Prayer: Know God

[podcast]http://www.revkwon.com/podcast/prayer-know_god.mp3[/podcast] To begin, I want to open with a question? What is prayer? I’ll give it to you as simply as I can.  If you are taking notes, prayer is simply COMMUNICATING WITH GOD..  That’s what it is, and this thought is, is so simple, and yet, it’s still so hard to believe that we have access to God.  I mean, that is just, the scripture says we can come boldly before His throne of grace that we might find help in time of need.  It’s still hard to even imagine that we have access, and yet, it’s still that simple.  It’s just communicating with God.  And I will give you a verse of scripture that means a lot to me.  These are the words of David.Let’s look at what an example of praying looks like from the Psalms. Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. Psalm 5:1-3 I’m curious.  How many of you would say that, if you are really honest, your prayer life could use a boost?  On a scale of 1-10 (ten being the highest), how would you rate your prayer life this last week? Share with your neighbors now. You’re a believer, but you could be a better prayer.  I know that’s so true for me.  In fact, so much of my life, I’ve felt like I’ve been really inadequate as a prayer warrior, that I, I could be so much better.  I felt guilt for not praying enough, and I know a lot of people like that. So why don’t people pray more?

• Not sure you know how to pray.
• Get bored or distracted while trying to pray.
• Think your requests are too small for God.
• Not sure your prayers will make a difference.

If you’re in the first three categories, you have to listen carefully because today we’re going to learn about what we should communicate to God. Then I’m going to teach you this fourth point and prove to you that your prayers do make a difference. What should we communicate to God, first bullet: all things that are gut-wrenchingly honest. That means you tell God everything that is in your heart and you tell Him all of that. Let’s look at Matthew 6:5-8. Listen to what Jesus says, ⁵ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:5-8) This is how you pray. You say what’s on your heart and just say it. You don’t have to sugar coat it. You don’t have to make it a 500 word descriptive essay. You just pour it all out for God. He wants it like that too. He wants you to tell Him exactly what it is and don’t waste your time by trying to make it sound like something else. How awesome is that? Did you see that in verse 7-8? God already knows what you need, He wants you to tell Him what’s on your heart in full honesty. [insert story about asking God for something directly.] Point 2: Communicate everything that matters.You see when Jesus don’t pray like the hypocrites, what he was saying was that they pray about things that don’t matter to them, they’re just saying it to say it. Have you ever met somebody like that? They say things that really don’t matter. It’s so empty, it’s like they’re showing off how empty their words are. And you’re stuck there, and it feels like forever because it’s not ending. Just imagine how God feels when we say things that don’t matter to us. Let’s turn to Philippians 4:6. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6) Everything that makes you nervous is a good topic for you to talk to God about. The Bible says it’s anxious or anxiety but its very simply “worries.” Anything that got you worried is something that matters and God wants you to communicate that to Him. Look at 1^st Peter 5:7. “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” [Share story about my biggest current prayer need] [What is your biggest current prayer need? Spend time praying together] Turn on music now. You’ve all spent some time talking with your peers and your group leaders about some of the biggest current prayer needs, now I’m thinking that you’re thinking the question: Does God respond to prayer? The answer is “yes”, God does respond to prayer. God responds to prayer uniquely. Let’s look at this story in 1 Kings 19, verse 9-13. ⁹There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰ He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” ¹¹ The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. God doesn’t answer the way we usually think God answers prayers. Most people think that God sounds like Morgan Freeman when God answers. Or that when God answers, God answers through a game of showmanship that is gaudy and crazy and outlandish. But sometimes, God answers in a way that is so unexpected that it seems ordinary. God answers all prayers uniquely and in the way the person He is talking to needs to hear it. Jesus says “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). God speaks and you need to know how He speaks to you. God may not speak to me verbally, but when God speaks to me, I know it’s from God—the Holy Spirit tells me so and in my gut, it’s so obvious that God is there working it. What if God doesn’t answer? I know that’s where some of you are going, saying, “You’ve never heard God speak to you, nor has He ever spoken to you.” Well to know God, you just need to be praying continually. Just communicate with God and eventually He will respond. True story. In the Bible, the Book of 1^st Samuel tells us how he even came to be. It all started when his mother continually prayed. She didn’t stop even though it’s been years since she’s heard from God. God didn’t say anything to her about the only thing that mattered to her. Verse 12, let’s pick it up there in the first chapter. “As she kept on praying to the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard.”(1 Samuel 1:12-13). If you want to know God, then you need to pray. God created you and me to be praying beings – that is beings that communicate with God. This is an amazing thing and we’re blessed to have this opportunity to really communicate with God. Look at 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I want this church to be a praying church, that is, a church that communicates with God about everything that matters. I want you to go before God and lay everything down before Him so that God can lift those things off of your shoulders. He created you for it. You’re special because of it. And when you think that you haven’t heard back, I want you to keep communicating with God because very soon, He will be communicating right back to you. Perhaps, you’ve missed the how God communicates to you. Next week we’re going to talk about “why God didn’t answer.” So I look forward to having that conversation with all of you about that. Let’s sing this song.