Psalms 66:18-20

18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: 19 But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. 20 Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.  

Sometimes we, God’s children, face struggles and battles that wear us down, cripple our minds, distort our thoughts, bring about fear, despair, and heartbreak. So when we pray, we need to recognize that we, ourselves, are in need of prayer You and Me. We, the Children of God, often get our eyes focused on the storm instead focusing on the one who walks on the waves can speaks to the wind and the seas and causes the storm to wither and die. (see Matthew 14:24-26)

I know, from my own experience, how the storms of life can burry somebody fear and doubt and a sense of hopelessness.  I’ve been there, you’ve been there…. Everybody you know has been there. Job changes, raising children, marriage, broken marriages, sickness, the death of a loved one, our health, are all very REAL good sport where a storm can just break out at any time. Sometimes……. in those times……  it may be a little difficult to clear the mind enough to remember that “greater is He that is in you than he who is in the world.” , I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Particularly if we don’t have regular communication with the one who controls all of it….ALL OF IT…..  That may sound bit harsh, blunt perhaps, maybe even rhetorical. But communication is such an essential part of our relationship with God and his relationship toward us.

We have spoken about “Following Jesus” “Obeying the voice of God” “Finding God’s Will in our life” But, how can you do that if you don’t communicate?   

Ok, well how do we communicate with God? Prayer…. Right?  He Promises over and over in his word that he will hear us when we pray. And let’s face it, God keeps His promises. However, sometimes we may fear the outcome because we know what we deserve as a consequence of our actions or lack thereof……. Nevertheless, we expect things to work out in our favor…… because that is our selfish, sinful nature. There are even so-called preachers teaching, from the pulpit, that people ought to just DEMAND that God do things OUR way…..  Regardless of God’s WILL, I WANT MY WAY! ------ I WANT IT NOW~

We sometimes lie to ourselves instead of being honest like it says in verse 18 of Psalm 66. (18) If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

Let me illustrate what I mean with this little story…   

One Sunday a little boy was "acting up" during the morning worship service.

• His Mom was home sick with my little sister….
• He and his brother were parked on the front row… of the church, on one of those hard wooden pews. His Dad, the Pastor,  was preaching. Now  the little boy knew the rules, and the church protocol, but HIS Daddy was preaching  so HE figured HE was in the clear. 
• Well, the boy had smuggled some hot-wheels car, in his coat pocket, to church. About 5 minutes into the sermon, BUZZZZZZZ!!! The boy sent one of those cars across the old slick, wooden pew...     
• The Dad stopped preaching and said, "Two little boys are going to get a whipping in about half a minute.... 
• Now, the older brother, wanting no part of suck foolishness, put the car in his pocket and tried to play it off.  
• So, the little boy reached in his pocket, pulled out another one, and BUZZZZZZ! Across the pew it went.  

About that time, my Daddy stopped preaching, picked me up, carried me right down the aisle toward the door of the church house. On the way out, I was screaming, PLEASE….  "Ya’ll Pray for me! Pray for me!"

You see I knew what I deserved and what was coming but I could have avoided it all if he had just obeyed My Father’s instructions the first time, second time, or third time…..  

There will be times when you and I will need the prayers of others to help us face what we know will be tough times ahead.  Like that …….“little boy”……. we need to shout out!  – pray for Me, everybody.

Prayer is so very important to Christian life and a right relationship with the Lord, that Jesus took time to teach His disciples how to pray, what to pray, and when to pray.  I also think it’s great that Jesus followers asked to be taught to pray. They were around Jesus constantly and knew that He often prayed so they realized that they too needed to understand the power and importance of PRAYER .

So lets break it DOWN: 

9: Our Father which art in heaven, (Its Addressed to God-Location and all.) Hallowed (worshipped, exalted, honored, and adored) be thy name.

10: Thy kingdom come, - NO THE WORLD, YOUR KINGDOM….  Thy NOT MY WILL be – be done in earth, JUST LIKE IT IS IN HEAVEN  

 ((((((((First Request comes here))))))));

We have Acknowledged is Authority and his Majestic Excellence FIRST… BEFORE ASKING FOR ANYTHING. AND….. we have surrendered – submitted to HIS will in the matter at hand…….    

11 Give us this day our daily bread. (Seek our needs)  

12 And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. ( Ask for forgiveness…. As we Forgive).

13 And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil: (Guide my steps, lord, Guide my keystrokes on my computer keyboard, Keep me away from things that are subject to may me drift away from you God.) ( Make me think about it before I hit the send button on the text or that email…… ) Deliver me from evil.

For thine (YOURS is the kingdom, and YOURS is the power ( NOT MINE) , and the glory, forever. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer is just one example but sometimes we even get that wrong just like the little girl who prayed. "And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets."  Children exhibit spiritual wisdom even when they’re not trying just like this little girl’s mistake.  Our trespasses is what she was trying to say but I think she actually got it right for all of us. Our Trespasses really are the things that belong in our trash baskets and we need to forgive those who put their trash in our baskets too.

Folks Jesus taught us about prayer for some very good reasons.

First, He wanted to let us know that we too have direct access to the Holy Father, the Creator of all that is seen and unseen, The Living God.  

Think about that – that is some kind of privilege.  Your prayers go into the very Sanctuary of Heaven – the Throne of Grace. We can’t even get hold of the Cable company, but we can certainly reach GOD. The Bible tells us that our prayers rise to GOD like incense, “a fragrant offering”.  Imagine that your prayers are like the scent of perfume or a bouquet of flowers.  Psalms 141:2   

It may be hard to imagine how all our prayers turn into something so wonderful. I don’t know about you but sometimes I find my prayers are a list of gripes complaints instead of gratefulness and compliments. BUT, God, being faithful as he is, takes even our complaints and belly-aching and turns them into a fragrant offering when we pray sincerely and humbly. Ole’ Job was a good example of this type of prayer.

Sometimes like Job we need to be reminded that no matter how good or obedient we think we are there is always room for improvement.  Job 13:23   We fool ourselves when we talk like we have it all together, … because we are all sinners in need of God’s salvation and continued grace. Romans 3:23

A little boy was overheard to offer this prayer…. “Lord if you can’t make me a better boy don’t worry about it.  I’m having a real good time like I am”. Sadly, too many of us are like that little boy. We’re happy and content to be just the way we are, even though we know we are not the PERSON that God wants us to be.   

The Bible talks about our need to wake up. It even uses the word sleeper. EPH 5:14, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.- and that is what we all need to do as it concerns our prayer life. We need to wake up……  Ephesians 5:14  We get so desensitized that we take prayer for granted.  Many of us only pray when we have those obligatory prayers.. or especially we need something. Yes, we need to practice the 9-1-1 prayers.  But prayer should be praise as well as requests. We of all people should be experts at praying. Sadly some of us need to be taught again the basics of prayer.  

Seldom do we use prayer as an offensive weapon…. but PRAYER can be used to bring down strongholds.  2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;

Jesus told us in Mark 11:24, 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Church, it is time that we made prayer a priority in our daily living. The Muslim prays 5 times per day…. Without Fail! 

The Jew Prays Three time per day, without fail!

If you do not have a regular prayer time you need to establish one… AND COMMIT TO IT.  We are in a War…. And we need to establish our communications, our command and control, our continuity of operations….. We need to set up our own situation room (like in the Whitehouse)   

The enemy of our God --------- IS OUR enemy….  Make no mistake about it.  AND God has equipped us with the weapons and means to be victorious over THAT enemy through the Body, Blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ….. If you are saved, then Jesus’ victory is already alive in you and in me | THE HOLY SPIRIT ….   All we HAVE do is give it breath to that victory through OUR prayers.

If you get NOTHING ELSE out of this message… get this…

THE DEVIL is NEVER more afraid, never more on his heals, never more in a defensive posture as he is when you are on your knees before the Living God.  Let us give the Devil something to scared of……    

Lets say the Lord's Prayer together:  

Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.  10 Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.  11 Give us this day our daily bread.  12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.   13 And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.

Amen.

Now…. I want you to think about PRAYER…. Is there a difference when you pray over your meal….. and when you pray for that grandbaby, or that spouse, or that loved one on the way to the emergency room…. Do you pray a loud and a hard as you fight? Or how about when that mountain of financial burden suddenly begins to shake and rumble like the volcano about to erupt……      Remember----- With faith, and a right relationship with God, you can either MOVE that mountain or Gain the Strength to climb it.

Its time to PRAY...

Pastor Mark