Spiritual Life & Disciplines

Part 10 – Spiritual Discipline #2 – Prayer

What is prayer?

• Prayer is simply talking to God• God speaks to people through His Word.

People speak to God through prayer.• Prayer has many forms:

• Formal vs. Informal• Praise & Thanksgiving• Confession• Request

Prayer is required

• Jesus expects believers to pray• Matt. 6:5• Matt. 6:6• Matt. 6:7• Matt. 6:9• Matt. 7:7

• The church is commanded to pray• Col. 4:2• 1 Thes. 5:17

Why don’t we pray?

• Wrong priorities

• Lack of persistence or discipline

• Don’t know how

• We live under the delusion that we are not totally dependent on God for everything all the time

Private prayer

• Private prayer requires 3 ingredients which most of us lack:• Time• Privacy• A place lacking distractions

• Matt. 6:6, 14:23, Mark 6:46, Luke 5:16, 6:12, 9:28)

Prayer is learned

• Prayer is learned by being taught to pray (Matt. 6:9-13)

• Prayer is learned by praying

• Prayer is learned by meditating on Scripture

• Prayer is learned by praying with others

Prayer helps

• Have a designated time and place for private prayer

• Pray regularly with your family

• Pray out loud or use a journal to help avoid letting your mind wander

• Pray through Scripture

The problem with most prayers• “We tend to pray the same old things about

the same old things” – Don Whitney• 6 areas we tend to pray about:

• Family• Future• Finances• School or Work• Church or Ministry• Current Crisis

Praying through Scripture

• Psalms are designed by God to be expressed back to God

• Psalms are an ideal place in Scripture to pray back to God

• Both Jesus and the early church modeled praying through Scripture (Matt. 27:46, Acts 4:24-26)

3 Challenges

• Prayer is required: Will you pray?

• Prayer is learned: Will you learn?

• Prayer is answered: Will you persist?