Sunday Evening Worship Service

I want you to grab your Bibles grab your devices and we're going to go right to the word of the Lord here tonight what tremendous preaching and teaching we heard Wednesday night and again this morning we are so blessed with the word of the Lord of our pastors and our Bishop and all the Ministries that are taking place here tonight what a great great turnout great spirit of Prayer in our prayer rooms this evening I want to be a people of prayer I want to be a people of prayer does anybody else want that to be your prayer tonight that I want to be a person of prayer amen thank you for all those who are a part of that six o'clock every every Sunday night we've pray and let's find a place to pray I'm going to talk about that tonight of all things so let's go to Luke chapter number 11 Luke chapter number 11 I won't keep you long Luke 11 we're going to read one verse it's kind of a setup into the rest of what Jesus says in the chapter but we won't go into all of that tonight maybe we can some other time but Bishop really inspired me Wednesday night in his Bible study talking about all the different forms of prayer and it got me thinking about it and so let's just go to Luke 11 and see what we can we can learn tonight Luke 11 verse number one and it came to pass that as he Jesus was praying in a certain place when he ceased one of his disciples said unto him Lord teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples Lord teach us to pray tonight I'd like to minister from that text the School of prayer the School of prayer you can put your Bibles down and let's pray one more time father we are so thankful for your spirit that has been here since this morning Lord the word of God that went forth today and the praise and worship and the prayer that's been taking place here but Lord I pray tonight that there'd be something uh to encourage us something to inspire us from your word to become become people of prayer God as we enroll in the School of prayer help us to become students of prayer to become more like you and to follow your example in jesus' name we pray and everyone said amen want you clap your hands again unto the Lord before you are seated amen you can be seated in the name of the Lord the School of prayer the School of prayer praying is communicating with with with God it is um relational prayer is relational it's simply communicating to God now some in this room probably don't remember this but some uh my age and older will remember transistor radios and you'd have to have an antenna y'all remember that anybody know I'm talking about an antenna on your radio some of our cars still have those um on our our vehicles those antennas well what was amazing about transist radios is that through that little device you are able to tap into radio waves that you couldn't see right and you can send messages and receive messages through those transistor radios well now we've got cellular service and if you're in the room or you're out outside the room doesn't matter where you are you're going to get some sort of cellular power to your device you can't see it but it's there right you can receive messages you can send messages and even though you can't see it and you can't touch it you can't feel it it's there and so you have the medium to help you tap into the power that's taking place in the atmosphere and that's what prayer is prayer is uh tapping into it is the it is the medium through which we can receive messages from Jesus and we can send messages to Jesus now prayer kind I've used this analogy many times and the the scripture even does as well is that prayer could be pictured in our marriage relationships and and when you you get married and you have this relationship with your spouse your marriage is going to succeed or fail through your communication if you don't spend time communicating one to another your marriage is going to suffer and brothers this is not communicating and I do that sometimes and she knows when I'm not listening she knows she the other day a couple actually she was yesterday she was recounting to me an event a conversation and I was she goes you were standing there and you heard this you asked the question you even brought other points and I said I have no recollection of any of that uh because as a man sometimes we can be there and not be present oh someone say Amen uh you can you can be there and not necessarily you can hear but not you cannot listen you're not hearing me you're not listening to me and so marriage if we don't if we don't communicate our relationship is going to suffer and so with prayer we we suffer in our prayer life many don't know how to pray because they don't know what to say they don't they don't have a language or a vocabulary are of prayer because you can't see it you can't see God you you necessarily can't feel him you're not maybe can't hear him speak audibly to you and so the only thing that you can hear is this one-way conversation of you just looking like a crazy person talking to yourself you mind know what I'm talking about and so prayer feels like uh it it doesn't succeed I'm not getting through but here's the other issue that if we don't communicate in prayer if we only communicate in prayer on Sundays and never again the rest of the week we're going to suffer our relationship now if I only talk to Ashley on Sundays and the Monday through Saturday I don't talk to her I don't show up I don't see her I don't tell her I love her I don't I don't do anything for her we're going to have a whole lot of problems aren't we and that's prayer if if if we only praying once or uh twice a week or maybe even less than that it it it's going to cause our relationship with God to suffer and prayer is difficult at times isn't it prayer is difficult it involves work and effort uh and we we we we feel like we're not getting anywhere with with our prayer life because it seems so one-sided you know in a relationship whether it's a friendship a job relationship a marriage relationship if you're the only one doing the talking and nothing is being reciprocated you're going to feel like what's the point you know I I get this a lot when as a as a as a pastor as a preacher as a minister people will come and they'll ask me questions and I'll give them answers and I know they're not listening to me I know they're not listening to me how do you brother N I want to know how you study brother N I want to know how to do this and I start do I I know they have tuned me out because I didn't give them the quick fix I didn't give them the answer that they're looking for I didn't I didn't give them the thing that this the little thing that's going to solt and and so when prayer takes place and all we're doing it feels so onesided we don't know what to do and so we feel helpless and hopeless in our prayer life but Jesus doesn't want us to feel that way about prayer and I want to help us tonight to understand that Jesus wants us to enroll in the School of prayer that the greatest prayer that you could ever pray is this Lord teach me to pray I want to encourage you to enroll in the School of prayer there isn't an enrollment free fee you don't have to submit any transcripts of former successes or failures there are no prerequisites you don't have to fight the crowds they have to go by school supplies there are no ENT uh entrance exams recommendation letters needed you don't need a high IQ or be enrolled in honors classes the school is of prayer is a come one come all institution where everybody from every class race economic background and educational status can come and meet with him you don't need to meet with Sally May or some lending institution because prayer won't cost you money but it will cost you something prayer will cost you something it's not going to cost you money but it will cost you something it's like the man I think I mentioned a few weeks ago there's like the man who walked into the the boat showroom and he found the yachts and he said I got to go find me a Salesman he goes to the salesman he says I'm looking at this beautiful yacht and I can't find the price tag and the salesman said this if you have to ask you can't afford it that's prayer if you want to know what the cost to a prayer life is if you want to know what's is going to cost me you're not going to be able to afford I'm telling you it's not going to cost you money but it will cost you something to enroll in the School of prayer if you go back a couple chapters in Luke in in chapter number nine I want to set this up for a moment because I want you to see the reality of prayer I want you to see the the realness of prayer that Jesus had 12 disciples but he had an inner circle of those that he would take to him in certain instances those three men were Peter James and John now Jesus took them to the Garden of Gethsemane to watch and pray but instead of watching and praying they slept and snored anybody know what that feels like to pray I know I'm supposed to pray but I'm sleeping here is the cream of the crop here's the future movers and shakers of the New Testament Church and they can't pray because they're sleepy this this is this is the chosen three the out of the 12 here are the three Peter James and John I'm taking you into the Inner Circle I'm taking you into places so you can see things and experience things and I want you to watch and pray now earlier if you go back a couple chapters jesus takes them up on a mountain and he is transfigured before these three men the Bible says that there is a Shining Light and he is he is transfigured before them and here is Moses and here is Elijah communing with the Son of God and the Bible says here that they're sleepy here too yeah they're sleepy in this moment too that here here is a miraculous event Moses Elijah and Jesus on a mountain and they can hardly keep their eyes open yet when they open their eyes Peter's like oh this is a great place let's build a tabernacle here for all three of you guys it's just stay here let's stay here at the top of the mountain of transfiguration let's just stay here he also took these three to heal and raise ra up a a little girl these are the three who see things and hear things and experience things and are called to do things and yet he says come away and pray for an hour here in the garden of the Gethsemane there's no Moses there's no Elijah there's no little girl who needs to be raised from the dead here's no miraculous event here's no great church service this is not a conference setting this is just a prayer meeting I'll show up to camp meeting but I'm not sure if I could show up to prayer meeting because we all feel that way sometimes don't we it's all right you don't have to say Amen because I can say amen I know what I'm talking about because it is hard to pray at times it is hard to pray look at Jesus said in Matthew 26:40 and 41 he cometh unto those three disciples and findeth them asleep and saith unto Peter what could you not watch with me one hour watch him pray that you enter not into temptation now look at this part it's important the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak there is something in all of us that when we are born again we desire prayer there's it's in US there's something uh after like like the deer pants after the water broke so my soul thirst for God in a dry and thirsty land so here there is something within us that says I must pray I need to pray I want to pray but when it comes to praying we go I he he said I I know you want to but you're flesh you're stuck with this body you're stuck with this the these emotions and these feelings I want you to pray with me but you're sleeping here's Peter he's going to preach the inauguration sermon of the New Testament Church on the day of Pentecost here's John the disciple whom Jesus loved he's going to be exiled onto an island and given Revelations that people today still don't understand James will be a leader he is going to be somebody who will be martyred for the behalf of Jesus and yet here they are snoring when they should be praying can I say this if Peter James and John struggled with prayer we're in pretty good company I I I feel you know here's what we do sometimes we think that the heroes of the Bible were always Heroes we think that these these Bible characters that we love and are real historical figures that they had no problems and they didn't deal with what we dealt with guess what you're wrong they did these things were written for our example these things were written so that we might have hope that we might endure that if they struggled we're going to struggle and that's okay and let me tell you if they struggled and overcame I could overcome too but the issue is we have to have a desire to pray it begins with a desire to pray oh Jesus does this scenario in the garden look familiar to you looks familiar to me there's times when I need to be praying and I find myself wanting to take a nap my eyes fool me into thinking that they are heavier than my heart my thoughts drift and become more pressing and important than my prayers it's easier to scroll through Facebook Instagram and Twitter than it is to communicate with Christ in prayer we'd rather see what everyone else has said and done instead of meditating on what Christ has said and done to all of us now talk about the School of prayer you might not believe this but my mom is here and she can vouch for this by the time I got into first and second grade and third grade my report cards had several things in common they were remarks that said this talks too much he is a distraction to others can you believe that what a terrible thing to put on there for a first I mean it was like they were just like just just begging me to get in trouble got stop talking in class and you could be a distraction and and when you when you are in the School of prayer when you are trying to pray it's easy to become distracted our minds wander we have to-do lists there's things that have happened things we've got to do I got to think about my schedule I got the rest of the day to think and your mind your brain all of a sudden where it should be focused on Christ is focused on everything else and so the first thing we've got to do is remove the distractions we got got to remove the distractions to our prayer now I want to look at these words and I I I'll be brief the rest of the way I promise but the greatest prayer that the disciples ever prayed is this Prayer in Luke 11 and one Lord teach us to pray look at the first word here Lord the word Lord means master ruler it is somebody who is in control or in charge when they approached him they approached him as students servants we are inferior to you I want to learn from you as the teacher as the master I want you to teach me something we have a great Christian School here we've got so many qualified teachers and coaches and when we bring students in of all ages the goal is for them to be taught to be educated and teachers are to teach one thing we try to teach our teachers is that you should be able to answer questions that they ask no question is a dumb question and we should never answer somebody like this you should already know this um that's why I'm asking you that's why I'm here I'm not the teacher you are you know that's another thing that marriage relationships should never say what would you like for dinner you should already know um I don't what's wrong with you you should already know um I don't you know that's that should never be an answer in our in our relationships with anybody you should already know that if I already knew that I wouldn't ask the question you stop running shouting hey can you show me how to do this you should already know how to do this well I don't that's a terrible way to answer any body and Jesus when he they said Lord they were addressing him as one who is superior to themselves that he is an example that they want to follow Jesus knows what prayer is he prayed on Earth as the God man everything that he did was baptized or soaked in prayer and he just didn't pray corporately he would get alone and Pray by himself yourself Jesus knew that I cannot do some things without first praying and if Jesus felt that way if Jesus realized I've got to get alone and pray whether it's at at night alone or early in the morning alone I need to get alone and pray I have to remove the distractions anything that Jesus did he did with prayer he taught by the example of what he was doing it's not simply well he and I know what some of you are wanting me to do tonight tell me how to pray tell me what to do but sometimes it's not necessarily what is taught verbally it is taught by the example of doing it there are some who are auditory Learners and there are some who are visual Learners I had a drum teacher when I was in high school I started take I could not read music I still can't read music and uh so he would he would write out he would write out these things so let me I was entering into a competition in my sophomore year of high school it was a Statewide competition and you had to submit your your your music and so I and my teacher knew I couldn't read music and so what he would do is he wrote it all out for me and then he would play it in front of me and then record it so I could go home and listen to what he was doing because I was a auditory and a vision I had to see it and I had there were some things I had to see and hear and there are say and now listen Jesus gave them example he didn't say to pray this and repeat it but he showed them an example of Prayer sometimes prayer isn't necessarily how it's communicated it's how it is performed and the best way to learn how to pray is to watch others who pray this is deep stuff I know man this is so simple some of us we make prayer so complicated we Mak prayer so complicated but all we have to do is come to him as master and he wants to teach teach us and I I I just want to say this about prayer there are no calculators I remember my teachers I I'll talk about this in a moment but I remember my teacher said you you won't have a calculator everywhere you go wrong you're not going to be able to take that calculator everywhere you go like how would I'd like to go back go there are no Cliffs notes to prayer there are no boldfaced words for you to look up in the back of the book to get the answer for prayer there are no clips notes you can't Google your way past the test of prayer you must be taught to pray the greatest of subjects is not mathematics Science History or literature the greatest subject you can learn is the language of prayer but there's no master's degree from prayer you're never going to graduate from prayer you're never going to be so spiritual that you knowe don't need to pray we must all stay in the School of prayer Jesus said don't come to me as a educated adult he said come to me like a little child in faith that's what prayer looks like Lord Lord Lord I don't know how to do this Lord I need help when you feel inadequate you go to someone who can help you mom's here again seventh grade they realized math not his greatest subject and so mom found a tutor for me to go to on Thursdays a math tutor and so from seventh grade until 12th grade every Thursday right after school I went to my math tutor I hated Thursdays I I mean I got a headache as soon as 1:00 came around on Thursdays I knew I was going to my math tutor's house and I'm going to sit there and try to learn this Mandarin Chinese Russian language called math and she's going to look at me like what is wrong with you I'm like one of these days God give me a calculator for everywhere I can go and I would sit there realizing I need help with this you're saying brother N I want help with my prayer life the greatest thing for you to do is to ask the Lord to help you Lord teach me look at the next word teach us next phrase teach us who's us who's us the disciples this is the chosen the called the elect the ones who will expand the kingdom they want to know how to pray us teach us those who work miracles cast out Devils preach the gospel of the Kingdom teach us who needs to be taught to pray today us the apostolic Pentecostals teach us the holiness people teach us the modestly dressed people teach us the empowered holy spirit filled truth loving people teach us those who've been baptized in the name of Jesus teach us those with the revelation of the Oneness of the godhead teach us the anointed the skilled The Talented the gifted teach us the singers the musicians the educated the administrators the leaders the teachers teach us the business owners the entrepr R rurs the professionals teach us the young the vibrant the moms the dads the grandmas grandpas teach us us we must be taught how to pray teach us all of us need this lesson teach us what teach us how to preach no teach us how to plant churches no teach us how to raise the dead no teach us how to sing good no teach us how to produce the greatest church service no teach us how to administer and set up systems and processes to make disciples of all men no teach us to pray if we will be taught how to pray he'll give us everything else we need to do all the other things we desire if we will come to him and say Lord teach us to pray you'll learn how to preach if we'll if we'll ask him to teach us how to pray we will win more souls if we'll if we'll ask him to teach us how to pray he will anoint us he will enable us he will Empower us he will gift you he will Empower come on somebody it is through prayer that we are able to accomplish all of our desires for the kingdom Jesus said without without me you can do nothing you can do what he said without me you can do nothing but with him you can do all things I wonder if somebody will say Lord teach me to pray teach me to pray Ashley bring him and musicians can start making their way the greatest lesson the greatest lesson that we can learn is how to pray he didn't teach them how to Pastor he didn't teach them theology or bi or biology he taught them how to pray I want to pray how vast are the possibilities of prayer what great things are accomplished by this means of Grace prayer lays its hand on almighty God and moves him to do what he might not otherwise do had we not prayed prayer is a wonderful power and Tool placed in the hands of God's people the only limit to prayer and God's promises are those the only way we can limit him is if we do not pray prayer is asking seeking and knocking it's asking him asking him seek in him pleading with him it is prayer prayer is our direct address to God in everything let your requests be known unto God James said it this way you have not because you ask not how many un unanswered prayers are there in your life because you simply did not ask how many blessings how many blessings how many Provisions are waiting for you to Simply ask God in prayer prayer moves the hand that moves the world prayer is the lungs through which Holiness breathes prayer blesses all things brings all things believes all things and prevents all things stand with me the feeble are made Strong by prayer sickness flees before the health of prayer doubts misgivings and fears retire before the face of prayer wisdom knowledge Holiness are given through much prayer and bitterness is sweetened by prayer the weak are made Strong by prayer the lowly are lifted up by prayer The Sinner is saved by prayer God teaches us his will by prayer history is shaped by prayer Revelation is given through prayer devils are cast out by prayer Devils tremble and flee at the hearing of prayer prison doors are opened by prayer and Holy Ghost Fire is poured out when people pray enroll Us in the School of prayer teach us to pray what caused them to ask that they heard and they watched John taught his disciples can you teach us to pray prayer is not something you you just add on to your day I heard R Martin Luther the reformer he said I'm my day is so busy that I have to pray three to four hours a day that's what he said he said my day is so busy that I have to pray three to four hours a day and we struggle to give the Lord three to four minutes of prayer now come on now I want to dispel a couple things debunk some myths about prayer first prayer can't be all about asking for something Ashley go cook me dinner Ashley clean the house Ashley get East ready Ashley do you know what she's going to do she is going to punch me if all I'm doing is asking her to do stuff all the time she's going to start thinking that she's not my spouse but that she's my servant right but when I spend time with her and I like spending time with her there's nobody else I want to spend time with and this is not a marriage conference but I worry about some marriages that you always have to spend time with other people other than your spouse if you feel uncomfortable spending time with your spouse alone you need to meet with somebody and get some counseling I'm not joking it's worrisome to me that some people can't some marriages they can't be Al with each other they have to constantly oh other people well that's another sermon I want to spend time with her because she's my spouse she makes me better and I'm not just simply telling her here's the other thing I can't do in my relationship with her I can't just be always asking her for things I can't always be complaining to her also oh it's the worst day you know about this and this situation she's going to go who do you think I am but there are times where I just have to be around her and just talk that's what prayer is I'm going to debunk something so don't get upset with me Pentecostals okay you don't have to speak in tongues every every time that you pray or cry if all the time I'm crying to her she's GNA go man up man get it together prayer is communicating it's talking brother n how do you pray here's how I pray Jesus I love you this is how I start I love you thank you for waking me up today Lord thank you for another day to live and move and have my being within you Lord I Thank you that you've given me good health and my body peace and strength in my mind this is I'm going through my prayers this all right I'm gon to teach you just a little bit I'm just talking to him I this is how I talk to him I'm not going I'm just walking and pray praying Jesus I thank you for my wife I thank you for my little girl I thank you for clothes on my back and shoes on my feet I thank you for food on our table Lord thank you for for good health in our bodies thank you Lord for food on our table blessing our finances Lord I Thank you for this calling this Min I'm just going through thanking him talking to him just I love you and then I start to when you you know what you know what this is It's called Praise I I love you I think you're so pretty man God knew what he was doing when he made you I'm getting a little closer to her and all of a sudden now you know I'm I'm I'm I'm worshiping right I I'm I'm I'm I'm showing her adoration for who she is not just for what she does oh my God so worship then Moves In to Lord I love you because you are God lord I worship you because you're holy Lord I worship you because you're worthy you're worthy to receive all the glory and the honor and the majesty and power and strength Lord You're holy Thrice holy holy holy holy Lord you're good Lord You're magnificent Lord You're marvelous Lord You're magnificent Lord I Thank you for the revelation of who you are you're the Mighty God in Christ Jesus here oh Israel the Lord our God is one there's none beside you there's none before you there's none coming after you Oh Lord You're the alpha you're the Omega you're the beginning and you're the ending you're the first and you're the last which was which is and which shall be to come the almighty God you're the King of Kings and the Lord of lords you see I'm I'm just talking to him and you're starting to feel her aren't you I wonder if somebody can start doing that right now that's prayer and all of a sudden now you're moving into Lord I need you Lord I'm nothing without you I don't know why you called me I don't know why you chose me but Lord I'm so thankful for this salvation Lord I'm so thankful for all that you've done for me I'm nothing without you lord I'm here because of you that's prayer that's prayer that I go into repentance and say Lord forgive me of all of my sin Lord forgive me of failing you yesterday forgive me of all of my sin blot out pardon my iniquities and my transgressions oh Lord wash my mind of every negative thought Lord Wash Me of every sinful lustful thought I've had help me to cast down on imaginations that I've raised itself above your knowledge forgive me oh God wash my lips oh god of every careless word everything that I've said oh God lord if I've said a hateful word if I've been cynical if I've been sarcastic Lord forgive me forgive me if I've talked bad about my neighbor forgive me are you seeing what's happening here all of a sudden now you're moving all of a sudden now he's getting close and now you're being taught prayer and he says come on a little bit longer a little bit further a little bit deeper and when you get that close now you can start saying Lord touch my family touch my city touch my wife touch my daughter send us Revival God I need you pour out your spirit oh God come on I'm in the School of prayer would you lift up your hands let that be your prayer tonight Lord I Want to Know You Lord I want to see you Lord I want to feel you Lord I want to hear you teach us to pray teach us to pray come on somebody would you lift up your voice would you let that be your prayer here on Sunday night as they begin to sing could you just say Lord teach me to prayer I don't have to pray like brother Nate but Lord help me to talk to you and communicate with you help me God to come close to you come on would you let that be your prayer teach us to pray