Sermon Central
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Messages On Prayer
Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 19, 2021 (message contributor)
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1. Intimate Communication
Contributed on Mar 19, 2021
Every relationship of life faces this same struggle of keeping intimacy alive. In every case the only way to do this is by means of communication. That is why prayer was a priority in the life of Jesus.
If we had as many answers to prayer as we have books on prayer the battle would be won. Unfortunately it is easier to write a book on prayer than to pray effectively. It is easier to preach a sermon on prayer than to pray. It is easier to give a lecture on prayer than to pray. It is easier to do ...read more
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2. Persistence In Prayer
Contributed on Mar 19, 2021
We fail in prayer as we do in every other area of life, and we are often frustrated, but Jesus says that we are to never give up, but keep trying and keep learning. Persistence will make you a winner in the long run.
A fisherman's experiment is described in a tract. It tells of how he caught a large black bass and instead of putting it in the frying pan he put it in a glass tank. Each morning he would bring a minnow to the tank and drop it in. The bass would make a dash for the minnow and soon finish him ...read more
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3. Help! I Can't Pray
Contributed on Mar 19, 2021
Paul knew what he was saying when he said we know not how to pray as we ought. We can't depend upon prayer. We need to depend upon God. Prayer is not the answer, but God is. Prayer can even be a danger to the best in life.
One of the perplexing of all life's paradoxes is the fact that God often answers our prayers by refusing to answer our prayers. One of the greatest examples of this in history is that of Monica praying for her son Augustine. All night in a sea side chapel on the North African coast she pleaded ...read more
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4. Empowering Our Activities With Prayer
Contributed on Mar 19, 2021
Prayer will not change the fact that you live in a fallen world where the news will be filled with sin and folly of man. You won’t be able to pray that away, but you can by prayer make sure you are not a part of the bad news.
Bernie May, the United States Division Director of Wycliffe Bible Translators, for many years tells of his conflict with other Christians in a major book publishing deal. Chet Bitterman was shot to death by a terrorist group in Columbia, because they wanted the Bible translation he was doing to ...read more
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5. The Prayer Of Thanksgiving
Contributed on Mar 19, 2021
We need to see that the only way to be a happy Christian, who can even make prayer time a fun time, is to forget the bad past, and remember those things that fill our minds with a sense of gratitude.
My earliest childhood memories of being in church are of the rope that I could ride. The thick rope hung down through the ceiling in the church entry way. I was so little that when the rope was pulled to ring the bell in the belfry, I could hang on to it and get a ride as it would pull me up off ...read more
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6. Three Keys To A Better Prayer Life
Contributed on Mar 19, 2021
It seems as if God has designed prayer to be a promoter of unity, fellowship and brotherhood. He has promised to answer more effectively those prayers that come from a partnership.
Dietrich Bonhoffer was a leader in the church of Germany at the time of Hitler's rise to power. He opposed Hitler and was imprisoned in 1943. He did not cease to influence people, however, even in prison. He inspired others by his courage. The guards were supposed to be his enemies, but they ...read more
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7. Spontaneous Prayer
Contributed on Mar 19, 2021
Spontaneous prayer is much more meaningful and real than planned prayer. Planned prayer is usually locked into formulas, and we repeat the same requests over and over. This kind of prayer gets dull, and it is seen as a duty rather than a joy.
George Buttrick in his large book simply called Prayer tells of why the Acoma Indians in Colorado chose to live on the mesa. The rock gave them safety. The Apaches on the South and the Navajos on the North made them sitting ducks down on the plains, and so they headed for the rocks. A narrow path ...read more
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8. Patriotic In Prayer
Contributed on Mar 19, 2021
Paul is saying that no Christian can stay out of politics. If you are obligated to pray for politicians then you are involved on the highest level. The only way to stay out of politics is to stay out of the will of God on this issue of prayer for your leaders.
Paul was a man of authority who respected the authority of others. In Acts 23 it is recorded that he was struck on the mouth, and he began to rebuke the one who did it. Those who were near by asked, "Would you revile God's high priest?" Paul answered, "I did not know brethren ...read more
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9. Asking God
Contributed on Mar 19, 2021
The reason we pray is because we have a need. James says that if you feel you lack wisdom, ask God. Prayer is first of all a confession of our own inadequacy.
Two brothers came to the U.S. from Europe in 1845 to make their fortune. The older brother had a trade for he knew how to make sauerkraut, and so he took a wagon train west to California to raise cabbages. The younger brother went to school to study metallurgy. Several years passed, and the ...read more
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10. Christian Confession
Contributed on Mar 19, 2021
Christians have needlessly borne mountains of guilt when they might have had it dissolved and cleansed through the blood of Christ. Continuous and consistent confession of sin is a must for a Christian.
The one thing all people have in common is guilt. Ever since Adam and Eve hid from God, because they were afraid, out of a sense of guilt, man has had to bear the burden, and suffer the effects of guilt, and these effects are enormous. Modern psychiatry is discovering that guilt is enemy number ...read more
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11. Seeking God's Face
Contributed on Mar 19, 2021
The heart of depression is when God's face is hidden, and the heart of joy is when God's face is shining upon you.
I heard a pastor tell of his experience on a plane. The stewardess was explaining that the parents were to be sure and put on their oxygen mask before they put them on their children. This seemed so selfish, and there was a natural resistance to the idea. It went against the grain of a ...read more
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12. The Perpetual Preparation Of Prayer
Contributed on Mar 19, 2021
There are two types of prayer. There is the proud prayer that comes seeking what I want, and then there is the humble prayer that comes seeking what God wants.
Dr. R. G. Lee told of a preacher who use to open his Bible and put his finger down, and whatever it pointed to would be his text for the message. He told this brother that he needed more preparation for his sermons. The proof was the message that he preached on Naaman the leper. He put his finger ...read more
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13. Unanswered Prayer
Contributed on Mar 19, 2021
Jesus tells it like it is in the world of prayer, and in so doing He complicates things, and forces us to wrestle with the conditions for answered prayer.
The story is told of a Russian scientist who was found guilty of a crime against the state. He was sentenced to a prison in the middle of a desert. His cell mate was another scientist. He was determined to escape, and he urged his cell mate to join him, but he refused. After much planning he did ...read more
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14. The Pleasure Of Prayer
Contributed on Mar 19, 2021
The pleasure of prayer is that by means of it we become more Christlike, for in prayer we develop the spirit and perspective of Christ.
One of life's greatest pleasures is the pleasure of answered prayer. But the pleasure of one can be the pain of another. Dick Van Dyke tells some funny stories about children and answers to prayer. Five year old Mark gave a loud whistle in the middle of the pastors sermon. His grandmother ...read more