B2B (Part 8): What Truly Matters? - We Value Dedicated Prayer

INTRODUCTION

Don’t just go through the motions.

Philippians 4:4–9 ESV

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Paul’s instructions to the Philippian church in this passage is:

Rejoice

Be Reasonable

Pray, Pray, Pray

Be mindful on excellent things

Practice these things…enjoy God’s peace.

1) Prayer is Essential for Us!

Prayer sets our minds on the things of God and helps to shape our hearts to His.

Here in Philippians, Paul helps us to see that when we pray, we experience the peace of God guarding our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.

Far too often we allow inputs from various places into our minds.

We allow ourselves to worry and bent out of shape about things that we don’t have any control over.

We can often find ourselves in desperate circumstances that we can’t control and that we can’t fix.

May be our health or the health of a loved one.

May be a circumstance with our job.

May be a situation with our children or a family member.

May be overwhelmed by the things happening in this world.

Regardless of what is happening in our world or in our lives, we must remain connected to Jesus! We must stay grounded in Him.

John 15:1–5 ESV

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Prayer is essential for us to abide in Christ and for Him to abide in us.

Prayer is our lifeline to the One who gives us life.

As an individual, if you are struggling with something…pray. If you are rejoicing…pray. If you are mindful of anything that God is doing in your life or in your world…pray!

You may think…if I prayed under all of those circumstances…I’d always be praying…

GOOD! 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “pray without ceasing,”

We value dedicated prayer because prayer is essential to us!

2) What is Dedicated Prayer?

As we pray, we need to be mindful of what prayer is and what prayer isn’t.

Prayer is not informing God of anything. He is Omniscient (He knows everything fully from perfect perspective.)

Prayer is not ritual. You do not get God’s attention more by saying certain words, or putting yourself is any particular physical posture.

You don’t have to face a certain direction, cross your feet and toes in a certain way, nor repetitiously utter certain words or phrases to get God’s attention.

Prayer is not rhetoric. You don’t need to make persuasive speeches to God or try to bargain with Him. Prayer is not meant to be a Quid Quo Pro with the Creator of the universe.

What is dedicated prayer?

It the determined and dedicated display of seeking a heart connection with God.

Matthew 6:5–13 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. 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. 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.

Don’t pray to impress others…including God.

Pray to seek God’s heart and to seek His will and His way.

Prayer is to be a continual, intentional, pursuit of the divine will and heart of God to shape and mold the new heart He places in you through His Holy Spirit.

In Jesus’ example, He tells us that we are to reflect upon the personal connection with God, yet the Holiness and profoundness of God.

We are to express His sovereignty and unstoppable will not only in Heaven, but here amongst our lives as well.

We are to seek His daily sustenance as well as our eternal sustenance.

We are to pursue a reliance upon Him for all things…including deliverance from temptation and from evil.

Our hearts, and therefore our lives need to be shaped by a prayerful focus on Him.

Likewise, our church needs to be shaped by a prayerful focus on Him.

Dedicated prayer is prayer that flows from a dedication to Him and to His glory!

I went to Grok AI and asked it to compose a “30-Second Prayer in the Heart and Theology of Billy Graham that acknowledges and declares the glory of God.”

Here is what it gave me: Heavenly Father, we bow before You in awe and wonder. You are the everlasting God—Creator of the heavens and the earth, the Alpha and the Omega. Your glory shines in every sunrise, thunders in the storm, and reaches down to us through the cross of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Lord, we declare Your glory today! Not because we are worthy, but because You are holy, righteous, and full of mercy. Forgive our sins, fill us with Your Spirit, and let our lives reflect Your greatness so that the world may know You are God alone. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. (Spoken at a reverent pace, this prayer takes approximately 30 seconds.)

Is this a good prayer of dedication to Him and to His glory? NO…IT COMES FROM A MACHINE…NOT FROM THE HEART OF A PERSON!

DO NOT PRAY LIKE A MACHINE THAT COMPOSES IMPRESSIVE WORDS THAT ARE EMPTY AND MINDLESS!

Do not be like the people God describes in Isaiah 29: 13 who seek to honor God with their lips but their hearts are actually far from Him.

God desires the simple prayers of dedication and desperation from a genuine and authentic disciple over the grandiose and complex prayers of someone just going through the motions.

We value dedicated prayer because dedicated prayer comes from the heart that is reliant and dependent upon Jesus for all things.

Likewise, we as a church must seek to pray collectively with hearts dedicated to seeking God’s heart.

Closing

As a Church we will stick to our mission, our vision, and our motto when we share in valuing Dedicated Prayer!

We must let dedicated prayer be what we rely on.

We must let dedicated prayer be what fuels us.

We must let dedicated prayer shape our hearts and therefore the collective heart of this church.

Close in prayer!