Popular New Years Resolutions

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Uncovering the Joy of Prayer

• Popular New Years Resolutions
• Exercise more, get in shape
• Pay off debt/Save money
• Get a better job
• Drink less alcohol
• Quit Smoking
• Reduce Stress
• Eating better

• Learn to depend on God through prayer this year

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• Some Prayer Heroes of Mine
• Jesus

• Martin Luther
• 2-3 hours a day
• Said we should do it as naturally as a shoemaker
  makes a shoe and a tailor makes a coat.

• Jonathan Edwards
• Spoke of the Sweet hours, rapt and swallowed
  up in God

• Chris Wachter
• My Parents
• Grandma Sweet

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• Times in Prayer that stand out to me
• Matt McNiece
• Graham Nelson
• 24 Hours of Prayer praying for a Home for Hope

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• What is Prayer?

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• What is Prayer?

• Definition the act of communicating with a deity
  (especially as a petition or in adoration or
  contrition or thanksgiving)

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• What is Prayer?

• Definition the act of communicating with a deity
  (especially as a petition or in adoration or
  contrition or thanksgiving)

• Some other ideas
• A spiritual discipline
• A way of praising God
• A way of dealing with sin
• A means to express our needs to God
• A way of showing dependence on God

7

• What is Prayer?

• Definition the act of communicating with a deity
  (especially as a petition or in adoration or
  contrition or thanksgiving)

• Some other ideas
• A spiritual discipline
• A way of praising God
• A way of dealing with sin
• A means to express our needs to God
• A way of showing dependence on God

• Hopes Core Value Number Four
• We have no desire to have the ministry of this
  church be powered on our own strength. We will
  rely on the Holy Spirit to lead, empower, and
  comfort us as we eagerly learn how to personally
  and corporately pray and worship.
• Be a sailboat, catching the wind of the Spirit -
  not a speedboat, under your own power.

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• Why Pray?

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• Why Pray?

1 Answer Because Jesus did!!!!
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• Why Pray?

1 Answer Because Jesus did!!!!

• To show the Fathers glory

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• Why Pray?

1 Answer Because Jesus did!!!!

• To show the Fathers glory

John 1140-42 40Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell
you that if you believed, you would see the glory
of God?" 41So they took away the stone. Then
Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you
that you have heard me. 42I knew that you always
hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the
people standing here, that they may believe that
you sent me.
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• Why Pray?

1 Answer Because Jesus did!!!!

• To show the Fathers glory

John 1140-42 40Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell
you that if you believed, you would see the glory
of God?" 41So they took away the stone. Then
Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you
that you have heard me. 42I knew that you always
hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the
people standing here, that they may believe that
you sent me.
John 1227-28 27"Now my heart is troubled, and
what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this
hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to
this hour. 28Father, glorify your name!
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Why Pray?

• To show dependence on God, and ask for help

Mark 1435-36 35Going a little farther, he fell
to the ground and prayed that if possible the
hour might pass from him. 36"Abba,a Father," he
said, "everything is possible for you. Take this
cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you
will.
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• Why Pray?

• To show dependence on God, and ask for help

Mark 1435-36 35Going a little farther, he fell
to the ground and prayed that if possible the
hour might pass from him. 36"Abba,a Father," he
said, "everything is possible for you. Take this
cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you
will.

• To ask for forgiveness for others

Luke 2334 34Jesus said, "Father, forgive them,
for they do not know what they are doing."a And
they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
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Why Pray?

• Prayer allows us to be involved in Gods work

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Why Pray?

• Prayer allows us to be involved in Gods work

• Prayer brings us into fellowship with God

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• Why Pray?

• Prayer allows us to be involved in Gods work

• Prayer brings us into fellowship with God

• Because God understands us and knows our needs

Matthew 67-8 7And when you pray, do not keep on
babbling like pagans, for they think they will be
heard because of their many words. 8Do not be
like them, for your Father knows what you need
before you ask him.
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Why Pray?

• Prayer allows us to be involved in Gods work

• Prayer brings us into fellowship with God

• Because God understands us and knows our needs

Matthew 67-8 7And when you pray, do not keep on
babbling like pagans, for they think they will be
heard because of their many words. 8Do not be
like them, for your Father knows what you need
before you ask him.

• We have the Holy Spirit

Romans 826-27 26In the same way, the Spirit
helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we
ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself
intercedes for us with groans that words cannot
express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows
the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit
intercedes for the saints in accordance with
God's will.
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• Why Pray?

• Because Jesus death made a way for us

I Timothy 25-6 5For there is one God and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all
menthe testimony given in its proper time.
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Why Pray?

• Because Jesus death made a way for us

I Timothy 25-6 5For there is one God and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all
menthe testimony given in its proper time.

• The Bible tells us to

Philippians 46-7 6Do not be anxious about
anything, but in everything, by prayer and
petition, with thanksgiving, present your
requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
I Peter 57 7Cast all your anxiety on him because
he cares for you.
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• What Keeps us From Being Effective in Prayer?

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• What Keeps us From Being Effective in Prayer?

- Sin

• The enemy doesnt want us to pray

• 1 John 19
• 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
  and will forgive us our sins and purify us from
  all unrighteousness.
• An example from my life

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• What Keeps us From Being Effective in Prayer?

- Sin

• The enemy doesnt want us to pray

• 1 John 19
• 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
  and will forgive us our sins and purify us from
  all unrighteousness.
• An example from my life

• - Busyness
• Quote from Entrepreneur Daily

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• What Keeps us From Being Effective in Prayer?

- Sin

• The enemy doesnt want us to pray

• 1 John 19
• 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
  and will forgive us our sins and purify us from
  all unrighteousness.
• An example from my life

• - Busyness
• Quote from Entrepreneur Daily

• - Our Entertain Me Culture
• Its easy to choose something else

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What Keeps us From Being Effective in Prayer?
- Gods Invisibility or Lack of Interaction
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What Keeps us From Being Effective in Prayer?
- Gods Invisibility or Lack of Interaction
- Were bad at Quietness/Solitude/Listening

• My most recent date.

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What Keeps us From Being Effective in Prayer?
- Gods Invisibility or Lack of Interaction
- Were bad at Quietness/Solitude/Listening

• My most recent date.

• Its ok to be quiet
• Psalm 4610
• 10 "Be still, and know that I am God
• I will be exalted among the nations,
• I will be exalted in the earth.

Psalm 2714 14 Wait for the LORD be
strong and take heart and wait for the
LORD.
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What Keeps us From Being Effective in Prayer?

• - We may have an incorrect view of God

• Smiter (the Bruce Almighty view)

• Grand Canyon view

• The way students view a teacher
• Hebrews 217
• 17For this reason he had to be made like his
  brothers in every way, in order that he might
  become a merciful and faithful high priest in
  service to God, and that he might make atonement
  for the sins of the people.

• The uninvolved father
• He knows what you need before you ask it

• The almighty ATM machine
• Quote by Kenneth Wilson

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• So what can we do to encourage each other in
  prayer in 2008?

- Remind each other of how great God is
2 Samuel 722 22 "How great you are, O Sovereign
LORD! There is no one like you, and there is no
God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.
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• So what can we do to encourage each other in
  prayer in 2008?

- Remind each other of how great God is
2 Samuel 722 22 "How great you are, O Sovereign
LORD! There is no one like you, and there is no
God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.
- Start small, but think big
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So what can we do to encourage each other in
prayer in 2008?

• - Take advantage of prayer opportunities at Hope
  and other places
• Wednesday night prayer meetings (700)
• Join a small group
• prayer_at_hopecc.com
• Share praises as well as requests
• Communion and Post-Service prayer
• Join the prayer team
• Email hiland_at_hopecc.com

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So what can we do to encourage each other in
prayer in 2008?

• - Pray in the moment, pray continually
• 1 Thessalonians 516-18
• 16Be joyful always 17pray continually 18give
  thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's
  will for you in Christ Jesus.

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So what can we do to encourage each other in
prayer in 2008?

• - Pray in the moment, pray continually
• 1 Thessalonians 516-18
• 16Be joyful always 17pray continually 18give
  thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's
  will for you in Christ Jesus.

• - Do what works!
• Write
• Take walks
• Keep lists
• Listen to music
• Pray with others

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So what can we do to encourage each other in
prayer in 2008?

• - Above all, treat time with God as time hanging
  out with a perfect friend.

• Every quality we value in a friend, God has.
• Dependable
• Caring
• A good listener
• Wise

Hebrews 415-16 15For we do not have a high
priest who is unable to sympathize with our
weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted
in every way, just as we areyet was without sin.
16Let us then approach the throne of grace with
confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find
grace to help us in our time of need.
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God is Available! And Close!
In one hand I hold the truth of Gods vastness,
and in the other hand I hold the truth of Gods
desire for intimacy. Dante spoke of the love
that moves the sun and the other stars. I gaze
at the stars and marvel at the apparent
insignificance of the entire human experiment
then I read a biblical passage about God
rejoicing over us with singing. Only lately have
I understood that the vast difference between God
and us allows this very capacity. God operates
by different rules of time and space. And Gods
infinite greatness, which we would expect to
diminish us, actually makes possible the very
closeness that we desire.
A God unbound by our rules of time has the
ability to invest in every person on earth. God
has, quite literally, all the time in the world
for each of us. The psalmist exclaimed that a
thousand years in your sight are like a day that
has just gone by, and the reverse also applies
to God, one day is like a thousand years. The
common question, How can God listen to millions
of prayers at once? betrays an inability to
think outside time. I cannot imagine a being who
can hear billions of prayers in thousands of
languages because I am stunted by my humanity.
Trapped in time, I cannot conceive of infinity.
The distance between God and humanity a
distance that no one can grasp, - is, ironically,
what allows the intimacy. Philip Yancey in Prayer
36

• Challenge
• Can we become a people of prayer?
• Do we really believe prayer is the lifeblood of
  the church?

Hebrews 1019-25 19Therefore, brothers, since we
have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by
the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way
opened for us through the curtain, that is, his
body, 21and since we have a great priest over the
house of God, 22let us draw near to God with a
sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty
conscience and having our bodies washed with pure
water. 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we
profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And
let us consider how we may spur one another on
toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up
meeting together, as some are in the habit of
doing, but let us encourage one anotherand all
the more as you see the Day approaching.