Tonight we want to talk about WHY Prayer Matters?! What's the intent of prayer and how can making it a pattern in your life actually refuel your soul?

Prayer is one of the most common phenomena of human life. Even deliberately nonreligious people pray at times. Studies have shown that in secularized countries, prayer continues to be practiced not only by those who have no religious preference but even by many of those who do not believe in God. Prayer is a global reality, inhabiting all cultures and classes and involving the overwhelming majority of people. There seems to be a human instinct for prayer.

When it comes to understanding, discussing and thinking about prayer – most people might define prayer sorta as: "talking with God – communicating and connecting with our Creator." Most of us feel like we understand it – we utilize it… we do it. But a lot of folks feel like they fall short of what they believe the goal of praying is supposed to be – and feel like: “I don’t pray enough”…many feel that they are lacking in the “prayer department”.

Prayer was vitally important to Jesus – he modeled it well and often…because for Jesus: and it wasn’t just a PRIORITY, it was a NECESSITY.
The disciples noticed Jesus looked forward to prayer and actually hungered for it.

Truth: Prayer is learned behavior and nobody is born an expert at it.

Simple prayer is the most common type of prayer in Scripture. Jesus himself teaches it when he tells us to pray for our daily bread.
Quote: (CS Lewis) “in prayer we must ‘lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us." - So,“Why pray?” We pray to bring our anxious thoughts to the ONE who can handle them better – we pray so we’re not the only ones carrying our burdens…

God cares – He cares about the cares of your heart and he wants us to bring it to Him in prayer!
*Download the Echo APP - really neat prayer app that might help you keep a digital list of your prayer requests for folks and your concerns.

“Why was Jesus always praying?” or maybe a deeper question, when you look at Jesus’ life and ministry in the Gospels: “What did he do on his own, apart from prayer?” NOTHING. This is why the disciples came to Jesus and asked him to teach them to pray. It’s not that they had never been taught to pray; But they saw in Jesus something very different. They saw in his life something more than just a religious ritual. Prayer was something that literally nourished Jesus and it's to nourish us.

In your life, is prayer passé or a priority? Is it nice or necessity? Is it essential or optional? Jesus responds to the disciples’ request to teach them how to pray by starting with how to address God. We begin by saying “Father” (Luke 11:2). (ABBA). Prayer begins with a relationship with God, and the primary purpose of prayer is to deepen that relationship.

Prayer is about a heart attitude of desperation & dependency; “We are not desperate for something or answers. But, rather we’re desperate for Someone.”
This is the heart of prayer.

Need Prayer? ....we've got some of our prayer team and pastors available following service to pray with you. Or you can text the word "prayer" to our phone number: #520-300-9001 to submit your prayer request to our prayer team to partner with you.

Elements gear:
tonight in the lobby we have a pre-order sheet you can sign up for some Elements T-shirts, hats, hoodies if you've been wanting some.