1. Prayer
Matthew 6:9-15

2. Prayer is key… To a healthy relationship with God.
Before Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden of Eden, they walked and talked with God.
Genesis 4:26, “Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord.”

3. Prayer is key… To a healthy relationship with God.
The line of Cain showed self-reliance whereas the line of Seth showed reliance on God.
All of the Patriarch’s prayed to God. (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses…etc.)
Jesus prayed to God while here upon this earth.
It was a major piece of the early church and should be a major piece of the church today.

4. Prayer is key… To a healthy relationship with God.
Acts 2:42, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
“Communication to a relationship is like oxygen to life. Without it…it dies!”

5. Prayer is key… To a healthy relationship with God.
When we pray to God show our respect, our love and our trust.
“Without communication, there is no relationship. Without respect, there is no love. Without trust, there is no reason to continue.”

6. Content 7%, Tone 38%, Nonverbal 55%
Prayer is key…
To a healthy relationship with God
Our communication broken into 3 categories:
Content 7%, Tone 38%, Nonverbal 55%
Postures of prayer:
Bowing, kneeling, prostrate/face to the ground, standing

7. Prayer is key… For God’s will to be done.
Matthew 6:10, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
While Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane he prayed that God’s will be done.”
He humbled himself to it.
He made himself available to it.
He followed through with it.

8. Prayer is key… For God’s will to be done.
The phrase, “on earth as it is in heaven” be applied to the prior 3 phrases.
hallowed be your name on earth as it is in heaven
your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven
your will be done on earth as it is in heaven

9. Prayer is key… For God’s will to be done.
God’s will is the salvation of all mankind.
We must put legs to our prayers.
First we need to go the word.
Second we need to put it into practice or allow it to guide our decisions. In other words form a Biblical worldview.

10. Prayer is key… For God’s will to be done.
We all understand putting legs to our prayers when it comes to asking God for our daily bread.
Then we need to understand that its no different when we ask for God’s will to be done.
Who is going to do it?

11. “Listen twice as much as we talk.”
Prayer is key…
For God’s will to be done.
“Listen twice as much as we talk.”
“Regardless of our desires and our ideas as to how things should happen we are to accept that God’s will may not be our will, but that we will still remain faithful no matter the answer He gives.”—Tim Postle

12. Prayer is key… To receive our daily bread.
Not everyone prays for their daily bread and yet has it.
First of all, “God causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Matthew 5:45
Second, this is something that we have been commanded to pray for and expect that He will provide it for us, but yet we have to go out and work for it.
Third, it shows our gratitude to God even for what we may think is some of the small stuff, when really it is very essential.

13. Would you align your life with Christ tonight?
“Prayer is asking God to align you with His will rather than asking Him to be aligned with yours.”
Would you align your life with Christ tonight?

15. Prayer is key… To a healthy relationship with God.
For God’s will to be done.
To receive our daily bread.

16. Prayer is key… For the forgiveness of sins. “And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
Matthew 6:12
“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Matthew 6:14-15

17. Prayer is key… For the forgiveness of sins.
We must first submit to the will of God before our prayers for forgivess will be forgiven through prayer.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;”
I John 1:9; 2:1

18. Prayer is key… For the forgiveness of sins.
“If you spend time praying for people instead of talking about them, you’ll get better results.”—unknown
“When you’re tempted to lose patience with someone, think about how patient God has been with you.”

19. Prayer is key… For the forgiveness of sins.
“And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.”
I John 2:3

20. Prayer is key… For strength. “And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.”
Matthew 6:13
It is Satan who has placed the temptations that come before us in this world.

21. “Do not love the world or anything in the world
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.”
I John 2:15-16

22. Prayer is key… For strength.
To withstand temptation.
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
I Corinthians 10:13

23. “You who answer prayer, to you all people will come.”
Prayer is key…
For strength.
He is our counselor.
“You who answer prayer, to you all people will come.”
Psalm 65:2
“The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.”—Unknown

24. Faithful prayer to our heavenly Father
will lead to a closer relationship with Him;
it will align us more with His will being done in our lives;
it will bring His daily provision; it will maintain our sanctification and salvation;
and help us to be more obedient.