Reset Your Prayer Life

Introduction

Illustration: Internet WiFi not working. Reset button.

During the month of January—the start of the new year—we are going to look at four areas of our lives that need to be examined for a possible RESET.

Today we are going to look at prayer, and in the following weeks we will look at our priorities, faith, and vision.

“No man can do a great and enduring work for God who is not a man of prayer, and no man can be a man of prayer who does not give much time to praying.”

Edward McKendree Bounds

Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge to Satan. Prayer will cease a man from sin; or sin will cease a man from prayer.

John Bunyan

Jesus demonstrated in his earthly life the value of prayer. He prayed often!

No doubt that his disciples saw him frequently getting away of prayer. From their perspective, Jesus prioritized prayer.

Luke 11:1 ESV

1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

Jesus’ disciples wanted to learn not just the importance of prayer, but how to pray!

Why is prayer important?

For many people, prayer is what you do when you don’t know what to do. When your back is against the wall; when you face the impossible—then you pray.

In my wife’s favorite movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the main character, George Bailey, is in trouble. His uncle lost thousands of dollars and the authorities were after him. He is at a bar facing hopelessness, and he prayed. (Picture)

So it was in real agony that he raised his eyes and plead, “God… Oh God… Dear Father in heaven. I’m not a praying man, but if you're up there and you can hear me, show me the way. I'm at the end of my rope. Show me the way oh God.”

Prayer is an essential and powerful opportunity to build your faith in Christ and align your life with God’s Will.

Since prayer is something most people do, it is easy for us to misunderstand prayer, or to become casual in our prayer life.

If we are not careful, problems can develop in our prayer life.

First…

PROBLEM: If we are not careful, prayer can become centered on our comfort and pride.

So often, our prayer life can develop into a list of things we want God to do for us—to make our lives easier.

Instead of using prayer to seek God and what he wants us to do in Kingdom life, we use prayer to for our comfort.

We even use Scripture to justify our selfishness.

For example:

Psalm 37:4 ESV

4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

We can conclude that God is obligated to “give us the desires of our hearts” because his Word says so. But this is failing to see the most important part of this Scripture: “DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE LORD.”

What does that mean? It means to totally commit yourself to the Lord—to do what pleases God!

As I am pleasing God by living a life that honors him in all that I do, say, and think, I position myself in a way to receive God’s help to advance my life in him.

So, when Jesus taught his disciples to prayer, He begins with a worshipful focus on God.

Matthew 6:9–10 ESV

9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

In other words, a RESET prayer life is…

Prayer acknowledges the greatness of God and your dependence on His grace.

Instead of self-centeredness, we focus on a God-centered prayer life.

Transition

There is another issue we need to face that can adversely affect our prayer life.

PROBLEM: If we are not careful, prayer can become a ritualistic exercise, devoid of genuine relationship.

Look with me on how Jesus addresses this problem with his disciples in Matthew 6:5-8.

Matthew 6:5–8 ESV

5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Humankind is always attempting to find a way to fix our problems.

We are trying to discover the “secret,” the “rules,” or the “formula” to guarantee a predictable outcome.

It is so easy to conclude if I do “A” + “B” then “C” will result. And we turn this formula into a ritual or a rule.

But a ritual or a rule that is absent of faith is nothing but a human attempt to impress God and others.

Transtion

But Jesus revealed a different approach to prayer.

In “The Lord’s Prayer” of Matthew 6, we something interesting.

Matthew 6:11–13 ESV

11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

The focus of Jesus’ prayer was relational!

“Give us this day our daily bread” recognized total dependence on God’s grace.

“and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” identified the need to confess our sins as will as to forgive those who sinned against us.

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” understands that only God is able to help us overcome sin.

Resetting my prayer life from the pitfalls of man-made rituals and rules changes the way I pray.

Prayer demonstrates fidelity (faithfulness) in your relationship with God.

Prayer becomes more about getting to know God better rather than just asking him for things. It’s relational.

Transition

But there is one more problem that I want us to explore this morning.

Dysfunctional, unbiblical “prayer” can lead us to very dark, dangerous places.

PROBLEM: If we are not careful, prayer can become a vain attempt at manipulation and excuses.

We can easily become impatient and fed-up with our world and its’ problems.

We can convince ourselves that we have the power and authority to get what we want from God.

We can sincerely believe that God is obligated to give to us whatever we ask.

And if we don’t get what we asked, then we can set the blame to others who did not have the “faith” to believe.

Transition

See, prayer is all about humility before our God.

Prayer is all about our dependency on His grace and mercy.

Prayer is not about satisfying our selfish wants, but to seek God’s will.

Prayer is worship—a verbal and emotional declaration of God’s glory and majesty.

Prayer hungers for His presence and His way in our lives.

Prayer is not about us—it is about God—learning to listen to His voice and nudges—and following Him.

So, what speaks more about “us” than demanding restitution and revenge against those who have wronged us.

Jesus speaks to his disciples about letting go of our grudges.

Matthew 6:14–15 ESV

14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

So, resetting our prayer life leads to to follow God’s ways.

Prayer recognizes the attributes and activities of God and the responsibility to align your life with God.

I forgive because God forgives.

I love God because He loves me.

I love people because God loves people.

I align my life with God - that is the focal point of prayer.

Conclusion

Illustration: one of the most important lessons I have learned and am learning about prayer (coupled with His Word) is all about knowing my Redeemer, my Creator, my Lord and God.

Prayer is worship.

Altar Call