The Place of Prayer in Preparation!

One of our lowest areas that we scored on our "love survey"  was “I pray before attending church asking God to help me find opportunities to love others.”

and survey says…only 27% do.  So I want to challenge ourselves on the priority of  prayer in this area and in our everyday lives because I don't believe it is just limited to praying as it relates to Sunday mornings.  It really is about the priority of prayer in our everyday lives.

Why don't we pray?

I believe it has lost its power in our lives.  Prayer changes people, perspective, but most importantly, it changes US!

It is empowering in a vision for a time and place where love abounds.

           THE BEGINNING Start from a place of being blessed instead of a place of fruitfulness.  

      Genesis 1:28

Look at the pattern in Genesis 1:28  God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” The blessing comes first.

Does God want us to be fruitful and effective –yes! Does He expect us to take great steps of faith – yes!  Does God bless people because they are fruitful.  No.  In this passage, the affirmation of their worth is not dependent on their performance.  The realization of their blessing is the fuel for them to  pursue their mission - subdue the earth. 

God motivates us by not withholding His love, but by giving us His love.

Alan Wright states in "Free Yourself To Be Yourself,"

The mainline message of Christianity is something like this:  Love the LORD, do good, give generously, live right and the LORD will really bless you.

However the biblical formula is:  God loves you and has blessed you THEREFORE love the LORD, do good, give generously, live right, and serve God.

In Matthew 25  God blessed his servants with talents.  Did they have talents in varying degrees – Yes and so they started with being blessed and they took that blessing and 2 chose to be fruitful while one chose to sit and bury what he had been given.

As we learn the small lessons, God will give us greater opportunities to bless others.

Colossians 2:6 

Think about what you received at salvation?  Did we do anything to earn that?  NO

We live on a receiving system not a performance based system. 

You may think when you come here on Sunday morning that you have nothing to give.  However that is a lie of a performance based culture.

The result of not performing well is a feeling of shame.

Sometimes we are waiting because we don’t feel good enough; we don’t feel equipped enough to do it

We are trying to feel like we are ready.

Know that you have been given everything in Christ.

We want be mobilized until we know everything that He has done for us and in us.

Let me contrast the way a shame-based family thinks and the kind of self-talk that is destructive vs the kind of family statement we want here on Sunday mornings and prayer talk.

typical family belief statements

(circle the ones that were or are true of you)

Performance OVER person.  “How well you do determines who you are.”	Human doing vs. Human being.  “My worth depends upon my ability to do well.”
Not allowed to make mistakes.  “Stay within the lines, don’t stumble; don’t let others do better than you.”	Perfectionism.  “If I blow it, people will not accept me, appreciate me or love me.”
Cannot do it well enough. “You always do that wrong; you never get it just right; you could have done a better job.”	Success sabotaging.  “Things will never work out for me; someone else could probably do a better job than me.”
Must always do better.  “Never give full credit because they will stop trying.”	Overachieving. “Have I done enough?  What haven’t I won at?”
Conditional support  “If you do thing right, I will support you;  if you perform well enough, then and only then will really be proud of you.”	Self-worth contingent on others. “I am okay only if you approve me… what do you think of me?”
Un-discussed issues, secrets.  “We’re supposed to be a happy family and we don’t talk about things like that.  It’s in the past so there is no need to talk about it.”	Fear of Discovery.  “If people really knew me, they would not want to be with me or they would think less of me.”

Here is the antidote.  Remind yourself of how God sees you and the pattern that He wants for our family at Grace.

Commit the statement and verses to memory that are the opposite of the learned system on which you grew up.

loving family belief statementS

Person OVER performance Philippians 3:12	Human Being before Human Doing  Colossians 2:6,7
Mistakes ALLOWED Colossians 3:13	A place of authenticity Philippians 3:17
We can do it WELL Philippians 1:6	A place that empowers  success  Philippians 4:13
We are better because of HIM    Galatians 5:1	A place where you are equipped to serve Hebrews 13:20,21
A place of unconditional SUPPORT-  Romans 8:31	A place where your self -worth is as God defines it - Psalm 8:5
Issues can be discussed HERE James 5:16	A place of acceptance Galatians 3:28

Credit to “Free Yourself Be Yourself” by Alan Wright on the “typical family belief statements”.

Because of JESUS

We had a member of our worship team who was no longer able to commit to practicing so she had to “quit the band” due to her studies.  She was filled with so much shame because of that decision that she didn’t come back to church for 3 weeks.  It was a lie from the enemy that told her she couldn’t come back to church.  The great news was that when she did return a month later, she was received in love and grace and that is the way it should be!  We don’t come first to “do,” we come to be who God has called us to be.

I want us to really grasp how to begin preparation in prayer so look with me at a case study of a church.

1 Corinthians 1:4-10  Now, remember this was a church that had some serious flaws going on.  There was favoritism, partiality, spiritual pride, lawsuits among believers, sexual sin, idolatry, issues with public worship services, chaos and this is how Paul, writing under the influence of the Holy Spirit addresses them!

This was the diagnosis of the church in Corinth and look how Paul under the influence of the Holy Spirit addresses them.

You can pray this as a prayer over your life too!

1 Corinthians 1:4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

      THE MIDDLE  

·         The place “in between”  Psalm 46:10; Acts 13:2,3

Most often when you prepare a message to speak on, you begin with prayer, research and study, but there is also a time for those prayers to marinate, a time to listen, a time to envision and ask God for a picture, a person to place on your heart and mind.  It could be a verse that God is giving you specifically for a person.  It could be a specific word of encouragement.  Do you believe God can do that?  I do, I believe that He loves answering prayers of faith like that so that we can have a very meaningful encounter.

In Acts, it was as they prayed that God revealed to them who they were to choose for the mission going forward for the church.

·         The place of  “forgiveness”   Matthew 6:14; Colossians 3:13; Ephesians 4:2,3

Ephesians 4:2,3 “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient with one another in love”;

Colossians 3:13: “Forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another”;

Grievances – when you have been offended

Jesus taught us about forgiveness… He said forgive 70x7.  However, there is a pattern here.  There is a balance between discipling with a bad trend vs always bringing something up that isn’t reoccurring but happened in the past.  Reminding a person of their past failure is not part of what this family is about.

So, we choose not to avoid those relationships that need reconciliation.

It is difficult and that is why we need more teaching on it.

·         What does unforgiveness do to people?   Ephesians 4:30 – it grieves the Holy Spirit, creates real physical pain

·         What does forgiveness do for us?  It brings healing. Ephesians 4:32

                 THE END of prayer … not as an end in itself, but where prayer should lead us to!

LOOK AT YOUR FUTURE

·         The place of “action” 

Jesus in Gethsemane prayed a prayer  of action – Luke 22:41,42  take this cup of suffering….not my will, but yours be done.  Surrender

2 Timothy 1:7; For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love and a sound mind – It is not franctic. 

Proverbs 18:21 – The power of life and death in in the tongue!  Speak life into your prayers!

And back to the case study on that church in Corinth...look at Paul's prayer of action at the end of the letter -

Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith.  Be courageous.  Be strong.  And do everything with love.  1 Corinthians 16:13,14

Seize the day.

I will take the opportunity

I will follow through on what You have asked of me to do.   Say it out loud.

The goal of this command  is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 1 Timothy 1:5

There was someone who came to me last Sunday and shared with me about a time when I was trying to engage them in conversation and they felt that they had sinned by not responding in a loving way.

Now there was nothing in my heart that felt he had acted improperly to me.  However, they were exercised in their own heart to pursue me.  It didn’t affect me, but now their conscience is clear.

The Takeaway

What are 2 or 3 things  that you can ask God right now?

How God have I been blessed?

Listening for from God –  God, are you bringing someone to my heart?  Is this relationship in need of reconciliation…someone that I need to get right with?

Are there broken relationship that need my initiative?  Are there  forgiveness issues?