From The Heart
Solo Artist
July 17, 2022
Alexis Hall, Kids Ministry Director
The Branch Church
Going To God In Prayer …
- Requires honesty.
Habakkuk 1:1-4 (NIV)
How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save?
Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.
Habakkuk 1:12-13 (NIV)
Lord, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you will never die.
You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment; you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish.
Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?
Habakkuk 2:1 (NIV)
I will stand at my guard post And station myself on the watchtower; And I will keep watch to see what He will say to me, And how I may reply when I am reprimanded.
Going To God In Prayer …
- Creates intimacy.
Habakkuk 2:2-3 (NIV)
Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.
For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”
Habakkuk 1:5-6 (NIV)
“Look at the nations and watch – and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.
I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own.”
Going To God In Prayer …
- Comes with mystery.
Habakkuk 2:2-3 (NIV)
Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.
For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”
Habakkuk 2:20 (NIV)
The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.
What Do We Do In The Mystery?
Remember who we are dealing with, and that He is on the throne.
We become silent before Him, fixing our eyes on Him in awe.
Remember what He has done.
Going To God In Prayer …
- Results in humility.
Habakkuk 3:2 (NIV)
LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.
Going To God In Prayer …
- Leads to praise.
Habakkuk 3:17-19 NIV)
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.
Habakkuk 2:4 (ESV)
“Behold, his (the enemy’s) soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.”
Matthew 26:39 (NIV)
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Matthew 26:45-46 (NIV)
Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
Habakkuk 3:18-19 (NIV)
… yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.
Communion
Where are you in your conversation with God?
Honesty?
Intimacy?
Mystery?
Humility?
Praise?