Dangerous Prayers

Dangerous Prayers December 12, 2021 Good morning and welcome you to Lake Erie Church. It's been almost a month since we were last together and so I'm excited to see you. If you are joining ONLINE, we are grateful to have you and believe God is preparing to do something powerful in all of us. I want to begin with 3 Questions: 1. How do you feel about the way you pray? 2. How do you think God feels about the way you pray? 3. What could you do to improve how you pray in 2022? From the time Shelley and I came to LEC, we have said we want to be A House Of Prayer. We often say that it is Prayer Fuels The Momentum Of Our Church. As we pray, so goes the church and I believe that is the case. When we are a praying church, actively praying in our personal lives and corporately here, we see God move, we see lives changed and we are personally energized by the Holy Spirit for the work of God in each of us. But prayer is an interesting component of our faith experience. At least it is for me. I can only speak with authority out of my own life but perhaps you can relate. My prayers are too often SAFE. Now don't misunderstand-- the prayers that move God are simple, authentic, heartfelt prayers but that's not what I'm taking about-if I'm not careful I can use prayer as a comfort to my soul instead of using prayer as a weapon of spiritual warfare. Now, I believe prayer can be both-prayer can be comfort to our souls but prayer was never designed to be SAFE. Thinking about prayers I've prayed in recent days... Does God ever get BORED with the prayers we pray? I wonder if God is bored with the "vanilla" prayers that are prayed for things like "bless my cheeseburger" or "keep me safe while I travel" and do you think he ever wants to say "just eat the burger" or "put your seatbelt on and drive the speed limit"... I've been reading a book on prayer and it caused me to start thinking about the prayers in the Bible where real things happened because people prayed. * (2 Kings 17)...Elijah prayed 63 words and literal fire fell from heaven at Mt. Carmel. * (Daniel 6)...Daniel prayed and God shut up the mouths of lions. * (Judges 16)...Samson prayed for strength and pulled down the walls of the building where 3000 Philistines were killed. * (Isaiah 38)...Hezekiah prayed for God to extend his life and God gave him 15 more years to live. You may hear those and think "well, I guess my praying is completely ineffective..." that's not the point... (James 5:16) says... Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you. When a believing person prays, great things happen. Here's the critical question... When was the last time you prayed a Dangerous Prayer? What Is A Dangerous Prayer? The dangerous prayer is a prayer of death to ourselves, a surrender of all that we have planned and a sincere and authentic desire for God's will to be done in the matter. Jesus prayed a dangerous prayer in the Garden--- Not my will but your will be done. (Acts 4:23-31) After Peter and John left the meeting of leaders, they went to their own group and told them everything the leading priests and the elders had said to them. When the believers heard this, they prayed to God together, "Lord, you are the One who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. By the Holy Spirit, through our father David your servant, you said: Why are the nations so angry? Why are the people making useless plans? The kings of the earth prepare to fight, and their leaders make plans together against the Lord and his Christ. (Psalm 2:1-2) These things really happened when Herod, Pontius Pilate, and some Jews and non-Jews all came together against Jesus here in Jerusalem. Jesus is your holy servant, the One you made to be the Christ. These people made your plan happen because of your power and your will. And now, Lord, listen to their threats. Lord, help us, your servants, to speak your word without fear. Show us your power to heal. Give proofs and make miracles happen by the power of Jesus, your holy servant. After they had prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke God's word without fear. Starting today, let's start praying dangerous prayers. I was reading about a woman whose pastor suggested she pray a dangerous prayer and she said she was afraid to because she had small children and she did not know whether or not she could trust God enough to pray dangerous prayers. So for the next few weeks, I want us to consider how we pray, what we pray for and what we want to ask God to do in our lives, our families, our church, our community and our world in 2022? We will call this series Dangerous Prayers. I want our praying to be dangerous. I want the devil to get nervous about LEC, that the level of prayers, the nature of our praying is going to be a threat to his kingdom. I want the kinds of prayers- * That break the strongholds over our lives and families... * That crush our fears and anxieties... * That empower us over our many temptations... * That calm the rage and anger inside of us... I still believe the promise of God... (2 Chronicles 7:14) Then if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, if they will pray and seek me and stop their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven. I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land. For just a moment, close your eyes and think for a moment what is the most dangerous prayer you could start praying this week...? God I'm a sinner I'm sorry for my sins I believe Jesus died for my sins I believe you will forgive me of my sins I choose Jesus