Worship Through Prayer
Summer Nights • Sermon • Submitted
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Transcript
Welcome in guys. Tonight we are asking that you sit in groups of 6ish. This will make sense as we go through our night, I promise.
This summer, God impressed on me to walk through the idea of worship. Often we think of worship only in terms of singing, but that’s not actually the case. Listen to this verse from Romans...
Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.
Paul tells the church in Rome that it is our WHOLE BODIES that God desires not just our voices. And when we give ourselves to him, THAT is worship!
So, for four weeks this summer, we will look at four different forms of worship. I’m not going to be preaching on them, we are going to practice them! I am praying it proves to be some really cool moments for us as a church.
This is week 1 of Summer Nights. Tonight we practice PRAYER.
The Bible is clear from beginning to end that prayer is important for the life of those who love God. I want to help you see that biblical foundation before we dive in...
In the Old testament, the authors are clear that God hears the prayer of those who call on him, and he acts.
I call on you, God, because you will answer me; listen closely to me; hear what I say.
He will pay attention to the prayer of the destitute and will not despise their prayer.
The Lord is near all who call out to him, all who call out to him with integrity.
The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
Church, the Old Testament saints were confident that God heard their prayers.
The question that hit me today was this: How much more passionately should we be praying who are on this side of the cross! We know of the death and resurrection of Jesus and we know what that accomplishes for us!
Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more, has been raised; he also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.
My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one.
Jesus is at the right hand of God as our advocate and interceding for us! We know this as believers!
But not only do we have the Son of God speaking on our behalf, we have someone else...
In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.
Paul says that the Holy Spirit also intercedes for us to the Father.
So, looking at the Old Testament writings that portray men and women confidently praying to God without an understanding of the Trinity, think, now, about how much more confident we should be praying because we know that we have advocates with GOD speaking on our behalf! Amen?
Tonight, I want us to pray. I will be honest, your pastor struggles to pray with regularity and confidence. I need this practice too!
Tonight, we are going to move through four simple movements of prayer together. Sometimes, we will engage together as a whole group. Some of it will be done in your small group. And other parts will be totally private.
The notebook in your seat is very important. I am going to ask you to write several things down tonight as we move through, OK?
Hang with me, and I believe that this will be a very special night.
The movements we will move through tonight spell the word PRAY. that’s convenient right?
The first movement is this...
1. Praise
1. Praise
We want to begin our night by praying words of praise to God.
But before we begin this section, take a deep breath. And exhale.
I’m not trying to be creepy with you. I just want to prove a biblical point...
Let everything that breathes praise the Lord. Hallelujah!
So, if you are breathing tonight, you have reason to praise! Amen?
There are plenty of reasons to praise God, but I have found in my own life that there are two categories of these. I find myself praising God because of who he is and because of what he has done.
Let’s begin with praising God for who he is...
Grab your notebook and your pen. Reflect on the nature of God. His attributes. Close your eyes if that helps you focus.
I want to read to you several characteristics of God from the Bible. As I do, write down one or more of them that stand out to you. This may be because you have been witness to this aspect of God’s character lately, or it may be that you needed to be reminded tonight that God is that way! You can also write down your own that you would like to praise God for tonight.
As we begin, let me read this passage...
I exalt you, my God the King, and bless your name forever and ever.
I will bless you every day; I will praise your name forever and ever.
The Lord is great and is highly praised; his greatness is unsearchable.
From God’s word...
God is eternal and unchanging...
Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity, you are God.
Long ago you established the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you will endure; all of them will wear out like clothing. You will change them like a garment, and they will pass away.
But you are the same, and your years will never end.
God is Holy
Therefore, I will praise you with a harp for your faithfulness, my God; I will sing to you with a lyre, Holy One of Israel.
And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies; his glory fills the whole earth.
God has all wisdom and knowledge
Listen to this, Job. Stop and consider God’s wonders.
Do you know how God directs his clouds or makes their lightning flash?
Do you understand how the clouds float, those wonderful works of him who has perfect knowledge?
Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are his.
God is gracious and merciful
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love.
God is love
Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
We also know that God is...
ALL POWERFUL
EVER PRESENT
GOOD
JUST
FAITHFUL
GLORIOUS
FULL OF PEACE
Again, write down at least one of those attributes in big letters on your notebook. After you do, pray quietly to yourself a prayer of praise for who God is...
We can also praise God for what he has done!
For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well.
This praise can often look like THANKSGIVING. We are talking about the same thing here.
Spend a minute or two jotting down on the second page in your notebook what God has done in your life that you can be thankful for.
BREAK
Now, I want to ask you to step out a little. In your groups, share with one another one thing that you wrote down and why. I’ll give you a few minutes to do that.
BREAK
Prayer: God we PRAISE YOU TODAY because of who you are! You are so much better, so much stronger, so much more loving than we can ever imagine. Thank you for who you are! And God we praise you today because of what you have done. Thank you for the breath in our lungs. Thank you for the church family we have. Thank you most of all for the work that was accomplished in Jesus to save our wretched souls! You are a good good God.
As we continue in our prayer time, we get to R: REPENT.
As Patrick said Sunday, Repentance is very simply a change of mind and direction. It is absolutely necessary for salvation, but it is also needed for consistent growth in Christ for believers. Way too many of us repent of our sin when we first trust in Christ and then walk through life with the grace of Christ over us and never acknowledge our sin again in an intentional way.
Remember back a few weeks ago, repentance is not needed for you to stay united with Christ in salvation, but it is needed for you to commune with God daily!
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
The one who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
It is clear from Scripture, that we should regularly call out the sins in our lives before the Lord, asking for forgiveness.
Tonight, search your heart. Are there sins you are trying to keep hidden from God or even from yourself? Are there sins that you don’t like to admit you are guilty of? Those sins are separating you from the presence of God in your life. God desires a close relationship with you, yet the sin in your heart prevents that.
Bow your heads in prayer with me… Ask the Holy Spirit in this moment to bring to your mind the sins that you are keeping hidden.
In your notebook, jot down the sins you need to repent of tonight. Once you do, close your eyes and voice a prayer of repentance for those sins knowing that, if you are a believer, they are already forgiven in Christ! And that you can walk closely with the Lord!
One more step here before moving on. Hopefully you got each other’s names earlier. As you sit in this circle together, you haven’t seen anyone else’s repentance list. But let’s all pray for the person to your right. Pray that they would be honest before the Lord about their sin, but also that they would avoid the temptation to sin in the future! Pray for them BY NAME NOW to yourself.
The next letter we come to is A: Ask.
Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
The Bible is clear that we should tell God ways we want him to act in our lives and the lives of others. In the next page of your notebook, jot down a few things that are heavy on your heart tonight for yourself, your family, or for others. After you do, pray a prayer asking God to act in those situation!
BREAK
Some of the burdens we carry in prayer are so heavy! This is why God’s Word makes it clear that we are to pray for one another.
Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
If you are willing, let your group know about one of your personal needs. And group, write down each of these requests in your own notebook and a name next to each one. And after each request, spend time praying, either silently or someone from your group can pray for each one out loud. Whatever you want to do.
Maybe share church requests???
Now, I want to share something with you again. Here is a prayer
God do something big through us. Make our baptistery to wear out from overuse. Overwhelm us with guests who need to hear the Gospel. Call up pastors and missionaries from our midst. Send us out to plant churches in desperate places. Use us directly to reach the unreached of the nations.
Yet, all the while, help us to focus on our neighbors, our coworkers, our friends, and our families. May we not neglect those closest to us while we wait for you to do the big through us. Fix our eyes on our daily devotion to you above all else, we need your presence, we need your power, and we need your patience!
Now that we have Praised, Repented, and Asked, now comes the hardest part of all: Yield.
Yielding in prayer is best shown in the way Jesus prayed the night he was arrested that would lead to his extremely painful death...
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me—nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
There is a need in our prayer to recognize that God knows better than we do. We need to ask for God to act, to heal, to restore, to move, to save, to speak, to calm… And we need to pray those things BELIEVING THAT HE WILL! But we need to be Ok if he doesn’t.
Pray for healing for someone with passion and confidence. But at the end of your prayers, make sure you acknowledge for yourself that your faith in God is not dependent on God’s willingness to answer how you would like!
I prayed this past Sunday that God would bring healing to Ben’s grandmother. That this issue she has been dealing with would be taken away and that she would not have to deal with this anymore! And I believe God could do that very thing! But I also said, but God we trust in you more than we trust in ourselves.
I want you to look back over the list of things under ASK that you wrote down and the extras you wrote from others. If God doesn’t do any of it, will you love him still? If he doesn’t act in any of the ways you have asked him, is he still your God? If so, than on the next page write down these words from Jesus himself...
Not my will, but yours.