INTRODUCTION…

Starting quote: “If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all.” J.I Packer

Main Idea: Through solitude with God and fellowship within the church we can have a more intimate relationship with the Father.

Today we will be spending some extensive time within the Psalms because they give us a great model for communication with God.

Remember that prayer for Christians is not an optional spiritual discipline. This is a priority to maintain a relationship with the Father. The Son, Jesus, informed the believers many times that there is an expectation of prayer:

The early church also teaches the church on the expectation of prayer amongst the believers.

Colossians 4:2: Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving."
1 Thess. 5:17: “Pray constantly”

Action on our part is involved in this relationship.
-Hebrews 4:16: "Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time."

However, it is important to recognize that God began this relationship with us from the beginning.
-In the garden, with the law, with His Son, the Holy Spirit given to the believers, and with His Word.

With these He calls us to respond to Him. There was always a response involved.

We don’t respond to the Father because we want something from Him, but rather we want to strengthen this relationship that He has invited us in to.

So, lets question “Do we have the right mindset on our relationship with the Father?” And “How is your spiritual vitality?”

It’s important to first recognize the one who allows us to come before the Father.
-Hebrews 7:25: “Therefore He is always able to save those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.”
-Romans 8:34: “Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the One who died, but even more, has been raised; He also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.”

What does that term intercession mean? There is no man, no woman, no saint…that plays the role that Jesus does in our life. 1 mediator, 1 defender. He stands before the throne for mankind.

God is listening; are you talking?
Psalm 116:1-2
He is not standing up there, arms crossed and back turned to His people.
He gives His ear to us. You don’t need to earn an audience with Him. Eager to hear.

So here is some help on How to Pray

Prayer in Solitude: Intimacy in Prayer

One way we should come to the throne is in solitude. Find rest in the Father. Seek silence and solitude with Him.
Psalm 62:1, 5

We see a couple of examples from Jesus for this in Luke.
Luke 5:15-16: “But the news about Him spread even more, and large crowds would come together to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. Yet He often withdrew to deserted places and prayed.”
Luke 22:40-41: “”When He reached the place, He told them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation."Then He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, knelt down, and began to pray,”

Solitude prayer helps us drown out the noise of the world to have some 1 on 1 time with the Father.

This is a true test of any relationship…Can you quiet everything else for some 1 on 1 time?

Tim Keller states: “The infallible test of spiritual integrity…is your private prayer life.”

We can look SUPER spiritual with big prayers, big words, super theological…with big public prayers.

Matthew 6:5: “Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. I assure you: They've got their reward!”

But real conversation with God is not fueled by our big words and or a performance.

Private prayer is not for the already strong; private prayer is how we grow stronger in our relationship with Him.

Some of the benefits of a private prayer life:
1) Confession: Psalm 51
-Mercy, cleansing, reconciliation
2) Reflection: Psalm 139: 23-24
-Hidden sin (Mental, intellectual, or spiritual failure)
-Test me from within
-Lead me away from all of this.
3) Emotional Release: Psalm 77:1-3
-From hidden depths come our most inner selves.
-Cry to Him and give Him everything from within.

Ways to do this:
Create a safe space
Let scriptures lead your prayer
Keep it fresh
Follow the Lord’s Prayer (Praise, ask, confess)

Another way to pray is…

Pray with others - Corporate and public Prayer

One thing I often hear a lot of when it comes to either reading the Bible and praying is…”Where do I start?”

In many ways, prayer is a learned behavior. You first start learning from others so that you yourself can learn how to pray. We learn from the Word, we learn from others and we grow in our own prayer life. Not that you want to take others habits, bur rather start building your own prayer habits.

There is a fellowship that happens when we pray together. Psalm 34:3

We see it early on with the church in communal and corporate prayer in Acts when the disciples would come together, pray together, learn together, and break bread together.

Numerous times the gospels talk about how Jesus would pray together with His disciples.

David Mathis tells us there are many benefits to praying together:
Added Power - Response of God to added faith together
-Faith together does help transform the church to become more united
-Have you ever counted the amount of times we pray together in 1 service?
2) Glory to God - Shared voices being raised up to our Father
-Revelation points out that one day every tribe, tongue and nation will be worshipping God together.
3) Increased accountability
-Discipline
4) Deeper fellowship
-Missional Communities
5) Unity in Christ and shows to others outside the church

So how do you do this today?
Make it a regular habit of praying with other people. Set up a meeting time.
Make prayer a priority with other believers
Be concise and focused

Psalm 20 - Plurality, spiritual unity and shared burdens

Let God change your perspective on life today. Re-orient yourself back to the Lord in prayer.

Psalm 73:2-3, 25-26: “But as for me, my feet almost slipped; my steps nearly went astray. For I envied the arrogant; I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 25 Whom do I have in heaven but You? And I desire nothing on earth but You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever.”

He brings the peace in times of panic, and faith in the time of fear.

We can go to God Wirth our requests and leave with renewed hearts.

End with reading Psalm 145:14-19

Having God’s ear means you are never ignored, never abandoned, and you are never praying in vain.

RESPOND, REFLECT & COMMUNION

I would like to give you a chance to respond to God…

-- What did God reveal about who he is to you today in our time in God’s word?
-- What did God reveal about what he has done or is doing in our time in God’s word?
-- What did you learn about who you are as we looked at these stories today?
-- What did you learn about what you are supposed to do?

—> Let's take a minute to thank Him, respond to Him, confess our sins to Him, examine our hearts before we take communion...

—> WHAT IS JESUS SAYING TO YOU TODAY?
—> WHAT IS JESUS ASKING YOU TO DO?