IPL7 – Prayer

Too small.

When I was preparing I felt God say these two words – “too small”

My vision, my faith, my prayers are too small. My planning, my expectation, – too small.

I need to increase my prayer budget. Greater investment = greater return. Parable of talents – used the ten he was given another ten. Sowing and reaping are biblical concepts – the more you sow the more you reap.

Bigger vision – but I’m just taking a step at a time. Sounds so spiritual – and it is – but let’s not limit God to that – but God didn’t lead the people into the promised land and say well just take it a step at a time – no he gave them enormous promises, enormous vision.

We had a trustees meeting to look at our budget which we’ll be looking at in the new year. The challenge – is it too small?

So – my prayers are too small.

We have already mentioned faith as a vital aspect of taking the promised land. But it’s also vital that it is faith expressed through prayer. So what have you got faith for right now?

I started my christian life  with the view that prayer was a duty. Now you’re a Christian you need to spend time praying. It was also a discipline. You need to do it because its good for your spiritual life, to stop you falling away from God. Nobody told me that prayer should be a delight. So, thinking about Jesus. We can have a faulty idea about Jesus prayer life. He disciplined himself to pray in the early morning so we should do the same – and somehow people think that early morning prayer is more spiritual than any other time!

We need to take prayer out of the realm of duty and into the realm of delight.

So if prayer is important to us in taking hold of what God has for us, let’s look again at how Jesus taught his disciples to pray. Not a formula. Prayer is about relationship.

1. God’s glory.

Hallowed be your name is not a meaningless greeting. In  itself is a prayer. That God will be glorified and worshipped. How – more people – the glory of god Is in a multitude of people.

In fact the whole of the rest of the contents are about God being glorified.

A prayer for god’s glory but also the atmosphere for everything else that follows, the stimulus for everything that follows. Derek Prince – if you’ve got ten minutes to pray, spend 8 minutes in worship.

2. God’s will. Israel invading the promised land was all about his will being done. It was god’s plan not theirs. Everything God has for you of abundant life is his plan not yours. For the Israelites and for us – He gets the glory we get the blessings. We get the benefits but it’s about his will being done. Is God’s perfect will done in heaven? This prayer is asking for it to be done in this world. Not just nit-picking the small things – which brand of beans – too small. But in the big things. Not twisting the arm of an unwilling God.

In praying your will be done – we’re saying it’s not just a list of requests but there is substance – the Spirit gives us a list of important things to pray! Don’t let “may your will be done” be a cop out. It is a sign of submission to god but don’t let it make your prayer weak.

Eph 1:9 he has made known to us the mystery of his will

Psalm 25:14 – the Lord confides in those who fear him.

3. Relationship with God and others. Unforgiveness gets in the way of relationship. It doesn’t come first in the prayer. I was taught that you had to confess your sins each time you came to God – Jesus didn’t teach it that way. There is a place for repentance and confession, but you don’t always start there.
4. God’s provision – we can overlook this. Salary, our pension, our benefits. Give us – not give me. Prayer for one another but also for the world.

But means more – literally tomorrows bread today. Live today in the blessings of tomorrow. ALL the blessings. Tomorrow Monday or tomorrow figuratively – when we are with him. Give us all the blessings of our future inheritance now.

5. Spiritual protection – lead us not into temptation, deliver us from the evil one. The devil wants to stop us, get in the way, distract. Let’s be aware but not give him too much focus.
6. God’s glory. We’ve been praying may your kingdom com and now we have a description – a kingdom of power and glory. The angels last week – god’s glory shone, his presence invading planet earth. That’s what we are praying for. God’s kingdom, his power, his glory to be made manifest.

Testimony fuels prayer. Bethel Church Redding – staff meeting – an hour of testimonies.

The story Jesus tells in the Luke 11 account

Specific prayer – friend lend me 3 loaves – specific needs more faith but helps our faith.

Persistent prayer – George Muller – prayed for 63 years for a man, he was sure he would get saved. The man was saved at Mullers funeral.

Prayer meetings can be a list of requests or can be a vague let’s see how God leads us.

The more of the spirit you have, the more you want to pray!