Prayer Series

Prayer – Communication

(Because of the video clip. This sermon was appealing to all ages. Kids to adults.

The difference:

• Men and women are different

• This may sound like a simple statement.

• “Bro. Moore, most of us know that by now.”

• Well, there are more differences then people give credit.

• I have a couple I was counseling.

o They were holding many conversations.

o Sometimes with great volume.

o Bro. Tenny would call it “intense fellowship.”

o I became the interpreter.

o Yes, they both spoke “English”

o But, he was speaking man, and she was speaking woman.

o I would say to the man,

 “You said this, but meant this.” “Correct”

 “Dear Lady, you said this and meant this” “Correct”

o You see, they were talking but not communicating.

• Communicating is the key to conversation.

• Communication = the exchange of feelings and facts, sending and receiving ideas. (Communication is not just one direction)

• Mastering communication makes all the difference…think about this…

o When Coca-Cola first shipped to China, they named the product something that when pronounced sounded like "Coca-Cola." The only problem was that the characters used meant, "Bite the Wax Tadpole." They later changed to a set of characters that meant "Happiness In The Mouth."

o When Pepsi started marketing its products in China a few years back, they translated their slogan, "Pepsi Brings You Back to Life". But the slogan in Chinese really meant, "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back From The Grave."

o Coors put its slogan, "Turn It Loose," into Spanish, where it was read as "Suffer From Diarrhea."

o The Chevy Nova never sold well in Spanish speaking countries. In Spanish "No Va" means "Does Not Go"

• Men, how many times have you told your wife something and she still got it wrong?

• Ladies, how many of you have told your husbands something as clearly as possible and he still got it messed up?

• Parents, how many of you have told your children something as clearly as possible and they still did just the opposite?

• Many times when you do, “Get through” to the other person they say, “Oh! Is that what you wanted?”

• No matter who you are in this life, communications has its challenges!

Marriage

• The late Johnny Carson said, “If love is a dream, marriage is the alarm clock! If marriages are made in heaven, so is thunder and lightning!”

• My wife and I can talk all day and never communicate our ideas to each other. We have learned that we must communicate to the other person the way the receive information.

o Example: When the ladies in my house make me a grocery list. It must be placed so all the items are one below the other. If a note is on the side of the paper, or the bottom, I never see it. It is just the way my brain processes a grocery list.

• It’s not about the words said, it’s about getting your message across.

• This brings me to the subject for the night.

• PRAYER!!

Prayer

• Let’s discuss some aspects of prayer.

• We are a people that believe prayer works. “Amen!”

• We believe Prayer changes.

• We believe Prayer makes things happen.

• I had rather stand against the cannons of the wicked, than against the prayers of the righteous.

Thomas Lye

• Let’s study some aspects of prayer

Some Aspects of Prayer

I. PETITION

• This is the time when you ask God for specific needs.

• Attending church in Kentucky, a man watched an especially verbal and boisterous child being hurried out, slung under his irate father’s arm. No one in the congregation so much as raised an eyebrow -- until the child captured everyone’s attention by crying out in a charming Southern accent, "Ya’ll pray for me now!"

Jean McMahon (Dyer, Ind.) in Reader’s Digest, April 1980.

• Ask God for Personal Needs.

• Ask God for Family Needs.

• Ask God for Church Needs.

• James 4:2 “…ye have not, because ye ask not.”

II. INTERCESSION

• Pray for Salvation of Souls.

• For your Family.

• For Your Friends.

• "There is nothing that makes us love a man so much, as prayer for him.

William Law

• For Your City.

• For the World.

• We need to be praying for our Governor. His inauguration was today.

• The Legislator just started session.

• We need to be praying for our government to make the right decisions for South Carolina.

III. PRAISE

• Always end your prayer with Praise.

• You start with praise and you end with praise.

• (If you want to know more, Read “The Prayer Journey” by Sis. Freddy Trammell. This will teach you the method of praying.)