“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…”   Matthew 6:9 We spent Sunday diving into and unpacking the prayer that Jesus taught the disciples. If you were like me, maybe you grew up reciting the “Lord’s Prayer.” Like the Pledge of Allegiance and some of the creeds we used to recite in church or in scouts or wherever, sometimes, sadly overtime, they…

We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. John 9:31 In the book of John is a story of a blind man that was healed. The Pharisees, who claimed to be followers of Moses because God spoke through Moses, said that the man that healed him could not be from God…

I John 5:14-15 says, This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him. What a powerful statement. If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. There are some churches…

But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord…James 1:6-7 Besides relationships, motives and living a God-honoring life, another thing that matters to God when we pray is our faith. What is…

…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16 Part 1 of this week we saw that our relationships matter. In part 2, I said that our motives matter. Some might have taken that to mean that we shouldn’t pray for the desires of our hearts. Let me try to explain. The verse that I used was from James.…

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” James 4:3 Yesterday we saw that the Bible says our relationships with one another matter to God when we pray. We need to forgive others so that God is free to forgive us. Another big thing that matters when…

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”  Mark11:24-25 We live in an “on demand” culture. We zip through commercials, complain about how slow fast-food…

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” Colossians 4:2 I have never been accused of being overly persistent. In fact, I’m pretty inconsistent. Oh, there were times when I was a young child, I would persistently hound my parents for some game or toy or instrument until they gave in or I would give up, but I am talking…

Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 4:6 In our sermon from Sunday, we discussed a third reason for the power of prayer. It is because of what God does – how He gets the glory. By praying, we give more of the spotlight in our lives to God. When we come to…

Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:5b-7 Yesterday we said that prayer was powerful because…