"Building My Life Part 8: Getting Control of My Prayers"

Service Times

Sunday Worship and Bible Studies @ 9am & 10:45am

Wednesday Family Night @ 6:30pm

Tuesday Night Celebrate Recovery @ 6:30pm

Small Groups meet at various times

“Getting Control of My Prayers”

‘Building My Life’ series part 8 of 10

	We’re in “Building My Life” series… it’s like what’s happening outside with our construction… PTL
	The disciples came to Jesus and asked Him to teach them how to pray.

Luke 11:1a One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray…

	Everyone here this morning has different ideas when it comes to prayer. What is prayer anyway?
	How should I pray? How often and for what do I pray for? There are many misconceptions / ignorance
	We may view God as a mystical “genie” who we “rub” during our prayers for whatever we desire.
	When our world is crumbling around us… we dial 911 God Help me for our emergencies.
	When all our efforts have failed, seemingly as a last resort, we turn to God for His help.

	Some people see prayer as a pious religious duty done out of habit, from the head and not from heart.
	Prayer may be a meaningless ritual with good sounding words yet… no peace, power or answers.
	When the disciples came to Jesus they didn’t ask Him to teach them to preach better or to teach them to do more or better miracles but they asked Jesus to “teach us to pray”.
	They saw the life of Jesus and His dependence upon God the Father in every situation.
	No one can fully grasp how prayer functions in the infinite mind and plans of a Sovereign God.

A few weeks ago we looked at getting control of my mind… this mini review helps today with prayer…

We’re engaged in an Invisible War with Eternal Implications. (Eph 6)

A true story, during the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya in 1960, missionaries Matt and Lora Higgens were returning one night to Nairobi through the heart of Mau Mau territory, where Kenyans and missionaries alike had been killed and dismembered. Seventeen miles outside of Nairobi their Land Rover stopped. Higgens tried to repair the car in the dark, but could not restart it. They spent the night in the car, but claimed Psalm 4:8: “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” In the morning they were able to repair the car and continue their trip.

A few weeks later the Higgens returned to America on furlough. They reported that the night before they left Nairobi, a local pastor had visited them. He told how a member of the Mau Mau had confessed that he and three others had crept up to the car to kill the Higgens, but when they saw sixteen men surrounding the car, the Mau Mau had left in fear. “Sixteen men?” Higgens responded. “I don’t know what you mean!”

While they were on furlough a friend, Clay Brent, asked the Higgens if they had been in any danger recently. Higgens asked, “Why?” Then Clay said that on March 23, God had placed a heavy prayer burden on his heart. He called the men of the church, and sixteen of them met together and prayed until the burden lifted.

Did God send sixteen angels to represent those men and enforce their prayers?

Touch the World Through Prayer, W. Duewel, OMS, pp. 85-6

Seen Reality – the Physical World

2 Corinthians 4:18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Unseen Reality – the Spiritual World

2 Kings 6:15-17 ¹⁵ When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked. ¹⁶ "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." ¹⁷And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

God’s heavenly messages are in this very room this morning… but there are also forces of evil…

The archway that bridges these two real worlds is prayer.

2 Chronicles 30:27 Then the priests, the Levites, arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard; and their prayer came up to His holy dwelling place, to heaven. (Daniel 10; 2Kings 6:15-19; 2Co 10:3-5; Eph 6:10-20)

Serious Prayer Brings… Opposition & Blessing

	Daniel thrown into a lion’s den for praying (opposition)… God elevated & prospered him (blessing) Dan 6
	Look around this room and you’re see answered prayer… lives touched/changed for Jesus!
	Let me ask you two questions this morning… do you think God wants you to pray? How about the Devil?

Samuel Chadwick said, “The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.”

Luke 19:46 “…It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer’ …

What are my prayer needs? Stronger marriage, pastor, relationships, job, spiritual growth, Cross Creek…

“Piercing the Darkness” Feb29th 8pm – 8am!

I’m praying for revival… God revive me!

Prayer Quotes:

“Every great moment of God can be traced to a single praying, kneeling figure”. ~ D.L. Moody

“The supreme thing is worship. The attitude of worship is the attitude of a subject bent before the King...the fundamental thought is that of prostration, of bowing down”. ~ Campbell Morgan

“Prayer is not monologue, but dialogue; God's voice is its most essential part. Listening to God's voice is the secret of the assurance that He will listen to mine”. ~ Andrew Murray

"God does nothing but by prayer, and everything with it." ~ John Wesley

1 John 5:14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

I. Prayer

Matthew 6:5-8 ⁵ "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. ⁶But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Not if you pray BUT when and how you pray!

Augustine said, “Pray as though everything depended on God; work as though everything depended on you.”

Attitude… Philippians 2:5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Believing… Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Cleansed… Psalms 66:18-19 ¹⁸ If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, my Lord would not have listened. ¹⁹But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. NLT

Solitude… Luke 5:16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Focus… Luke 6:12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

Intimate… Psalms 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

II. Model of Prayer (all prayer is centered upon God)

1. God’s Praise – Worship

Matthew 6:9 "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

· Spend quiet time… in reverence… wait upon the Lord… worship Him, thank Him, spend time…

2. God’s Plan – Submission

Matthew 6:10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

· Not my will but God’s will… surrender… He knows best… all things work together for good…Rom 8:28

3. God’s Provision – Requests

Matthew 6:11 Give us today our daily bread.

· Requests, intercession for others, help, strength, family, concerns, difficulties…

4. God’s Pardon – Forgiveness

Matthew 6:12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

· God search me, God forgive me, God cleanse me, God help me to be clean before You…

5. God’s Protection – Deliverance

Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' (For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.)

· Lord keep me from temptations… entrapments, devil’s schemes, protect me, children, church…

III. Application of Prayer (very simple way to begin a vibrate prayer life…)

Adoration Confession Thanksgiving Supplication

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Some years ago a young girl was very sick and not expected to recover. Because of her love for Jesus, she was troubled that she had not been able to do more for Him in her short life. Her pastor suggested that she make a list of people in their little town who needed Christ and pray that they might put their faith in Him. She took his advice, made a list, and prayed often for each person.

Some time later God began to stir a revival in the village. The girl heard of the people who were coming to Christ and prayed even more. As she heard reports, she checked off the names of those who had been led to the Lord.

After the girl died, a prayer list with the names of 56 people was found under her pillow. All had put their faith in Christ—the last one on the night before her death.

Such is the power of definite, specific, fervent prayer. Do you have a prayer list?

Henry G. Bosch, Our Daily Bread, March-May, 1996, p. for April 3

· “Piercing the Darkness” Feb29th 8pm – 8am!

· Praise & worship music… challenge from God’s Word… break up for prayer… Prayer Requests…

· Every hour a report from various ministry leaders… Their praises & needs to pray for …

· Coffee, juice, snacks, a time to draw closer with each other and our Lord… revival & awakening

· Next week we will go deeper into prayer…