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?