Heaven's Open Door Policy

We are beginning the new year by praying together as a church. Maybe you are not sure of yourself when it comes to prayer. If prayer were a high school sport, you’re not sure you’d receive a “letter” on your varsity jacket for prayer.

Many of you have picked up the little book, 21 Days of Prayer. I hope you’re enjoying it and it’s making an impact on your prayer life. Many of you are receiving daily texts reminders to pray.

Find Hebrews 4 with me, if you will.

Prayer and Religions

Now, every faith has some form of prayer. Muslims stop whatever they’re doing 5 times a day to pray, as you’ll hear the wailing cries of prayer callers in many Asian cities.1 Incas and Aztecs went so far as to sacrifice humans in order to attract their gods’ attention. And millions of people who attend AA meetings pray to a Higher Power to stop their addictions. More people this week will pray than will drive a car or go to work, according to Gallup polls.2

Sermon Preview

1. An Appetizer for Your Mind: Six Facts about Prayers

2. A Meal for Your Heart: Jesus is More Ready to Hear your Prayers than You are to Pray

For the believers in the room, think of this as an appetizer that will be taken away in a few moments before the main course.

1. Five Facts about Prayer

1. There are 650 prayers listed in the Bible.3

2. There are an estimated 450 recorded answers to prayer in the Bible.4

3. The Bible records Jesus praying 25 different times during His earthly ministry.

Jesus made it a habit to pray.

Jesus praised God the Father during prayer (Matthew 11:25), and He gave thanks for what He had before feeding the multitudes with the fish and the loaves (Matthew 15:36). Jesus asked God for strength and guidance (Matthew 26:36-46). And He prayed for His closest friends, the Disciples, and their ministry (Luke 22:31-32; John 17). Jesus prayed in private (Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16) and in moments of crisis (Matthew 27:46). Jesus prayed before big decisions (Luke 6:12-13). And Jesus made it a habit to pray both before and after miracles (Matthew 14:22-23; Luke 9:18). Jesus even prayed while hanging on the cross (Luke 23:34, 46). Even today, Jesus continues to pray for us. Jesus made it a habit to pray.

4. You can pray in any posture, the Bible does list five specific body positions where people prayed:

1. The Bible says David sat before the Lord (2 Samuel 7:18);

2. Jesus spoke about standing and praying (Mark 11:25);

3. Daniel kneeled when he prayed (Daniel 6:10);

4. Jesus fell on His face when He prayed (Matthew 26:39);

5. The Apostle Paul desired people to pray with their hands lifted up (1 Timothy 2:8).

I encourage you to try any and all of these over the 21 Days of Prayer.

5. Two Big Types of Prayer: Kingdom-Centered and Communion-Centered

You could collapse all prayer into two big categories: 1) Kingdom-centered and 2) Communion-centered prayers.5 Communion-centered prayers are where you experience God’s rich love, and you become aware of God's incredible peace inside your soul. Kingdom-centered praying is where you pray to make the kingdom of God a reality. Praying that you will be obedient to the King. Both are biblically wonderful, and they are not mutually exclusive. We need both Communion-centered praying and kingdom-centered praying. I want to focus on communion in prayer in the moments to come.

I want to convince you Jesus is alive and well and hears your prayers. With the appetizer behind us this morning, I want to tell you that Jesus hears your prayers, and He even wants to hear you pray. Again, I want to tell you that Jesus hears your prayers, and He even wants to hear you pray.

Today’s Scripture

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14-16).

What is the biggest challenge you have in your life right now? Maybe you even need to close your eyes to block out all distractions to answer that question. Health - for some of you, it’s to have someone’s name placed on a transplant list. Family/Marriage - a few of you are thinking about a relationship that needs to be fixed. Money – you are praying for a job to come through.