2-21-16

Turning Point Wesleyan Church

Pastor Dan Denning

Today’s message has been partially derived from a Bible Study which is founded from the War Room Movie.

War Room is the exciting moving which the church will be hosting on March 4th.

Now, I want to begin today with asking everyone to answer and record your answers to a few questions.

Please come up with a number between 1 and 10, which this number reflects your Prayer Life.

You can record your answer on Your Personal Answer Sheet using the #1 space 1 – 10.

So I am asking you to record in the space provided, circle what number which corresponds the best to how good you feel your Prayer Life is.

Now, before you answer you may want to reflect upon things like:

How would you rate your desire:

·        To pray to God.

·        Your depth of prayer to God.

·        And how often do you actually pray to God.

Now, using the second (2^ND) 1 through 10 spot on your Personal Answer Sheet, please record your answer to this question.

If we were going to ask God that very same question. To ask Him to grade you on what level is your pray Life to Him, what would you think His Answer would be?

Please again, circle the answer which you think He would reply to.

Is it different than yours?

And if so, why?

Now moving on with this self-evaluation, with using the spaces provided in the #3 answer space, please describe how you see your prayer life to be.

Some things to consider when describing your prayer time are:

·        What pictures come to mind?  

·        What images do you see?

·        What feelings do you feel that come to mind when you describe what PRAYER Life means to you?

·        Did you say that you see comfort? Peace?

·        Did you see guilt? Maybe feeling nervousness?

When we think of Prayer, we should have a feeling of Peace with God and of God.

And our time with Him should reflect an offering presented to Him within a state of Reverence for Our God Almighty.

I would like for us to imagine, if we could, in what way or manor does God receives our prayers from us.

·        Do we offer our Prayers up with SINCERITY?

o   With Honesty;

o   Seriousness:

o   In Naturalism;

o   & Generosity.

·        Do we offer our Prayers to God with RESPECT?

o   Admiration;

o   Reverence;

o   & in Detail.

·        Do we pray so that we allow God to act as God CHOOSES?

o   Do we pray in a very demanding way, for us to get OUR WAY, the best way which we feel is best for us?

o   Or do we pray in a way where we allow God to act within His Plan?

·        And do we pray as if we are ACTUALLY talking directly to God?

I am sure we have all experienced and maybe even been involved within them ourselves, praying in such a way which is not honorable to our God.  

·        We have seen those form prayers, which are in themselves are not all bad but if they are not prayed correctly, they carry with them no value to our God.  If we pray without thought or without meaning, then they are of no value.

o   We can find this with even praying Our Lord’s Prayer. Haven’t you experience this?

§  Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…

But rather it should be prayed as Jesus prayed it:

“Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.”

·        And if we pray as to impress others of our praying ability, then as Jesus had already said, we have received here on earth all of the benefits which we are to receive.

·        If we pray with using God’s Name more than 3 times within the prayer, then we may want to revisit our belief of whom we are praying to.

An Example of this could be something like this: “Oh God, we gather here Lord, to pray to you Oh God, for, God, for You to help us out here, Oh God.”

·        And if we pray, trying to capture the innocence and closeness to God by renaming Him, then we must examine why we are doing this.

An example of this could be: “Of Father, Daddy, we pray to you Daddy as a way of seeking to know you more closely Daddy”.

·        God is seeking prayers which come from the heart. And which are offered with Sincerity, Respect, Expecting God to act and not demanding Him to act in only the way we want, all the while presenting it in such a way were we are in a conversation with Him.

We most certainly want to offer our prayers as a Love offering filled with Honor and Respect.

I am talking about having our prayers offered in a state of Honoring God.

And with the most Respect and Humbleness as we can.

All of this bundled together in a conversation with our God.

That is for Him to Hear from us and for us to Listen to Him.

We always need to remove our Self-Pride and come to know the Truth about our Prayer with God.

·        God Does Not NEED us to communicate with Him.

·        And God Does Not NEED to communicate with us.

But just understanding and knowing of those two things isn’t enough.

We also need to understand and to know that:

·        God chooses to LISTEN to us

·        And God chooses to TALK to us.

And within these choices of God, we most certainly Find His expression of His Love towards us.

God longs for us to be in communication with Him all of the time.

That is to talk and to listen to Him constantly.

You may have never stopped and thought about this before but I ask for you to do this now.

With using your #10 spot on your answer sheet, please record; “What shocks you, what stands out, what surprises you the most about Prayer?”

So if you were going to define “Prayer”, what words would you use? _____________________

And if we were going to take a look at a list of all of your prayers to God, what would be the All-time TOP 5?

You can use your #5 spot on your Personal answer sheet.

For many of us:

·        We may include prayers which we prayed during a crises period of our lives.

I am talking about times within our lives which were totally out of our control. An accident, a serious illness or injury.  

·        We may also include here what we could refer to as routine prayers.

Prayers like we would say before eating our meals, at bedtime, and maybe even saying ‘amen’ here at church.

These are all very important to us and they are also very important to God but God’s Word instructs us to be in constant prayer with Him.

And Our God has given us so many examples of this within His Word that I couldn’t even begin to mention them all but here are a few for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

1 John 5:14 (NIV)

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”

So let me ask, what is your biggest struggle with being in prayer?

·        Is it Finding the Time to Pray?

·        Is it Knowing how to Pray?

·        Is it the Feeling that God doesn’t hear or maybe He is too busy to listen all of the time?

The other night I dreamt that everyone wanted me to read more. I mean like read a book for enjoyment or something. This was very frustrating to me because although I wanted to do it, I also knew that by adding just one more thing in my life like reading a book for pleasure, then I would have to give up something that I was presently doing. And I just couldn’t decide what I was supposed to give up.

Having Constant Prayer in your life isn’t like that. No, not at all.

You don’t have to give up anything to put Prayer in your Life.

But by Praying,

it puts order to what you are presently doing.

By adding Prayer into your life, it isn’t like adding something new into your life that you have to find new time to do it in, such as reading a book or adding a sports activity or something like that.

But rather it is to continuing on with what you are already doing now, but the change is in the HOW you are doing what you are doing.

The ‘new thing’ is relying and trusting upon God’s power and provisions instead relying on what you yourself can do.

Remember, this is what I was referring to before last week’s sermon when I was talking about what I was doing for the church.

Instead of me, Dan doing all I can do for the church, I am now offering it all up in prayer and allowing God to work through me, putting order to what I am doing.

The switch is in the reason why I am doing what I am doing.

I am no longer doing it for myself but rather I am doing it for the LORD.

One of the Biggest Discoveries we need to come to is to understanding how much God wants to hear from us and how much He actually does Love us.

One of the greatest accomplishments of the evil one can do is for him pursued us in getting lost from the Truth that God truly desires to have us close to Him and to be in constant communication with Him.

When we take the time and stop!

And Remember Just how much God longs for us to walk so closely with Him, it really changes everything.

Ephesians 3:16-18 (NLT)

“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.

Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.

And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.”

Did you notice how much Pray and Love has to do with this passage?

How do you think your Prayer Life could be impacted if you prayed knowing that your prayers are established and rooted within that type of Love?

Prayer doesn’t have to be something in which we fear of or we shy from but If we embrace it, pray for the right things, we have the great power of the Holy Spirit within us and He will help us with everything.

Do you want to take that step?

He is waiting.