as we spend time with Jesus this week here is a daily challenge:

Every day slow down and ask Jesus what He wants to say. And wait for His still small voice. For His whisper.

It can take a bit of time, a bit of practice. But Jesus wants to take all of our prayer lives to a new depth of connection. A new depth of r. And as we start to practice this out increasingly in our devotional times we can then see it more and more throughout the day. Our hearts will turn naturally more and more to conversation with Jesus. Increasingly we will sense His loving presence throughout the day, sense His guidance and hear His whisper.

As it says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16

Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

To live in constant communion, is the goal. The more my heart is fixed on Jesus, listening and talking to Him, the more I am naturally joyful and thankful. You can’t help not be!

And this living in communion in Him, is abiding in Him.

John 15.5

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing

The more we live like this, the more we live in communion with Jesus, the more we put our roots down in Jesus and the more we naturally bear fruit. I have had some fantastic conversations about my faith with ppl who hardly ever want to discuss God as I’ve spent time hearing God’s whispers. What’s strange? They’ve started the conversation! The more we know God the more we will make Him known.

And so the more we live out our vision love God….

Isa 40.31

But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

Time spent being waiting on God/ still in God’s presence/ soaking in His love/ resting in Him/ allowing God to pour in His Spirit and impart His life ENERGIZES us from the inside out. It is in our times of quiet with God that our souls receive the most encouragement. When they are REFUELLED. Lacking in energy? The Bible makes it clear! Slow down, be still, wait on God. When God whispers to our hearts it will only ever inspire – even if He is bringing correction. E.g. God challenges my behaviour - However, I wasn’t crushed by this but empowered because what came with it was this tremendous sense of how obeying this simple truth would be beneficial to my soul.

The power of being still and waiting

1. Know Him

2. Tunes us into the whisper of God.

3. Strengthens us

EMPOWER – often we might not feel like praying. BUT it is now in the DNA of all believers!

Zechariah 12 v10

“Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem

Gal 4 v 6

Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”

We are built for prayer! We are re-wired for communication. There is a spirit in us that is constantly crying out to the father, constantly giving us the desire and power to pray. Our hearts are inclined to communicate with God. It is who we are. Your heart longs to connect with God. Its our NC disposition. We are re-made on the inside for intimate passionate r with God. Whether we feel it or not.

CONCLUSION

Let’s put time aside to go deeper with Jesus, let’s slow down to create space and allow Him to speak into our hearts, to transform us from the inside out. To live in constant communion with Jesus.

Band up

The close for non-cs to get saved/ know Jesus

MIN

Everyone stand. Still. Let God minister His love, His HS, let Him whisper to your heart at this moment.

- WoK – ribs, heart, chest

- Fresh exp of God’s love

- Beyond in your prayer life