What Jesus Taught About Prayer

Several weeks ago, the Sunday evening sermon was entitled "What Jesus Taught About Prayer." (You can listen to it here, or see the video here.) Here are some of the important points that Pastor Tom made:

• Prayer is our greatest privilege.
• Do not pray to be heard of men. "Public prayer without private prayer is a sham." (Source unknown.) We need to pray in private, in a quiet place. "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." (Matthew 6: 5)
  
• To grow, we must spend time in God's presence, regularly and privately. "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." (Matthew 6:6)
  
• Matthew 6:7 - "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." Don't pray with meaningless repetition. Make your prayers your own; God wants to hear from our hearts.
• God knows what we need before we ask. But we must ask!! And sometimes, we need to ask what we need to be asking. "Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." (Matthew 6:8)
• "Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name" (Matthew 6:9) The Jews didn't pray "Our Father" - they prayed "Lord." "Father" is an intimate term. God is in heaven, and we are invited to enter His throne room. Prayer does not change God's mind, but it changes us. God's name is above every name.
• God is preparing His kingdom: "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God has a plan that encompasses eternity. He will tell us what to do when we listen to Him.
• We need to realize where our bread comes from: " Give us this day our daily bread," (Matthew 6:11) The example of George Mueller was given. Read Chapter 14: God Will Supply here.
• "and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." (Matthew 6: 12) Real prayer acknowledges our debt/our sin and makes it right with the person we've sinned against. Meeting with God daily helps keep us from sin and bitterness.
• "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." (Matthew 6: 13) It is important to turn your back on situations where temptation is rampant. We need to pray this verse!
• The passage begins and ends with the kingdom.
• Do not be weary about praying. Pray that whatever it takes to bring us closer to God, He would do it.

I know I need to spend a lot more time in prayer. Because of my fibromyalgia, I have trouble sleeping, and during those hours that I lay in bed awake, I try to pray. I'm thankful that God understands my wandering mind! Romans 8:26 is a verse that I cling to: "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." Thank God for the privilege of prayer!

Holding Faith,