~sermon devo_1st nov~

1st November 08’
The privilege of praying: “your kingdom come: your will be done”
1) Why do we not pray?
Luke 15:11-24 (parable of the prodigal son) Like the prodigal son in the parable that Jesus told the disciples, we often forget God’s grace after a period time, in fact, the son in parable forgotten his father’s love and grace in only a day. This is really alarming, as it shows that most of us can easily forget God’s grace and goodness after receiving his grace.
One of the reasons why prayer is not in the priority list of most Christians is that most of us tend to have a false sense of sufficiency. We take for granted God’s blessings and sense of sufficiency creeps in. We tend to believe that we can work a way out our own way, and rely on our own strength and power to overcome the difficulties and problems in life. We easily forget that all we possess and have is from him. Most of us fall into the trap of falling in love with the gifting , rather than the giver himself. Also, we allow our pride to take over us, and we want to take control of our lives.
However, more often or not, we fail whenever we try to rely on our own human ways to solve our problems. Don’t sell yourself to the world. Sometimes, pain and uncertainty is a wake-up call to God’s grace. It is only after going through failures and setbacks in lives, that we realize that we badly need the lord. He becomes the ultimate solution of all problems and difficulties, and everything becomes possible in his hands.
Another simple reason would be the lack of intimacy with God.
As we draw near to God, he will draw near to us. God is dying to draw near to each of us, however, the lack of relationships often hinders us, the children from reaching to God. God is waiting for us to take the first step, thus, this relationship between you and God can only be deepened and extended when you choose to take the 1st step in prayer.
2) How then should we pray?
Simply pray, it is the action of prayer. We can only learn prayer by praying. Follow the format of prayer in matthew 6:9-13
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one. “
We have to discipline ourselves to pray to catch the heartbeat of God. Think of it this way, prayer is like a conversation of a child with his/her father. It’s only through conversing with each other and heat-to-heart talk that this relationship will continue to grow and develop. And it’s also through prayer, that we get to understand more about the lord, and his plans, vision, purpose for your life.
Prayer starts in your marketplace, plant a prayer cell in your schools, marketplace, workplaces today
The 3 Rs
Relationships (it’s all about people in your marketplace, teachers, friends, colleagues, bosses_are they facing any deep issues and problems in their lives?, pray for reconciliation and restoration of broken relationships)
Revelations (it’s hearing from God__hear for revelations and look out for visions, always remember, we are operating God’s work in his way)
Repentace (it starts with ourselves_a change of heart in ourselves is required before we can start transforming our marketplaces)