During the January series we're looking at 5 areas of our spiritual life in which each of us must take personal responsibility.

Last week we used 2 Timothy 3:15-17 to look at why we should study God's Word and the benefits of doing so.

We've kicked off a year long Bible study plan called The Great Ones in which we read 1 or 2 key chapters a week. A bible study booklet that aids us in this reading plan can be purchased in CJ's for $2 each.

If you could talk with just one person who is alive or actually lived during your lifetime, who would it be?
What kinds of questions would you ask?
Would you really listen to what the person would say when they spoke to you?

This morning we are looking at the second area that is necessary for a healthy spiritual life: we must seek God's face; the skill of prayer.
Prayer can be defined as the "regular transparent conversation with God about our Connection with Him, Concerns for others, and Circumstances of life."

It seems that many people have never really been taught about prayer, shown how to pray, or had people in their lives who have modeled prayer.

After several years of following the Lord, His disciples made an interesting request. We read about this in Luke 11:1.
Of all the things they could have asked of Him, they asked about prayer!

To grow in the skill of prayer, we'll look at our definition and see what we can learn and apply to our lives:

#1 - REGULAR
Colossians 4:2

#2 - TRANSPARENT CONVERSATION
Psalm 139:23-24

#3 - WITH GOD
Mark 14:36

As a way of guiding our conversation with God, here are 3 areas in which we should pray:

First - Our RELATIONSHIP with Him.
Lamentations 3:40
When we become a Christian, God gives us a highly reliable GPS system to guide our life:
G- represents the GODLY men and women of mature faith
P- stands for the PAGES of the Bible that contain God's truth
S- signifies the SPIRIT of God that indwells and empowers our lives

Second - Our CONCERNS for others.
1 Samuel 12:23
Psalm 119:71

Third - Our SITUATIONS in life.
Philippians 4:6

In order to avoid being consumed with ourselves we should try to think of ourselves last. Here are some things to think about as you pray:

1. Head- I try to take my ambitions, plans, goals, & thoughts and talk about them with the Lord. It's critical that we know His will and His plan of action and that our confidence is in Him and not our own wisdom and strength.
2. Heart- I take my feelings, joys, discouragement, and all other emotions to Him. Acknowledge them and ask for insight, don't try to justify them.
3. Hands- I ask for guidance in what I'm doing and His blessing of the work of my hands/life. Not perfection but excellence!
4. Heels- I ask that the Lord bring opportunities to share Him and to serve others. I ask that He do what He needs to do to make me more effective.

Birthdays and Anniversaries:

Monday, January 11 - Holly Carpenter
Wednesday, January 13 - Charlie Mater, Erik Godbey, Braden Denton
Thursday, January 14 - Fionnlagh Godbey
Saturday, January 16 - Bob Schilz, Megan Smith