Loving The Lord, Part 7 (Loving Through Our Prayer Life Series

Loving the Lord, Part 7 (Loving the Lord through your Prayer Life)

Matthew 14:23 / Romans 12 / Acts 12

Introduction

In your bibles go to Matthew 14 and Romans 12

This morning we will conclude our series on “Loving the Lord”

This message has one of the most important aspects that believers must take part in, and is something that I believe we need to do more of …

We need to spend more time in prayer, asking God for strength in everything

As we will see this morning, prayer is not only something that God holds in extremely high regard, but is something that individually we must endeavor to excel in; for it is our one and only communication with God

Because of the life that Jesus Christ paid with; our responsibility is to continue drawing closer to Him every day that He gives us

James 4:14 says, “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”

Because in God’s timing our lives are so short; we must draw closer to Him with each moment that we are given

We’ve been studying on Wednesday nights and we see Ephesians 5:16 tells us to be busy “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil” – and if we are to redeem the time appropriately, we must spend it in prayer for strength and courage

Remember last week that we said in Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived, God will not be mocked”? Let us remember that prayer is God’s thing; it is not our thing – and so when we say we are going to pray, we must earnestly go to the Lord in prayer.

Stand and read 2 separate passages this morning:

Matt 14:22-24, “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone”

Romans 12:12, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

Pray

Point 1 – Praying Alone (Matt 14:22-24)

The first thing we need to focus on is that we are taught to pray alone

Jesus showed us how to pray with the Lord’s Prayer … but there’s more

Corporate prayer (in groups) is a very good thing, but intimacy and growing in faith and love with our Lord is something done privately

Mark 1:35 says, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”

Ex: We come to church to learn and hear together – but there are 6 (5) other days of the week where we have the opportunity to read and study

Background: We need to understand that this takes place shortly after the feeding of the 5,000 … and was a time for Jesus to get alone with the Father to pray for additional strength, guidance, to ask for instruction, give thanks

Allow me to give you four things that prayer must be (Take notes? ACTS):

1 – Adoration (adoring God for who He is in your life …)

2 – Confession (laying before the Father the sins we must remedy …)

3 – Thanksgiving (being thankful for how God is working in you …)

4 – Supplication (asking God for things you need (not want) …)

Prayer however, is NOT taking time to be with God to set Him up for the “big ask” to get what you want

James 4:3 says, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

We need to take time to spend with the Lord, alone, so that we can allow Him to pour into our lives. Again (remember) that prayer is God’s thing

It is an opportunity to be alone with the Father, and to spend

Second, we must pray with persistence in everything

Point 2 – Pray With Persistence (Romans 12:12)

This deals with Love in Action (prayer)

APP: If God’s Word tells us to do something, our mission ought to be to do it – but, it is when we try to take it apart that we run the risk of troubles in our lives

We see in the instruction here from Paul to act in the present tense of verb

Each of these exercises the other.

If our hope of glory is so assured that it is a rejoicing hope, we shall find the spirit of endurance natural and easy;

It is "prayer" that strengthens our faith – and that gives life to hope and lifts us up into an assured and joyful expectancy;