POWERFUL PRAYER PRINCIPLES

Transcription

1 POWERFUL PRAYER PRINCIPLES Matt 6:5 9 (Tevin) INTRO Last week we began an important journey our destination is a powerful prayer life o Prayer isn t a meaningless, habitual task required of Christians Rather prayer is vital to being the child of God called us to be o Prayer is a 2-way relationship w/ God and all His love, grace, & power Today want to look at 5 general prayer principles Jesus shares in the Lord s Prayer o Principles are truthful statements that apply across time & culture Only if we apply these principles will we have powerful prayer life No 1: Prayers are to be shared ~~ not recited To begin our journey into having powerful prayers ~ we need to re-look at how Jesus introduces the Lord s Prayer o Matt 6:9 {manner from thusly } ~ # 3779 ~ N = 208, never recite exactly Jesus doesn t say Memorize and recite these exact words He doesn t say ~ Pray this exact prayer just as I do o Rather Jesus instructs us by saying This is how we should prayer Our prayers to God are to be shared ~ not mindlessly recited o God knows the difference: Ish 29:13 (sounds like formalized religion) o Throughout his Book ~ Isaiah blasts the Israelites for having a superficial faith Hundreds of years later Jesus quotes this verse in Mark 7:6/7 YES its ok to quote the words Jesus uses; but not in a mindless, robotic manner o We can use them when they express your thoughts and feelings God wants us to honestly, genuinely communicate w/ Him Because God wants a personal relationship with His children o Our prayers should be intimate communications with Him Understanding why our prayers should come from our heart not just be recited or repeated in important: 1 Sam 16:7 Trans: Our prayers should be inter-personal communication; not a rehearsed recital 1

2 No 2: God can do anything ~~ we can do nothing We should not come to God in prayer to recommend our aid o We come to God thankful for the privilege of being part of His plan & program The all-powerful, all-knowing God doesn t need our help ~~ it would be like a cockroach offering to help us balance our checking account o Jesus tells us of ourselves we have nothing to offer God: John 15:5 W/o Christ we can do nothing of spiritual or eternal significance Yes we can go to college ~ have a family ~ have an AF career o But we do nothing of eternal significance apart from Jesus This principle means God can accomplish whatever He wants w/o our help: Luke 1:37 o Let s realize - whatever God allows us to do as His Will for our lives is a privilege o It is a privilege for us because He could do it better Himself Everything that must happen before Jesus returns God can do w/o us Guardian Angels give 2-week notice o It is my privilege to serve God as the Pastor of Auburn God has at least a thousand better qualified pastors He could send here Yet ~ because He loves me {in spite of all my shortcomings} and He gives me the privilege of serving Him Trans: which brings us to the next powerful praying principle No 3: God is God and as His Children we are His servants Matt 6:9 a then 13 b o The Lord s Prayer focuses on God at the beginning and the end ~ He is the center of the Universe God isn t an errand boy or a divine Santa Clause to whom we present our wish list and expect Him to deliver Prayer shouldn t just be a time to make demands of God o Prayer is a time when we ~ His sinful servants ~ speak to our Holy God Jacob demonstrated this attitude: Gen 32:10 a 2

3 Yes we re to call God - Father (we ll be discussing that later in the series) but we re never to forget that He is the Heavenly King with His own Kingdom o We are to help bring His Kingdom to completion not to set up our own (AF) Have spent some time w/ Generals got very close to some we both shared some very personal things ~~ only once did I forget they were Generals and I was their subordinate o Early in the Bible we meet two of God s Children ~~ no not Adam & Eve Am talking about Moses and Joshua God gave Moses the privilege of receiving the 10 CCs and the plans for the Wilderness Tabernacle as well as writing the first 5 books o God gave Joshua the privilege of being the first person to have a Book named after him Why was God so pleased with these two men I think because they help advance God s Kingdom ~~ and not focused on setting up their own o When these men died ~~ God used the same term to describe them both: Deut 34:5 then Josh 24:29 [servant] Trans: Both made a significant difference in their world and were seen positively in God s eyes because they were men of prayer and o realized they were workers for God No 4: Prayers should always begin and end w/ Praise In its totality ~ the Lord s Prayer makes six requests Matt 6 o Let s notice the first three: Vs 9 10 These three refer to God s: Name; Kingdom; and, Will This model prayer begins by focusing of God o Then there s the second group of three: Vs 11 ~ 13 a These requests are for our daily provisions; forgiveness, and protection o Then the model prayer ends by focusing on God s Kingdom ~ Power ~ Glory in V 13 b 3

4 First statement of the Prayer: Hallowed be Your Name o Last statement: For thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the glory Beginning and ending with Praise reminds us of who God is this changes the focus from what we want unto God s Will o In prayer ~ God wants a certain attitude to develop in us: Psm 86:11 ~ 13 We are to be humble and teachable The more we know God the more we realize we don t know Him David asks for a sincere ~ genuine ~ transparent ~ and honest attitude toward God He wants to be totally committed to God and to have a singleminded undivided focus on Him o In our prayers we too can share w/ God our desire to know Him better just like David did Trans: Beginning and ending with praise makes our prayer time an exhilarating experience o Praising God like David did in the 86 th Psalm will foster the attitude in prayer that God wants His children to have No 5: Don t worry about the length The Lord s Prayer is part of the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus gives some introductory instructions to follow in our prayers o He begins by warning against praying like the hypocrites Matt 6:5 Then He warms about repetitious prayers Matt 6:7 o The length of our prayers doesn t make them more powerful There are just 66 words in the KJV of the Lord s Prayer (52 ~ NIV) You can say these words in less than 20 seconds Do you remember who was the primary Gettysburg Add on 11/19/1863 o Edward Everett {taught at Harvard Univ ~ served as its President; was one of the great orators of the Civil War era} He was the primary speaker ~ 2 hrs + w/ more than 13,600 words 4

5 Then ~~ Abe Lincoln shared just a few remarks o It took him less than 2 minutes to share those 272 words Whose speech do we remember today o The concept illustrated by Jesus in the model prayer is that our thoughts should be specific, meaningful, and to the point God isn t persuaded by a lot of fluffy Christian jargon He accepts short prayers - long ones too when necessary - if we use these principles and one more stipulation: Ish 59:2 CONCLUSION To illustrated these key principles o let s look at the shortest prayer in the Bible: Matt 14:30 Peter does it right using just three words First Prayers are to be shared ~~ not recited o Peter s prayer was from the heart ~ no recited, meaningless words used here Second God can do anything ~~ we can do nothing o These three words clearly show that Peter believes the Lord can do anything As he s sinking ~~ he knows he can do nothing about the situation Third God is God and as His Children we are His servants o Peter knowns Jesus is God (and he s a servant) because he calls Him Lord Fourth Prayers should always begin and end w/ Praise o Might not seem obvious that there s any praise in Peter s words I think the fact Peter trusts the power of Jesus to save is implied praise Fifth Don t worry about the length o Length certainly wasn t an issue Peter used all the time he had We can experience a powerful prayer life if we follow these five principles o And one thing more: 1 John 5:14/15 xx 5 Closing Hymn ~ XXX: