Rooted In ChristSample

Rooted In Christ: Prayer Great people of faith prayed. Great people of faith repented. Great people of faith praised and thanked God. Great people of faith prayed effective and strategic prayers. Jesus Himself made prayer a priority and modeled an effective prayer life and so should we. Whether it was the times He went off by Himself to spend time in prayer with His Father, (See Luke 5:16) Or through the times in Matthew 6:1-15 & Luke 11:1-13 where His disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray and He did, which we refer to as “The Lord’s Prayer”. He even prayed as He was on the cross. “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do” (See Luke 23:34). Again, He made prayer a priority and modeled an effective prayer life for us. Now imagine for a moment that you never talked to your family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors. Let me ask you, how would your relationship grow if you didn’t talk to them? Would it grow at all? Same with prayer in your relationship with Christ. If you don’t spend time in prayer, you won’t get to know Him because prayer is how you’re able to talk directly to The Lord Himself any time, all day long. What prayer is… * one of the essential tools God has given that will help you become further rooted and established in Christ. * your direct access to communicate with Jesus. * a way for you to share from your heart and mind with His. * a lifelong commitment as we’re to pray unceasingly and pray about everything. * your 1-on-1 time with God either through a formal time you set aside or moment by moment prayer. * an opportunity for confession, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, praise, and more. * an opportunity for you to ask Him to fill you anew each day with His Spirit. * an opportunity to ask for wisdom. * and it is much more. What prayer isn’t… * meant to be a burden but you should have a burden to pray. * often a one and done thing as it’s a continual commitment. * meant to be a gossip session. * meant to be a delay tactic for being obedient to do what God calls us to do or as A.W. Tozer well said, “Prayer will become effective when we stop using it as a substitute for obedience.” * something you should be afraid to do because He wants you to approach Him confidently. * And it isn’t a lot of other things we make it out to be. During various seasons of life, you will naturally pray more, especially in times of great stress and need in your life and the lives of others. You need to remember that God wants to hear your heart and is never too busy for you. He’s always there and want you to get to know Him as He knows you. I pray that you devote yourselves to prayer, not in a legalistic way but with a pure desire to grow closer to God and to serve and lift up others in prayer. May you never forget that prayer is an essential gift and tool God has given us to communicate with Him, to seek Him and share our hearts, concerns and thoughts with Him, to intercede for others and it’s also something that contributes to our growth in becoming firmly rooted and established in our faith. Questions to get started with: * How is your prayer life connected to becoming rooted, built up, and established in faith? * Do you make prayer a priority? * While you obviously cannot make them a part of every prayer, do you seek to make confession, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, and praise regular aspects of your prayers?