Time to Talk

Time to Talk
Developing a Life of Prayer

Intro: My own increased thinking about prayer

God is a relational being and, therefore, prayer is a natural and necessary component of the Christian life. Prayer should not be a matter of IF but a matter of WHEN

- Relational
- Natural
- Necessary
- When not IF

Why don't we pray???
- Skeptical (maybe we think it's like an email hoax, we don't hit 'reply')
- Lazy
- Ignorant
- Busy

SO what should we do?

1. Find out how NOT to pray
2. Find out how TO pray
3. Make a commitment

Not all prayers are the same. Your life and method play a role in the power of your prayer life. Let's talk about some barriers to an effective prayer life:

1. The Look At Me Prayer
- Matthew 6:5-6
- Luke 18-9-14
- God doesn't owe you anything, you owe God everything

2. The Long Winded Prayer
- Matthew 6:7-8
- You don't have to get God's attention (vs. the worshippers on Mt. Carmel)
- Don't feel guilty if your prayers are short and sweet

3. The Lacking Authority Prayer
- John 14:14, 15:7
- Not necessarily "in Jesus' name" but with His authority
- Like 'stop in the name of the Law'
- Not faith in faith, faith in the Lord!

4. The Love of Self Prayer
- James 4:3, 1 John 5:14
- We come as Christ's representative, not ours

We don't have to wonder how to pray. The disciples asked Jesus this question and he provided them with a model prayer. Let's take a look at this prayer in Luke 11:1-4:

1. It's relational (intimate)
- Our Father (give, forgive, lead, deliver)

2. It's reverent (not too casual)
- in heaven, hallowed, thine is the kingdom...
- Not a meeting of equals

3. It's confident (change is possible!)
- On earth as it is in heaven, deliver us from evil
- We have God on our side
- We have a God who cares for this world.

4. It's consistent
- Give us this day (not this week, not this month)
- Forgive us (chances are we did something displeasing today)
- Expresses our basic dependence
- Luke 11:5-13

How healthy is your prayer life?
How healthy is the prayer life of this church?

If from now till 10 years from now, there are zero prayers in this church, we may be 300 people, but we won't be a church. If from now till 10 years from now there are tons of prayers in this church, we may be 30 people, but we'll be a church. A Church is a group of people in communion with God.

Here are some commitments we could make...

1. Morning prayer
2. Prayer of Examen
3. Saying Grace/Fasting
4. Prayer Group

Is it time for a talk?