LORD TEACH US HOW TO PRAY
THE BIRTH OF JESUS AND THE VISIT OF THE WISE MEN
December 31, 2013IDOLS OF THE HEART
February 3, 2014GCC MESSAGE 19TH JAN 2014
Matthew 6: 5-8, 9-13
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“ ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
Without me you can do nothing, but with me all things are possible.
All that I have comes from God.
The fruit that I have, the gifts, all comes from. The more of God, the more effective I am, the less of God the less effective I am.
The world is so dark that it is those who reflect God’s light that will bring healing, energy, light and freedom.
John 15:
I. JESUS WAS AN EXAMPLE, HE WAS A MAN OF PRAYER
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Jesus went up the mountain before He chose the 12.HE PRAYED FOR WISDOM
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Jesus went to the desert to pray and fast for 40 days before he began his public ministry.
HE PRAYED FOR POWER FOR SERVICE FROM HIS FATHER.
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Jesus went into the night spent it alone praying after providing food to 5000.
HE WENT TO RE-FILL HIS SPIRITUAL TANK AGAIN.
Matt 14: 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, [2]
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When the time came for Him to bear the sins of the world upon the Cross of Calvary, Jesus was in agony. We find Him moving to the Garden of Gethsemane and pouring out His soul in prayer. Matthew 26: 36-46.HE PRAYED FOR GOD’S WILL AND INNER STRENGTH TO STAND.
II. PRAYER MUST BE INTENTIONAL
“Prayer is not learned in a classroom but in the closet.” E. M. Bounds
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It must be personalAs good as it is to solicit prayer, we have to develop a habit of going directly to him, for he desires our conversation.
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It must be Real and sincere.In prayer we are directly before God, he sees, he knows what is going on, and we better open, direct and sincere before.
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We must commit time to it.Any thing that is scheduled will be done, anything is just thought about or talked about is most likely not going to happen.Set time for prayer. Put is on your daily calendar and do not let other things to steal this time away from your God.
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It has to be consistent and continuous.
“We tend to use prayer as a last resort, but God wants it to be our first line of defense. We pray when there’s nothing else we can do, but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all.”
III. HOW TO PRAY
“…True prayer is measured by weight, not by length. A single groan before God may have more fullness of prayer in it than a fine oration of great length.” C. H. Spurgeon
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WORSHIP“ ‘Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name,
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Songs of worship
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The book of psalms
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Directing some real audible words of worship to God.
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CLEANSING
12and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Psalms 139:23-24
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting. NKJV
23 Investigate my life, O God,
find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
get a clear picture of what I’m about;
24 See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—
then guide me on the road to eternal life. THE MESSAGE
When we come to God, we need to get in his presence and openly confess those things the Holy Spirit brings to our remembrance.
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CONFESSION
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REPENTANCE
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FORGIVING OTHERS
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GOD’S KINGDOM RULE (Missional)10Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
His kingdom to expand our country and in other places.
Pray for your leaders
Pray for the church to expand by people getting to know God.
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GUIDANCE
10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
ASK FOR HIS WILL.
ASK FOR DIRECTION.
ASK FOR GUIDANCE.
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ASKING (SUPPLICATION)
11Give us this day our daily bread
the action of asking for something earnestly or humbly:
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For yourself, your needs
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For other people
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PROTECTION AND SPIRITUAL WAREFARE.
13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Prayer is not physical, it takes you into the spiritual world.
It is where you work with God to engage the enemy.
In prayer you attack the enemy territory to bring back what he has taken away from you.
2 Corinthians 10:
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.[5]
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Pray for people you know are in spiritual bondage. Relatives/loved ones who are resisting God or are in bondage to certain things
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Pray for healing from sickness.
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Command the enemy to loose your nation and community from vices that are ungodly. Etc.
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Pray for yourself in areas where you feel the enemy is having an upper hand in your life.
7. THANK YOUR GOD FOR ANSWERED PRAYER.
By faith give thanks.
CONCLUSION
Prayer is essentially a partnership of the redeemed child of God working hand in hand with God toward the realization of His redemptive purposes on earth.
JACK W. HAYFORD, Prayer Is Invading the Impossible
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Prayer is fellowship
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It is communion
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It is communication with God
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It should be a conversation with God.
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We speak to him and he speaks back to us.
The Bible and Prayer:Therefore real prayer to happen we also need to give our time to reading and studying his book, the Bible. In it we get to hear him speaking to us. It is his love letter to us.
IN PRAYER GOD CHANGES US, AND THERE IS AN EXCHANGE WHERE GOD TAKES AWAY OUR WEAKNESS AND REPLACES IT WITH HIS STRENGTH. HE TAKES AWAY OUR SHAME AND REPLACES IT WITH HIS GLORY
