Praying In The New Year

Intro: Is our church looking to have a purposeful, powerful year for the Lord Jesus Christ in 2006? As your pastor I am expecting great things from this New Year. Shall we go to seminars to find out how to be purposeful and powerful for the Lord? Shall we have guest speakers that will encourage and challenge us to reach, teach, and encourage Calvary, Cabot, and our Country for the Lord?

No!! We can have a purposeful, powerful year for the Lord if we will dedicate ourselves to cry out to God for the next 40 days of prayer for our church, association and state.

The crying out to God must not end after the 40 days is over, I am praying that it will spark a movement of prayer that will continue long past our simultaneous revivals in the spring.

I find it very interesting that Jesus never taught His disciples how to preach or teach. He instead taught them how to pray. He didn’t send them on seminars for Sunday School, or evangelism but He did show them how to bend their knees and bow their heads before the Heavenly Father.

Dr Adrian Rogers said, “Prayer is our greatest Christian privilege and our greatest Christian failure.”

If we fail to pray we fail to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. We miss out on one the greatest privileges of our life. Connecting with the creator of the Universe!

So we know prayer is a privilege but I also want to look at it’s purpose, pattern, and power.

I. The Purpose of Prayer

A) To reach heaven

Matthew 6.9 “Our Father who is in heaven.”

John Trapp He that cannot pray, let him go to sea, and there he will learn.

God never denied that soul anything that went as far as heaven to ask for it.

1) Not a guilt trip to God’s throne room

Most things said about prayer are an attempt to give us a guilt trip into God’s presence.

Jesus didn’t shame us into prayer, he showed us the power of it!!!

2) A guided tour of God’s throne room

It is when we reach into heaven we realized that God’s righteous hand waits to bless us for His glory.

When we truly realize the riches that await us as God’ people we will not hesitate to reach into heaven!

B) To relate to God as Father

Matthew 6.9 “Our Father”

Joe Wright “Prayer is the human heart in conversation with the creator.”

1) Not religion but relationship

It will not be hard to pray when you are talking to your abba, daddy in heaven.

2) Not indifferent but intimate

God is not ignorant of our pains, fears, desires, he simply desires us to come close and talk with him and ask His “advice”

C) To relay to God His due Honor and Worship

“Hallowed be Your name”

D) To release God to act on our behalf

“Give us this day our daily bread.”

When we get to the point we are not taking for granted that God will provide for us it is as they say the proof in the pudding.

Does the pudding of your prayer include the following?

1) proof of living faith born again

2) proof of trusting faith only trust Him

3) proof of walking faith following in His steps

Proof of a living, trusting, faith can be found in the presence or absence of prayer as an established and main part of your life.

Something that comes from a close relationship with Jesus is that anything we ask believing we will receive

1) Spiritual bread

2) Physical bread

II. The Pattern of Prayer

There is nowhere in the Bible a specific way or words to use in prayer. There is instead principles and patterns given throughout the Bible.

The Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5.1-7.29 contains a pattern prayer for people that are part of Christ’s kingdom. Luke 11 also contains a pattern prayer for the Lord’s disciples.

Jesus has given us a perfect patter for our personal prayer life!!!

What then does the pattern look like? It is two fold.

A) God

1) Fellowship 6.9, 12

2) Worship 6.9-10

3) Discipleship 6.13

B) Others (Love your neighbor as yourself)

III. Power of Prayer

Matthew 6.10 Your Kingdom come, Your will be done.

A) Strength through submission

2 Chronicles 7.14 “and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Until we realize that God decides and God provides everything we need we will not humble ourselves.

Strength in God’s Kingdom only comes from humility

1) Strength is needed in a Christian’s life. Strength to face the enemy of our soul, strength to face life’s ups and downs, ins and outs. It is strength to love God supremely and others as yourself.