Priority: Prayer
Good morning Main Street church, it is good to be with you all this morning. My name is Jack, I serve on staff here and I get the pleasure this morning of talking about something that we are all so good at and have completely figured out how to do perfectly: Prayer.
Now, something that I have noticed in my many, many years on this earth is that as we grow and get older we find out that there are many ways to do different things. Let me give you a couple of examples:
Church! I remember growing up and going to sunday school as a child and we went every sunday and I knew the flow and rhythms and my teachers and friends but then we would go to my grandparents church when we visited and I would be completely thrown off even with the smallest of details changing, just the number of songs sung or that crafts came before snack instead of after
Then there is cooking… I used to think there was only one right way to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Bread. Peanut butter on one side. Jelly on the other. Smack them together. Done. Then one day someone made one with toasted bread. Another person mixed the peanut butter and jelly in a bowl first. Someone else used a tortilla and rolled it up.
And one guy? He put potato chips in it. (It was actually kind of amazing.) All of them were still peanut butter and jelly. Just done a little differently.
Coffee… French press, Keurig, pour-over, instant, cold brew, gas station. Crazy creamer flavors, straight black coffee. All coffee. All valid.
This is how it can feel with prayer sometimes too. Prayer looks so differently with so many different people that it can be hard to talk about. Some people pray:
Super long
Silently in their heads
Write out their prayers in their journals
Before every meal
Before bed
Prayer lists
Prayer walks
Prayer on your knees
Whatever it is there are countless different ways to pray. I think it would be foolish to stand up here and say that I have discovered the secret to praying and listening to me. But I also think it would be foolish to say prayer doesn’t matter and because it’s complicated and there are so many different ways to do it we should just not pray.
The goal here this morning is to hopefully help us see the gift of prayer and how God wants us to communicate and commune with him.
Prayer is deeply personal—and widely practiced. 67% of Americans prayed in the last month, including 16.5 million non-Christians. Lots of people pray, but not everyone knows the God they're praying to.
Prayer is not just a discipline; it is something we should delight in doing. Not just a duty but a gift, prayer is how God has allowed us to communicate with and know him more and we can’t truly know ourselves unless we know God more.
“Prayer is a commitment to depend on God’s grace and mercy in personal, family, and corporate prayer, so that in all our blessings the Giver will get the glory.”
Why do we pray? Because without God moving first, nothing we do will matter.
We can worship, witness, disciple, and serve, but only God opens eyes, softens hearts, and saves.
We pray, because we depend on Him. And we delight in Him.
This morning, we want to know why prayer matters and how we live as a people of prayer.
We are going to look at:
Why We Pray
How We Pray
Joy We Find in Praying
Why do we Pray? Because God Is a Relational Father
God made us for relationship with Him, and prayer is how we communicate and commune with Him.
This goes back to the entire big story of scripture. The story starts with God who has been there since the beginning. The first four words of the Bible, “In the beginning, God,” this story is not about us, it is about him. Who created us out of nothing and made us to be in relationship with him, humanity broke that relationship when we rebelled against him. And said that we want to live on our own, for ourselves and our glory which killed us, we died spiritually which led to physical death too, but God being rich in mercy and love, had a plan that was revealed all the way back in Genesis 3:15 that he would send a champion to defeat the serpent and he did, sent his son Jesus, our savior to bring us back into relationship with God. He gave us life on the cross and rose from the dead, all to bring us back into relationship with the Father. And through faith, we are now His adopted children (Romans 8:15-17).
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
He speaks to us through His Word as it says in
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
We speak to him, through prayer:
Psalm 17:6
I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my words.
How amazing it is that God listens and hears our prayers to him.
We also commune with God in prayer!
What does that mean to commune with God?
It is spending time and being with God!
When we think about why we pray, ultimately its because God wants to know us and we want to know God. Prayer is spending time with God, communing with him. Letting him into the deepest parts of our hearts and allowing him to transform us.
Surface level conversations result in Surface level friendships. This is true in our friendships, do we only talk about trending online topics and the weather or are we actually diving deep into conversations. Think about the 5 min break we have at the beginning of service, we have a great opportunity even just there to ask real questions and get to know each other.
The same is true with our relationship with God. Are we communicating with God only when it is convenient or when we are asking for something? Or are we truly communing with God and telling him our fears, sins and worries.
That helps us answer the Question of why we pray but not really how. To do that, we will do something that we should do often when we have questions about how to do things in life, look to Jesus.
Jesus Modeled Prayer as Intimacy and Dependence
Luke 5:15–16
But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.
Jesus withdrew often to pray.
After healing a man with leprosy, Jesus asked him to go to the priests—but instead, the man spread the news widely. Jesus was already drawing large crowds, even needing to teach from a boat so people could hear Him. Now, finding quiet moments became even harder. Still, Jesus made time to step away and be alone with the Father. If He needed that time, how much more do we?
Luke 6:12
In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.
He prayed all night before choosing the disciples
Again, If Jesus needed time away to pray to God, how much more do we who are made in God's image but do not share His essence?
Mark 1:35
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
Early morning prayer was part of His rhythm, we see many examples of Jesus who here in Mark had just gotten done with teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum, healed a demon-possessed man who interrupted His teaching, healed Simon Peter's mother-in-law of a fever, and then seen to the needs of as many of the people of Capernaum as could get to Him.
He rests by getting away and praying and being with the Father. What a great example for us
If Jesus needed prayer, how much more do we? I think the easy comparison, at least for me here, is sports. And if you know me that means baseball. Two weekends ago, Ichiro got inducted into the baseball hall of fame and even if you dont follow baseball there is a good chance you have heard of Ichiro. He was my favorite player on my favorite team, the Mariners growing up and the Mariners were awful most of my childhood but we had Ichiro, who was this awesome player. He had this really unique batting stance that I imitated countless times in the backyard. As I was playing and growing up, my coaches wanted us to practice by hitting off the tee and I thought that was so lame, hitting off the tee is for tee ball, for little kids, I was bigger and better than that. But I remember one coach showing me an interview of Ichiro saying that he still, even being one of the best hitters in baseball history, hits off the tee for an hour, everyday. If Ichiro needed to hit off the tee, how much more did 10 year old Jack?
Jesus Modeled Prayer as Intimacy and Dependence. Our lack of prayer reveals our self-reliance, not just forgetfulness. When we are not praying and our prayer life is slacking, it is easy to say “ah I just keep forgetting” but the truth is, most of the time we are not forgetting, we are just relying on ourselves. It is so much easier to pray when things are hard or going wrong and we run to God and say “God please help” but when things are going well we take all the credit and forget to talk to God.
Maybe this is the confident parent, who has read all the books, raises their kids with love, structure, and intention, but doesn’t pray and asks God to help when things are hard. Not because they don’t care but because they believe their parenting techniques are enough to shape their kids' hearts.
Or the busy christian, that wake up, does the workout routine, sends emails rushing throughout the day juggling meeting, errands and random tasks and by night time they realize they never prayed. It's not that they forgot; it's that they believed (maybe subconsciously) they could handle the day without God's help.
That is when we start to look at God as more of a genie in a bottle, a vending machine or a boss employee relationship instead of a father son relationship like it is meant to be.
God doesn’t just want us to come to him before meals or before bed he wants us to come to him when things are hard, when things are good, to celebrate and to just talk to him throughout the day and throughout our lives.
Where are you being self reliant when it comes to pray where we could be talking to God instead?
What Should Prayer Look Like?
This is where I think it is helpful to go to the Lord’s prayer, we saw the different times Jesus prayed and the places he prayed, but he also tells us specifically, how he prayed:
“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For those who have grown up and been around church for most of your life you have probably heard this many times before but I love this quote about the Lord’s prayer from an article I was reading this week that says:
Jesus teaches us a heart posture as much as a form of prayer: to approach God as “our Father,” to humble ourselves before the One who is “in heaven,” to seek his kingdom before our own concerns, to ask for daily bread instead of trying to obtain it by our toil
Cassie Watson (TGC)
There are lots of things that we can learn about prayer from the Lord’s prayer but as we know or as you can tell, everytime we pray we don’t recite the Lord’s prayer.
This is where, if we think back to the beginning, the different ways church is done, PB&J’s are made, and coffee is consumed there are many different ways to pray.
I wanted to give a helpful method and examples that some of us might have heard of
It’s this weird tension because sometimes, at least personally, I want to pray just on my own, how I want to do it, my own way, but that can also lead to very selfish and shallow prayers. So use this method and these examples to help you guide your prayers.
The method is the ACTS method (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication)
Adoration
Which means worship, what we have been talking about a lot this summer, glorying and exalting God. Through adoration, we show our loyalty and admiration of our Father. As we pray, we are called to worship God in adoration. This could be a song of praise to Him, praying a psalm of worship, declaring His attributes, or a myriad of other forms of worship. I like that this is the first one, give God the worship and praise he deserves before asking for what we want.
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven. - v9-10
Confession
The word confess means “to agree with.” When we confess our sins, we agree with God that we are wrong and that we have sinned against Him by what we have said, thought, or done. God forgives us and restores our relationship with Him
forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors. - v12
Thanksgiving
Philippians 4:6 says, “With thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God”. How is thanksgiving different from adoration? The difference is that worship focuses on who God is; thanksgiving focuses on what God has done. We can thank God for many things including His love, salvation, protection, and provision.
Supplication
Which refers to prayer for our and others’ needs. A supplication is a request or petition. Paul encouraged us to make “supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18), which means to pray diligently for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Give us this day our daily bread - v11
And lead us not into temptation, - v13
but deliver us from evil
Again… This is not a formula—it’s a framework.
While the acronym doesn’t appear in the Bible, it can be a helpful tool, especially for those learning or wanting to know more on how to pray. Prayer isn’t about following a strict formula, and not every prayer needs to include every type. God invites us to speak honestly and openly with Him. As our relationship with Jesus deepens, so will our desire to spend time talking with Him.
Some great examples from scripture:
Nehemiah 1:5–11: Nehemiah’s prayer when he hears Jerusalem’s walls are still in shambles.
Daniel 9:1–19: Daniel’s prayer for God’s people during exile.
2 Chronicles 20:1–12: Jehoshaphat’s prayer for deliverance from attack.
Ephesians 3:14–21: Paul’s prayer for spiritual strength to grasp Christ’s love.
I want to read this one:
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
What a powerful prayer this is from Paul to understand more of Christ and who he is.
There are also some difficult emotions that we can experience in our prayer life and walk with God. Busyness, as we talked about earlier, being to busy and not setting aside time for prayer. Obligation, I have to pray because that is what we do at church and what I am supposed to do. Self-reliance, inadequacy, distraction and guilt.
These are all emotions that we might feel or reasons that we don’t pray as often as we should.
I hope that today we can,
Rediscover Joy in prayer
Prayer isn’t a “have to” it’s a “get to.”
When I talk or hangout with Megan, I am not saying, Megan, I’m talking to you because I have to, its my job as your fiancee to talk and hangout with you, otherwise I wouldn’t… I would not want to hear her reaction if I said that.
My friends too, if I said eh I’m only watching football or golfing with you guys today because I have to.
Those are not REAL relationships!!
Instead we need to view prayer as something we get to do. As a conversation with your loving Father who delights in you.
If we are praying to earn favor from God or climb the leaderboard in heaven for most prayers said, then we do not understand the grace that God has given us. We should pray in response to the love and mercy that God has given us not out of obligation or guilt.
Here are some of the ways that we can Rediscover Joy in prayer
Make Prayer Personal and Rhythmic
Get alone with God. We saw in those examples from earlier that Jesus did! Remember Jesus:
would withdraw to desolate places and pray. ,
In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
So, walk, sit, write, lay down—just show up and make space for daily prayer in your life. Don't be afraid to even put it on your calendar like any other priority.
Share stories from your life or people you know who’ve built that rhythm.
Share and Celebrate How God Has Moved
One of the best ways to fuel prayer is by telling stories of answered prayer. When we share how God has moved, it stirs faith and deepens trust. Jesus believed God would answer. So should we.
Maybe you had an immediate fulfillment of a request, an unexpected blessing, guidance through difficult times, or a sense of peace and assurance. We should be excited to share these answered prayers with others around us and those we are in community with.
We share not because we are saying oh if you just pray how I did or have as much faith as I do then your prayers will be answered, we share to remind others around us that God does hear and listen to our prayers and it is worth doing.
We also, get the opportunity to Pray Together as a Church and as a family
We see in Acts 2:42–43 how the early church was devoted to prayer.
And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
There are many ways we already do this here at main street
Pre-service prayer
During worship and sermon
Prayer room
Ministry response times
To “Bear one another’s burdens” prayer isn’t just personal; it’s communal. So we will continue to pray as a church, if you are in need of prayer find someone around you, find a leader or the prayer room in the back.
Summary/Wrap up
We have talked a lot about how there are so many different ways to pray and how crucial prayer is in our daily lives. Let’s look back at our definition of prayer from earlier
“Prayer is a commitment to depend on God’s grace and mercy in personal, family, and corporate prayer, so that in all our blessings the Giver will get the glory.”
I hope that we are both encouraged and challenged this morning:
Encouraged: that our God has given us and wants to have a personal relationship with us. That we don’t have to feel guilty for not praying enough but that we should want to communicate and commune with our Father who loves us and shown us immeasurable grace and mercy
We should also be Challenged: to look inward and reflect on our current prayer life
We are going to move into a time of Response and Application
I have a couple different categories and questions to think about today…
Personal
What’s your current prayer life like? Consistent? Occasional? Dry? Joyful?
What keeps you from praying regularly? (Busyness, distraction, guilt, etc.)
What would help shift from “I have to” → “I get to”?
Spiritual Growth
What small step could you take this week?
(Set a time, write it out, pray Scripture, walk, etc.)
Which type of prayer do you need to lean into more—Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication?
Community, Family & Church
Who needs prayer support from you right now—and how will you let them know?
What’s holding you back?
The band is going to come up and just play some instrumental music, we are going to have about for a minute or so to give us a chance to reflect on these questions
No need to go pick up your kids yet, they will be ready after the first song we sing
Communion
Benediction
(Numbers 6:24–27 ESV)
“The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be
gracious to you;
the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give
you peace.
