Sermon Tone Analysis

The Chicago pastor D. L. Moody said, “I’d rather be able to pray than be a great preacher; Jesus Christ never taught His disciples how to preach, but only how to pray.”

The missionary to China Hudson Taylor said, “The prayer power has never been tried to its full capacity.

If we want to see mighty wonders of divine power and grace wrought in the place of weakness, failure and disappointment, let us answer God’s standing challenge, ‘Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not!'”

The missionary to China Hudson Taylor said, “The prayer power has never been tried to its full capacity.

If we want to see mighty wonders of divine power and grace wrought in the place of weakness, failure and disappointment, let us answer God’s standing challenge, ‘Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not!'”

A fisherman was at sea with his godless companions when a storm came up and threatened to sink their ship.

His friends begged him to pray; but he said, “It’s been a long time since I’ve done that or even entered a church.”

At their insistence, however, he finally cried out, “O Lord, I haven’t asked anything of You in 15 years, and if You help us now and bring us safely to land, I promise I won’t bother You again for another 15!”

Prayer is not an escape hatch for when things get tough.

Prayer is a constant line of communication with God.

It is a dialogue, not a monologue.

One of the things that Jesus taught his disciples was how to pray.

He didn’t want prayer to be mysterious.

He didn’t want them to think that powerful prayer could only be said by vocational ministers or priests.

He wanted them to know how to pray.

“Life is fragile, handle with prayer.”—Unknown

“Nothing lies outside the reach of prayer, except that which lies outside the will of God.”—Unknown

Open your Bibles to .

Everybody wants their prayers to be heard and not only be heard, but be effective.

Jesus gave his disciples some do’s and don’ts concerning prayer.

Jesus wanted the prayers of his followers to go further than the ceiling, so He gave some instructions on how to be effective when you pray.

The first thing to note in this passage is Jesus says, “When you pray…”

Prayer should be a natural exercise for followers of Jesus.

Jesus assumes his followers are going to pray, so he wants to make sure they are going to pray in the right manner.

It is amazing to me that prayer seems to be hardwired into humans.

Every culture and every nationality, regardless of their culture, contains the concept of prayer.

The main question is to whom are you praying, but most everyone prays.

It seems that we have a need to pray, which is a recognition that there is something greater than us.

Jesus tells the people listening to Him, “You must not be like the hypocrites.”

The word hypocrite was originally used of stage performers.

They would wear different masks to portray different characters.

As the word evolved it came to mean someone who is pretending to be someone or something they are not.

The hypocrites Jesus referenced were the “church people” of his day.

These people love to pray publically.

They want everyone to see them and think well of them because they are bold enough to pray publically.

Jesus is not condemning public prayer, Jesus is condemning the public performance of prayer.

Prayer is not to be a performance.

Prayer should be motivated by a desire to hear from God.

Matthew 6:

Look for a place where you can shut out the world and be alone with God.

I know that some have taught about having a “prayer closet” or some location where you can physically shut out distractions, but those concepts miss the idea that Jesus was teaching.

How do I know this?

In ancient times, many homes did not have more than one room and most didn’t have doors inside the house.

When Jesus says “you private room”, he is speaking about an inner room of the house, rather than on the roof top or some external place.

In other words, find a way to shut out the distractions when you pray so that you can focus on hearing from God.

This isn’t about clearing your mind.

This is about focusing your mind.

Look for a place where you can shut out the world and be alone with God.

I know that some have taught about having a “prayer closet” or some location where you can physically shut out distractions, but those concepts miss the idea that Jesus was teaching.

How do I know this?

In ancient times, many homes did not have more than one room and most didn’t have doors inside the house.

When Jesus says “your private room”, he is speaking about an inner room of the house, rather than on the roof top or some external place.

In other words, find a way to shut out the distractions when you pray so that you can focus on hearing from God.

This isn’t about clearing your mind.

This is about focusing your mind.

I think it is no wonder that the evil one has mastered the fine art of distractions.

He has burdened us with tons of distractions.

We have burdened ourselves with tons of distractions.

We are glued to our devices and all the distractions that come with them.

We are distracted by entertainment.

We are distracted by the pressures of our families, our jobs, and our personal life.

We are a distracted generation.

We are running from one thing to the next.

When we pray, we must work to eliminate the distractions of life and focus on communicating with God.

We have to discipline ourselves to shut out all distractions, mental, physical, and emotional; to meet with the Father.

As I was preparing this message, I was bombarded with distractions.

Not all distractions are bad.

Some are good things, but they pull your mind from the focus on what you are doing.

What I have started doing is keeping a note pad beside my computer.

Whenever a thought comes into my mind that is off-subject, I write it down.

It releases my focus to go back to where my focus should be.

It is a discipline to keep your mind focused as you pray.

Prayer brings us into communication with our Father.

Jesus tells us to be sure we address our prayers to the Father.

Jesus uses a close personal title for God.

God is our Father and just like a child going to his Father to ask for lunch, expecting his father to provide lunch, we are to go to God as our Father bringing our requests before Him with every expectation He will hear and give us what we need.

This brings to my mind the reality that not everyone can call God their Father.

Sure, we are all God’s creations, but only those who put their faith in Jesus can call God their Father.

Have you made the decision to put your faith in Jesus?

Are you his follower?

Jesus loves you so much.

You are a sinner.

Your sin leads you to do ungodly things and separates you from the God who loves you.

We have a sin problem inside of us.

Jesus went to the cross, died, and he rose again.

He did all of this because he loves you and he wants to save you from your sin.

He wants to transform you, so you can experience his goodness, so we could experience his grace.

He wants to heal you and bring peace to your life.

God wants to be your Father, but no one can come to the Father except through Jesus.

Prayer should be a natural exercise for followers of Jesus.

Prayer should be motivated by a desire to hear from God. Prayer brings us into communication with our Father.

Prayer is an alignment of our will to God’s will.

Matthew 6:

This is such an important factor to having an effective prayer life.

This is completely opposite to the “name it and claim it” false gospel.

Prayer that is self-centered and that demands God to do what you want him to do is paganism.

Prayer is not like a raffle.

The more times you play, the better your chances get.

If you buy more tickets or buy tickets more often, you improve your chances.

God is not a genie.