Live Life through Prayer
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God created people for relationship—for fellowship.
There exists a rhythm of relationship with God—being in His presence. Sin disrupts that rhythm and drives us away from His presence.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
We need the rhythm back!
Spiritual growth is impossible apart from the practice of prayer. Just as the key to quality relationships with other people is time spent in communication, so the key to a growing relationship with the personal God of heaven and earth is time invested in speaking to Him in prayer and listening to His voice.
Kenneth Boa, Handbook to Prayer: Praying Scripture back to God (Atlanta: Trinity House, 1993).
Today’s message: Living Life through Prayer
Living Life through Prayer
Living Life through Prayer
Many examples exist in Scripture that help us understand not only the importance of prayer, but how to pray.
Examples of prayer
Jacob wrestling with God.
Moses interceding for the people of Israel.
David praying for personal revival.
Nehemiah praying for the restoration of Jerusalem.
The church praying in the face of persecution.
Jesus demonstrates a life of prayer—of communion with the Father.
One of those instances of prayer with the Father occurs on the night Christ was betrayed and arrested.
Matthew 26:37
36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.”
37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.
First Point: We need others to support us in prayer.
We need others to support us in prayer.
We need others to support us in prayer.
God designed us for community.
Jesus demonstrates that we need others in our lives.
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
Invite others to pray for your needs.
We should look for opportunities to pray for others.
Transition: Matthew 26:38
38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.”
Next Point: We need to bring our anxious thoughts to God.
We need to bring our anxious thoughts to God.
We need to bring our anxious thoughts to God.
As Jesus faced the cross (and the cost of salvation for all who would believe), He went to the Father.
When you have something that’s bothering you, you have two choices: you can worry about it or you can pray about it.
Worrying is talking to yourself about things beyond your control; praying is talking to God about things beyond your control.
1 Peter 5:7
7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
Matthew 26:39
39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Second Point: We need to submit our will to God’s will.
We need to submit our will to God’s will.
We need to submit our will to God’s will.
Personal safety and security are powerful emotions and motivators that enter our prayer life.
If not careful, we can attempt to seek that our own will be done rather than the will of God.
Text: Matthew 6:9-10 (The Lord’s Prayer on God’s Will)
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.
We pray, not to tell God what to do, but to avail ourselves to him to shape our will to his.
We bring our prayers honestly to God, thinking we know best, but wisely leaving the outcome to him.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Review
We need others to support us in prayer.
We need to bring our anxious thoughts to God.
We need to submit our will to God’s will.
Prayer demonstrates the quality of our relationship with God.
The most important prayer: Our need of God to save us.
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Living Life: A Series on Relationships
Living Life: A Series on Relationships