The Discovery of Prayer
Luke 11:1 Teach us to Pray
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“Teach us to pray” – the only thing the disciples ever asked Jesus to
teach them.
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Rom 8:26-27
You do not know how to ‘talk to God’ as you ought – Like the little child who does not know how
to talk. ----- This is OK
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Matt. 6:5-8 , Matt. 6:25-33 - God Knows what
you need before you ask him - why
ask? - its not about asking - its about relationship
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Baptism is just the birth – then we have to grow up
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Learn by doing – it is hard work – takes much discipline and
determination.
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Making the decision to be a man who talks to God
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(this is proving to be almost as difficult as the decision to become a
Christian)
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The MUSTARD SEED – Plant and nurture
Daily
prayer
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The nature of
days and nights (perfect package for life)
o
Psalm 118:24
“This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it
today.”
o
Today is the only
day you have –
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Whole lives are
lost
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Fretting over
yesterday - Worrying about tomorrow -Missing “today”
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Heb 3:7, 3:15, 4:7
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Matt 6:33 Don’t worry about tomorrow, Today has enough trouble of its
own.
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If you could live
“today” well, then your whole life would be well-lived, right?
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Great comfort in
knowing you will be there every day.
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Shelving the hard
stuff until tomorrow
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Shelving tomorrow
for tomorrow.
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Manna in the
wilderness
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The example of Manna - Exodus 16:13 - 30
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What’s wrong with yesterday’s Manna? It stinks – get it early
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Enough and only
enough for one day
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Missed one day a
week – by the command of God
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Had to get it
before the sun was up – otherwise evaporation.
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Prayer –the
preemptive first strike.
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Boxing
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Rounds are like
days – corner is like sleep
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whoever gets the
first hit in a round has the advantage
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If Satan gets the
first strike, you end up on defense all day
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Observation: Every
writer of a prayer book talks about the effectiveness of morning
prayer.
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Early in the Morning Mark 1:35
Prayer starts the night before
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How much sleep do you need? (Do you know?)
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when do you need to be in bed in order to get up in time
for prayer? (Jesus got up early)
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Do you see your time with God as a priority appointment?
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Is it in you day timer?
Dealing with distractions
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Get away from the distractions – Walk
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Do you know your distractions?
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Confess the distractions – have the conviction to jump back in where
you left off.
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We do this with people, why not with God? – “I’m sorry, I just got
distracted”
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You will get better focused with time
Dealing with the fear of becoming righteous
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We stop praying because we fear positive results would overwhelm us.
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Ask God to not be afraid – Ask God to give you strength to deal with
the answers to the prayer.
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Ask God not to overwhelm you with opportunity or change
Dealing with doubt
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Doubt kills our faith – James 1:6-8
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“Increase our faith” - Luke 17:5 – We can ask God for Faith
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context is the willingness to forgive – (One of our focuses in prayer)
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“I do believe … help me in my unbelief” – Mark 9
Scriptures - Wrestling with the author instead of
his words
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Wrestling with the Scriptures, Issues, brothers, ideas?
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Jacob wrestling with God – Gen. 32:22ff
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God became “His” God.
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John 5:39 “You wrestle with the
scriptures – but you refuse to come to me to have life”
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Tell God what you feel and
think
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I Chronicles 28:8-9 “Whole hearted devotion and
a willing mind”
Giving your Burdens to Jesus
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Matt. 11:28-30 “come to me, all you who are weak and
burdened
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This is a promise of God
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Gal. 6:2 Bearing one anothers’ burdens
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can only do this if we know how to give our burdens to Jesus first.
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Jesus has unlimited capacity to take our burdens because he knows how
to give them all to God.
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It can be the same with us.
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Giving the burden of sin to Jesus à confession of sin
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Phil 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing.”
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Do you feel like you are whining? David in the Psalms
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Whining, but knowing to whom you are whining.
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Willing to apologize for whining and recognize God.
Finding healing in confessing sin to God
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James 5:16 – Baptism/convesion does not heal us –
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Healing is the province of God alone
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20 minutes – The healing hand of God touches and shapes our hearts.
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God may not change or heal us, but gives us the strength to be different
when we rely on him every day.
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Psalms 51:10-17 Create
in me a pure heart.
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We could pray this everyday!
Confession of sin in your conversation with God
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Sin is “missing the mark”
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Praying about sin increases our awareness of it
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Psalms 139:1-24
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1-4 God knows us through and through
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23- 24 “Search me and know my heart, see if there is any sinful way in
me”
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Ask God to reveal Sin in your heart.
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Christians
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Non-Christians
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Bible
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Circumstances
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Ask for gentleness and not to be overwhelmed
Listening to God in prayer
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Eccl. 5:1-2 Draw near to listen rather than offer the
sacrifice of fools - “Let your words be few” – What does this mean?
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Matt. 6:7 “They think they will be
heard for their many words …”
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Stop to listen – What do you hear?
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Do you believe
you can listen and hear God?
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Not an audible
voice.
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Never
inconsistent with scripture
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You have to stop and draw near to hear
Seeking preparedness from our conversation with God
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Mark 9:29 - “This Kind only comes out with prayer and
fasting” – Jesus did not Pray
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“Gird your minds for Action” - I Peter 1:13
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Do you pray for preparedness
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Are you ready to deal with anything?
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Family Controversy
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Church
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Work
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Health
Finding the Root – Talking through the layers of sin
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Matt. 5:23-24 “If your brother has
something against you”
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Cannot approach
the altar of God if you are not righteous
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Working backward to deal with fear
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Root is always found in my
sin
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Isaiah 59:1-2 God is not distant from you
because of someone else’s sin!
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ask God until you find it.
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Praying and
realizing you don’t really believe
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Praying and
realizing you aren’t worthy to pray this prayer
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You are guilty
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You are a sinner
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Acknowledging sin
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I do believe,
help me in my unbelief (Mark 9)
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Psalm 139:23
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Search me, Oh God
and know my heart and try me, see if there is any offensive way in me.
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“If I have
sinned, Reveal my sin so that I might not sin against
you.”
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“Reveal it with
much kindness and love so that I will not be crushed”
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A
Prayer for wisdom
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I Kings 3:4-15
Incredible prayer
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James 1:5-7
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God gives
generously without finding fault
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“I do believe
help me in my unbelief
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If you pray for
wisdom – act on faith that you have believed it!
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Make your faith
complete in action
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Do not doubt
Finding Satisfaction in our
Conversations.
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Philippians 4:4-7 - the peace that surpasses
all understanding
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Knowing we cannot pray for everything
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Prayer Lists
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Jacob - “I will not let you go until you bless me”
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Luke 6:39 “Pressed down, shaken together, it will pour into your lap”
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John 10:10 life to the full
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Ephesians 3:14-20 “More than we can ask or
imagine.” Context is prayer.