11/15/2009
The Lord is my Banner
Exodus chapter 17:8-15
Introduction-
We continue to look at the Basics.
We have looked at everything from salvation to living a life that is victorious.
I believe this is the eighth message of the series.
Today I want to talk about prayer.
When you talk about prayer, most people feel like, preacher, you don’t have to spend to much time on this one. I got this Prayer is communicating with God, and I’m doing that.
At Bible study on Wednesday, I said that most Christians pray about 3-5 minutes.
I think that 3 minutes is stretching it.
Take away shotgun -thanks for the grub prayers,
Lord heal me , fix my problems, there is probably not a lot of sincere conversation with God.
Illustration-
Got some tea out of the church kitchen on Friday. English breakfast tea from London. It says by appointment of her majesty Queen Elizabeth II and it should be allowed to infuse 3-5 minutes. Get that ...infused 3-5 minutes. So the two can become one
I think we should spend more than three minutes infusing with our Lord and savior.
You heard of P.U.S.H.- Pray until something happens I think most are CRASH. C.R.A.S.H.- Christians running after Sunday Huddles.
Instead of pushing on... Praying through as it use to be called, we are crashing... we are running through life and after Sunday huddles, we are doing very little productive praying.
The text this morning is Exodus 17:8-13.
It is the Israelites taking a beating from their enemy Amalekites, and a group of leaders realizing that we need to lift up each other in prayer.
Exodus 17:8-13 Read from Bible
Moses tells Joshua-“Choose some men and go out and fight the Amalekites”
I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand. The same rod Exodus 7:20 that Moses struck the Nile river with and turned the water to blood.
That is definitely a God thing
Moses is now standing at the top of the hill, desiring God to oversee the battle they are in, holding the authority of God in his hand.
Jeremiah 33- Promise of God.
Call unto me and I will answer you, and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know
If you are going to win some victories, it is going to be because God is overseeing them and we are realizing that we cannot do it alone.
Prayer becomes the passageway to the promise of God.
Call unto me, and I will answer. Not only will I answer, but I will show you great and mighty things that you did not know before.
The problem is not that God does not answer.
The problem is most are not asking
Investors invest.
Scientist discover.
God’s people should ask
Illustration-
forgive me for sharing a illustration twice in the same week.
This week we saw the Washington sniper put to death. He and his nephew killed 10 innocent people and caused terror throughout the U.S.A. weather you agree with his death sentence is not the point. In 2002 when this happened, 50 Christian truckers began to gather for prayer that this person would get caught. Ron Lantz, the one who started the prayer group was traveling and felt led by the Lord to pull over into this truck stop. As he pulled in, he saw the car that the police were looking for. He blocked th exit and called 911. They rushed to the truck stop and caught him. This is not a coincidence That is God responding to prayer Specific prayer Call unto me, I will answer
Listen to me
We think we have to do God a favor, let’s not pray big things so that when these things don’t happen, He is not embarrassed. Let’s pray small things and when He does them, we will give Him honor and glory. Until we get outside of ourselves, we are not praying and asking God to intervene, we are asking God to assist and bless our mess.
Write this down
I. Call upon the name of the Lord
Prayer is not an additive to life. It is a way of life. Jesus is our role model
Prayer was not one thing Jesus did, it was the main thing Jesus did to accomplish the will of the Father.
Keep the main thing the main thing
What is prayer?
Communion with God- Yes Asking for help- Yes
Getting guidance and directions- Yes
Jesus Christ is the most important relationship you have- if He is not- He should be
Prayer is vital to that relationship.
Prayer is recognizing that if God does not engage, it is not happening
I have heard my wife Becky tell me and others for years that if you do not believe God will answer prayer, then why pray?
Back to the text.
Write this down.
II. Prayer is individual and prayer is Corporate
We get alone with God and ask for special needs that affect our lives. We get alone and thank Him for the things that He does for us in our lives.
We also get together corporately to pray.
Those Truckers getting together in a common prayer to see God move.
We prayed for Jess this morning
That is why noone will tell me anymore that they can pray without going to church.
God is looking for intercessors.
I am thankful for my prayer groups during the week. The team that prays for me Sunday before service.
God honors prayer
V12- “When Moses hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on one side, one on the other. So that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcome the Amalekites army with the sword”
God put together the first team.
He defined what a team really is.
“But Moses hands became heavy”
Here goes the team T.E.A.M-Together everyone achieves more
Aaron and Hur, 2 strong believers willing to intercede.
It is a fact . When prayer stopped, the Amalekites were winning.
We pray enough to get by... but not enough to get beyond.
John Wesley:
“Give me a hundred men who love God with all their hearts, fear nothing but sin, and I will move the world”
Proverbs 3:5-6
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all ways acknowledge him, and He will make your paths straight”
We evidence that by coming to Christ first
We evidence that when we come to God with prayers that only He can answer.
Last thing
III. Build an altar
Exodus 17:14-15 read from Bible
Moses, write this down- make sure people remember
Prayer is being pushed out of most churches, not enough time, people are too busy.
Moses build an altar- call it “The Lord is my Banner”
Prayer is our banner of protection.
Coming to the altar of God will allow us to see the power of God working in our lives.
Count the cost
Casual followers miss the intimacy of Christ in their lives.
Casual followers are the ones that realize that they have lost their first loves.
Closing;
Questions to ask yourself:
1. When is the last time you really got serious with prayer?
2. Are your prayers, mostly “God help me”
Talent is not enough. We need talents, but we need to be a congregation that is praying and believing God to do the things that are far above what we can do in ourselves.
Remember the widow’s oil- that precious oil kept coming until there were no more containers to fill. Amen Lord- here’s more containers.
Elijah with the prophets of Baal and Asherah. Against all odds, outnumbered, but the assurance that God was more than able to accept his sacrifice and make a mockery of the false Gods.
Pray Big, If you can do it yourself, pray bigger. Until you know that if God isn’t in it, it won’t happen.
Altar Call:
