A Strategy For Prayer - Wed Night
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 21 viewsNotes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Do you ever feel like your struggle in your prayer life?
Becoming a prayer warrior doesn’t happen overnight. Instead we can build our prayer life a step at a time,
Here are some simple strategies for increasing your prayer:
Follow the ACTS paradigm.
Adoration - Build a prayer list based on Adoration (praising God for who He is),
Confession - (admitting sin),
Thanksgiving - (expressing gratitude)
And Supplication - (praying for others).
The intentionality of this strategy will help you stay focused during prayer.
1. So Adoration we praise God.
1. So Adoration we praise God.
Think for a moment about those things you can praise God for in your life.
says...
Psalm 67
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
and then
4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above all gods.
And also
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
So daily as we walk with the idea of adoration in our hearts, what can we give thanks to the Lord.
Life.... the psalmist said I am fearfully and wonderfully made… He created us and made us into the person He desired us to be, living in obedience to Him we can be the best that He knew we can...
Savior … For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son… We can praise the Lord for giving us the precious gift of Savior, who would redeem us unto Himself.
Salvation.... says....
5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
The salvation we have received is the gift of God for each of us. Listen to 2 Cor 1:10
And
10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.
We were destined for the second death, hell and the salvation of Jesus has delivered us from that horrible fate, He has redeemed us unto himself and will give us a home in heaven.
He never leaves us for forsakes us… That is the promise of Jesus himself, that we are not alone in this world. His presence, His Holy Spirit is the comforter, the third person of the Trinity who walks alongside of us in this life.
These are but a few reasons why we can give praise the Lord our God. He has done so much for us, created us and blessed us with His presence and so much more.
Adoration should flow from our lips as we live and work in His kingdom.
Now think about the term confession
Now think about the term confession
2. Confession -
2. Confession -
When we think about these
Use a “Focused ACTS” strategy for one week. On Monday, adore God throughout the day. On Tuesday, ask God to bring to light all of your sin so you might confess it. Wednesday is for thanksgiving, and Thursday is for supplication/praying for others.
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.
Establish prayer “triggers.” Associate prayer with daily activities, and then develop prayer patterns. For example, you might pray before you turn the ignition on your car or as you cook a meal, clean a room, or walk on the treadmill.
Establish prayer “triggers.” Associate prayer with daily activities, and then develop prayer patterns. For example, you might pray before you turn the ignition on your car or as you cook a meal, clean a room, or walk on the treadmill.
Use the church bulletin or calendar as a prayer guide. Find the list of scheduled church events for the week, and pray each morning for each day’s activities
Develop a “Family Focus” prayer strategy. Each week, focus on a different family in the church. Find out what prayer needs they have, and pray for them.
Do “drive by” praying. Watch for church buildings, and pray for the pastors of those congregations. Intercede for children and teachers as you drive past a school. If you pass a “For Sale” sign in your neighborhood, pray for that family.Set some “prayer power points.” A “prayer power point” is a set time each day when you stop to pray. I find it best to set the alarm on my watch, and that reminder calls me away from my desk to pray.Pray the “Model Prayer” of daily. I don’t want this strategy to become routine and repetitious, but Jesus taught us to pray this prayer. Start each day this way. Pause long enough to meditate on each phrase.Pray as you read or listen to the news. Intercede for countries in war. Pray for families affected by crime or natural disasters. Ask God to guide government leaders. Pray for missionaries in each country in the news.Send an email prayer to someone each day. Take ten minutes, pray for someone else, and send a written prayer to that person. Just a few sentences of prayer will encourage somebody unexpectedly.Pray proactively about temptation before you ever get out of bed in the morning. That’s the way Jesus taught us to pray—ask God to keep us from temptation and the evil one before we’ve ever faced the temptation (). Don’t wait until the battle heats up to begin praying.Pray at least briefly with your spouse each day (or with someone else if you’re single). Even a quick one-minute daily prayer together can strengthen a relationship.
Remember, you won’t become a prayer warrior overnight . . . but start somewhere. Becoming a furnace of prayer begins with just a spark.
What other prayer strategies have you used?