A Good Church prays

A Good Church

Introduction

To say that a Good church prays would be like to say, a good person talks.

Of course, we would say, a good person talks. That is part of what it means to be a person.

Exactly. What does it mean to be a church? That we are in constant communication with God.

Big Idea: Prayer is to learn to see how God sees, go where God goes, and act how He acts.

Every time you pray, you make an exchange between the limited ways in which we experience life for the richness and fulness in which God offers us.

Supporting point: God is already listening and attentive

Matthew 6:5–8 ESV

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Supporting Point: God is already caring for us

Matthew 6:9–10 ESV

Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

To pray to the Father is

an invitation for us to enter into God’s space, not the other way around. He has everything equipped, prepared and ready.

When we pray we enter into the world that God has made. We work with the resources that God has offered. We make our way further up and farther in to see things as God intended them.

Then we we realize the inside is bigger than the outside, we ask for His reality to become ours,

What is on earth that you want to see made more like heaven?

Supporting Point: Prayer allows us to encounter God in our daily lives

Matthew 6:11 ESV

Give us this day our daily bread,

To say, Give us today our daily bread is to admit that

1- we have real needs, specific needs, like lunch

and

2- those needs have to be met.

Prayer allows us to act with Christ in the world.

Matthew 6:12–13 ESV

and forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

Prayer is dangerous because it is the call to lean in and over until we fall into it. We often just want to kind of observe from the sides, not getting too close.

Application

we have a prayer team that meets every Wednesday at noon. Join them

You can receive prayer after the service if you would like

But maybe you just want to start praying the Lords prayer.

Begin in the morning, pray it slowly throughout the day. DOn’t just rush into it.

take it line by line, pray back your thoughts and your life into it.

Prayer doesn’t have to be rushed. It doesn’t have to stop and start.