Sermon Series: “The ACTS of Prayer”
(Inspired by a short book by E.W. Price Jr.)
Sermon #1: “A – Affirmation of God’s Presence/Adoration”
Series Text: Acts 1:14
Today’s Text: Matthew 6:6
OPENING QUESTION: Does anyone know what the first Thursday in May is in our country?
The first Thursday in May (May 5th, 2005) is the National Day of Prayer.
What is it?
America’s National Prayer committees’ website says that, “The National Day of Prayer (NDP) is an annual event established by an act of Congress which encourages Americans to pray for our nation, its people and its leaders. The NDP Task Force concentrates on the need to pray for those in leadership on all levels of national, church, and educational areas of influence.”
INTRODUCTION: I believe this is a wonderful event that our country has endorsed.
And along with the season that we are in, having now gotten through the Easter season and looking ahead to Pentecost, I felt moved to write a series of sermons on the subject of prayer.
I preached two weeks ago on the Apostles praying while waiting on the Spirit to fall, but I did not get into the real meat of the subject.
So over the next three Sundays leading up to the National Day of Prayer we are going to learn about “The ACTS of Prayer”
***The art of prayer has been lost in most of today’s churches.
Quote: “It has been said that the apostles prayed for ten days and preached for ten minutes and 3000 were saved. Today we pray for ten minutes and preach for ten days and we wonder why we are not having an affect.”
The purpose of our Christian faith is that we might have a meaningful encounter and relationship with the true and living God.
Prayer is the avenue for that relationship to prosper.
Prayer is also the way God gives His choicest blessings and the way His work in the world grows and prospers.
Often times we have a meager and bare spiritual life simply because we do not pray.
Illustration: “The Cordless Christian” How many of you have a cordless phone? What happens when the cordless phone is left off the charging base? It eventually dies. But a regular ‘corded’ phone is reliable. Why? It is constantly connected to its power source.
To keep our spiritual life ‘charged up’ we have to stay connected to our power source – and our connection is prayer.
But what has happened in today’s church is we have a lot of ‘cordless Christians’ running around.
They have little or no constant connection to God by spending time with Him in prayer, thus they have a shallow spiritual life.
Quote: “If the old saints of the past were to look upon the church of today they would probably note that we are a mile long, but only an inch deep” – anonymous
Illustration: “Instant Prayer” During the opening session at a seminary conference one of the younger students suggested, “I move that we make our devotions snappy, we’ve got a lot of work to do!”
Today’s culture is used to instant coffee, instant news reports, instant potatoes – why not have instant prayer as well?
Because the concept of spending time with God is clearly shown in Scripture.
I want us to look to the Scriptures at the ACTS of prayer
Now A.C.T.S. is an acrostic with each letter giving us a new insight into deepening our prayer life
Over this series of three sermons I am going to open each letter to you and hopefully it will inspire a more devoted prayer life in our congregation, which I believe will result in a movement of spirituality that will help us all grow closer to each other and to God.
And we will begin today with the letter A – Affirming God
I. Affirmation of God’s Presence
a. Our first step in prayer should be a quiet reminder to ourselves that ‘God is with us’
i. Doesn’t He teach us to ‘be still and know that I am God’? (Ps 46:10)
ii. Quote: This is the time that we empty our bodies, minds and souls of the cares of the day and become completely absorbed in the thought that “He is”
b. Affirming God’s presence is such an important part of prayer that goes overlooked
i. Like the young seminary student many of us like to speed our way through our times of prayer
ii. Quote: It seems that from our “Dear God” to our “In Jesus’ name, amen” so fast that we often forget that we are actually speaking to a God who genuinely cares enough to listen
c. Illustration: “My Prayer Thoughts” Often when I pray I imagine in my mind what it would be like to actually see God’s face when I talk to Him
i. Imagine how beautiful and majestic a picture it would be to kneel in the presence of almighty God
ii. That is why I often kneel in prayer – it helps me visualize God’s actual presence as Lord of my life and my heavenly Father
d. As we go to God through the day for strength and fellowship, it benefits us to affirm in our minds that He is actually there and actually listening
i. But even more importantly are those times when we block out the world and retreat to our personal prayer space (some call it prayer closet, I call it my office)
ii. In these quiet areas of our lives, where we should be making daily times to be with God, we should always remember to ‘be still and know’ that He is there
e. Some might say ‘I just don’t have any ‘quiet’ time to spend with God’
i. I’ve got kids, a demanding job, chores and responsibilities
ii. Let me ask you this: “Do you take time out of your day to bathe?” (Boy, I hope so!)
iii. Why? Because it is necessary to keep your body clean and fresh
iv. We need a daily time where we bathe our lives in prayer
f. These daily prayers of devotion should begin with a spiritual affirmation of God’s presence in your life
II. Adoration of God’s Person
a. This means the contemplation of the glorious nature of God
i. The root word is ‘adore’
ii. Adoration is our adoring God
iii. It is the outpouring of praise to God for simply who He is
b. Our basic purpose is to honor God and glorify Him
i. In fact, our chief occupation in Heaven will be to praise the Lord (Revelation 7:9-12)
ii. Nothing pleases God more than our adoration
c. We should distinguish between ‘adoration’ and ‘thanksgiving’ (which we will cover in the coming week)
i. Adoration is giving God glory for ‘who He is in Himself’
ii. Thanksgiving is giving God glory for ‘what He has done for us’
iii. In thanksgiving my thoughts center on myself, but in adoration my soul is concerned with the majesty and glory of God
d. Adoration is probably the most difficult feeling to express to God
i. Because God is so majestic and worthy of worship, we are often at a loss for words when we go to Him in prayer
ii. This is why, in your time of prayer, your Bible is your greatest asset
1. The dominant note in the book of psalms is adoration for God
2. Psalm 103 is wonderful, it begins “Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits…”
3. It then goes on into a wonderful picture of God’s character
iii. Another good resource for adoration in prayer is a hymn book
1. Think about all the wonderful songs of adoration:
a. “How Great Thou Art”
b. “Holy, Holy, Holy”
c. “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”
2. And even contemporary praise choruses
a. “God of Wonders”
b. “I Love You, Lord”
iv. Most hymns and praise songs are derived from Psalms of adoration or prayer from bygone days
e. The more we familiarize ourselves with these words of adoration poured out to God, the more our own prayers will be enriched as we begin to ‘adore’ Him
CONCLUSION: In this first step of ‘affirming God’ we are simply preparing ourselves for the time that we are giving to Him.
We recall His attributes, His love, His splendor, His power, his beauty, His wisdom and His holiness.
And at this point in our prayer, we have kept our minds away from our own worries, fears, sins, weaknesses and needs.
We are just looking to God in dedicated praise and adoration.
Illustration: “First Base First” Coach Bobby Bowden used to tell a story about his baseball days in college. He said that he never hit a home run. He got very excited one day when he hit a line drive down the first base line and was able to run the bases easily. When he arrived at home plate, his whole team was giving him high fives. But then the pitcher threw the ball to first base and the umpire called him ‘out’. You see, Bobby Bowden had not stepped on first base.
Coach Bowden used to tell his players, “if you don’t take care of first base, it doesn’t matter what you do”
And I think we can all learn something form his advise.
If we go to God without first honoring who He is to us, we are missing first base
***Remember it was Jesus Christ, who gave us the model of prayer which began:
“Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed by Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done…”
This week I encourage you to affirm God’s presence and adore His person in your prayers, remember you must hit first base first
(Every head bowed, every eye closed)
