
Matthew 6:9-13
PRAYER
IF YOU
IT.
Prayer is the sacred practice of delighting in God’s presence, discerning God’s heart, depending on God’s power, and
God’s hand.
Before Jesus teaches the
of prayer… He addresses the
work of prayer.
Matthew 6:5-8
: “THE FUTURE IS ALREADY SET, SO PRAYER WON’T CHANGE ANYTHING.”
God is looking for people who will
—who will stand in the gap and participate in changing the
.
Exodus 32:9-14
“God’s ‘response’ to our prayers is not a charade. He does not pretend that he is answering our prayer when he is only doing what he was going to anyway. Our requests really do make a difference to what God does or does not do. The idea that everything would happen exactly as it does regardless of whether we pray or not is a spectre that haunts the minds of many who sincerely profess belief in God. It makes prayer psychologically impossible, replacing it with dead ritual at best. And of course God does not respond to this. You wouldn’t either.” —Dallas Willard
: “THE PRESENT IS FULLY SEEN, SO PRAYER IS JUST WISHFUL THINKING.”
Naturalism paralyzes our prayers in one of 2 ways.
1. We
2. We
2 Kings 6:15-17
Nehemiah 4:9
Pete Greig’s Reasons Why Some Prayers Go Unanswered:
GOD’S
• Common Sense
• Contradiction
• The Laws of Nature
GOD’S
• God’s Best
• Motive
GOD’S
• Satanic Opposition
• Faith
THIS WEEK’S PRACTICE
Base: Intercessory Prayers
“If we truly love people, we will desire for them far more than it is within our power to give them, and this will lead us to prayer. Intercession is a way of loving others.” —Richard Foster
Reach: Prayer Cards