Help Lord, I Don t Know What I m Doing # 2 Help Lord, My Prayer Life Needs CPR Introduction * One day a kindergarten teacher - helping one of her students put on his cowboy boots? -He asked for help and she could see why. Even with her pulling and him pushing, the little boots still didn t want to go on. * Finally, when the second boot was on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost cried when the little boy said, "Teacher, they re on the wrong feet." She looked down and sure enough, they were. It wasn t any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. But she managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on - this time on the right feet. And it was only then that he announced, "These aren t my boots." She bit her tongue rather than scream, "Why didn t you say so?" like she wanted to. And, once again she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off his little feet. No sooner had they got the boots off then he said, "They re my brother s boots. My Mom made me wear em today." Stifling a scream, she mustered up the grace and courage she had left to wrestle the ill-fitting boots on his feet again. Helping him into his coat, she asked, "Now, where are your mittens?" To which he replied, "I stuffed em in the toes of my boots." * Wow - Sometimes we need a little help don t we. And Sometimes - when the help is right there - we make it difficult. ***When It Comes To Prayer God Has Provided All The Help We Need - we re often unaware - ignore it or don t co-operate. * Christian Life - How Do You Live It? 3 Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. 25 "These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (John 14:23-26) Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: (John 16:7-8) * Jesus said He would send another comforter - Helper - SO
I. You re Not On Your Own * You Are not on your own to live the Christian life and you are not on your own when it comes to having a healthy meaningful prayer life. * God Has Promised His Holy Spirit who empowers us to live the new life. 1. God Himself Is Your Help - Holy Spirit = 3 rd person of the Godhead 2. A Quick Primer On The Holy Spirit s Ministry In Your Life * Convicting And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment (John 16:8) * Regenerating Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. (John 3:7-8) * Indwelling And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:16-17) You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. (Rom 8:9) * Stress - every Christian has the Spirit living within - He empowers us to live the Christian life and to be in vital communion with God * Sealing And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Eph 4:30) * Filling And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18) Fills you = as you surrender He controls you and empowers you. * So - God has not left you alone. He Himself, by His Holy Spirit - has come to live within you. That means - everywhere you are God is there. That means - every circumstance you face God is there. That means every heartache you have and every time you hurt God is there. That means - every time you are confused and bewildered by the circumstances around you God is there. ** God Has Not Left You Alone He Himself Is With You And This Is Very Important Truth When It Comes To Prayer Because The Abiding Holy Spirit Has A Crucial Role to Play In Having A Healthy Prayer Life.
* Holy Spirit Has A Particular Role To Play In Prayer II. You Don t Know What You re Doing Illustrate: It s a beautiful sunny morning. You ve been travelling with Jesus. You ve heard Him teaching with wisdom and authority - you ve watched Him heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons. You ve been with Him as He s ministered to the crowds. - They are coming from everywhere to see Jesus hungry people - sick people - those who are oppressed by demons, epileptics, paralytics, and He s healed them. * You re there the day He preached the sermon on the Mount. You re sitting in the grass and you can feel the breeze blowing through your hair as you listen to Him teach - Blessed are the poor in spirit, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness You could listen to Him for hours. - He s teaching about being salt and light in the world - about how He has come to be the fulfilment of the law, about how to deal with anger and lust and loving you enemies and everyday issues of life. One day you are with Him - it s a gorgeous morning and Jesus has slipped away to pray like He has many times before. You re thinking Wow, if only I could pray like Jesus? You know that His prayer life is so much healthier than your s. You want to know His secret so, when He has finished praying you ask LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY just as John taught his disciples to pray. * The Fact Is That We Do Not Naturally Know How To Pray - as a matter of fact because of our fallen nature - corruption - sinfulness we really don t know how to pray or what to ask for. We need this help; that the Holy Spirit brings to us when it comes to Healthy Prayer. Turn Rom 8:26-29 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, * Now we probably understand from this in times of deep distress when we can t even talk - can t think - just groan. Illustrate - Called out in the middle of the night lady in our church had been killed in a car crash daughter had been asleep in the back seat when they were sideswiped. We were all numbed confused and in a daze. How are you supposed to pray in a moment like that. Just cried and groaned with the family Oh God Help Us. - Perhaps you ve been in situations where all you could do is cry out - words couldn t express the anguish of your soul. * We ve all had times like that but there is even more here for us to understand.
III. You Can Pray In The Spirit praying in the Spirit - 1 Cor. 14:15; Eph. 6:18; Jude 20 1 Cor 14:15 What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. Eph 6:18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, Jude 20 But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; * What Does It Mean To Pray In The Spirit Praying is the Spirit is Praying According To The Spirit s Leading. 1. Praying In The Spirit Is The Secret Of Prayer The secret of all failure is our failure in secret prayer (Unknown Christian) 2. True Prayer Is Prayer In The Spirit 3. When We Pray In The Spirit, We Will Pray Right Things In The Right Way 4. When We Pray In The Spirit, We Pray In Faith - Faith Comes From: 1. The Promises In The Word Of God 2. The Leading Of The Spirit Of God Guidelines For Praying In The Spirit i. Commune With God ii. Be Filled With The Holy Spirit - Don t Grieve The Holy Spirit And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. (Eph 4:30-31) - How do you quench - context - sin - ungodliness et. - Don t Quench The Holy Spirit Do not quench the Spirit. (1 Thess 5:19) - Don t put out the fire - when the Spirit is leading iii. Listen To The Spirit Speak iv. Pray In Faith
Conclusion * God Always Answers True Prayer In The Spirit Yes Turn With Me To 1 John 5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. Ask Anything - according to His will He Hears Us - we have what we have asked of Him * Story: elderly woman named Norena, who lived in southern Florida. - hurricane hit that area, her home was one of many that was severely damaged. - Norena received an insurance settlement, and the repair work began. - However, when the money ran out, so did the contractor, leaving an unfinished home with no electricity. Norena lived in her dark, unfinished home - without power - for fifteen (15) years. - 15 yrs - no heat - no airconditioning - just a small lamp and gas burner. - neighbors did not seem to notice the absence of power in her home. - Acting on a tip, one day, the mayor of the Miami-Dade area got involved. It only took a few hours of work by electrical contractor, to return power to Norena s house. CBS News reported that Norena planned to let the water get really hot, and then take her first "bubble bath" in a decade and a half. "It s hard to describe having [the electricity]...to switch on," Norena told reporters, "It s overwhelming." * Many Christians have been living their entire lives without ever knowing what it is like to have the overwhelming Power of the Holy Spirit operating within them?" Not Knowing that God resides in us by His Spirit to direct our prayers Some of us have had the power turned off way too long - and might not recognize it or believe its possible. (Challenge to Communion With God and Pray in the Spirit)