Prayer Problems: Practice - 4 Relying on God in Prayer

Focus passage: Luke 11:11-13

A child should never have to ask for a roof over their head, for food or clothing or even the chance to go to school. It is what they should know that their parents will give them gladly based on their parent’s character and love for them. The second parable in this text is about God’s character. His children don’t have to beg Him for help. They know that God wants to give His children more than they could ever ask for. They know His love for them and eagerly come to Him for help.  

Prayer Problems: Practice - 3 Persistence Pays Off

Focus passage: Luke 11:1-13

When I was a music student, I found some passages had to be practiced over and over. It wasn’t good enough to come close to the music on the page, I needed to get it right. I had to be in sync with the accompanist or those I was singing with. Sometimes, we pray as if we care less what the result is. “Lord, heal John or help Sally. If you don’t, I guess that it is OK.” In the first parable, Jesus shows a man whose persistence pays off. He gets what he wants. Jesus’ point is that we should pray with persistence as well.

Prayer Problems: Practice - 2 Let It Be Natural

Focus passage: Luke 11:1-13

The hardest part for me of playing the piano is that a good pianist seemingly plays without a lot of effort. When they want to play a “C” chord, their left hand move effortlessly to those notes. When they want to play a scale, the right hand knows exactly what fingering to use. 

They have practiced until playing becomes so natural that they don’t have to consciously think about what their hands are doing. Such a pianist gets there by practice. Prayer becomes more natural as we practice it as well. We want our prayers to just flow out of us and not be labored.

Prayer Problems: Practice - 1 Prayer Is Caught, Not Taught

Focus passage: Luke 11:1-13

I am amazed at how often Jesus can be found praying. There are eight instances that I know of in Luke alone. You would have thought that Jesus didn’t need to pray.

Yet somehow prayer seems essential in His ministry. It is as if He needs the time with the Father if He is to go on. I shouldn’t be surprised. I find that I need prayer. It calms me down helping me with my worries and fears. It brings me confidence so that I try things I might otherwise shy away from. Maybe the disciples saw that in Jesus. Maybe that was the reason that they asked Him to teach them to pray. They saw the connection that He had with the Father and they wanted that for themselves. They never asked Jesus to teach them how to preach or do miracles. They just wanted Him to teach them how to pray.

Prayer Problems: Getting Started With Confidence

If you have not been active in prayer, getting started can seem like a major problem. 

Let’s face it. You are talking to a God that you can’t see and struggle to hear. You often need Him most at the times when you are struggling and your life is about to go down the drain. You throw up a prayer to heaven and wonder if any one heard you.

If that sounds like your prayer experience, take a deep breath and realize that you are not alone. The problem is that prayer is talking to God and most of us are not very good at talking to strangers. Our experience is like talking to a stranger at the Department of Motor Vehicles when you have lost your car title. You don’t know this person at all and you desperately need the stranger’s help. So let’s go through a few things that can help you.

Prayer Problems: Power - 4 Do I Give Up Too Easy?

Focus passage: 1 Kings 18:41-46

I prayed for family night and none of the people I had invited came. I sat by a friend in the hospital who we had been praying about for weeks, but he only seemed to get worse. 

I began to wonder if it was not God’s will that our outreach would have success or that Jack was going to get better. How many times should I pray? How many times do I keep saying the same words toward heaven without getting the results that I so desperately want? Elijah doesn’t let go. He kept on praying even though there had not been a drop of water in three and a half years.

Prayer Problems: Power - 3 Will I Risk Myself?

Focus passage: 1 Kings 18:16-24

I wrestle with putting myself on the line. 

I may pray that someone I know comes to faith. Will I risk our friendship to actually say something about Jesus to them or am I too afraid that they will push me away? Will I stand up for what I believe when people trash God or just pray that the Holy Spirit will change their hearts? Earlier, God had told Elijah to hide himself during the famine. Now it was time to present himself and put his whole life on the line.

Prayer Problems: Wednesday Discussions

I want to thank those of you who made comments or posed questions on prayer. I would like to focus on a question that Leslie posed. She wrote, “I often wonder if I am praying for the right thing.” That is a great question and it deserves an answer.

There are often times when we pray and nothing happens making us wonder if there is something wrong with our prayer. After all, we think that if the prayer is good, that God will surely give us what we are looking for because God is powerful enough to do everything and is a loving God who wants to help us. Three thoughts help me when I face that question.

Prayer Problems: Power - 2 Do I Believe Enough to Pray?

Focus passage: 1 Kings 17:1-24

I want to pray with faith, but I sometimes find that hard.

The problems of our world seem so big. The pains of those I am called to minister to seem so impossible. I find that I still need to grow in my faith if my prayer is to be very powerful. What is comforting is that Elijah had to grow in his faith before he was ready to change the world with prayer. God helped him grow because you don’t send someone out against 850 false prophets unprepared.

"Prayer Problems": Power - Is Prayer Worth Anything?

Focus passage: 1 Kings 18:16-38

I felt humbled and more than a little ashamed when I read this section on Elijah and prayer.

He believed so strong while I sometimes struggle believing God will work miracles with my prayers. It isn’t that I don’t pray. It is just that I don’t think that I have the confidence that Elijah has in prayer. I accept the power that prayer has, but I sometimes don’t act like I really believe it. I want to pray like Elijah. Three things strike me about Elijah’s prayer.

"Super Church": 4 Super Impact

Focus passage: Luke 10:25-37

It started with a simple question about gaining entrance into to heaven and took a curve that the lawyer was not expecting. This story confronts us with God’s call for us to make an impact on our world by loving people the way that He has loved us. The zinger in this story is that the Jews would have expected the Samaritan half breed would have been the robber. He turns out to be the hero of the story. The question we must deal with is “how far should love go?”

"Super Church": 3 Super Abundance

Focus passage: 2 Cor. 9:6-15

There never seems to be enough. We save and save, but will there be enough for retirement? We work hard but always wonder if the kids can go to college. Suddenly, the offering plate comes around on Sunday and we feel like we have little to give. We are consumed by worry instead of being freed by a faith that believes that the Lord will provide for our needs.

"Super Church": 2 Super men and women

 Focus Passage: Rom. 12:1-8

No one is good at everything, but super men and women are great at something. Think of the 8 year old piano prodigy. He might terrible in math or science, but put him in front of a piano and it is magic. Think of the professional basketball player. He may have done poorly in school, but he flies toward the rim like a bird in flight. God’s children don’t have to be great at everything either. Some are great leaders. Others are great teachers. Others encourage and comfort. All God’s people have the opportunity to be great at something because God has made them great. They just have to discover what spiritual gift has been given to them.

"Super Church": 1 Super Team

Focus Passage: Acts 2:42-47

It was only a week before the playoffs and the Saint Louis Cardinals were hot. When a starting pitcher had the occasional bad night, the bullpen brought the team back in the game. Injuries were no problem because players could be called up from AAA ball to fill the void. The team had a great skipper who managed his players well and left them all with smiles on their faces. What would it be like to be a member of a church that worked like that? What elements need to come together for a church to be on fire like a great baseball team? What would it take for every player to be “all in” and make their church team look like champions?

"The Miracles of Jesus", Part VI: Failure Begins with "We"

Focus passage: Mark 9:14-29

Joe began the men’s club meeting with a sigh. Only three people had shown up again. What was the use of even trying to hold the meeting? There weren’t enough people to get anything done. He remembered just a few years ago when the group numbered twenty each month. Now look at it. Some had suggested that the whole group disband, but Joe enjoyed the fellowship with the few who still came. This was a good group of men. There just weren’t many of them. What should they do to make it better? Why can’t we succeed like we did before? It was in such chaos that Jesus miraculously triumphed. 

"The miracles of Jesus", Part V: Seeing Clearly

Focus passage: Mark 8:19-30

Jesus had used five loaves to feed 5000 people and seven loaves to feed 4000 people. Yet, it was clear that the disciples did not understand what Jesus had done. He is frustrated at the limits of their faith. Yet, it is still the experience of people today. You first discover Jesus as your Savior and then slowly grasp what it means to be a disciple of Jesus over the course of your life. You grow in knowledge, but more important you have to grow in your ability to serve and to witness to others. Jesus heals a blind man in stages in Mark 8:22-26 that parallels the disciple’s statements of faith in the verses following the miracle. 

"The miracles of Jesus", Part IV:Great Provider

Focus passage: Mark 8:1-9

It sent a shudder down his back. Steve had been in this waiting room before sitting in this padded chair looking at his reflection in the buffed floor and hearing people’s foot steps in the hallway to his left. His wife had woken with chest pains. Here in the hospital waiting room he was terrified. Would it be a heart attack like last time? Would she need surgery again? The memories flooded back over him. He began to pray and a different kind of memory surrounded his fears. Last time when there was little chance of recovery, the Lord had worked a miracle. Suddenly, he could feel God’s presence. He was not alone. God was there at his side. There is power in remembering what God can do. Sadly, the disciples did not remember in Mark 8:1-9 what Jesus was capable of. 

"The Miracles of Jesus", Part III: Simply Amazing

Focus passage: Mark 6: 45-56

Bob sat and just stared out the window. He wanted to be anywhere but sitting at the kitchen table this morning. The hospital bills were piled high and he wasn’t sure how to pay them all. The doctor said Bob’s wife Judy was doing better, but Bob couldn’t see it. With his head in his hands, he felt helpless. He began to cry as he prayed to Jesus. Why Lord? Don’t you care about us? Give me a sign so that I know what to do. As he prayed, he opened up the Bible and came to the story of the disciples helpless in the boat. In the margin of his bible, he had written “Helplessness can teach us to lean on Jesus. He began to pray for Jesus’ help.  

"The Miracles of Jesus", Part II: Desperate to Daughter

Focus passage: Mark 5:25-34

 

We bow our head in anguish. We are desperate and nothing is turning out right. Life seems overwhelmed with problems that just don’t seem to have any answers. 

Illness, job loss, and divorce break us till we despair that life might as well be over. We are angry with the world and can be angry with God. This shouldn’t happen to me. Why is it so easy for everyone else and so hard for me? We can live in our self-pity or we can turn to the Lord. Desperation is like the desert. The heat of life takes away all your strength. You can either turn toward God letting Him guide you through your troubles or you can turn from him and wander till the troubles dry up your soul. Jesus wants to turn the "desperate" into "daughters and sons" of God. 

"The Miracles of Jesus", Part I: Giving A Greater Gift

Focus Passage: Mark 2:1-12

Jesus had traveled the countryside healing people of various diseases and casting out demons. The people had pushed and shoved to be with Him in the house because they wanted to see this miracle worker.

Yet, there was a greater need than just healing bodies wracked with pain.

He had come to heal the soul with His message.

When a group broke into the house, Jesus had a chance to do more than just heal the body. Let’s read Mark 2:1-12 to see exactly what happened.