Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?
Pastor Troy Murphy used that question from Corrie ten Boom in his message on Sunday, July 29 to reinforce the importance of prayer in our daily lives.
Many Christ followers treat prayer like a spare tire, pulling it out when they have a “flat,” or when a need arises. Instead, prayer should be our steering wheel that we hold onto every minute of our lives — in good times and bad times and all times in between.
Troy completed our six-week Fight Club summer sermon series, which focused on the armor of God. Troy said the most effective armor we can use against Satan is prayer (Ephesians 6.18-20). How do we best fight against the evil one? Pray!
Someone who says they know God and doesn’t feel compelled to begin to talk to the Father doesn’t know him well. A natural part of coming to Christ is talking to him.
Listed below are some key points from Troy’s message.
What Prayer Is Not
*A consumer tool
Are there people who only contact you when they need something? How many of us are guilty of that with God, only choosing to talk to him when a crisis or emergency arises?
*An obligation
God is not checking off boxes about our prayers. We should want to talk to the creator of the universe and not feel like we have to do it.
*An easy road
The perception that when a Christian prays everything will be granted and life will be a breeze is wrong.
How Do We Pray?
*In the Spirit
*On all occasions
*With all kinds of requests
*With alertness
*Without ceasing
Praying in the Spirit
When you came to Christ and surrendered your life to him, you were filled with the Holy Spirit, who guides you and is a change agent in your life. Your affections and view of the world shifts.
Romans 8: 15-27 mentions five characteristics of someone praying in the Spirit, according to pastor and author Tim Keller:
PRIMAL
Our primal instinct is a longing to be connected with our Heavenly Father. We long to snuggle in the neck of the Father. When the Holy Spirit is active there is a longing to pray and connect to the Father.
REAL
When we pray in the Spirit we feel the weight of the brokenness of this world. Governments and countries and legislation can't change the hearts of people -- God does that. Christians are not immune from bad things happening to them. That means the weight and reality of life is heavy at times. But we don’t always see the big picture. We don’t have a heavenly perspective of what is going on in the world. Sometimes we will suffer pain and trials and we don’t know why, but God does and often it's for our good.
POSITIONAL
We cry 'Abba, Father.’ What does it say about my relationship when I say dada? I understand who I am. I am chosen, an heir to the throne, an infant humbled in God’s presence. That’s praying in the Spirit. There’s a sense of reverence that you came to dada.
EXPERIENTIAL
We begin to experience new things. When we're praying in the Spirit we get to see new things — things we need to start and stop doing. We see people differently, with more compassion and grace. We get a divine picture of our life and what matters. When we pray in the Spirit we get to experience an overwhelming sense that the Father is letting us in.
COMMUNAL
Many people don’t like to pray in public. But when we’re around other believers it no longer matters what everybody else thinks. The prayers of those who love God come together. We cry out as a community. Your spiritual family is as important if not more so than your biological one. You are called to begin to pray together. We must do more corporate prayer. Don't worry about words, just pray and cry out.
