The Place of Prayer - Pastor Kenneth Woolf

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New Life COTR
Sunday February 3, 2008
FIRST THINGS FIRST
“The Place of Prayer”
Matthew 6:5-8- Turn and Read
WHEN YOU PRAY!
You will never put God first in your life until you put prayer first in your life.
Make prayer a priority. A set time and a set place. NOT PRAYER ON THE GO!
If we don’t have the time and decency to stop everything and pray and seek God I’m not sure we’re putting God first in our life.
If we’re to busy to go into a room and pray, we’re in trouble.
When the church began to grow in the Book of Acts it got very busy.
People began to say to the disciples, “you need to spend more time doing busy things.
Acts 6:1-4- Turn and Read
The Disciples said “we must give ourselves to prayer and ministry of the Word.”
Prayer was first!
What brings the unction and anointing? Prayer!
Without prayer you will live a dry boring life.
The enemy has deceived us into thinking that prayer is boring. SPENDING TIME WITH GOD IS BORING!
If you think prayer is boring it’s only because you don’t do it.
Mark 14:23- “After He had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,”
Luke 5:16- “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
Luke 6:12- “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.”
If Jesus needed to pray while on earth, do you think you might need to?
Mark 1:35- “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”
RISING EARLY TO PRAY! Would it be worth your time to begin your day with God?
First things First!
HOW DO YOU PRAY?
In Matthew 6 Jesus tells us how to pray. He gives us a contextual model of prayer.
Matthew 6:9-13- Turn and Read
TRANSITION: How do you pray?
I. PRAISE-(Verse 9)
If you want to have an audience with God, PRAISE HIM!
Psalm 100:4- “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise His name.”
II. PERMISSION-(verse 10)
God, what are you permitting in my life? God I can’t make it through the day without you!
“I DELIGHT TO DO YOUR WILL O GOD!”
III. PROVISION-(verse 11)
We get angry at God for not answering a prayer we didn’t pray
Matthew 6:31-34,
Matthew 6:8- “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”
BUT WE MUST ASK
IV. PEACE-(verse 12)
Peace with God and peace with others.
1John 1:9- “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all righteousness.”
V. PROTECTION-(verse 13)
“Lead us not into temptation.”
Ephesians 6:18- “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”
Praying in the Spirit is part of our warfare everyday.
WE NEED TO PRAY EVERYDAY.
Matthew 26:41- “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
You guys are going to fall, close the door on temptation through prayer.
CONCLUSION: THE BEST THING ABOUT PRAYER!
WHERE DOES THE FATHER LIVE? In your house, in a room behind a door. I wonder how many are to busy to spend time with the Father. We wonder why we can’t overcome. THE BEST THING ABOUT PRAYER IS NOT WHAT YOU TALK ABOUT BUT WHO YOU SPEND TIME WITH!