Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Did you know that

A single lightning bolt produces 5 times more heat than the sun.

and hits the earth with up to 300 million volts of Electricity-

in comparison our outlets in our homes have 120 volts of electricity.

Did you know that If we could harness 60 minutes of the Suns energy - it would be enough to power the entire earth for 1 year.

Did you know that a tornado can spin at over 240 miles an hour.

and can totally wipe out a path1 miles wide and 50 miles long.

Did you know that in 2004 a Tsunami wave from the Indian Ocean hit 14 countries from Thailand to Africa and killed 250k people.

Did you know that Hail can be the size of softballs and it can fall from the sky at over 100 mph.

In fact in 2019 over 7 million properties in the US filed insurance claims because of hail .

and between 2008- 2014 Us insurance companies estimate that there was over 7 Billion dollars in hail damage to vehicles.

TRANSITION: Today we are going to talk about Power.

And the source of Power we are going to look at has more energy than any lightning bolt.

its greater than any tornado, its mightier than any Tsunami, and it is more powerful than any Hail producing storm.

This morning Paul is concluding his letter to the Ephesians with one more Biblical exhortation to the church..

He has just given us the charge to put on the Whole armor of God so that we will be ready to stand firm against the attacks of the devil on our lives.

Satan and temptation will come into our lives and will try to destroy our faith.

and now Pau gives the church the glue that holds it all together.

The source of the power we possess in Christ Jesus.

The common bond that makes our armor effective against the attacks.

Text : Eph.

6:18-20  “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”

Did you catch what we need in our lives to be victorious in or spiritual battles?

ITS PRAYER!@!

and Paul’s final charge to the church is don’t neglect the power of prayer in your life.

BIG IDEA: IF we are going to walk worthy of our calling than we MUST WALK IN PRAYER

Paul gives us 5 ways a believer Walks in Prayer

TEXT: “Praying at all times in the Spirit

PRAY AT ALL TIMES IN THE SPIRIT

Paul is not telling us that we should always have our heads bowed and eyes closed and talking to God at all times.

- that would be crazy.

If that was the case I think most of us would be coming to church with band-aides all over our bodies from the things we ran into while praying.

Instead, Paul is saying that our lives as believers should always be in communion with God.

Notice what Paul says “ Pray always IN THE SPIRIT”

The Bible tells us that our prayers are directed TO God the father- Through Jesus the Son, IN the Holy Spirit,

Romans 8:26-27 tells us why we need to pray in the Spirit.

“26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.

8:27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes on behalf of the saints according to God’s will.”

If we are going to Pray for God’s will in our lives to be done than we must pray in the Spirit because it is the H.S. who intercedes for us at the throne of God.

Paul’s point is not necessarily to teach on the H.S. but to tell believers that if we are going to have a powerful prayer life than......

Our conversation with God through Prayer should never be over.

“Pray at ALL times in the Spirt.-

Pray constantly for God’s will to be done in your life.

Illustration: (Phone calls for ever)

When I was a sophomore in Collage I met a girl who I fell head over heels for - I mean I was smitten for life.

I couldn’t wait to see her and I couldn’t wait to continue our conversation together.

In fact, at night after i would drop her off at her dorm room- I would run back to my room- pick up the phone and string the 20ft.

cord all the way back into my bedroom climb on my bed and call her as quick as I could-

why?

Because I never wanted our conversation to end.

We would talk about everything.

and even when I was doing homework, I loved to just have the phone still connected and sitting on the desk just to know she was there.

This is what it means to always be in prayer-

Be in a life long conversation that never ends and never needs to catch up from where you left off because it is a constant in our lives.

The question we should ask ourselves is .....Why should we always be in a conversation with God?

Because just like I was in love with Amy and couldn’t bear being away from her- as the redeemed in Christ, we should be in love with our God and want to know more and more about him.

and we should have a yearning desire to be close to him always.

I Believe There’s another reason that Paul has just given believers this command to always be in prayer,

because there is an enemy that is trying to destroy our relationship with God- He wants us to feel distant from Him and He wants us to run to other things instead of Him when we are in need.

and when temptations come (and they will) and the fiery darts of Satan start flying in our direction 9and they will come) there is no time to try and find Gods phone number in the book - and to see if He will answer.

There is no time to try and catchup with our relationship.....

We need that communication line off the hook at all times so that when we are attacked we are ready to stand firm in God’s armor.

and we need God’s supernatural power to win the supernatural battle we are in and this requires us to Always be in prayer.

TRANSITION; Paul goes on in our text to say that the we should Pray with All prayer and Supplication.

PRAY WITH ALL PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION

The 2nd quality of an effective prayer life is to pray with all prayer

What this means is that we shouldn’t just focus on one aspect of prayer but on all of it.

We tend to focus on the intercession of Prayer- don’t we?

We are quick to ask for help when we are in need.

“.... Lord I need you to do this now

....Lord if you would help me here I will be a better person

But an effective prayer life is so much deeper than just asking for Gods help when we are i n need.

if we are going to pray with All prayer and supplication than we need to pray in a manner that incudes all prayer and supplication.

The 4 aspects of a godly prayer - (ACTS)

Adoration- Giving God Praise and honor for who He is

Psalm 104:1-2 “ Praise the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord my God, you are magnificent.

You are robed in splendor and majesty.104:2

He covers himself with light as if it were a garment.He stretches out the skies like a tent curtain,” NET

Have you ever just sat back and Adored God?

Confession- Dealing with the sin in your life.

Admitting your sin and asking for God’s forgiveness.

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

24  And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!Deliver Me, O Lord, from Evil Men ESV

When is the last time you confessed your sins to God?

Thanksgiving - Thanking God for all the wonderful things He has done and given you

Psalm 86:12-13 “I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.

13  For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.”

esv

When is the last time you just spent time thanking God for all he has done in your life?

Supplication- or intercession - Bringing request for yourself and others to God

psalm 143:2-9  “Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.

...deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.

....6  I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.

7  My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes.

8  Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.

9  The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayers.