Sermon Central
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David's Prayer Life
Contributed by Mickey Bell on Mar 10, 2006 (message contributor)
Summary: Sometimes we need to pattern ourselves after other great men. What made David great was not his warrior tactics, his position or his name. It was his prayer life.
David’s Prayer Life
When people refer to Pentecost and the first church, many times they get so tangled up with the results instead of focusing on the actual application that it took to get to the results of Pentecost.
Never forget, verse 14 tells you why they were able to experience in part what they experience.
They devoted themselves daily to prayer.
· Prayer over my life – to keep me safe and in God’s will.
· Prayer over my tongue – to keep me from saying things I shouldn’t
· Prayer over the lost – that they might get saved
· Prayer over the sick – that they might get healed
· Prayer over the church – that new additions might be added
But never forget, while Pentecost produced a great move of God…
· Notice the sound – like a violent, rushing wind
· Notice the tongues – as the spirit gave utterance
· Notice the understanding – of language from every tribe represented on this day
But don’t you dare forget to notice that this just didn’t happen.
It took the dedication of these men and women to fall on their face before an Almighty God.
- You can have your preaching
- You can have your singing
- You can have your shouting
But you can’t have a day go by without the “devoting of yourself to an active prayer life”
David was a man who knew how to pray.
He was a man, “after God’s own heart”. So why not check him out.
He killed Goliath
He became King
He committed adultery and murder
He lost a son
So if there was ever a man that covered every sense of emotion, it was David.
Someone once said that you could look at prayer with an acronym of the book of Acts that we read from earlier.
A = Adoration – Praising God for who He is
C = Confession – Admit your sins to God; ask forgiveness.
T = Thanksgiving – Thank God for all He has done
S = Supplication – Ask God for His help
Throughout the Bible, David prayed every one of these prayers, sometimes, more than once.
Adoration –
1. David’s Prayer of Confidence –
1st Samuel 17:37-47
What do we learn?
Sometimes you just have to speak it out loud.
When things come up and try your faith, it’s good that you can mumble a prayer and know that God hears you. But sometimes, you just have to open up your mouth and proclaim what you are praying for.
David – told that Giant exactly what was going to happen. He was claiming it. How? His confidence was in the Lord.
Read 1st Samuel 17:45-47
David said:
I am coming to you in the Lord’s name. On His behalf!
You are coming to fight me with your traditions and the ways that you learned from your people, I am coming up against you through the power of God.
By speaking it out loud, David was letting everyone know who was in control of the situation.
(In the E.R) – tell others that God is in control
(In the Funeral Home) – proclaim the life giver
(In the Jail cell) – proclaim the One who can set you free
(To the drug dealer) – proclaim that he doesn’t need them
(To the alcoholic) – proclaim he can let go of it
David wasn’t just letting Goliath know by speaking out his prayers, he was confirming in his own soul that I am about to take on something that I normally couldn’t handle.
But I am not going in David’s name…
· I am not going in Jesse’s (my father’s) name…
· I am not going in the name of America…
· I am not going in the name of Shipps Baptist Church
I am going in the name of the Lord!
Notice:
This is not something that was new to David. You can’t just show up for battle and expect to walk in God’s victory if you haven’t already spent some quite time with God for training and preparation.
Verse 37 – David shares how God already delivered him out of the mouth of a lion and a bear.
He was saying, “I have been here already. Goliath it might not have been you the last time but God has already shown himself faithful to me” And he will do it again!
Wouldn’t you have an active prayer life if you were going up against a lion and a bear?
David knew how to pray in confidence. His prayer of ADORATION: Praising God for who He is.
2. David’s prayer of Confession –
David knew what it was like to win. He was familiar with the taste of victory but he was a man who was also familiar with the agony of defeat.
