Sermon Central
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A Time For Prayer
Contributed by John Dobbs on May 4, 2020 (message contributor)
Summary: Many people have a difficult time developing a strong prayer life in their Christian walk.
Introduction
Many people have a difficult time developing a strong prayer life in their Christian walk. Sometimes prayer is stronger when things are a struggle. If that is true, then we should be a praying people right now! The concept of prayer is fairly simple. Someone once said, “I don’t feel like praying”. Their friend said, “Well, why don’t you talk to God about it.” Prayer is simply talking to God.
If you are struggling with your prayer life, I want to encourage you that God hears your prayers.
*You do not have to pray in any specific way, using holy words or repeating any religious phrases.
*You do not have to pray in any specific place, any place you spend time with the Lord is holy ground.
*You do not have to have someone else pray for you. No one is more important to God than you are.
*You do not have to pray a long prayer - the Lord’s prayer is rather short.
*You do not have to pray a beautiful prayer - just speak from the heart.
Ultimately there is no perfect prayer because we are not perfect people. The important thing is that you take time to pray. This is a time for prayer.
Let’s spend a few minutes looking at what the Bible says about prayer. Let’s begin with one of the most familiar prayers in the Bible - the model prayer - often called the ‘Our Father’ prayer or The Lord’s Prayer.
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
That prayer is precious to us because it is a prayer that is taught to us by our Lord Jesus Christ. This prayer teaches us about our daily prayer life because it teaches us to pray. We join Jesus in the school of prayer when we pray this prayer.
- It teaches us to pray to our Father - he is our Father - not a remote, uncaring person. He loves us and cares for us as his children.
- It teaches us to pray to our Father in heaven - he is as close as he can be, but he is also in heaven - outside of the temporary world in which we live. So we are taught the comfort of nearness and the power of God.
- It teaches us to praise God. Hallowed is Holy - God’s name is holy and we worship a holy God. This acknowledges how awesome God is and that we want to serve Him every day.
- It teaches us to desire the kingdom rule of God in our lives. As people of faith we have given our life to God and He is our Lord, our Ruler, our Sovereign.
- It teaches us that we seek for God’s will to be done on earth - in our lives, and in the lives of others.
- It teaches us to trust God to supply our daily bread - our daily needs. Sometimes that can be hard, but Jesus taught us to pray about that. We should also pray for those around us to have their daily bread as well.
- It teaches us to seek God’s forgiveness - something all of us need every day. It also reminds us to forgive others. We cannot enjoy the forgiveness of God while holding grudges and a bitter spirit toward others.
- It teaches us to reject the temptations to sin that we all face, and be devoted to God. It reminds us that there is an enemy who tempts us and he does not love us like God does.
- It teaches us to honor God as truly more powerful and glorious than anything else we know.
- It teaches us to say Amen - let it be so.
It’s not a very long prayer, but it is so powerful.
Prayer is something that some feel intimidated by, but you never have to be shy or hesitant in your prayers. The Bible tells us that we can come to God in prayer with a confident spirit.
Hebrews 4:16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Hebrews 4:16 AMP Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].
