This sermon will explore the importance of prayer, drawing from the practices of the early church and the life of Jesus, and will provide guidance on how to pray individually, communally, and powerfully.
Welcome back church, today is the final week in our Devoted series…and I’m very excited about our topic today as it’s something many of us engage in, think about, and at different times in our lives, struggle with.
Alexander Whyte says, “The greatest and best talent that God gives to any man or woman in the world is the talent of prayer.”
Simply put, prayer is an exchange where we make our requests known and God receives them. We could do an entire series on prayer alone, so today I’m going to be focused on three examples of prayer we see in the life of Jesus: Individual Prayer, Communal Prayer, and Powerful Prayer.
I believe that these three types of prayer are accessible to anyone at any time. No matter how long you’ve been walking with Jesus, or even if you’re still trying to figure out what this whole Christianity thing is all about… anyone can participate in prayer.
The greatest and best talent that God gives to any man or woman in the world is the talent of prayer.
Throughout the life of Christ, as revealed to us in the gospels, we see several types of prayer. The first, and possibly the most well recognized is the practice of individual prayer. This is when Jesus goes off alone to pray or maybe stops for a moment to pray out loud so others can hear what He’s saying.
For many of us, this will be the type of prayer we also practice the most. And the good news is, Jesus was absolutely committed to His prayer time as well.
In this scene, we learn a couple of things about the prayer life of Jesus. First of all, He got up early in the morning to go pray. From a strategic standpoint, this is important because the beginning of the day is often quiet and normally peaceful. There aren’t a ton of distractions to compete with as you enter into a time of prayer. I also like the morning prayer because it helps to set the tone for the day. I’ve heard some people say it helps them feel “grounded” and “centered.”
Secondly, we see Jesus go off to a solitary place to pray. Again, this is a place where the distractions and interruptions are minimized and He can focus on prayer. For Jesus, and for many of us, we need to have those places in our lives where we can go to be alone. Our world is an increasingly busy space and we need to make time not only for ourselves but also for our relationship with God.
As we seek to follow the example of Christ throughout our lives, may we be devoted to the practice of individual prayer ... View this full sermon with PRO Premium
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