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We still looking at the Disciples Cross as an illustration to help us remember the important points surrounding discipleship.
And we’ll be looking at it for the next few weeks to come.
This is the Disciple’s Cross.
The center of a Disciple’s life is Jesus.
He must be our number 1 priority.
We won’t be disciples of Christ until He’s number 1 in our lives.
We have to center our lives around Him.
The vertical axis of the Disciple’s Cross represents the disciple’s relationship with the Lord.
That’s our up and down relationship.
Last week we talked about the bottom part of that vertical axis.
Our relationship with the Lord has to be grounded in the Word.
The Bible.
We need to spend time with the Lord in His Word daily.
When we do that, there’s three things that happen.
We get to know the Lord.
We get guidance and direction from the Lord.
We bring our needs and desires to the Lord.
So far we’ve looked at two specific things we need to be a Disciple of Jesus.
We need to make Jesus the center of our lives.
We need to spend time daily with the Lord in his Word.
Today, we’re going to look at the top vertical axis of the Disciple’s Cross.
Here we’ll find another thing we have to incorporate into our lives to be a Disciple of Jesus Christ.
And that would be PRAYER.
Prayer is a must for a Disciple of Jesus.
And I would dare say that all of us pray.
But we pray according to what we think prayer is.
And a lot of times, we’ve just got prayer all wrong.
How do you pray?
Is it best to pray standing up, sitting down, kneeling, or bowing down?
Should our hands be open, closed, or lifted up to God?
Do our eyes need to be closed when we pray?
Is it better to pray in a church building or out in nature?
Should we pray in the morning when we get up or at night before we go to bed?
Are there certain words we need to say in our prayers?
How do we begin our prayers?
What is the proper way to close a prayer?
These questions, and others, are common questions asked about prayer.
Far too often, prayer is viewed as a “magic formula.”
Some believe that if we do not say exactly the right things, or pray in the right position, God will not hear and answer our prayer.
This is completely unbiblical.
God does not answer our prayers based on when we pray, where we are, what position our body is in, or in what order we word our prayers.
We are told in 1 John 5:14-15 to have confidence when we come to God in prayer, knowing He hears us and will grant whatever we ask as long as it is in His will.
Jesus gives us a glimpse into real prayer.
Read John 15:7
Jesus tells us that we can ask whatever we wish and He’ll do it.
We like that.
Whatever I want Jesus will do it.
But we all know that doesn’t always happen, does it?
So what’s the problem?
The problem is, we usually forget the first part of what Jesus says.
There are qualifiers to answered prayer.
Abide in Jesus.
Let His words abide in you.
This is where last week’s message comes into play.
Jesus has to be the center of our lives.
We have to be in His Word daily.
Then we’ll have answered prayer.
Why is this important?
Because when we’re in God’s Word, we’ll better know what to pray.
We’ll pray according to His Word.
Here’s a good quote I got from MasterLife, by Avery T. Willis.
“Prayer is intended to involve me in God’s purpose rather than involving Him in my plans.”
(Avery T. Willis, MasterLife: The Disciple’s Cross, p. 55.)
God’s intention for prayer is not to do all the things you want Him to do.
His intention for prayer is for you to know what He wants you to do and pray that you will be able to do it.
So let’s talk about how we can pray like this.
First, we need to understand what we’re doing.
When we pray, we are actually coming into God’s presence.
Back in the Old Testament, with the nation of Israel, only a few select people could go into God’s presence.
The Tabernacle, and later the Temple, had this room called the Holy of Holies.
This was the place God made Himself known.
Only once a year could somebody go into that room.
That person was the High Priest.
He was the mediator for everyone else.
But Jesus changed all that.
Read Hebrews 4:14–16
We don’t need someone to go to God for us anymore.
Because of Jesus, we have direct access to God.
And that’s what prayer is.
Coming into God’s presence.
It may help you when you pray to imagine that happening.
God is there.
And you’re coming before Him.
It’s a holy, awe-inspiring thing.
There’s no room for casualness.
This is serious.
The primary thing to remember about prayer is that you are in the presence of the Almighty God!
Once we’re there, once we understand what we’re doing, here’s four things to remember about prayer.
Begin with THANKSGIVING.
We should start our prayer with thanksgiving.
Read Psalm 100:4
Enter God’s presence with Thanksgiving.
Thank Him for all He’s done for you up to this point.
Think you don’t have any reasons to thank God?
Try these.
Thank Him for salvation.
Thank Him for His dependability.
Thank Him for forgiveness.
A man named T.W. Hunt wrote this one time.
“What if tomorrow I had only the things for which I thanked God today?”—T.W. Hunt
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