Prayer I

Intro

• Matthew 26:41
• Lowercase spirit is our spirit
• We fall asleep in our spirituality all the time
• Flesh: mind, will, emotions; that wants to do our own thing.
• Starting a prayer series
• Darkness goal: keep you from becoming who God wants you to be.
• Our greatest weapon against spiritual warfare is prayer
• We are super connected, so many ways to communicate that we don’t know what to do with it.
• We expect communication to be instant
• Especially when it comes to text message
• Used to write notes, etc. and it was slow and we had to slowly work through all sorts of details (so dad didn’t pick up the phone when we call etc.)
• You can’t tell me you have a great marriage and say the last time you talked to your spouse last Sunday
• We are frustrated with our relationship with Jesus yet we do not consistently communicate with Him.
• Creaster’s (go to church on Christmas and Easter) is a 1, 10 is talk to God every day.
• We should be a 10.

What is prayer?

• Jeremiah 29:12-13
  • God spanks His children sometimes because he’s a good parent and they have been sent to their room for 70 years.
  • Verse 13!
• When you pray to God HE HEARS YOU.
• Prayer is simply talking to God so you can seek Him and find Him.
• Don’t over think it.
• He already knows what you’re going to pray before you do and and He still loves you.
• We’ve got to press in
• It’s often our last resort instead of our first
• We are frustrated because we think He’s not answering our iMessages (prayers) but He messaged us first.

Why do we pray?

• 1 John 5:14
• According to His will He hears us
• Christianity is about determining Gods plan and will for our life and glorifying Him by walking in that.
• We pray to get our life aligned with His plan and purposes
• Discerning my plan from God’s plan is the hardest thing in life.
  • It’s hard
• There are a lot of good things in our life that aren’t a God thing
• pray, pray, pray, pray

What do we pray for?

• Philippians 4:6
• Everything
• If we don’t pray for everything then how do we discern what’s Him and what’s us?
• Acronym for how to pray:
  • Adoration: adore God for who His is
    • This is to remind US who He is.
  • Confession: not to be forgiven (you already are), but to remind us that He’s good
  • Thanksgiving: keeps us in a place of gratitude. This changes the chemistry of our brain as God designed us.
  • Supplication: make your requests known to God.
    • Write it all out
    • Put the acronym in your journal .
  • … of prayer.