Jesus at the Center of Prayer
Morning of Prayer •Message 7
J.C. Thompson
November 26, 2023
A. Introduction
Today, we close our series on the Lord’s Prayer. We told you at the onset of this series that our goal was for you to pray. To get more reps, to get some practice.
Today, we are intentionally going to do that. I am going to lead us through some prayer promptings today, and I hope that you will join me in praying with intention in our service today.
B. Prayer of Intimacy. (Matthew 6:9. C/R: Psalm 65:1-2; Matthew 26:26-28)
The Lord’s Prayer begins like this.
Matthew 6:9 (NLT) “Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may Your name be kept holy.”
Jesus begins the Lord’s Prayer with a direction in intimacy. We begin with a relationship.
How do you view God when you go to Him in prayer?
Here is a helpful picture in Psalm 65.
Psalm 65:1–2 (NLT)
What mighty praise, O God,
belongs to You in Zion.
We will fulfill our vows to You,
for You answer our prayers.
All of us must come to You.
God’s ears are open when we pray.
This morning, we will begin our teaching time with the Lord’s Supper. Take out your elements.
God provided this picture through Jesus of the Lord’s Supper.
Matthew 26:26–28 (NLT)
As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then He broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is My body.”
And He took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, for this is My blood, which confirms the covenant between God and His people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.”
Before we take these elements, I want you to spend a few moments in prayer with God. Thanking Him that His ears are open.
Ask Him this question: God, what is the status of our relationship today?
He’s in charge. He gets to define it. So, take a moment and pray that, and then I will facilitate us taking the Lord’s Supper together.
When we pray in faith, we can do so because Jesus has purchased what we pray for.
When we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we can do so with joy, reflecting on what has been purchased for us.
Matthew 26:26 (NLT)
As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then He broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is My body.”
Matthew 26:27–28 (NLT)
And He took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, for this is My blood, which confirms the covenant between God and His people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.”
Just as we celebrate Christ’s offering to us, we also have an opportunity to give back to Christ and His church right now together. Let’s pray.
C. Prayer of INTERCESSION. (Matthew 6:10-11. C/R: Isaiah 53:12; 1 Timothy 2:1-6)
Next, we see Jesus instructing us in making intercessory prayers.
Matthew 6:10–11 (NLT)
May Your Kingdom come soon.
May Your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need,
We talked about in this series the already but not yet reality of the kingdom of Earth.
We want the reality of this kingdom to grow in our hearts daily. When we fight against the corruptions within our flesh and the corruptions against our spirit, the Kingdom of God’s influence grows in our souls.
We must also practice God’s will here on earth.
Are our words in obedience to God’s will? Is our diet according to God’s will? Is our budget aligned with God’s will? Are we marked by purity of mind and heart?
Lastly, we pray for God to give us what we need.
I think that Jesus intentionally put them in this proper order.
Intimacy, God’s Kingdom, His will, His glory, our need.
But we do have needs, and God wants to hear those and provide for them.
Let’s practice this prayer of intercession.
We gave you a card today. On that card, I would like for you to end your time in prayer with a word or a phrase.
I’ve got 2 questions to guide you on what to put on that card. After we spend some time praying over these questions, ask the Lord to reveal to you a word or phrase that sums up that time in prayer, and I’m going to ask you to turn that card in. So be mindful that these cards will be read by someone else.
Every Monday morning, our staff spends time in prayer and worship together. We would like to pray over these requests tomorrow morning.
After we end this time of prayer, I’ll give you some further instructions as we close that time of prayer.
Talking to men for God is a great thing, but talking to God for men is greater still. He will never talk well and with real success to men for God who has not learned well how to talk to God for men. – E. M. Bounds
Let’s go to God with these questions, first personally.
Question 1:
God, where is Your Kingdom moving around me?
Question 2:
What do You want me to do about it?
As you have written your response on your card, please pass those down to the ends of your row, where Ushers will be there shortly to gather them.
I am going to ask for you to pray with those around you. Now, for some of you who are new, this might be uncomfortable; don’t feel as if you must pray aloud. But I do want to encourage you to share your burdens.
Take a few moments to be in prayer for one another. Then, I will close that time of prayer together.
D. Prayer of INTEGRITY. (Matthew 6:12-13. C/R: Psalm 107:20; Titus 2:12; James 1:13-14)
Lastly, the Lord’s Prayer ends with two petitions for integrity.
While there is only one prayer for the body in the Lord’s Prayer, give us this day our daily bread.
There are two prayers for the soul.
As I’m sure many of you have heard, God gave you two ears and one mouth, so you should listen twice as much as you talk.
I think the same principle is true in the Lord’s Prayer. Since Jesus offered two prayers for our soul and one for our body, we should care twice as much about our soul than our body.
But how often do we think of our appearance, our number on the scale, and our performance metrics in the gym rather than measuring and evaluating our souls?
We have deep needs for forgiveness and protection from temptation.
Matthew 6:12–13 (NLT)
and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.
Sin is a debt. It is also the worst kind of debt because we cannot pay it off.
It is the worst debt because it is against the most supreme good in all the world.
It is the worst debt because it exponentially increases. Thomas Watson says,
We may as well reckon all the drops in the sea, as reckon all our spiritual debts; we cannot tell how much we owe.
Thomas Watson
It is the worst debt because the prison for it is the worst imaginable.
Yet, Christ, through the shedding of His blood, forgives our sins. He offers us freedom and forgiveness in exchange for our life. We get our debt paid; He becomes the boss of our life.
We can respond to this reality in two ways.
Willingly owning our debt, confessing it, and joyfully accepting pardon.
Refuse to own your debt, confess your debt, and hate the one who calls you to confront it.
Those who fear their debt hide and harbor bitterness.
But those who acknowledge it, confess it and receive forgiveness live in peace and freedom.
We also are to pray for protection from temptation.
James 1:13–14 (NLT)
And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and He never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.
God does not tempt us. But we are tempted in a way that is personal to us.
The prayer of not being led into temptation is that we would not be overcome by it. That we would not be overpowered and drawn to sin.
Temptation that is overcome by the power of the Spirit can cause tremendous growth in our hearts and lives.
Prayer was called flagellum diaboli, meaning to whip and torment the devil. When we are tempted, we should fall to our knees, asking God for deliverance.
A prayer for deliverance from evil is a prayer that asks God for progress in purity of the soul.
Titus 2:12 (NLT)
And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God,
We should be growing towards godliness.
Oh, that the world may see more Christians living in peace with their Father, as they feel and know their sins are forgiven and are growing in godliness. May this be our biggest desire in prayer to grow.
We will end today’s section of prayer asking for God’s forgiveness in two ways.
Let’s pray.
Prayer Prompt 1:
God, show me where my heart is locked by a lack of forgiveness. What is an area that I need to be forgiven?
Prayer Prompt 2:
God, what do You want to say about the evil I am experiencing in my life right now? Send me Your Word.
Psalm 107:20(NLT)
He sent out His word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death.
As we close today, we have had volunteers working diligently to post your cards on a wall to show you as we close in worship today. Ask God to grow your ability to pray as we continue to keep Jesus at the Center of our church this year. Today, we have an opportunity to express our gladness to Christ for all he has done through song. Let’s celebrate Him and sing loud together.