The Storyteller - The Parables Of Jesus: Secrets To Praying With Power

THE STORYTELLER: THE PARABLES OF JESUS #6: THREE SECRETS TO PRAYING WITH POWER

OPENING HYMN: What a Friend we Have in Jesus

JUST FOR FUN – CHILDREN’S PRAYERS:

• Dear God, I went to this wedding and they were kissing right there in church. Is that OK?

• Dear God, thank You for the baby brother but what I prayed for was a puppy.

• Dear God, I want to be just like my daddy when I grow up but without so much hair all over.

• Dear God, my Grandpa says you were around when he was a boy. How far back do you go?

• Dear God, maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they each had their own rooms. It works out OK with me and my brother.

• Dear God, please take care of my daddy, mommy, sister, brother, my doggy and me. Oh, please take care of yourself, God. If anything happens to you, we're gonna be in a big mess.

INTRO TO TOPIC:

God is getting ready to do something new and wonderful in our church family!

To get ready for this, God is calling us to go deeper into the secret place of prayer.

Discuss personal prayer life and love for prayer including stories of answered prayer.

THE BIG IDEA: In Jesus’ trilogy of parables on prayer, we learn three secrets to praying with power: having an urgent boldness, a hopeful perseverance, and a humble attitude.

1. POWER SECRET #1: AN URGENT BOLDNESS:

“1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." 2 So He said to them, "When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.” (Luke 11:1-4, NKJV).

• QUOTE: “The knowledge of God’s Father-love is the first and simplest, but also the last and highest lesson in the school of prayer. Prayer begins in a personal relationship with God as well as a personal, conscious fellowship of love with Him.” (Andrew Murray).

• RESOURCE: “The Secrets of the Secret Place” booklet. Learn to pray the Lord’s Prayer.

“5 And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; 7 and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'? 8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.” (Luke 11:5-8, NKJV).

• The midnight hour = when life gets hard and tough and you feel like giving up.

• Who does the friend represent in the story? Jesus!

• “There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Prov. 18:24b, NKJV).

• The word persistence = importunity, meaning urgency and boldness.

• The first secret to power in prayer is praying with an urgent boldness.

• QUOTE: “Will you believe the promise? It is Christ who gives it. No lie ever fell from His lips. O doubt Him not. Pray on if you have prayed, and if you have never prayed before, God help you to begin today!” (Charles Spurgeon, Prayer Certified of Success).

“9 "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"” (Luke 11:9-13, NKJV).

• In this passage, Jesus says, “Keep on asking.” (present tense, continual).