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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] This evening if you would find a hymnal and turn to hymn number 305. Yield not to temptation. Hymn number 305. We'll go ahead and start there right on the first. Yield not to temptation. For yielding is sin. Each victory will help you. Some other to win. Fight manfully onward. Dark passions subdue. Look ever to Jesus. He will carry you through. As the Savior to help you. Comfort, strength, and to keep you. He is willing to aid you. He will carry you through. Shot evil companions. Bad language disdain. God's name hold in reference. Nor take it in vain. Be thoughtful and earnest. Blindhearted and true. Look ever to Jesus. He will carry you through. As the Savior to help you. Comfort, strength, and to keep you. He is willing to aid you. He will carry you through. To them that are coming. God giveth the crown. Through faith we shall conquer. Though often cast down. He who is our Savior. Our strength will renew. Look ever to Jesus. He will carry you through. As the Savior to help you. Comfort, strength, and to keep you. He is willing to aid you. He will carry you through. Good singing will open in a word of prayer. My dear Father, thank you for this church and this opportunity that we have to sing praises to you. I pray that you bless the remainder of this music service, Lord. And help us to just pay attention to the words that we're singing, Lord. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. For our next hymn, if you would, turn in your hymnals to hymn number 319. Just a closer walk with thee, hymn number 319. Hymn number 319, we'll go ahead and start there right on the first. I am weak but thou art strong. Jesus keep me from all wrong. I'll be satisfied as long. As I walk, let me walk close to thee. Just a closer walk with thee. Granted, Jesus is my plea. Daily walking close to thee. Let it be, dear Lord, let it be. Through this world of toil and snares. If I falter, Lord, who cares? Who with me my burden shares? None but thee, dear Lord, none but thee. Just a closer walk with thee. Granted, Jesus is my plea. Daily walking close to thee. Let it be, dear Lord, let it be. When my feeble life is o'er, time for me will be no more. Guide me gently, safely o'er. To thy kingdom, shore to thy shore. Just a closer walk with thee. Granted, Jesus is my plea. Daily walking close to thee. Let it be, dear Lord, let it be. Sunday morning at 10 30 a.m. Sunday evening at 4 30 and our Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 o'clock p.m. We do have our soul winning times listed there. Had a good day out of soul winning today. Some craziness happened but some salvations too so it was a good time. I also want to make note that Saturday rally is highlighted in gold there. This Saturday we're going to have a ton of people from out of town so it's a good one to go to. Should be lots of labors this Saturday. Looking forward to that time. Nursing home ministry schedule is listed there. I believe there was 15 today in service, right brother Cameron? Yeah, so that ministry is going great. Keep up the great work on that preachers. Our statistics for soul winning is listed there. Make sure to report your salvations to the soul winning leader or to that email address if you get someone saved on your own throughout the week. On the right is our prayer list for expecting ladies. Please keep the Reed family in your prayers during her pregnancy. Also upcoming events next weekend is going to be the transition weekend from steadfast to anchor Baptist church. Looking forward to that. Looking forward to the good food, the good Texas barbecue, fellowship with Pastor Shelley and Pastor Thompson. A lot of out of towners. It's going to be a great time. Really excited. Hope you guys join us that weekend. December 20th ladies Christmas party. December 21st is our Christmas soul winning push. That's going to be a Saturday rally that we're just going to get some breakfast and coffee catered for that time. Also next time you come to church there will be the Christmas caroling in there as well. So look forward to seeing that in the bulletin. Online giving is there if you scan that QR code if you would like to do that. On the back is our prayer list. If you have any updates that you'd like added to the prayer list please email and I'd be happy to do that. That's going to be it for announcements this evening. Let's go ahead and go to our third song. Alright for our third song if you would take your hymnal and turn to hymn number 327. Higher ground. Hymn number 327. Hymn number 327 we'll go ahead and start there right on the first. I'm pressing on the upward way. New heights I'm gaining every day. Still waiting as I'm onward bound. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. Lord, lift me up and let me stand. My faith on heaven's stable land. A higher plane than I have found. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. My heart has no desire to stay. Where doubts arise and fears dismay. Though some may dwell when these abound. My prayer my aim is higher ground. Lord, lift me up and let me stand. My faith on heaven's stable land. A higher plane than I have found. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. I want to live above the world. Though Satan's cards and me are hurled. Your faith has caught the joyful sound. The song of saints on higher ground. Lord, lift me up and let me stand. My faith on heaven's stable land. A higher plane than I have found. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. I want to scale the utmost flight. And catch a gleam of glory bright. But still I pray till heaven I found. Lord, lead me on to higher ground. Lord, lift me up and let me stand. My faith on heaven's stable land. A higher plane than I have found. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. Amen. As the offering plates are being passed around, turn if you would to Luke chapter number 11. Luke chapter number 11. Amen. Good evening. Tonight we're in Luke chapter number 11. And the Bible reads, and it came to pass that as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, Lord, let us pray. Let us pray. Let us pray. Let us pray. Let us pray. Let us pray. Let us pray. Let us pray. Let us pray. Let us pray. Let us pray. Let us pray. Let us pray. Let us pray. And he said unto them, Lord, lead us as one of the disciples. And he said unto them, when you pray, say, our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, that will be done. As in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive our sins. For we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And he said unto them, which and shall go unto him at midnight and saying to him friend lend me three loaves for a friend of mine in his journey has come to me and I have nothing to set before him and he from within shall answer and say trouble me not the door is now shut and my children are with me in bed I cannot arise and give thee I say unto you though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend yet because of his opportunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth and I say unto you ask and it shall be given you seek and you shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you for everyone that asketh receiveth and he that seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened if a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father will he give him a stone or if he ask a fish will he for a fish give him a serpent or if he shall ask an egg will he give him a scorpion if he then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children how much more shall your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him and he was casting out a devil and it was dumb and it came to pass when the devil was gone out the dumb spake and the people wondered but some of them said he casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils and others tempting him sought of him a sign from heaven but he knowing their thoughts sent unto them every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation and a house divided against and a house divided against the house falleth if Satan also be divided against himself how shall his kingdom stand because he say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub and if I by Beelzebub cast out devils by whom do your sons cast them out therefore they shall be your judges but if I with the finger of God cast out devils no doubt thy kingdom the kingdom of God has come upon you when a strong man armed keepeth his palace his goods are in peace but when it's stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted and divided his boils he that is not with me is against me and he that gathers not with me scatter it when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man he walketh through dry places seeking rest and finding none he sayeth I will return unto my house once I came out and when he cometh he findeth it swept and garnished then go with he and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself and they enter in and dwell there and the last state of that man is worse than the first and it came to pass as he spake these things a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice and said unto him blessed is the womb that bear thee in the paps which thou has sucked but he said yea rather blessed are they to hear the Word of God and keep it and when the people were gathered thick together he began to say this is an evil generation they seek a sign and there shall no sign be given it but the sign of Jonas the prophet for as Jonas was for as Jonas was assigned to the Ninevites so shall the Son of Man be to this generation the Queen of the South shall rise up in judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold a greater than Solomon is here the men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it for they repented at the preaching of Jonas and behold a greater than Jonas is here no man when he hath lighted a candle put it in a secret place neither under a bushel but on a candlestick that they which come come in may see the light the light of the body is the eye therefore when an eye is single my whole body is also full of light but when an eye is evil that body is full of darkness take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness if the whole body therefore be full of light having no part dark the whole shall be full of light as when the bright shining of a candle does give the light and as he spake a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him and he went in and sat down to meet and when the Pharisee saw he marveled that he had not first washed before dinner and the Lord said unto him now do you Pharisees may clean the outside of the cup and the platter but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness he fools did not he that made them did he not he fools did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also but rather give alms of such things as he have and behold all things are clean unto you but wants you Pharisees free pay for you tithe mint and rue and all manner verbs and pass over judgment and the love of God these ought you to have done and not to leave the other undone well one to you Pharisees free love the up the uppermost seats in the synagogues and greetings in the markets well once you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for year as graves which appear not and the men that walk over them are not aware of them then answered one of the lawyers and said unto him master thus saying that has thus saying thou reproaches us also and he said won't he also lawyers for you laid men with burdens grievous to be born and you yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers well one to you for you build the sepulchres of the prophets and your fathers killed them truly you bear witness that you also truly you bear witness that you allow the deeds of your fathers for they indeed killed them and ye build their sepulchres therefore also said the wisdom of God I will send them prophets and apostles and some of them they shall slam persecute that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required at this generation from the blood of Abel unto the from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias which perished between the altar and the in the temple verily I say unto you it shall be required of this generation woe unto you lawyers for you have taken away the key of knowledge ye entered not in yourselves and them that were entering in ye hindered and as he said these things unto them the scribes and the Pharisees began to to urge him vehemently and to provoke to speak many of provoke him to speak of many things laying wait for him and seeking to catch something out of his mouth that they might accuse him that's by our heads for a word of prayer father in heaven we thank you for this day in our church and we just ask you feel but also the Holy Spirit help us to have a smooth transition next week amen all right we are in Luke chapter 11 start reading in verse 1 the Bible says and it came to pass that as he was praying in a certain place when he ceased one of his disciples said unto him Lord teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples and he said unto them when you pray say our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done as in earth so in heaven give us day by day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we also for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil this is a very famous passage this is known as the Lord's Prayer and this evening I'd like to do a little bit of a Bible study on the topic of prayer you know this is something that Jesus taught on and even his disciples who are pretty mature Christians asked of Jesus Christ Lord teach us to pray and I think sometimes people can come from a lot of different backgrounds when it comes to churches and religions that have kind of strange ideas on prayer or just you know straight-up false doctrines on prayer and so the title of my sermon this evening is teach us to pray teach us to pray and right off the bat I'll just tell you my points this evening we're gonna talk about the practice of prayer how to pray the purpose of prayer and the promise of prayer so I want you to keep your finger in Luke chapter 11 throughout this evening sermon but first of all go to Luke chapter number one what I want you to first of all know about the practice of prayer is that prayer should be directed to the Father prayer should be directed to the Father all throughout the Bible when Jesus is giving us instructions on how to pray he tells us to pray to the Father Luke chapter 1 verse 12 says this and he said unto them when ye pray say our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done as in or as in heaven so in earth I may have told you the wrong place there was that the right place guys Luke 1 to 2 I might have given you the wrong place there I might have just had to read you that one I apologize for that but if you're listening as I read that verse you heard Jesus say our father which art in heaven so you do see sometimes examples of people in the Bible praying directly to Jesus for example when Stephen is stoned he calls upon God saying Lord Jesus received my spirit and I'm not saying there's anything necessarily wrong with that when it comes to getting saved I usually lead a person off in prayer dear Jesus because there's no other head there's no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved you're calling upon the name of the Lord but when it comes to the vast majority of your prayers your day-to-day prayers and when we're gonna look at what Jesus actually told us to do the vast majority of the time you're directing the Father you're directing your prayer to God the Father go to Matthew chapter 6 Matthew chapter 6 let me show you a few instances of this Matthew chapter 6 verse 6 Jesus said but thou when thou prayest enter into thy closet and when thou hast shut thy door pray to thy father which is in secret and my father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly and whenever you are studying the Bible or you're trying to establish doctrine you always want to make sure that statements Trump stories right so we do have stories of people praying directly to Jesus and again I'm not saying there's anything necessary wrong with that but if we're gonna establish a doctrine I'm gonna go off the one that Jesus told me to do Jesus Christ just plainly says when you pray say our father he said when you go when you go to your closet and pray say pray to thy father which is in secret go to John chapter 15 John chapter number 15 John chapter 15 verse 16 Jesus said ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain that notice whatsoever you shall ask of the father in my name he may give it you so again Jesus is telling us to direct our prayer to the father in the name of Jesus Christ right so when we pray we start off by saying dear Heavenly Father dear God or just father or something like that and usually when we end our prayers we say in Jesus name we pray amen and what we're saying in Jesus name is that we are bringing this prayer to God the Father in the authority under the direction of the Lord Jesus Christ because he told us to pray to the father and when we say in Jesus name we're invoking Jesus's authority as God's son to bring a prayer directly to God the Father now go to Luke chapter 11 I want to read for you 1st Timothy 2 5 says this for there is one God and one mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus so the Lord Jesus Christ is identified as a mediator between us and God and when it says God there it's clearly referring to God the Father because the Bible teaches the concept of the Trinity that there are three persons one God God the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit Jesus is that mediator so when we pray to God he is the mediator between us and God you don't have to go to a priest like the Catholics teach where they'll say hey when you pray you actually have to go to a priest and you have to tell the priest what you want from God and confess your sins to the priest then the priest will bring it to God no you actually can go directly to God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son another thing when it comes to the practice of prayer is that prayer should be reverent prayer should be reverent what does that mean it means respectful it's something that should be highly you know honored and holy and not taken lightly Luke 11 chapter 2 when he's giving his model prayer here he says and he said unto them when ye pray say our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name hallowed be thy name that word hallowed means regarded as holy venerated sacred you know when we are praying we should address God in a very respectful manner and realize that here we are in this gigantic universe we are mere dust and we are kneeling before an almighty holy God and talking to him you know you better take that seriously and be reverent and it's not you know dear homie like you see these stupid t-shirts that people wearing Jesus is my homie Jesus is my bro no God is the everlasting creator of the entire universe who has the power to create life and to kill in hell you're talking to God Almighty and so when you're praying you know you should take it very seriously you should be reverent and specifically when calling him by his name you know hallowed be thy name call him you know dear Heavenly Father or something that just gives him honor and glory and it's not it's not to do a show to people oh look he's speaking religious talk you know he's speaking pastor talk or something like that no but truly God's name should be hallowed and we should truly give God reverence and respect you know I don't like it when people pray and call him daddy and that's just me maybe but I've heard someone do this before and this person ended up being a false prophet but they'd pray and be like daddy I just pray that you bless this and that it just gives me the creeps you know God is is is my father yes but you know what I don't want to call him daddy I don't want to be around people that really want to call him daddy to me that's just weird okay you know what it's Heavenly Father it's the Prince of Peace if you know give him a title that's in the Bible you know there's no there's no daddy in the Bible oh but we can call him Abba father well Abba still sounds better than daddy okay call him Abba father I guess if you have to but not daddy please go to Luke chapter 18 Luke chapter 18 and I think there's a balance here you know you don't want to have this idea of prayer where you're like well that's such a holy sacred thing that I can't do it unless all everything's right I have to be in a big beautiful building with a big steeple in a fancy place in order to pray to God no that's not necessarily true but you also don't want to go to the other extreme where you're just totally flippant when you're talking to God you're irreverent you're not actually thinking about who you're talking to you know there's a balance there that yes you could pray anywhere of course God wants us to pray anywhere but when we come to him we should do it with respect with reverence and honor now part of being reverent and respectful to God is just having humility before him just acknowledging him and his highness and authority compared to us as lowly sinners you know that's part of being reverent to God I'll show you story that illustrates this Luke 18 10 the Bible says two men went up into the temple to pray the one a Pharisee and the other a publican the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself God that's a fine title that he gives but here's the problem notice what he says God I thank thee that I am NOT as other men are extortioners unjust adulterers or even as this publican I fast twice in the week I give tithes of all that I possess so here you got a guy who sure he gives God a correct title God just means ruler that is a respectful title to give the Lord but he's still praying irreverently because he's coming to God with pride he's coming to God basically just to tell him hey God I'm amazing hey God I'm awesome God I just want to thank you that I'm not like other people that I'm not like this publican standing next to me that is a stupid idiotic way to pray you know you need to check yourself and make sure you're not going to God and just talking about how great you are and I wouldn't even believe that people did this except for the fact that it's in the Bible so I just might as well just preach it just in case okay don't pray to God just boasting of your of yourself don't come to God with this prideful attitude of all the great things you know what what's very a good idea is to come to God and just tell him dear Heavenly Father you know I'm thankful for the opportunity to even be able to bring my prayer requests to you thank you for even hearing me I'm not even worthy of you granting my requests God but will you please just harken your ear to me that is the correct way to go to God because that is showing that you respect his authority that you're reverent to who God is and you understand who you are you are dust you are a sinner and so am I and that's the attitude we should have of ourselves look at verse 13 and the publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven but smote upon his breast saying God be merciful to me a sinner now that's a good prayer right there and it doesn't matter if you're unsaved or saved that prayer can still be true for you because it doesn't matter if you're saved or unsaved you are still a sinner and you know it's always a good idea to ask God for mercy because if we got everything we deserved Wow our lives would look terrible our lives would look a lot worse than it does right now because we don't deserve the blessings God gives us we don't deserve his forgiveness and long suffering that's why it's grace is because we don't deserve it right so it's a good idea to reverently address God by his name by some sort of reverent name and come to him humbly asking for mercy verse 14 I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other for everyone that exalted himself shall be abased and he that humblest himself shall be exalted you know that's a common phrase that we hear used all the time that if you exalt yourself you'll be abased you know that's something we even use in our modern vernacular but it's in the context of Jesus teaching on prayer and so we need to remind ourselves that when we go to God in prayer we need to go to him with a humble heart a humble attitude and if we do that the Bible says that we'll be exalted this man walked away justified God was pleased with his prayer go to Matthew 6 I want to read for you Ecclesiastes 5 to the Bible says be not rash with thy mouth and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God for God is in heaven and thou upon earth therefore let thy words be few and excuse me again this goes to understanding your position with God he's saying look God is in heaven okay we can't even conceptualize what that is like right now someday we'll know but God is on heaven and here you are puny sack of dust on earth and so you don't want to be rash with thy mouth you don't want to just blow off your mouth to the Creator you know what you want to be not hasty you want to be circumspect with your words and think before you pray saying I'm speaking to God Almighty and God of course wants to hear from us he wants to hear our heart but you know what you should just take a minute to appreciate who you're talking to because I think sometimes prayer can just become such a habit daily that we do all the time where we forget the gravity of what we're doing and we forget the gravity of that it's such a privilege to be able to go to God the Father in prayer you know we should do that reverently another thing when it comes to the practice of praying just how to pray prayer should not be done as a show excuse me Matthew 6 Matthew 6 5 says and when thou prayest thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets that they may be seen of men these are Pentecostals that like to go out on the streets and do their faith healing they want to pray to be seen of men verily I say unto you they have their reward but thou when thou prayest enter into thy closet and when thou hast shut thy door pray to thy father which is in secret and thy father would see it in secret shall reward thee openly but when you pray use not vain repetitions as the heathen do for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking be not ye therefore like unto them for your father knoweth what things you have need of before you ask them so Jesus is explaining the heart of these hypocrites and he brings up a couple different characteristics of his prayer says that they're doing it to be seen of men says they're they're not going in secret to pray to God they're trying to do it openly and as a result they receive their reward openly and then it's talking about how you know he doesn't want us to use vain repetitions like the heathen do so what are some lessons we can learn from this well I think one of the lessons is that God wants for the majority of our prayers to be done in private now of course there's nothing wrong with praying publicly or corporately as a church here you know there's power in coming together multiple believers praying but the majority of your prayer life should not be just when other people see you pray and you know you ought to examine your life and ask yourself you know when I pray is the majority of that time just when I'm bowing my head at church with everyone else or in front of my family or do I ever actually just pray by myself to God because when Jesus illustrates prayer here he's saying he's not even saying like you're around your family or your friends like you're going into a closet by yourself that means just you alone praying to God you know that should be the majority of your prayers now how can you do this I think that a way you could do this is just by praying often and we're gonna talk about that a little bit I don't want to get ahead of myself but also he says don't use vain repetitions so of course you know there's there's Catholics that do this they repeat the Lord's Prayer but you know I even see Baptists do this sometimes because I'll be honest one time I went to an old IFB church and the pastor asked for a man to pray before the service and I am not kidding you he prayed for like 30 minutes straight I'm not joking just the prayer before the service and it was so repetitive he's like dear Lord we just pray that you do this Lord and Lord I pray that you do this Lord and Lord I pray that you do this Lord and Lord I pray this you do it's just like Lord Lord Lord Lord Lord Lord Lord it's like God hears you he heard you the first time you said his name it's just Lord Lord Lord Lord over and over and over and over again look and this went on for like 30 minutes but you know what this is I'm not trying to pick on the guy that did this it's putting on a show is what it is because you know what when you pray before the service you just ask that God will bless our service that God will bless the preacher fill him with the Holy Spirit help us to receive his word and then you sit out so we could get on with the service you want to pray for 30 minutes great do that at home but someone that wants to pray for 30 minutes at church is someone that wants everyone to think look at how awesome I am look at how spiritual I am look no one wants to endure that no one wants to sit here for 30 minutes and listen to you say a bunch of nothingness it's ridiculous and Jesus says that those people are putting on a show now go to Luke chapter 18 Luke chapter 18 so also for 1st Thessalonians 5 17 says this pray without ceasing you know some people get this idea that if you're gonna pray boy you better have blocked out 30 minutes to an hour of time in order to get alone with God you better be waking up every day at 4 a.m. and getting on your face before God and spending time with him and they think like prayer always has to be this really long thing and that you're not doing prayer right if you're just giving God just a few minutes here and there no the Bible says pray without ceasing and that does not mean that you are praying for 24 7 you know 24 hours a day 7 days a week that is impossible always but when the Bible says pray without ceasing I think what it's saying is that you're always at any moment at any moment you're just ready to pray you see a need you're just boom you pray you know it's a good idea you see someone on the side of the road that's crashed you just boom you pray for him yeah you know you see something bad happen out in the world you just pray immediately you get a text on your phone from your brother in Christ asking for a prayer request just stop what you're doing right there and pray to God because I think a lot of people don't pray because they hear this hyper spiritual garbage preaching that says you have to be on your knees for an hour a day if you're gonna pray to God now look if you do that great but keep that to yourself otherwise it's not real it's a show and I'm sure there are Christians that do this in sincerity but I don't know any of them because they haven't told me because if they did tell me I would know you're fake you're someone that wants to be seen of men but here's the thing there is nothing wrong with just having a bunch of just short prayers throughout your day don't think that you have to get in some ivory tower or some old medieval church and get down on your face for hours and hours for God to hear you know God is ready to hear us at any time God's ready to hear you when you're driving down the road or you're in the shower or you're running or your exercise like whatever you're doing you know you could pray to God at any time don't think you have put in all this crazy amount of time because when that kind of stuff is preached let me just tell you what happens people just say well then I'm not gonna pray then because I'm not gonna put that much time into it because yeah sure maybe the pastor's doing that I kind of doubt it a lot of times but maybe he really is doing that but you know what that's just an unreasonable expectation for people and here's another thing you don't see it in the Bible you see very few long prayers in the Bible sure you got first Kings chapter 8 it's the second longest chapter in the entire Bible it's pretty much solid Solomon dedicating the temple in prayer but here's thing that's a huge event dedicating the temple yeah it kind of makes sense that Solomon is having a long prayer there as the leader as the king but you know what the vast majority I'm talking 95% of prayers in the Bible are short very short God help me with this God please help me with that that's what the majority prayer should be I told you go to Luke 18 verse 1 the Bible says and he spake a parable unto them to this end that men are always to pray and not to faint so Jesus taught this parable with the goal of getting people to pray and not to faint meaning I don't want you to quit on prayer he doesn't want us to get to a season of life where we've just abandoned prayer that we've stopped prayer but honestly I think this type of preaching is doing more harm than good I think it's actually doing harm for people's prayer life when preachers get up and act like you got a pre you got to pray for hours a day know what I'll actually cause people to pray always and not to faint and say hey it's totally fine to pray to God at any time you want for as long as you want or as short as you want but hey don't do it to be seen of men don't do it as a show don't do vain repetitions but go to God in your closet now you don't have to turn to these I just want to read several verses of you for you of the Apostle Paul modeling this for us Romans 1 9 for God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers so he's following this Ephesians 6 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplications for all Saints Philippians 1 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making requests with joy Colossians 1 3 we give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ praying always for you Colossians 4 12 a path for us who is one of you a servant of Christ salute with you always laboring fervently for you in prayers that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God so this is what not ceasing to pray looks like he's saying like hey you guys are always in my prayers I'm always making requests for you guys in my prayers he's not saying hey 6 a.m. to 6 a.m. I'm repeating mindlessly prayers to God for you he's just saying hey I go about my day I think of you guys in Colossae I pray for you hey the bishops and deacons at Philippi in Philippians chapter number one he's saying hey I'm remembering you guys you're in every prayer of mine when I think about you I say a prayer you know that actually is very effective because if you just think like well I'm gonna pray for our pastor friends I'm gonna pray for these churches you know at a specific time every single day but here's thing you're gonna get so busy and you're think like well I don't I don't have 30 minutes to pray for all these people but you know what's good is like when you think like hey I'm thinking about Pastor Anderson today just God please bless him in his ministry just boom that quick you think about Pastor Shelley hey God just pray that you bless Pastor Shelley help him in the ministry to be successful you know what that that is a blessing to other people that's actually gonna cause in the long run more prayer to be done in your life then the person that has this all-night marathon once a year maybe you know the person that just all the time I think of someone I pray for them I think of someone I pray for them that's a good habit to get into go back to Luke 11 so we talked about the practice of prayer how do you pray you pray to the Father you pray reverently you pray often you don't do it to be seen of men these are just some mechanics of how to pray and because not everything not everyone's taught these things but let's also talk about the purpose of prayer why do we pray well one reason is to ask for God's will to be done look at verse 2 and he said unto them when you pray say our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come notice thy will be done as in heaven so in earth you know what this proves is that God's will does not automatically happen otherwise why would Jesus be telling us to pray that God's will is done on this earth that would be absolutely meaningless look we don't believe in Calvinism we don't believe that God is just orchestrating every human being like a puppet master or a computer programmer or something like that no we have free will and we could actually pray for things to happen in this world for God's will to be done you know for example it is not God's will that any should perish but that all should come to repentance right God wants people to be saved and so a good prayer for God's will to be done in that area would to be to pray for what Jesus asked for more laborers hey the harvest is white unto harvest there's plenty of work to be done but what's lacking is laborers so one thing that I pray often that is going to help accomplish God's will is that God will send us more laborers because guess what without laborers God's will is not going to be done Oh God's will just automatically be done no matter what no actually if our gospel is hid it is hid to them that are lost no God's will is for them to be saved but if you don't preach them the gospel if we don't have laborers they will go to hell and that's God's will not being done so you know what you pray for that God's will will be done Matthew chapter 26 go to Matthew 26 Matthew 26 verse 39 this is Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane about to face death on the cross in verse 39 he says or it says and he went a little farther and fell on his face and prayed saying oh my father if it be possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt and you know Jesus is having to face his own teaching here for us to pray for God's will to be done and Jesus was such a humble servant that he wanted God's will to be done so much that he was even willing to lay down his own life for God's will to be done now of course he was praying God if there's any other way if this cup can pass from me you know if we could make this salvation plan happen without me being tortured to death I'd really like that to happen God but if it's your will that I die on the cross thy will be done and you know that is how God that is the purpose of prayer is for God's will to be done because this is what a lot of people think the purpose of prayer is God grant me everything that I want in my lustful flesh that's what a lot of people think God I want more money God I want to live in a nicer house God I want to have a better car I want to live a better life hey look sometimes it is God's will to give you those things but sometimes praying for God's will could mean sacrifice could mean your own detriment go to 1st John chapter 5 1st John chapter number 5 and so you know when you pray for God's will to be done you better mean that because sometimes God's will can be a little rough from a carnal perspective now oftentimes God just blesses with us with great wonderful things that are not a sacrifice whatsoever you know I think that's the vast majority of my life it seems like that God just mostly gives me blessings I haven't really been through that many hardships and tribulations especially compared to other people in this world you know God's given me beautiful children and a great place to live in a great church like God has blessed me a lot that's the majority of prayers I feel like God's just blessing me with great stuff but I also understand that if it's God's will for me to suffer I'm just willing to do that I am willing to suffer for Christ 1st John 5 14 says and this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will he heareth us see this is a condition here God hears us when we ask according to his will this is why it's so important to read your Bible to know what God's will is I feel like a lot of Christians especially if they go to like a new evangelical type of church rock and roll style liberal church a lot of them are probably praying for things that aren't God's will like pastors being you know permissive of divorce and remarriage you know I hear people oh I'm just praying for God's will in my life of whether or not I should marry this divorced guy it's like that's a stupid prayer God's not gonna hear that prayer because the Bible already says that that's not God's will or it's like hey you know I'm divorced and my spouse wants to take me back and I'm just praying if that's the right thing to do it's the right thing to do unless you've already been remarried according the Bible but if you actually know the will of God yeah reconciliation is the right thing to do oh I'm just I just don't know if I should you know hang on to this marriage I'm just praying that that God reveals his will to me if I should stay married nope it's already God's will and God's not hearing stupid prayers like that sorry to tell you there are some prayers that the question is wrong how can a question be wrong questions can be wrong hey God I just want to know you know is it okay if I drink alcohol no don't ask stupid questions that are against God's will he hears you when you ask according to God's will verse 15 but here's the good news and if we know that he hear us whatsoever we ask we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him if you're always praying according to God's will you will always get what you pray for and like I said sometimes that could be nothing but great blessings and positivity in your life but sometimes asking for God's will to be done can feel negative at times but it's still God answering your prayer and it's still God giving you the things that you ask for so you should always pray for God's will to be done don't pray for things that you know are sinful that you know are against the commandments and if you're unsure then it's good to just say Lord just pray that you'd answer this prayer request according to your will and just put it out there like God I want your will to be done in the situation because there's times where you don't know what the right decision is and like you know the Bible gives us God's perfect will on a lot of things like Commandments you know things like that but sometimes you'll face the situation in life like hey I've got a couple of different job opportunities you know I don't know which one to take that would be a time just be like God I just pray that your will be done that you'd open the right door that you want me to take that you close the other one you know that'd be a time where you just ask for God to show you his will in that situation and he often does it go to Luke chapter number 11 to Luke chapter 11 what are we talking about the purpose of prayer why why to pray another reason that you'd want to pray is to ask for provision ask for God to provide for you Luke 11 to the Bible says and he said unto them when you pray say our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done as in heaven so on earth verse 3 give us day by day our daily bread and you know one of the aspects of coming to God humbly is acknowledging to yourself and to God that you need him day by day because sometimes we could get really comfortable in life and we could think like I've got a great career I've got great assets I'm good to go and you could forget to ask God to provide for you but let me just remind you that we live in a Jewish Federal Reserve fake system of currency and all of it can be gone at any moment it's paper money it's fake fiat currency and so even if you think you're financially secure you should still just pray for God to provide for your needs day by day you know what the Bible teaches that you know God's never let his people starve right I've never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread but you know what you should still even though you know God's gonna provide for you you should still just have the humility to ask him because you know if you're a father in this room you understand that sometimes you just want your children to ask you for things you just want them to be humble and just realize like hey dad's got the answer dad's the one that's got the resources or mom's the one that's got the resources and I'm just gonna ask them for it you know kids your parents want you to do that and God wants God wants us to do that to him to ask for provision go to Matthew 6 I'll read for you Philippians 4 19 the Bible says but my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus you know it's good to remind ourselves especially in times like today where the economy is hard for a lot of people to remind ourselves of these promises that God will supply our needs but you know what we should still ask for it we should still ask God to provide for our needs Matthew 6 verse 30 Jesus said wherefore if God so clothe the grass of the field which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven shall he not much more clothe you oh ye of little faith he's saying just look outside look at the grass it's been fed it's been given the nutrients that it needs it grows and quite honestly no one even cares about grass yeah God still provides for it how much more does God care about us you know sometimes I look back in my life and I just I'm kicking myself and I'm just thinking like why was I so stressed all that time about finances or about making ends meet because it's like here I am today I never starved it's never homeless you know that's a good actually just remind yourself like look never been homeless in the past God's always taking care of me in the past and when these times come where things are tight or you're struggling financially just remember hey look outside hey the grass is still growing God doesn't even care about the grass but he does care about me and so I'm gonna be just fine verse 31 therefore take no thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed don't stress about where you're gonna get your food if anyone is really struggling in here I've got plenty of possums I can give you I could get a possum a day I will help you if you need that okay you just might have to learn to make it taste good I don't want to figure that out but if you really need it I got you all right notice what it says verse 32 for all for after all these things do the Gentiles seek for your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things right God is omniscient of course he created us he knows our bodies need food he knows we need water he knows what we need right but verse 33 says this but seek ye first the kingdom of God in his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you take therefore no thought for the morrow for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself sufficient unto the days the evil thereof see most people they get this formula completely backwards they only think about how they're gonna provide and how they're gonna provide clothes and how they're gonna provide food they are taking thought for the moral all they could think about is they're planning for tomorrow right all they could do is stress about these things and then they put seeking God on the back burner so it's money first career first planning financially first making sure I'm financially secure first then I'll give my leftovers to church then I'll learn to go soul-winning then I'll become a preacher then I'll read the Bible no you got it completely backwards you want to eliminate this stress in your life put the kingdom of God first meaning you know oh I can't I don't make enough money to go to church three times a week I got to work you know every second I possibly can no no you can't afford not to go to church you can't afford not to put God first you cannot afford not to be a soul winner you can't afford to skip your Bible reading for work you can't afford to skip your prayer for work no you have to put God first seek the kingdom of God first and his righteousness then all these things are added unto you you know there's very few soul winners in this world you think God wants them to starve to death there's very very few soul winners in this world and you really think that God wants you to starve to death no if you're a soul winner and you work hard here's what you do you seek God first you work hard you pray and you just forget about it and when you do that God just seems to always take care of people that I know do that I'll read for you Psalm 37 25 the Bible says I've been young and now I'm old yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread go if you would to Luke chapter number 11 Luke chapter number 11 what's another reason that we pray verse number four says and forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil this is one of the aspects that Jesus Christ told us to pray for is to pray for forgiveness for our sins you say well I would ask for forgiveness but I can't think of a time I've sinned that would be Donald Trump that is a stupid statement I hope he regrets that statement has grown I don't know I don't care don't ever say something that's stupid okay you should pray for forgiveness because all of us are sinners every single person I don't care if you're job job was still a sinner I don't care if you're Noah Noah was still a sinner Moses was still a sinner and we talked about Moses this morning that guy was awesome but he was a murderer you know he got angry and broke the commandments all of us are sinners go to 1st John chapter number 1 1st John chapter 1 and again just this theme of humility just keeps coming up when Jesus is teaching us how to pray it takes a humble person to go to God and say I know I've sinned I know I have messed up please forgive me for that sin 1st John chapter 1 verse 6 says if we say that we have notice this word fellowship fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not the truth but if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us see when Trump said he would ask for forgiveness if he had anything to ask for forgiveness he was only tricking himself because we're over here we're like do you want us to help you like okay well how many marriages are you on you know how many you know naked women pageants have you put on in the past you know how many casinos do you have like we could help you if you want to you know ask God for some forgiveness but he can't think of anything because these prideful people they only confuse themselves they only trick themselves in verse number nine notice if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness if we say that we have not sinned we make him a liar and his word is not in us so notice how in verse 6 it brought up the idea of fellowship that is why you would want to confess your sins to God because some people get a wrong idea thinking well I have to ask for forgiveness for my sins to be saved only problem with that is that you'd have to do that pretty much multiple times a day every day so you die and that's not how salvation works salvation is a one-time event event putting your trust in Jesus Christ but what is not a one-time event it's having good fellowship with God that is something that takes work that is something that takes effort just like any human relationship that you have in your life you know being friends with someone is not a one-time event you know if you just met someone and just shook their hand hey nice to meet you and you never talked to them or saw them again for 20 years can you say that you have fellowship with that person or that you are friends with that person absolutely not friendship fellowship it takes actually seeing each other talking to each other sometimes you know doing wrong against each other and then fixing problems pissing each other off and then making things right right this is what happens in real relationships well you know we're in a relationship with God and the only one that screws up in this relationship is us you know God is always perfect he's the best friend you could ask for he always tells you the truth he corrects you when he needs it but you know he's not a jerk that gives correction wrongfully you know you know God is just the best friend that there is but for us to maintain that relationship we need to confess our sins to him ask for forgiveness and the good news is that he says he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins you know once you've confessed it to God don't sit there and have this victim complex this inferiority complex that I'm so terrible I'm so rotten I'm not worthy of going to church or reading the Bible or anything like that look no God said he's forgiven your sins he's faithful and just to forgive your sins if you've confessed it to God if you've asked him for forgiveness then just move on be be allowed to forgive yourself if God has forgiven you you should forgive yourself and by the way if your brothers of Christ have been forgiven for something you better forgive them and that's why in the model prayer he says hey you know let's forgive or ask for forgiveness for God in the same way that we forgive those that have sinned against us or those that are debtors to us well hopefully that's true for you hopefully you actually do forgive those that sin against you and you're not one of these carnal prideful people that just hold all this bitterness and rage in your heart when someone wrongs you you know the attitude you should have when someone wrongs you especially if it's not really that big of a deal is hey I screw up to God all the time I mess up to God all the time I sin against God all the time and he forgives me like that and so you know what my brother oh my brother said something offensive who cares man just move on just love him just want good for him want mercy for him because that's what you want from God for you right go back to Luke chapter and number 11 Luke chapter number 11 another reason you want to pray is to be delivered from temptation verse number four says and forgive us our sins as we forgive everyone that is indebted to us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil so he's saying help us not to be tempted to sin and deliver us from evil from harm go to 1st Corinthians chapter number 10 1st Corinthians chapter number 10 you know this is important thing to prayer to pray first of all because you want God to divinely intervene and help you not to be in tempting situations but when you're praying to God and you're thinking about these things then it's on your mind too you know you pray to God that you would not be delivered in temptation and then hopefully you're walking throughout your day thinking hey I don't want to be in temptation I don't want to be put into a tempting situation 1st Corinthians 10 8 says neither let us commit fornication now that's something a lot of people are tempted with today aren't they as some of them committed and fell in one day three and twenty thousand neither let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of serpents neither murmur ye as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer that's another thing people are tempted to do murmur now all of these things happened unto them for examples for they are written for our admonition unto upon whom the ends of the world are come wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall there hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man that means that all the struggles you go through all the things that you're tempted by are the same exact things that everyone else is tempted by okay we don't have any special cases unless you are reprobate and then you're tempted by things that not common that are not common to this world but it says but God is faithful who will not suffer you that means allow you to be tempted above that ye are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it so the Bible says that God is not going to allow us to be tempted above something we can handle you know that means that means that every single time we sin 100% of the time it is always our fault always our fault it doesn't matter what situation you're in or you're saying I was being pressured by this person you know the Bible talks about the adulterous woman how with her mouth she forced him it's a figure of speech saying that he basically fell into her trap that he was a little too close to that temptation and that adulterous woman caused him to yield it's a metaphor but really it was his fault still because it's always the person's fault who actually sins why because God said that he will not allow us to be tempted above that we are able there's always an escape route see Joseph oh and she literally had her hands on me she literally had my clothes in her hands yeah like Joseph and he literally just ran away from her he literally ran away so fast that she still had his garment in her hands so look there's always an escape there's never an excuse to sin God always gives us a way out but it's important to just pray God will you deliver me from temptation will you just keep me out of that path that way God can hopefully orchestrate the situations in your life so that you're not in a Joseph situation or if you find yourself in a Joseph situation be like hey remember I prayed this morning I'm gonna run out of here right that is a good thing to pray go to first on five another reason to pray is to intercede for other people to intercede for other people right not just to pray for yourself one of the great things about prayer is that it's a way to serve others it's a way to love other people to intercede for other people first on 516 says if a man if any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death he shall ask and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death so Bible saying hey you saw your brother you saw your sister sin but it wasn't like a death penalty sin you know they weren't out blaspheming God they weren't out you know hitting their mother and father committing adultery or being a sodomite or something like that what would you do you would pray for that person right so it's a good thing to do it's a good practice when you see other Christian sin to pray for that person but it says there is a sin unto death I do not say that he shall pray for it you know a lot of churches don't get this there's no such thing as conversion therapy my friend if someone's a sodomite you're not you're not praying for them God I just pray that you please make this person straight God already told you that which is crooked cannot be made straight that's a stupid prayer and when you see someone pray a prayer unto death God I know this man was committing serial adultery on his wife for 30 years I pray that you please be merciful to him no the right thing would be for that man to be stoned to be executed by the government you know we're not gonna pray for sins that are unto death but something below that of course we should pray for our brethren I'll read for you Exodus 32 9 it says and the Lord said unto Moses I have seen this people and behold it is a stiff-necked people now therefore let me alone that my wrath may wax hot against them and that I may consume them and I will make of thee a great nation so God's ready to destroy the people of God here and Moses besought the Lord his God and said Lord why did thy wrath wax hot against thy people which thou has brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand and he goes on he goes on and he prays for God's people and he stays God's wrath from destroying the children of Israel so this is a good example that hey we should intercede for our brothers and sisters in Christ when they've sinned us in not unto death we can intercede for them and try to get God to be merciful to them go to Psalm 58 but also there's a time to intercede for good there's also time to intercede against the wicked this is what is called imprecatory prayers and if you never heard this preached before you don't really have to have heard it preached because if you just read the book of Psalms there is a insane amount of imprecatory prayers in the Psalms let me show you one of the most popular ones Psalm 58 says this the wicked are strange from the womb they go astray as soon as they be born speaking lies their poison is like the poison of a serpent they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear which will not harken to the voice of charmers charming never so wisely break their teeth Oh God in their mouth break out the great teeth of the young lions Oh Lord let them melt away as waters which run continually when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows let them be as cut in pieces as a snail which melteth let every one of them pass away like the untimely birth of a woman that they may not see the Sun that is interceding alright for someone but it's not interceding for their blessing it's asking God to curse them it's asking God to physically harm them for them to go through extreme physical pain yay to even kill them and I'm sorry the Bible talks about God killing people all the time Oh God so hateful the God of the Old Testament God kills people in the New Testament too welcome to the God of the Bible okay he's a God to be feared newsflash these people want to speak against God and call him hateful you're the exact type of person that should be scared of him because you're mouthing off to him no guess what there's people that are so wicked that have rejected God yay that hate God and hate his people and it is appropriate to pray against people that hate God it is appropriate to pray against false prophets why because the Bible says that if any man come unto you preaching any other gospel let him be accursed I was saying let him go to hell it's okay to pray for false prophets to die and go to hell you know it's okay to pray against pedophiles that molest children that harm poor innocent souls it's okay to pray that those people get a rock tied around their neck and are cast into the depths of the sea like Jesus said should be done to people that offend children you know someone like that I'm praying against them I'm praying for their harm I'm praying for their destruction and I've seen God answer these types of prayers before and it's a great thing I rejoice over that why because God is not the God of Hallmark cards this is a serious God that we're dealing with and you know what you want to hate him you want to fight against him well you might be on the end of some imprecatory prayers it's not a place you want to be we'll skip some of this for sake of time let's go to 1st John chapter number 5 we talked about the practice and the purpose of prayer let's talk about lastly the promise of prayer I want to use this part of the sermon just to remind you of the benefits of prayer hopefully motivate us to pray more because there's so many great promises that God has given us when we go to him in prayer the first is God's promised to hear us we read this before but look at 1st John 5 14 it says and this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will he heareth us you know that is a great promise from God that when we ask according to his will here we are nobodies in Oklahoma on a planet in the Milky Way in a giant universe and we could pray to God according to his will and he hears us that is a great promise of God and that is something we should take advantage of knowing that we have a secret weapon in this world that the unsaved does not have the fact that we can go to God and actually be heard by him our requests could come to him and to help us understand this more how hard do you think would be to get a hold of President Donald Trump probably be really hard to get a hold of him right like like if I made it my goal today like I want to have a meeting with President Trump how many years do you think that would take me to accomplish or would I just never accomplish it right but here we have God Almighty the one that created all of us the King of Kings the ruler of rulers and I could just in a moment access him at any time that is amazing go to Philippians chapter number four Philippians chapter 4 God promises peace through prayer God promises peace through prayer I think peace is one of the things that we take for granted the most because when it's gone we feel it but when we have it it's often something we take for granted but look at Philippians 4 6 the Bible says be careful for nothing that's saying don't be stressed out about things it says but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus you know when I look at a Christian or I look at two Christians and both are saved maybe both are even in church maybe even both are reading their Bible but one is stressed out about everything and one just the world is always ending everything's negative and one has a calm and steady peace I'm looking at two people one that does not pray and one that does because the Bible says when you with Thanksgiving bring your requests make them known unto God he gives you peace the peace of God that passeth all understanding you know that is something that we take for granted and I would just admonish you if you feel in life that you're overwhelmed that you can't handle it you probably need to pray more you probably need to ask God to help you more because like we said he's not gonna tempt you above that which you are able I'll read for you first John 1 9 here's another great promise the fact that God promises to forgive us of our sins if we confess our sins he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness we're almost done this evening go to James chapter 5 James chapter 5 another great promise from prayer is the promise of healing the promise of healing James 5 15 the Bible says in the prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up and if you have committed sins they shall be forgiven him confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much so Bible says that the prayer faith shall save the sick now of course we need to balance scripture with my sermon from a couple weeks ago a thorn in the flesh right sometimes it's actually God's will for you to be sick to be suffering physically that is the case sometimes but you know the vast majority of the time it's God's will to heal you because you know many times I've been sick in my life many many many times yet every single time I've been healed why because the prayer of faith shall save the sick and all the time people get sick in this church they have issues they have problems and we pray and they get healed all the time now again the only exception this would be if it's God's will to humble you by giving you some sort of physical problem or sickness and of course we all die someday right so eventually it's gonna be come a point where it's God's will for you to die but the majority of the time it's God's will to heal you and so believe that have faith in that and pray for God to heal you James 1 James chapter 1 flip the page there another great promise from prayer is the promise of wisdom says in verse 5 of James 1 if any of you lack wisdom let a mask of God that giveth to all men liberally and a braideth not and it shall be given him this is an iron-clad promise in the Bible that if you desire wisdom if you desire to actually know the truth and to be wise hey read the Bible and pray for God to give that to you and he will give it to you this is of course one of the things that Solomon asked for and God granted his request last one I'll tell you about I'll read for you Jeremiah 29 12 is the promise of the presence of God Jeremiah 29 12 says then shall ye call upon me and he shall go and pray unto me and I will hearken unto you and ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart you know that's a great promise in the Bible that when you pray to him when you seek him that God's presence will be with you and that's part of what can give you peace you know Paul talked about how all men forsook him but the Lord stood with him and like I said God could be the best friend that you have when you pray to him I want to end with this quote from John R. Rice. John R. Rice said this the normal Christian life is a life of regular daily answer to prayer and I found that to be true in my life especially when you pray often that the regular Christian life is daily answer to prayer in the model prayer Jesus taught which is what we're talking about tonight is decide he taught his disciples to pray daily for bread and expect to get it does everyone get food every single day in this church look at that and ask daily for forgiveness for deliverance from the evil one and for other needs and daily to get the answers they sought I want you to know that prayer works and prayer you know is just asking God for something and when we receive those requests that's God answering our prayers and the daily Christian life is really that a constant daily answering of prayers but you know what for that to happen you got to pray let's pray Lord thank you for this day thank you for the great teaching on prayer I pray that we would just get it settled into our hearts that we'd be a people that prays to you I pray that we wouldn't have this mentality that we think we can only talk to you and we have an hour or two or we have to be in some special place but Lord that we would just talk to you whenever we can whenever we're thinking about you whenever we're thinking about others and thank you for this great privilege I pray that people in this church would use it well we love you in Jesus name we pray amen you you you you you you you thy word have I hid in my heart