#6 - Never Quit Praying Series

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How do you pray for the glory of God?

It’s more than just putting “for your glory” in your prayers… what’s the essence of it?

I want to do a survey right now

• Everyone stand. I want you to think of a number – the # of minutes that you spend each day in prayer in an AVERAGE DAY. Let’s say over the last 6-12 months, what do you think would be the average. Don’t be too hard on yourself, but don’t be too easy either… GOT A NUMBER? RAISE YOUR HAND if you have one in mind.

• Ok, if you spend less than 5 minutes per day

• If you spend less than 15 minutes per day

• If you spend less than 30 minutes per day

• If you spend less than 45 minutes per day

• If you spend less than 60 minutes per day,

• If you spend less than 120 minutes (2 hours) per day, sit.

• OK, everyone sit.

If you looked around and thought – O, good, I’m above average, you missed the point.

MY JOURNEY:

I am passionate about reaching lost people. I pastor a Bible Methodist Church in a lower-income area of Oklahoma City. It’s a place where the helicopter circles more than once a week, with its spotlight shining down. . . a place where my neighbor across the street is doing six years in prison because he had way too many drugs and $6,000 in cash in his bureau drawer the night the police raided his house. . . the neighbor next to him is far more well-off financially, but we had to call an ambulance a few months ago when he passed out in his driveway from a marijuana reaction. You get the picture.

Church grew… from 20 to 70. Maybe I got busy, maybe I got careless. Maybe it was when my first or second child was born. Don’t really remember.

Somewhere in there, I stopped focusing on prayer as I should.

Then it “grew” like a bar of soap. For the next 2 years, back down to 40.

I began getting desperate.

God was setting me aside to teach me some lessons. I set aside a lot of time for reading and soul-searching.

God taught me about entire sanctification on deeper level, reading “Holiness and Power” by AM Hills.

Then he started teaching me about prayer.

Our church got desperate. We began to focus more on prayer.

We had a prayer revival, no speakers… just prayer.

We began spending every other Wednesday night in prayer, and still do.

We began seeking God’s face.

And so, I am speaking to you today not as someone who has all the answers – I’m just a young, dumb kid who God is taking on a journey into prayer, and I want to share with you one of the three passages I’ve been living in for the last year.

Luke chapter 11…

Luke 11:5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;

6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?

Now, let me stop here and say, when I read this over a year ago during my soul-searching time, I was immediately struck by those words “in his journey”… every Sunday, I have people come to me who life has brought on a long journey.

There’s a teenager who helped steal a car at age 12… and wrecked it. The police were not impressed. He’s awaiting trial… he comes on a long journey.

There’s the tall African-American guy who prayed to be saved at our Christmas service and is battling a marijuana addiction. Two weeks ago, his cousin killed his ex-girlfriend and their two kids before taking his own life. Two months ago, another cousin was gunned down in a shooting. He sits in church, and he’s come to me on a long journey!

And the problem is, I can’t give them what they need.

My cupboards are empty.

And so, I do what this man did – I run to a friend who I think will help. And I say, “God, you’ve got to save this person… you’ve got to pour out your grace and change their mind and their heart! You’ve got to save them!! They’ve come to me on a long journey, and I CAN’T give them what they need!”

7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.