So where "Pastor" is in a series on Sundays about Prayer. Different kinds of prayer, importance of prayer and so on. On Wednesdays were studying a book "The joy of a word filled family" common theme of that book is prayer. the last section "section 4" is all about prayer. In our disciple class on every other Tuesday in the various books in that curriculum a common theme again is prayer.
Why is prayer important? well the bible in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says pray without ceasing, in verse 16 through 18 says Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Jesus himself "Emmanuel, God with us Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
God incarnate "in flesh" John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus the way the truth and the life John 14:6. Jesus who shed his blood for our sins. Jesus who went to prepare a place for us that soon he will come to take us their John 14: 2-3 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. Jesus who upon his death the Veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom Matthew 27:50-51 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split. Why? so that now God was accessible to all. Not just a priest once a year to offer a temporary atonement. But our high priest Jesus who offered himself as the final atonement for our sins. If we so, believe upon him for the shedding of his blood for the remission of our sins. That we may also; Hebrews 4:16 come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. I could keep going on and on about our beloved Saviour, but I think you get the point. This very Jesus is said "and I did not go and count each one of these for myself"
to have prayed 30+ times in the gospels. If it was that important to him JESUS should not it be even more important to us? Yet honestly how much do you pray? Only when you need a quick Miracle? How about only on Sunday when you bless the church with an hour or two of your time? Mabey only in the morning when you're getting ready for or driving to work?
Listen I want you to know prayer is much more than that. Another word for communication is communion. Matthew 26:26-29 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” Communion meant to be an intimate time with the lord done often in remembrance of what he did for us. Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him, and he with Me. See Prayer is to be that communication, intimate communion. Dining with our lord sitting in his presence, pouring our hearts out to him and listing for him speaking to us. Keeping our lives aligned to his perfect will. The bible says that when you pray Matthew 6:6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Our greatest weapon as believers is the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. But I think our greatest asset as believers is prayer. It's our direct line to the father. You need breakthrough in your life, prayer. You have a loved one that's ill, prayer. You need help with any situation in your life, prayer. Having a bad day at work, prayer. Car problems, prayer. Not feeling well, prayer. A child slipping in the wrong direction, lots of payer. Need a Giant moved, PRAYER. And that's just you. Thats not including prayer for your pastor, your church, your brothers and sisters, your nation, Israel, Homeless Ministries, Outreaches, Co-workers, The Lost The Broken The Hurting, The innocent and those without a voice. Now do we pray for all of these every day? Mabey some do. but most pray for what the holy spirit has put on them to pray for at that time. What your heart is braking for. But I hope you see the significance of prayer. "It's not just yummy yummy thank you amen". As we pray and our lord intercedes for us romans 8:33-34 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Let us remember payer is important and deserves more of your time because 1. Closeness to God, 2. We gain perspective, 3. Jesus set the example, 4. IT WORKS. Rather its 1. Blessings and Adoration or 2. Petition or 3. Intercession or 4. Thanksgiving or 5. in Praise. There are many reasons many times and many ways throughout each of our days to be in prayer. Our Father wants that relationship with each of us. Anything from a hang nail to a major life event he wants to be a part of it. I pray for my wife ever morning as she leaves to go to work. Pastor I'm sure prays for his congregation every day. And many more things we pray for. Some from our church go to a weekly 5 am prayer meeting. We have a text message prayer chain through the church anything comes across we stop and pray for it. The point is we make time and effort and a little sacrifice to spend time in prayer to our Father cause we understand its importance. It's something I feel should be taught more in our churches "The importance of prayer". "Praying should be as Natural to us as Breathing". I want to leave you with these 2 things 1. A teenage girl was trying to get backstage to do sinful things with the band at a concert. A witch was guarding the entrance to backstage and told the girl she couldn't go back there, the girl asked why, and the witch told her because she could see Jesus over her. Not because of the girl's relationship with the lord. But because her praying parents kept her bathed in prayers. 2. A satanist high priest said he could always tell when he moved into a neighborhood with praying people because he could see them praying in the spirit and he was ineffective at what he was trying to accomplish. "both of these examples were snippets from articles I read on the internet" These are just two small examples of the power of prayer. Now if more of the body of Christ would pray more, oh boy look out Satan!!
And please as always, the Gospel 1 Corinthains 15:1-4 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
A. admit that you're a sinner
B. believe Jesus Christ shed his blood for your sins died and rose again on the third day
C. confess Jesus as your lord and savior today no need to put it off any longer
God bless you all
love
John Boyle A.P