In recent days, I’ve been so helped by seeJesus’s tools related to prayer. In this video and document, we learn to pray from Jesus Himself. The pattern He had to show compassion, to be brutally honest, and to yield His will to the Father’s inform our interactions with others. I’d love for you to engage in this content and pray accordingly.
Ray Ortlund of Immanuel Nashville wrapped up a recent sermon on prayer in this way:
Centuries ago a man named John Bunyan – he wrote a classic called The Pilgrim’s Progress – wrote a book about how sincerely Jesus welcomes us in, as we pray. I’ve taken something from Bunyan’s book and adapted it to us today, to help us get past our reservations and pray. In fact, you are going to announce this gospel to me, answering my objections to prayer. But I am guessing you can identify with every objection I raise here:
Leader: I have strong reasons not to pray.
All: But Jesus says, “I will never cast you out.”
Leader: I am a serious sinner.
All: But Jesus says, “I will never cast you out.”
Leader: I’ve been sinning for 69 years.
All: But Jesus says, “I will never cast you out.”
Leader: My heart can be as hard as stone.
All: But Jesus says, “I will never cast you out.”
Leader: With every step forward, I take another step back.
All: But Jesus says, “I will never cast you out.”
Leader: Sometimes, the way I act, I might as well be serving Satan.
All: But Jesus says, “I will never cast you out.”
Leader: I sin when I even know better.
All: But Jesus says, “I will never cast you out.”
Leader: I might respond to your mercy with more sin.
All: But Jesus says, “I will never cast you out.”
Leader: I have nothing to offer but my failure and mess.
All: But Jesus says, “I will never cast you out.”
Leader: Okay, Lord. Count me in, if you will never cast me out!
All: We all say, “He will never cast us out!”
Jesus will never cast us out. Can we lay down our excuses and together, at the throne of grace, make prayer the center of Immanuel Church here in 2019?
Like many I’ve been thinking about the recent Hurricane Harvey and now the approach of Hurricane Irma into Florida. I loved hearing John Piper’s hopeful Prayer in the Path of Hurricanes and appreciated the way he ended praying through Romans 8:38-39. Nothing can separate you from the love that God has for you in Christ Jesus. No loss, no suffering, no impending hurricane, no recovery effort, no seemingly hopeless situation. Let’s all look to God and see the hope we have in Christ Jesus (and continue to pray for these things happening in our country).
I tweeted about my amazing, terrific, horrible, awesome, and awe-inspiring day on Saturday:
This led me doing something I don’t do often, scrapping my sermon and humbly sharing my struggles with the people I love dearly. I called this a Day of Prayer. The first few minutes recap my story and it leads into some prayer points that I directed our congregation through:
Maybe this might serve you as a time to reflect on your relationship between you, God, others, our country, and Jesus Himself. I hope it profits you.
If you know Christ, trusting Him as your Lord and Savior, then you are not separated from Him, but you are a dearly loved son or daughter. Today, then, call out to Him with confidence…
[6] And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” [7] So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
(Galatians 4:6-7 ESV)
This coming Sunday at Crestview, we will kick off our Week of Prayer. I plan to preach on persistence in prayer from Luke 18:1-8. We will be distributing a Week of Prayer devotional, giving you many ways to connect together in prayer this week, as well as, tools that will help you pray for our body in the coming year. I hope you plan to join us. It’s going to be an amazing week, begging God to move among us.
At 5PM on Sunday 11/1/15, a group met at church to pray for our country and find encouragement in God’s Word. We began watching Russell Moore’s sermon from the 2015 For the Church Conference on Truth and Culture.
After watching this sermon, we spent some time in prayer, using the Life Action Ministries resource Prayers That Birth Revival.
A team from our church is starting a week long ministry among the Navajo peoples at Immanuel Mission in NE Arizona this week. The part of Arizona their in is called Sweetwater. Our missions vision is fraught with water imagery. We know God is at work in the midst of this. We developed this guide to pray for them and distributed it this morning. Will you join me in taking time to pray for our time.
My 1/6/13AM sermon, Praying for God’s Work, from Matthew 9:35-38 is now online. (This sermon kicked off our church’s Week of Prayer. Devotional available here.) The sermon sought to unpack how prayer is really an important part of God’s work, using the life and ministry of Jesus as example #1. We don’t treat or think of prayer as an important part of God’s work, but Jesus draws the connection close. Hopefully my sermon pointed you to this truth.
Hope you had a good Lord’s Day yourself. Now, off to another week living for God’s glory.
My 11/11/12AM sermon, Prayer Encouraged from Hebrews 13:18-19 is online. In this sermon, I sought to, once again, ground everyone in the Gospel (has to be the case reading the book of Hebrews) and help them see how that encourages pray. Specifically, my outline involved 3 directions for prayer: we pray for people, Gospel-centered living and circumstances.
I hope the sermon helped people to see the access they have to their Father and to pray more diligently.
And, I hope you had a blessed Lord’s Day.
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