The Church of Joy, Williamson Ga

REVIEW
We are starting a new series - Getting Spiritually Fit
This study comes from from months of meditating on Ephesians 4. For the last few months you’ve heard me talk about this particular passage. Let’s look at it one more time:

Paul is talking about a fit, mature Body. We are called to be people who grow, are equipped and ready for works of service. But...I think that the Body is out of shape (spiritually).

Speaking of "out of shape"… More than three-quarters of U.S. adults say being in shape and looking good are "very important" to them, yet less than a third exercise regularly and nearly half admit they are not active at all.

So, what about Spiritually Fit?
Do you feel satisfied with your relationship with God, do you understand His purpose for your life?
Do you feel like He is good with your relationship with Him? To you feel Spiritually Fit? Ready to minister, ready to share?

Here’s the facts, compiled through my research from Christianty Today and Barna Research:
>Most don’t feel like they know the Bible very well.
>Most don’t pray unless they really need something.
>Most don’t persevere through tough problems well.
>Most don’t make disciples or even know how.
>Most don’t understand that they are stewards of God’s blessing.

Sermon 2
Throughout the Bible - The human culture varied by time and region, but the relational culture with God was one of prayer. Take a look:

Well, do you see the point? Cultures change, but God relationship is grounded and connected through prayer.

What about our lives?Has our culture affected our lives so much that even our prayer life has changed?

Think about this:
If God answered all your prayers with ‘yes’ how would the kingdom be furthered? The question strikes a chord because it forces us to stop and think. What effect do my prayers have on the kingdom of God? How much time do I spend praying about Spiritual things? What true good would come from God giving me all the things I am praying for? When you look at the things you pray for ask yourself: if God answered all of these prayers with a yes, how would the kingdom be changed? We need to learn how to pray kingdom minded prayers.

Before we can have kingdom minded prayers however, we need to better understand prayer.

Prayer is communication - the deeper the communication, the more intimate the prayer. One of the things I’ve noticed is the parallel between the levels of communication and our intimacy with God.

Here is the progression of communication:
1. Small talk
2. Sharing info
3. Sharing your personal opinion
4. Sharing feelings
5. Sharing who you are - being transparent


Prayer is a conversation with God that stems from a personal relationship in which communication naturally occurs.

Closing Thoughts
>Prayer is an important part of our Christian lives.
>We are to devote ourselves to prayer.
>Prayer should be a key pillar in our lives, a regular part of our everyday life.