THE RIGHT WAY TO PRAY

DIRECT MESSAGE WK 2

THE RIGHT WAY TO PRAY

INTRO: Good morning yall! A lot of yall weren’t with us last week, which is all good, so I wanted to recap what all we talked about. We started a short 2 lesson series on prayer. The first lesson was that Prayer Connects us to God. Just like a wifi connects devices to the internet, prayer connects us to God. What I love about prayer, is that like sending God a direct message. A chance to talk to God about anything and everything happening in our lives.

To you or some of you, you might think prayer is one of those things that you have to be super spiritual to do it. And I get that, because prayer can feel a little weird sometimes.

PERSONAL: When I was young, the “right way” to pray was to go into a closet, turn on youtube to my favorite Hillsong Track, get down on my knees, bow my head, and put my hands at a 45 degree angle because that was the best reception to God. SO, when I didn’t do that, I doubted that God even heard me because it wasn’t formal enough. Can you relate?

There was this skit that I remember about prayer: There was a man who was very interested in praying and so he asked one of his church friends, “How do you pray?” and there were multiple people who came and showed him how to pray:

1. The over-theological wordy man: “Thou, Thee, Thy, Hast nots…” “Oh Sovereign LORD,”

2. Super Laid back: “Yo, my j-sizzle.”

3. The Beg-For-Your-Life: “IM SUCH AN UGLY DESPICLPLE WORM”, “ask for forgiveness every 5 seconds.”

4. The Give-Me-Give-Me: God just wants to give you everything, give him your “Christmas list.”

Sometimes, prayer can seem confusing, people have their own ideas of how to pray “correctly”, like there’s a right or wrong way to pray. But at the end of that skit, a man comes up to him and is like what are you doing? You don’t have to put on a production or try to get God’s attention by your emotions, you just must SHOW UP & BE HONEST. That was the point to our lesson last week. This week we are going to be talking about what Jesus says about prayer.

TENSION: We are going to hop into science class really quick. Do we have any brain surgeons here? No, alright I can say whatever and y’all will believe me. Just kidding. There is a part of your brain called the Anterior Cingulate [SAY IT WITH ME]. I know that went right over your head, it went right over my head to when I read it as well.

When the Anterior Cingulate is strong and built up, it helps you understand and experience God as personal and compassionate. In other words, it helps you really experience the way God knows and cares about you.

Recently, scientists discovered that the number one way to grow the strength of your Anterior Cingulate is through a daily practice of prayer. When you give just ten minutes a day to prayer, you’re exercising that part of your brain in the same way you exercise a muscle. The more you do it, the more that part of your brain grows.

Now, you may be sitting here thinking, “Um, ten minutes a day? That feels like a lot! I mean, I do pray, or I want to pray, but I’m just not sure how. I can’t even give one minute to prayer if I can’t figure out how to do it!”

We all have questions about how to pray, and I think that’s because we aren’t sure what to say or if we’re saying it right. It’s kind of like when we’re totally misunderstood in a text message or DM. Like these!

[SHOW SLIDES OF DM’S FAIL]

These are awkward, confusing, and funny! And if we are being real, that’s how prayer makes us feel.

Maybe you feel like the guy in that skit, you don’t know how to pray, or you think praying is having to do these things in order to make the prayer valid. Or you just have a lot of questions about what to say in your prayers, where we’re supposed to pray, and how to pray. You are not alone! It is normal to have a lot of questions. Better yet I want you guys to have questions and ask them!

Even in Jesus’ time, people were asking how to prayer. Open your bibles to Matthew 6. We are going to look in a part of the bible that is called, “The Sermon on the Mount.” Jesus gave this big talk, and a lot of people think when He went around town-to-town preaching, this was the message He might have given.

So, Jesus started to share a little about prayer and here is what He said:

[READ Matthew 6:9-13]

This is a prayer that a lot of y’all know as the Lord’s Prayer. Some of y’all grew up reciting this at night, or at the dinner table. But this is an outline of how we should pray.

I should say something though about what Jesus said before this. [READ v.5-8] He points out somethings about praying. He encouraged us to be real. Avoiding prayer that is just to impress people. God knows how we feel, so why not pray how we feel. Be honest about it. He also tells us to be consistent. Not just pray once and then never do it again, continually doing it making it a part of our lives.

The right way to pray is by BEING REAL & BEING CONSISTENT.

You see, this simple prayer can really give us a lot of answers to the questions we have about prayer. When we’re not sure what to say, or if we’re doing it right, or how we’re supposed to start, Jesus gave us this prayer to be the answer.

And really, it all comes down to three simple things: THANKS, PLEASE, SORRY

• Thanks

o He started off by thanking God for His greatness. Just how holy his name is, and praising Him for all of His blessings He has given us.

• Please

o Ask God for what you need. Share your requests. Asking God to provide and forgive.

• Sorry

o Ask for God’s forgiveness for any mistakes or wrongdoings. Any sin that you have committed, ask for God to forgive us and He will hold his promise to forgive. 1 John 1:9 tells us that.

Its that’s simple.

Some days, those may be the only words you have to pray. Other days you may have more words to offer. Maybe the words Jesus spoke are the words you want to pray. That’s awesome too! But if you are struggling to find where to start when you are being honest and real with God, saying “Thanks”, “Please”, “Sorry” can also be a starting place for you.

Tell God what you’re thankful for.

Then, tell God what you need.

And finally, let God know where you need forgiveness.

This is just a great starting place. The more you pray, the more comfortable you will become with prayer, and the more you will have to say. The only thing you have to remember is: BE REAL & BE CONSISTENT. God wants to hear whatever you have to say. Wether it be small, medium, or large, God is 100% completely on your team.

The thing I really want you to get today, is that PRAYER IS NOT ABOUT THE WORDS YOU SAY, BUT THE WAY YOU PRAY. Its your heart that matters. It is not about the fancy words or right atmosphere or timing or any of that stuff. Its all about your heart to connect with God. Your honesty is what connects you to God through prayer. So if you are being real and consistent when it comes to your prayer, then you can be sure you’re going to find that connection with God.

Remember, PRAYER IS NOT ABOUT THE WORDS YOU SAY, BUT THE WAY YOU PRAY.

There is different levels of where we are all at in prayer. Some may pray regularly or others never prayed a day in your life. Where ever you are I want you encourage all of us to start.

This is a new school year. Some of y’all might have already started, others are starting this week, this is a great time to start praying for the year. And you may ask how:

1. Pray for your lost people.

a. There is a real battle that we cannot see, Paul tells us “one not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places.” There is an enemy that wants you and your friends and classmates and everyone, to not be followers of Jesus.

b. Lets pray that God will open up avenues and conversations throughout the entire year to reach your school or friends for Jesus.

2. Pray for safety

a. God I pray for safety upon these schools.

3. Pray for your walk to stay strong.

a. You maybe still riding off of that camp experience and haven’t seen those friends that used to hold you back from following Jesus, pray that your faith will stay strong even when you get push back from it.

Y’all prayer is essential in everyones walk with God. Our daily quiet time in Gods word and in prayer is as essential as breathing. We take in his word and we pray through it. Having that connection with God is important for every christian. Its not about the words you say but the way you pray.