Patterns of Prayer Pastor Kent Munsey

12:00 PM

INTRODUCTION ABC’s of Prayer The Five Patterns of Personal Prayer 1. Privately 2. Consistently 3. Preparedly 4. Audibly 5. Expectantly CONCLUSION Main Scripture Matthew 6:5­6 ““When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” Psalms 5:3 “Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.” Introduction Pastor Kent talks about the importance and power of prayer. We are a people of prayer who transform into a place of prayer. Through one of Jesus’ most famous sermons in Matthew 6:5­6 we see some key guidelines for prayer. ABC’s of Prayer (Foundationals)

A. Prayer is AMAZING. The fact that the God of all things desires to talk to us is amazing. If the President of the United States called or a popular celebrity wanted to hang out with us, we would clear our schedules. However, when it comes down to it what would we

actually talk about with them? We can believe prayer is amazing but we can be intimidated or nervous to talk to God. We don’t need to be nervous because to put it simply, God just desires to talk to us.

B. Prayer is a BIG BIG deal; the relationship, not the exercise. God desires to know us.

How amazing would our prayer lives be if we treated time with God like we would if we were hanging out with our favorite celebrity or the president?

C. Prayer is a CATALYST for Heaven, not your genie in a bottle. The function of prayer is

not to influence God but to change the nature of the one who prays. We often seek out God to change our circumstances, but He is more concerned about changing us. Prayer should ignite change in our lives.

The Five Patterns of Personal Prayer In Psalms 5:3 we are introduced to five patterns of personal prayer. A pattern is a regular or intelligible form. It is through patterns of prayer that God in turn rewards us eternally. Psalms 5:3 “Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.” 1. Privately There is a difference between corporate prayer and personal prayer, and there is a time for each. We need the personal prayer to overflow into the corporate prayer, because if it doesn’t then we are putting on a show. In Matthew 14:23 and Acts 10:9 we are able to see the importance of praying privately. 2. Consistently Both time and frequency are essential parts of being consistent during our prayer life. In Daniel 6:10 and Galatians 5:17 we see the importance of spending time with God every day, even multiple times a day. As humans we are never going to graduate from this tension and we need God’s help. If we talk to God, we won't need to talk to anyone else. Mother Teresa said this: “The fruit of silence is Prayer, the fruit of Prayer is Faith, the fruit of Faith is Love, the fruit of Love is Service, the fruit of Service is Peace...” In Mark 1:35 it says “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.” Not everyone might be a morning person and that is okay, But set a time that works for you to talk to God. A great Apostle from the 20th Century, Smith Wigglesworth was once asked about the time and frequency of his prayers, and he replied:

“I don’t ever pray any longer than 20 minutes...but, I never go 20 minutes without praying.” 3. Preparedly It is phenomenal what the Lord will do when we come prepared with a plan in our prayer time. Sometimes we get intimidated in our prayer time because we aren’t sure what to say. Make a list of all you want to pray about and be specific. We should make specific prayer requests, and list them if we need to. God is able to do way more then we can imagine, and we need to be prepared to talk to Him. 4. Audibly Talking aloud to God is a good thing. God is not a cardiologist and it is not his job to figure out what is in our hearts. We don’t have because we don’t ask. We have to open up our hearts because it's from the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. When we speak our prayers out, we enter into a verbal commitment with God, which is an important component to personal prayer. 5. Expectantly We are supposed to expect God to do huge things. We have to position ourselves as ready to receive all of God’s blessings. We should go beyond “hoping” when we pray, we should be at a place of expectancy. Expecting God to be the father that He is (i.e. giving us provision, health, peace, etc.). Conclusion God rewards our patterns of prayer. The reward for prayer is found in the answer from God. Sometimes that reward is a no, a not yet, or a yes. God knows what is better for us than we do. The only way that we can reap the reward for prayer is through talking to God. Additional Scriptures Romans 8:15 “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”]” Colossians 4:2 “Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.” 1 Thessalonians 5:13: “ Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work. And live peacefully with each other.” Matthew 14:23 “After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone:.

Acts 10:9 “The next day as Cornelius’s messengers were nearing the town, Peter went up on the flat roof to pray. It was about noon,” Galatians 5:17 “The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.” Daniel 6:10 “But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.” Mark 1:35 “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.” Not everyone might be a morning person and that is okay, But set a time that works for you to talk to God.