One of our members made a comment to me that really got me to thinking this week.  This sister is a great Godly woman so don’t misunderstand my using her for this example.  She is typical of most of us.  This sister hasn’t been feeling well and as we talked she said, “don’t tell the church about this.  I don’t need prayers because every is okay.”  I thought for a moment, then thought about it for a moment longer, then thought about it after services, then thought about during the week and decided maybe we need to look at prayer again.  If our best Christians misunderstand prayer, what does that mean for the new Christians?

For some of you, today is going to be a rehash of what you know so well.  For others, this may open a door you never knew existed.

PRAYER

I. Prayer 101

A. What is prayer?

1. Ted Waller says “prayer is man at the feet of God expressing the honest feelings of his heart.”
2. Prayer is communication with God.
3. Notice I didn’t say prayer is communication to God.
4. This isn’t always one way.

a) When we open our hearts to God, we share with him our lives and he shares his love.
b) I don’t believe in an audible voice, but I do this he gives us answers to our prayers in ways we understand.

5. Prayer is also therapy

a) Sometimes I need someone to just listen to me.
b) Praying to God is an excellent way of expressing feelings without being interrupted by someone who doesn’t understand all we are going through.

B. What Prayer isn’t

1. Prayer is not a combination of mystical religious phrases.

a) New Christians are surprised to learn that they don’t have to use “guideguardanddirectus” in every prayer.
b) You don’t have to say “thee” and “thou” and “art” to be reverent and proper.
c) I was at a lectureship many years back in which the director of the session said you did have to use those words.  Later on, someone showed him that “thee” and “thou” was the common street language of the early 1600’s not the reverent language he supposed them to be.

2. Prayer isn’t a pulpit

a) When we gather for public prayer, we need to remember that we are bringing an expression of feeling to God for those we are leading in prayer.
b) We are not bring a sermon from God to the people.

3. Prayer isn’t a convenience

a) I don’t know how many times I have talked to people who only pray when they really need something.
b) Sometimes we treat God as a santa clause waiting for us to give him our list of presents we want.
c) Prayer is a privilege not a convenience.

A. Make prayer a part of who you are.

1. It doesn’t have to last for hours to be a real prayer.
2. Many of the prayers of Jesus that are recorded in the Bible are one sentence prayers.
3. What made them prayers was the fact that they were a natural expression of feeling from Son to Father.
4. When Jesus or the early Christians were faced with a dilemma, they prayed.

a) When Jesus felt overwhelmed he prayed that his death wouldn’t have to be. Lk 22:42
b) When he felt sucked dry by all the people around him making demands on him he prayed. Lk 6:12
c) When Peter was thrown into prison to be executed the Christians prayed. Ac 12:12
d) When Paul dealt with various churches he prayed for them.
e) When people were sick, others prayed for them.
f) When people were healed, people prayed.

B. If Paul needed to pray, if the early Christians needed to pray, if Jesus needed to pray, why do we think we can get along without prayer?

1. Mostly because we are prideful.

a) to Americans, asking for help is saying I failed.
b) Saying I failed is about the worst thing that can happen to us.
c) So when we think we can make life go on our own without regularly talking to God, we are being prideful.

2. secondly it may be because we don’t believe prayer makes a difference.

a) Why would God care about me and my problems?
b) We sometimes think like the little boy who thanked God for his pancakes for supper.  His mom asked, “why did you say thankyou for your pancakes when we are having chicken for dinner?” the little boy replied, “I just wanted to see if he was paying attention tonight.”
c) I am a nobody, I’m not a minister or an elder or someone God really cares about, He doesn’t pay attention to me.
d) Believe me, in God’s eyes, no one is more precious to him than you are.  He does care.

C. Pray with the mind of an adult and the heart of a child.

1. I love to listen to my girls pray when they are really praying.  They pray for everyone and everything.  from the doll in their arms to our mean ole elders! (just kidding)
2. During a ministers prayer one Sunday morning, a loud shrieking whistle came out of the back pew.  After the services a horrified mother turned to her son and said, why did you whistle like that during the prayer?”  The little boy said, “I asked God to teach me how to whistle and he did!”
3. Rhyann the other day came up the basement stairs with the basketball hoop shouting “he did it, he did it!”  Helene asked her what she was talking about and Rhyann said, “ I asked God to give me the strength to get the basketball hoop upstairs and he did it mommy!”
4. What could we accomplish if we prayed with the confidence of little children?

A. Make a commitment

1. Make a commitment to pray

a) Many of us are like people who study foreign languages.
b) We study every nuance of the language but never put it in practice.
c) We study every aspect of prayer,

(1) we read about it
(2) We talk about it,
(3) But we do not pray

2. Make a commitment to grow

a) Until not long ago, a regular prayer life was hard for me.
b) I would do the basic prayers -- meals, bedtime, difficult times, but growing in my prayer life was a struggle.
c) But I am growing.  I try to pray more often each day.
d) I share with God more and more of my life.
e) We all need to make a commitment to continue to grow in our prayer lives.

B. Recognize the urgency of prayer

1. 1 Pet 4:7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.
2. Peter is saying we don’t have time NOT to pray
3. Ward Patterson wrote:  Prayer is not a useful, discretionary add-on for the super-Christian, it is the very life of the Christian faith.

C. Practice Discipline in prayer

1. Peter says we need to be self-controlled or in control so you can pray.
2. Many people use the ACTS method of praying so they have a regular discipline in their prayer life.

a) Adoration
b) Confession
c) Thanksgiving
d) Supplication

3. You may want to incorporate all of these in regular prayers or have a special prayer for each area.

D. Expect your prayers to be answered.

1. We usually say “your will be done” because that gives us an easy out when our prayers aren’t answered the way we want.
2. Expect God to answer your prayer, but don’t expect the answer to always be yes.
3. When you say “your will be done,” say it from a sincere heart.

E. Find someone to pray with

1. Get a prayer partner.
2. It could be a spouse, friend, or someone whom you trust and respect.
3. Pray together and for each other.
4. Having a prayer partner also helps in keeping a discipline in prayer.

F. Enjoy God

1. God wants to share your life.
2. He loves to talk to you.
3. Enjoy a relationship with him,
4. You will be enriched by it.