Prayer, Are You Kidding Me?

Prayer brings us closer to God and brings God closer to us.

Summary

If we are not aggressive in our prayer lives, we will not get where we need to be.  Prayer ignites our heart with passion for Jesus and causes us to connect with Jesus in the midst of every circumstance in our lives.  Prayer helps us to hear God’s voice.  Prayer has the power to transform lives and transform communities.

Outline

1. When we are struggling with something, people often tell us to pray.
   1. Many people’s response is, “Are you kidding me?”
   2. We need to not only pray, but to pray with thanksgiving and to crave to be in communion with the Lord.
   3. If we are not aggressive in our prayer lives, we will not get to be where we need to be.
2. The example of the eagle.
   1. The beak represented prayer in Bishop Ron’s analogy.
   2. God wants us to bind together, be in earnest prayer and be aggressive about being endued with power from on high.
   3. We must be empowered by the Holy Spirit or we will fail.
   4. We often need to put good things aside to get closer to the Lord.
   5. God wants us to talk to Him and commune with Him.
   6. We need to pray continually and aggressively.
3. Nobody wants to lead a sinful life.
   1. Prayer will cause a man to cease from sin, sin will cause a man to cease from prayer – John Bunyan.
   2. The answer to overcome sinning is to connect with Jesus in prayer.
4. Definition of prayer: A reverent petition made to God, an act of devotion, a religious observation, a fervent request and the slightest chance of hope.
   1. God is hope, He will give us hope in a hopeless situation.
   2. Prayer is about intimacy, not just about making a petition.
   3. Sometimes we need to focus on our own relationship with the Lord.
5. Are you satisfied with your prayer life?
   1. Most would confess that we need help in the area of prayer.
   2. The Holy Spirit is our helper, who helps us pray and helps us out of sin.
   3. The Holy Spirit is essential to our prayer life.
6. We are in a battle with the world, the flesh and the devil. These are three enemies that are committed to keeping us from prayer.
   1. We need to prioritize our relationship with Jesus and prayer.
   2. Sometimes when we try to pray the devil diverts our thoughts with other things.
   3. If you say that you do not know how to pray, go to psalm 1 and begin to pray through the things that you see written in God’s word. All you have to do is turn scripture into prayer.
7. Prayer brings us closer to the Lord and one another:
   1. Psalm 133:11 – the beauty of unity – without prayer there is no unity.
   2. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians to be joyful always, pray continually and to give thanks in all circumstances as this is the will of God for us in Jesus Christ.
8. Prayer will eradicate your negativity.
   1. Our eyes become fixed on Jesus rather than our problems.
   2. PUSH – pray until something happens.
9. Prayer brings the Lord closer.
   1. Prayer ignites our spirit.
   2. Prayer causes us to connect with Jesus in every circumstance and causes us to hear Jesus.
   3. Prayer gives us a passion for the Holy Spirit.
10. Matthew 6:33 – We need to seek first the kingdom of God.
    1. How? Through prayer.
    2. How do you live righteously? Through prayer.
    3. We get everything we need through prayer.
11. Healing our city!
    1. Prayer has the power to transform cities.
    2. We want Liberty Hill to be known as a city of hope.
    3. We need to pray for our schools.
12. A prayerless Christian is a dead Christian.
13. How do we reach the lost? Through prayer.
14. We need to pray with our eyes on God rather than our difficulties.
15. We need to pray before things get bad instead of waiting for them to get bad.