Praying At All Times Series

Oct. 19 Praying at all times

Acts 1:12-13 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

Volunteers - experiment with prayer - each week for the next 6 weeks leave the room and pray. Different people each day. Give them scriptures and prayer thoughts

Lev. 24:1-4 The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning continually. 3 Outside the curtain of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps before the LORD from evening till morning, continually. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. 4 The lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD must be tended continually.

Light a lamp - let this represent prayers of the church - each time you see the flame

1Thess. 5:16-19 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Do not put out the Spirit’s fire;

Eph. 6:18 Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere. (NLT)

Not a command to become neurotic

1Thess. 1:2 We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. 3 We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

What does it mean to be constantly in prayer?

Are we to take this word literally? Did Jesus pray constantly? How did He do this?

Why should we always pray - How can we do this? Practice the Presence

What does it mean to be constantly in prayer? Passion!

Prayer mountains in Korea

Hungry for prayer now in it’s 3rd decade - early morning prayer services

Pastor Sun Do Kim at 5-6 am - standing room only at Kwang Lim Methodist church.

3-4 thousand gather for each service

Pastor Sam Hwan says people have to reserve a seat for his 6 AM service, it only holds 4000 - and that follows two services at 4 and 5 AM

What does it mean to be constantly in prayer? Foundation

Effective ministers and ministries always undergirded by prayer

Our MC foundation is going to be the strongest in all of Mentor

God is hidden but we discover Him in prayer - discovered He becomes Mighty in our lives.

Experiencing what we already possess

What does it mean to be constantly in prayer? Investment

More is better - busy men

John Wesley - 1-2 hours a day

Martin Luther 2 or more hours a day.

John Welch the great Scottish preacher and revivalist - 8 - 10 hours a day

Francis Asbury - built up the Methodist church in USA from a few to over 200,000. Rode horseback 300,000 miles and preached twice a day for fifty years. - never start a day without 2 hours in prayer

What does Palmolive, pickle, OneStep have in common?

Soaking - Through all – permeate – marinated in prayer -

The result will be:

1. Soaking Cleanses - protects preserves from invasion of elements that destroy

2. Soaking Changes the composition - stuff on the outside gets on the inside

Four times you can pray

Give God your WAKING thoughts

A life lived that is always available to serve God is characterized by constant prayer.

Baptize me - Have your perfect way - Your will be done - Show me how today’s meant to be

What is it that You want Father? What are you doing? I want to join with you.

Give God your WHISPERING thoughts

Are we OK? - Adoration - I love you

1Cor. 3:16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?

Not about getting anywhere in prayer but realize that I’m already there. Don’t spend so much time doing things that please God that you have no time left to be with God -

Wasting time with God

Willingness to waste time with a friend affirms the value you place in them

Let yourself be loved by God - respond to God’s love through adoration and abandon yourself completely to a loving God