Talking to God
Notes
Transcript
Introductio
Introductio
I. The Focus of Prayer
I. The Focus of Prayer
A. We Don’t Pray to Impress God
A. We Don’t Pray to Impress God
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
B. Pray to Express
B. Pray to Express
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Pray to the Unseen God
Pray to the Unseen God
When describing Jesus, in Colossians 1:15, Paul says, “He is the image of the invisible God. . .”
Pray Inexpressable Needs
Pray Inexpressable Needs
Look at Romans 8:26.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
Pray Specifically
Pray Specifically
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
D. Remember God Knows What You Need
D. Remember God Knows What You Need
Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
II. A Model of Prayer
II. A Model of Prayer
In this passage Jesus gives us an example of how to pray. It is not meant to be a recitation, but rather is more of a formula or guideline for us to follow. So let’s look at the various components of His example.
“This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
A. Intimacy with God
A. Intimacy with God
We refer to God as “Father.” What an amazing thought. When you have a relationship with the creator of the universe, the most powerful being in existance and yet we can enter into personal realtionship and call Him, Father!
B. Acknowledge God’s Greatness and Holiness
B. Acknowledge God’s Greatness and Holiness
We go from intimace with God as “Father” and are then reminded of His holiness—“hallowed” which is an acknowledgement of God’s holiness. When you study the holiness of God, you come face to face with His greatness!
C. Pray for God’s Kingdom to Come
C. Pray for God’s Kingdom to Come
Once we get a glimpse of God’s holiness, and greatness we should long for the Kingdom of God to come!
Philippians 3:20 reminds us that each of us should be longing for heaven because this world is not our home!
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
D. Ask God for His Will to Be Done
D. Ask God for His Will to Be Done
The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
We need to help people understand that this world is passing a way, but God has a plan! And His plan will be done!
E. Ask for Our Physical Needs
E. Ask for Our Physical Needs
Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
God wants us to ask him for anything and everything we need. Are you sick? Then pray, and get believer you know to pray for you!
F. Ask God for Our Spiritual Needs
F. Ask God for Our Spiritual Needs
1. Forgivenss of Sins
1. Forgivenss of Sins
We are called to confess our sin. One of my favorite verses is found in 1 John.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
I love this verse! It says if we confess the sins that we know about, That he (God) will forgive those sins and purify us from ALL the other unrighteousness that is in our lives!
2. Rescue From Temptation
2. Rescue From Temptation
Temptation is all around us. Many of us prepare for the big temptations so that they don’t trip us up. But what about al lthe little temptations that we face every day? Are you prepared for them?
In 1 Corinthians 10:13 Paul tells us:
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
All temtations are common to mankind. The big ones are common and the small ones are common. But God does not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear, and He will make a way for us to stand against it.
3. Rescue From the Evil One
3. Rescue From the Evil One
This includes Satan and his demons.Paul talked about this in 2 Thessalonians 3:2-3.
And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
Note: The last part that we aer so familiar with in the Lord’s Prayer—For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen—is not in the earliest manuscripts. Therefore the NIV (and other translations choose to omit if from the text with a footnote.
III. The Result of Prayer
III. The Result of Prayer
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
The result of prayer is not always getting the “answer” we want. Rather the result of prayer, any prayer, is experiencing God. When we experience God, we can share that experience with those around us!
So when we experience God’s forgiveness we should be motiveated to forgive those around us.
The more I become like Jesus, the more I can do things like Jesus! So the purpose or result of prayer is that I become more like Jesus so that I grow closer to those Jesus has placed in my life!
The problem is many people do not believe that prayer does anything. Many people become mad at God because He didn’t answer a pray the way they wanted Him to answer it. What we often forget is that God is not some kind of cosmic vending machine that answers prayers the way we want the prayers to be answered. The truth is, that there are at least four answers that God can give us.
1. NO!
1. NO!
God can say no to our request. He does this for several reasons:
A. Our prayer is not in our best interest.
A. Our prayer is not in our best interest.
B. Our pray is not in line with His will.
B. Our pray is not in line with His will.
2. SLOW!
2. SLOW!
Sometimes God tells us to wait, because the timing of our prayer is wrong.
3. GROW!
3. GROW!
Sometimes God tells us to wait because we need to spiritually grow.
4. GO!
4. GO!
Obviousely this is the answer that we like. When we pray, and God chooses to answer the pray the way we asked.
So out of the four answers, only one of them is the answer we like. The other three we usually say He is not anwering our pray. The truth is He is answering our prayer, but He is NOT answering it the way we want him to answer it.
Counclusion
Counclusion
The first part of our Basic Training is to work on expanding and deepining our prayer life.
It sould sound crazy to us when people forget to pray! Yet the truth be known, most of us forget to pray. That is why we need to train, train, train in the area of prayer! As we practice the discipline of pray the truth of 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “pray continually.”