Concentrate on ourselves today though!

Transcription

1 Prayer Sunday Prayer Sunday Prayer is more important than ever! Sunday 25 th June 2017 Sunday 25 th June 2017 We are in a spiritual battle. God is at work with people getting saved and healed in various towns. However, the devil is also at work. Terrorism, political uncertainty and the fire at Grenfall Tower could all be used by our enemy to create tension, division, fear and confusion. His tactic is to undermine our confidence that God is Sovereign. Our enemy hates the Church. He hates it that people are giving their lives to Jesus. He hates it when Christians wake up and become more enthusiastic disciples of Jesus. Prayer is more important than ever! Often when we pray we pray for others and that is right. Most Sunday mornings this happens. Paul of Tarsus said and wrote lots of prayers for others. All of his letters to the early Church were punctuated by them. Concentrate on ourselves today though! Praying for ourselves: Faith to believe Faith to endure An attitude of yes to God no matter what Faith to believe. What is God saying? He speaks predominantly through the Bible. It s brilliant to read the Bible. He speaks through other ways, but it s great to read the Bible a lot and to do what it says. God energises us as we read the Bible. Faith to endure. When life is tough we ll keep doing what is right. An attitude of yes to God no matter what. It s our choice to say, I will praise You God and trust in You in every situation I find myself in. Joshua 24:14, 15; 2 Corinthians 11:21b-31 Prayer is more important then ever! 1

2 Take a copy from the foyer or print it off from our website. Next week I ll be talking about Peter and the ups and downs he experienced. He often believed. He often endured. He often had an attitude of yes to God no matter what circumstances he was in. Sacrifice. Why? How? You might have noticed this Tease in the current Onward. What does it mean? Surely it s to do with Jesus sacrifice for us. He came to earth and spoke, did miracles, died, rose again and then ascended into heaven. A great sacrifice! Our attitude should be one of deference to God. I hear You, I m going to follow what You say even when that is difficult. I m not going to water down what You ask me to do. What does He ask us to do? Sacrifice. Why? How? Romans 12:1, 2 Micah 6:8 Philippians 2:6-11, 5 Romans 12:1, 2 living sacrifice Not giving a call to pray longer or with more intensity. Christianity is not to be frantic. Not to do more, but to rest. Not to have more activity, but to trust God. Micah 6:8 (Amp) He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you Except to be just, and to love [and to diligently practice] kindness (compassion), And to walk humbly with your God [setting aside any overblown sense of importance or self-righteousness]? Prayer is more important then ever! 2

3 Philippians 2:6-11, 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus (NIV) and think the same way that Christ Jesus thought: (CEV) Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:] (Amp) In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus. (ICB) Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus, (HCSB) I really enjoy looking at maps. I really enjoy looking at maps. What would I like the map of my life to look like? I really enjoy looking at maps. What would I like the map of my life to look like? What will it really look like eventually? Die Die Born Born Sometimes difficult to see around the next bend on our own. Things happen in life that we don t expect. Faith is taking the first step before God reveals the second step. Unexpected things can happen to us in our lives. Prayer is more important then ever! 3

4 Faith is trusting God's HEART even when you can't see God's HAND. Mark Batterson Mark Batterson is Pastor of National Community Church in Washington DC Hebrews 10:23-25 Hebrews 10:23-25 Go for it Paul! Hebrews 10:23-25 Encourage others to Go for it! Pray that God will inspire them and tell them so. It s not weird to encourage people. You can encourage people even if you are a quiet and shy person. Hebrews 10: Kings 19:1-18 Acts 2:42-47 Colossians 3:23, 24 1 Kings 19:1-18 Elijah in fear and so flees. V7: The journey is too much for you. Even Elijah needed encouragement. We all do! Acts 2:42-47 Colossians 3:23, 24 writing to slaves, but any different for us? We have people we answer to! Be Jesus to your family and at work. Worship is not just singing in church. We share our pains, our anxieties, our worries as well as our happy times. Good to listen. I don t have much to give though John! Parable of poor widow Luke 12: Giving a little can make a big difference. Your time, a smile, sending a text or or a card. It matters. It lifts the other person. Someone is praying for me. Prayer is more important then ever! 4

5 Several asked how getting on with Elim Application whilst doing the forms and answering the questions. A blessing! You might put yourself out for a few minutes, but someone else can be blessed for ages because of it. Don t just do it in church. Talk to checkout cashiers. Smile at a neighbour. Our discomfort (putting ourselves out) can lead to others gaining comfort. We should actively look for opportunities to pray for others tell them it s happened and will continue. cp NCF s What s App group. Listening to others selfless. Most of us want to speak most of the time and so to listen more is a gift we could all ask God for. It s a blessing to listen to others for yourself as you re learning about the other person and for that other person as it shows you re concerned enough to do what Windsor Davies would say in It Ain t half hot mum: Shuttt upppp! The map of our life is connected to the maps of other people. We shouldn t try to walk our life alone. We can help others in their walk too, just as we have been helped in the past. We can help others to unlearning their fears we all have them! The Church is a community, not a lot of individuals all meeting together with lots of separate agendas and ideas and wishes. Die Born Our lives can intersect the lives of others. Our map becomes much more complicated! Name that tune! Name that tune! Fantine has just been sacked from her job at the factory and she sings a lament. She thinks back to happier days and wonders at all that has gone wrong in her life. Prayer is more important then ever! 5

6 I dreamed a dream in times gone by When hope was high and life worth living I dreamed, that love would never die I dreamed that God would be forgiving Then I was young and unafraid And dreams were made and used and wasted There was no ransom to be paid No song unsung, no wine untasted But the tigers come at night With their voices soft as thunder As they tear your hope apart As they turn your dream to shame I had a dream my life would be So different from this hell I'm living So different now from what it seemed Now life has killed the dream I dreamed Keep on dreaming. Don t let your dreams from last month or from many years ago die. Don t put them on a shelf and forget about them. Luke 11:5-13 Parable of Persistent Friend. If we give up, someone will stand with us and help us to keep enduring on. Stand on your own two feet! Stand on your own two feet! We need other people in our lives. When things are awful, we need others to help us to continue to say YES! to God. Matthew 26:36-46 Gethsemane Remind me, God of what You have said and done before! Prayer is more important then ever! 6

7 CH Spurgeon: Memory is an aid to faith. You might forget what God has done in your own life, but then someone comes along and reminds you. God might remind you of something He has done for you in the past as you go about your normal day. You could have a eureka moment or a rhema moment. The light bulb goes on! Psalm 136. We might feel like giving up sometimes, but as God reminds us of good things in the past maybe through others or maybe just divinely so fear begins to subside. Die Born God is still on His throne! Life gets complicated for us all. Unexpected things occur. BUT: God is on the throne. He isn t running around heaven screaming, What shall we do? Everything in our lives is in God s hands. The UK is in His hands. God is sovereign! Thousands of prayer resources on the internet. See egs below. Use them to continue to pray and to continue to learn. Prayer is more important then ever! 7

8 What resources could you suggest? (online or printed) Let John know! Prayer is more important then ever! 8

9 Prayer items: Hebrews 10: Kings 19:1-18 Acts 2:42-47 Colossians 3:23, 24 Scriptures to pray for ourselves. Faith to believe. Faith to endure. An attitude of yes to God no matter what. Help us all God to share a smile and encourage others. Help us to know when to go deeper and talk a little more or listen a little longer. Lord let their be light bulb moments when You remind us of things we have done before. Give us a good memory. Visitors feel welcome. Friendly faces, a sense of belonging, good worship, good talks. Sense that God is here! Let s share current stories of lives being changed. If people hear that God is doing things in our lives, then they are attracted to come and to stay as it is inspiring. My life isn t so brilliant in one area, I wonder if their God can do anything for me Sense that God is working here. We can do that in print, online, in our services and over a coffee during the week. David and Cheryl The spiritual battle. God is at work, so is the devil. Terrorism, political uncertainty, the fire at Grenfall Tower could all be used by our enemy to create tension, division, fear and confusion. Our enemy hates the Church. He hates it that people are giving their lives to Jesus. He hates it when Christians wake up and become more enthusiastic disciples of Jesus. His tactic is to undermine our confidence that God is Sovereign. Prayer is more important then ever! 9