Praying Pure Word [Part 1]

Pastor author and Bible teacher, Alan. Write to these disciples that he couldn't stay awake for an hour when Jesus is at his hardest time of his life Pentecost in acts chapter 2 we see they become enthralled with prayer and acts chapter 2 tells us simply they devoted themselves to prayer, so something change from just feel like a tremendous chore to pray, even for an hour to them becoming a people of prayer. What change was the coming of the Holy Spirit into another message of use will help you see your life in a whole new light and deliberate excited for you to hear the teaching today. In the series called free as presented at bonobo church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now.

It's a book written by pastor at called God moments it can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries as you listen to today's message go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us@pastor.org that's pastor out.O RG or call 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860. More on this later in the program but right now let's get started with today's teaching here is Alan Wright makes a little strange, but the most powerful prayer life is available to you, and it's not just praying to God, but in a very real sense it's praying with God and what you learned in coming weeks about praying well, God's own prayers that are recorded in the word of God will learn about five great prayers from the Bible and you can learn them, believe them, you can say them and in so doing, my hope is that you're going to discover more more how powerful it is now transformational to your prayer life.

It would be to pray the Scriptures this morning.

I just want to point to the two verses. The first is in the Ephesians is in chapter 6 and I pick up in the midst of Paul's description of the whole armor of God and what she says at verse 18. He adds this praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, praying at all times in the spirit so to Paul Mikita prayer is praying in the spirit and then Paul in second Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 has this well-known verse that is on the not directly relate to. Praying in the spirit and that is that all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, all Scripture is breathed out by God at all times were to be praying in the spirit.

The word for breath is the same word is spirit, and so to say that all Scripture is breathed out is to say God's Spirit has insists is filled to the Scripture.

That's what it means to be inspired so the Scriptures are full of the spirit because there's spirit filled in and sit in the end inspired Scripture means God's breath and it were to pray in the spirit and I'm gonna show you the relationship of that today while my nephew in law Matt to teach as a Christian private school in town and he had a hilarious story that one of the fifth grade teachers related to him recently.

This fifth-grade teacher sets up an empty chair in the room every day is a reminder that Jesus is there in the room and sorry but I knows that's Jesus as chair and I just never want to forget Jesus is here in the room with the concept well one day fifth-grade girl gone to sort of a tussle with another girl and their over towards one side of the room and the one girl that just got inappropriate them angry or something and she took off and she started running across the room and as she got to the empty chair. Her foot caught on it and she tripped and as she was falling to the ground.

She said Jesus got me though that is the point of the Jesus chair or not but it made me think of another beautiful well known story circulated some years ago about dear man, older, older man who was nearing the end and he was at home he become bedridden. His pastor came over to visit and as he came to visit. There was an empty chair that was next to the bed and the pastor said you must've been expecting me to sit on the chair and the man said it well is it honestly said that's not why the chair is there any told pastor story. He said that some years ago this man. His name was Joe was talking to a friend of his and they were talking about prayer and Joe had said that he didn't feel like he knew how to pray didn't really know what to say to God, and so his friend had said want to try something that I do as it is taken empty chair and I sit across from it, and I imagine Jesus as they are sitting in that chair and then I just have a conversation with him and I talked to him in the eye. Listen, just the same way that you and I are talking, and so the old man told his pastor he said so some years ago I started that practice in the said so that's really why the chair is there is I have no Jesus is here in this room with me and I talked to him every day and some days later, a man passed and they went on to heaven and his daughter reported to the pastor that her father had died peacefully. She said, but one interesting thing she said.

I noticed that is that when I found him he was partially with his head lying over in the chair next to the bed, which I thought was kind of strange in that sweet because a conversation with God is really what prayer is all about.

It's interesting that, according to surveys, more people will pray this week and then will go to work or drive a car 80% of Americans say that prayer is part of their life in the majority people say prayer is very important to them.

And yet if prayer is so important and something that most people say that they do. Why is it that you seem to talk to so few people that fine prayer to be something that they feel really is powerful and satisfying more often you talk people and they say that they feel like your prayer life seems sort of empty or sometimes it feels like a chore I something like like that. They really should do. It is very important and yet they don't feel it's very powerful and they feel like they don't know what to say to God, well in coming weeks, and we're going to learn one of the greatest things that you never learn about prayer and that is that in addition to bringing our own faults in our heart to God that part of what we do in prayer is that we pray with God by the power of the Holy Spirit and one of the greatest ways that you can pray in the spirit is to pray the Scripture. And so what window look out our actual prayers in the Bible and how you could incorporate these into your regular prayer life and what I'm expecting is that there's going to be a lot more joy and a lot more sense of closeness to God and confidence in your prayer life as we learn about praying the word of God. One of the things I think that problems were prayer is a lot of people have misconceptions about prayer and there are a lot of ways that we can pray that are just not really biblical prayers at all and becomes very empty now thinking of five different kinds of powerless prayers, the first of which is what I call the lucky rabbit's foot prayer. That is, like the superstitious thing you know superstition is a something you feel like I do in order to sorta be in control and yet is just silly and foolish. I was thinking about superstitions and I was looking up some of the athletes of famous athletes and their crazy superstitions that they have and I did not know that Michael Jordan throughout his MBA career as he was winning all those championships for the Chicago Bulls that he would always superstitiously wear his University of North Carolina basketball shorts underneath to Chicago, even even the NBA championships go back eventually to Carolina. Isn't that something out of the same business of 41 former LSU football coach Les Miles eats up you would eat a piece of the turf before a game is you saw Jerry Tarkanian, the former passable coach at UNLV that would always chew on the town. Everything I guess in order to an attempt when he was a younger coach. He was at hot Jim, somewhere, and he kept going and water found on the water fountain and so finally he just drenched a towel made it wet so that he would just come a supplement town during the game while they won the game. What ever since then he sits over and choose all out on a wet tap, superstitious or dizzy things. Really I need is make sure I do that or else something bad might happen this hour prayer is. It is not the thing like oh no I didn't bless the food it might. It mom I get sick. Now I know it's it's just that that's not that's not prayer.

All this that's just super talent right will have more teaching moment. Today's important series facing a problem when a well-meaning Christian friends said something like that.

The problem was such an expectation. Of course, is that telling someone that they actually help the person have more faith once more faith can we do to get more faith in his home he clean book God mimics pastor Aaron Wright describes one of the most important typical pathways to building your faith, remembering God's presence in your life when you see God's faithfulness yesterday you find it easier to trust him tomorrow you like this before and throughout the night's teaching series and treasure map to help you discover them. When you make a gift with very special Bento rights faith building but God moments series that he is preached on the subject, both when you make your gift, it's time to discover your God moments from yesterday and be filled with fresh fish for we are in our final days of offering to special product, 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor.like today's teaching now continues you once again is he was at a hot Jim somewhere and he kept going and water found on water fountain and so finally just drenched a towel made it wet so he would just come a supplement town during the game while they won the game. What ever since then he said so, then choose all out on a wet tap superstitions or dizzy things.

Really I need is make sure I do that without some bad might happen this hour prayer is.

It is not the thing like oh no I didn't bless the food it might. It mom I get sick now know it's it's just that that's not that's not prayer unless this is superstition.

Then there's the soapbox prayer and were praying with people and we use it as an opportunity to maybe telling some we've learned recently. Largest let all these people know that according to Leviticus chapter 23, beginning at verse 10 that you desire the firstfruits of our lives and or the problem is that the people are bringing firstfruits. I got it. If you have had prayer, then turns in somebody else's Bible study which a close cousin that another kind of powerless prayer the manipulative prayer and illimitable of prayer, don't do this kind of prayer. This is where the husband you know and his wife, praying the Lord just help my wife, my dear wife is just help her be a better cook just help or just helper Jesus and get some decent meals around here for check.

That's not a methodology access to the forum manipulative. There's me me me prayer and be careful about this one because I'm not suggesting to you that God turns us turns away just because you come to him with your desires know he loves to give you the desires of your heart. But there's a kind of prayer that James says you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. Years ago Janis Joplin made famous song that felt blasphemous, but it kinda made its point, which was her critique of think of materialism. The Lord want to buy me a Mercedes Benz. My friends all drive courses I must make amends and remember that old, but there is a kind of prayer that is just me me me me me and there. There are two ways really of waking up and talking to God about your day, there's a way this is Lord, I will do some important things today so please bless everything and is another way is is Lord you're going to some important things today and I like be part of that's way to really experience God Henry Blackman said, and then finally another kind of prayer that you hear a lot and almost sounds almost sounds spiritual so what I call the worm prayer nothing. Lord, I deserve nothing to spend about 25 minutes talking about how worthless you are, then you finally get around to sand and so Lord, I know it will during fame or whatever it is your will is found me when you say this in shame-based homes. Often there is an environment that teaches the children that what they want doesn't matter in their voice has no place be seen not heard is sometimes a motto in a shame-based home.

Maybe it's an alcoholic home is not much time to think about what the children needed while trying to fix daddy's problem and some some big percentage of people grown up in homes where children were really allowed to be validated for what they want, but see as a father, I love to give good gifts to my children when there kids were little like a MFI screen.

I'd like to know what do they want is it you want to have mint chocolate chip for would you like to have s'mores flavored ice can would you like to have what kind why because it matters to me is point for the way a good father thinks and misunderstand God's like that there's a part of prayer in which we acknowledge that we don't deserve good things from God will come to him with an entitlement mentality but we don't come with this sense that I don't matter. That doesn't honor God and we don't come to him with a sense of I couldn't expect that you would do something for me because that's utterly inconsistent with the actual promise of God that he's able to do exceedingly abundantly above and beyond anything you could so the bigger model of prayer is that if something big.

God puts into your heart when you talk to God. So there's a lot of ways that prayer is ineffective and others are some of the like make light of that, but I think that Kent said at least some of the problems we have in prayer and I think the key to powerful, joyful and effective prayer life is highlighted by Paul when he says that all times prayer in the spirit. Paul is a man of prayer, and Paul. You can see you throughout the New Testament praying for the churches and fight were going be learning from some of Paul's prayers. But what is he mean when he says to pray in the spirit. Some traditions have said that this only refers to praying according to the spiritual gift of tongues, but I think that there are many ways of file of praying in the spirit which means to pray in connection with God's own spirit means to pray in the empowerment and direction of God's own spirit and one of the most beautiful ways that you can pray in the spirit is to learn to pray God's word back to him try to explain that when Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane and he was at this time of tremendous agony. He asked his disciples if they would stay awake and pray with him. You watch with me because his soul was troubled unto death, he said he sweat blood is physically feeling it. His soul was so heavy under the weight of what was getting ready to happen in the cup that he was in have to drink that he actually asked his disciples to pray for him, but they fell asleep and so Jesus said to Peter, could you not want for one hour watch and pray, and he said the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

So right here in this passage we have these three words so Jesus is troubled, and then he says that the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak and so these disciples that couldn't stay awake for an hour when Jesus is. It is hardest time of his life at Pentecost in acts chapter 2 we see they become enthralled with prayer and acts chapter 2 tells us simply they devoted themselves to prayer, so something changed from it just feels like a tremendous chore to pray, even for an hour to them becoming a people of prayer. What changed was the coming of the Holy Spirit. Paul said in Romans chapter 8 very clearly. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. Listen to this for we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with for us with groanings too deep for words Paul says in their places. We, in and of ourselves do not know what to pray for this, a very important part of the of your prayer life is to come. This placing really.

My mind is too limited to even know how to really pray I'm not messing I think you bring whatever desires you have like a little child us to file you bring your desired OS understand that if we were left just on our own in the matter of prayer. Then there's got to be a tremendous limit because we do not understand enough in and of our own natural thinking. This brings in a matter of theology really about more about the makeup of a human being. That to me is very helpful to see that we are tripartite, spirit, soul and body me just say this is a somewhat disputable matter. There are some theologians and pastors that I've Bible teachers love that would say no were bipartite we just soul and body, but when I look at the Scripture.

I see so many references a spirit soul and body, and it helps me to understand so many things and one of things it helps me understand is what it means to pray in the spirit and what spiritual prayer is versus just more of the minds prayers and for example, first Thessalonians, Paul is just blessing the Thessalonians, he says now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus is on this kind of distinction between spirit, soul and body.

When Jesus says the spirit is willing, the word willing means desiring means wanting to. I believe I play for the born-again Christian. The spirit within you is always one pray always wanting right.

That's today's teachings we kick off the series. Bring your word and the teaching of the same title alum is back in a moment with additional insight on what we've learned today for our lives in a final word in every moment nearly escaped from the moment you were surprised by blessing just knew the direction to take the final moments of God's grace. Perhaps they been covered by the sands of time just gone unnoticed in the rush of life.

Your life is full of God moments when you make a gift to send you a special bundle pastor. I went hearts during birth God moments feeding them containing all his messages on the subject may kick to start your spiritual treasure. I'm coming how you remember yesterday will determine how you live tomorrow.

The gospel is shared when you get to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. We are in our final days of offering the special product, six 877-544-4860 come to our website pastor out like this is good news that our spirit you believe is willing to pray and sometimes it is tapping into know that the power of prayer is there for us just a breath away. Just a breath away and I think that is so important, Daniel.

When we know we're clearly told by Paul to pray in the spirit to understand that perhaps immediate beautiful way you can pray in the spirit is praying purer word because the word of God is inspired means it's breezed into means it is inspire spirit in is what that means.

And so the spirit in every bit of the word, and so when you pray the word you're praying with the spirit has inspired the sheer praying in the spirit we have a lot to learn about the power of praying straight from God's word today.

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