The Prayer Journey

at church and we want everyone to be involved god is good and actually if anyone does have offering if you will just pass it on to sister sarah and we're just going to get running here we're talking tonight about a prayer journey and before we begin i'm gonna take a moment just to be real for the past few weeks i've been thinking about this and praying about it and just really talking to god for direction i thought maybe i needed to you know present a book to you is it's too old and anyway i was just really you know doing some soul-searching and you know we had the holidays we have had thanksgiving we've had christmas and i'm not a real big fan of a fan of new year's personally because i kind of feel sad about the ending year and more time has passed and but then last week i thought you know i'm gonna get excited about the first sunday of the year so i was excited and i was anticipating the first service of 2020 well weekend came and i started feeling a little rough and i thought oh no no no no no i can't do this this can't be happening i can't be getting sick well i got sick i fought it but i got sick and i had to miss that first service in 2020 miss the prayer meeting first prayer meeting of the year i was excited about that anticipating getting excited about the first prayer meeting out at the church for 2020 and then i'm sick and i found myself discouraged so just to give you an insight to what i've been dealing with for the past few days the enemy came to me a few times and said do you really need to get up there on wednesday and start talking to anybody about prayer you've not made it to church you didn't make it to prayer meeting and i got to thinking about that and i felt a little discouraged i thought well maybe i need to call pastor maybe i don't need to be up here wednesday night but you know what i started doing i started to pray sister ken started to talk to god and the more i talked to god guess what it did it drowned out the voice of the enemy trying to lie to me and discourage me so here i am cough drops tissues i am better water and your support and prayers and so i'm just in here and i'm gonna do this and we're gonna give the enemy a black eye we've got a lot of people sick we're just gonna pray for them right now matter of fact let's just go ahead and start with prayer can we stand right now i'm not gonna name everybody that's sick because i'll forget somebody that would be unintentional but let's just go to the lord right now in prayer together jesus thank you god that you are here in our midst i thank you for another opportunity there god to stand in your presence god those that are sick and body that are battling the flu and other viruses their god we plead your precious blood over them right now let there be a healing virtue that flows in your name jesus we are trusting you there god you are the great physician you are our healer you're our provider the strength that we need their god and i worship you tonight i give you praise tonight got anoint this time together lord be here their god it's about you and we want to lift up your name jesus we want to grow closer to you jesus god we thank you once again for being here we praise you jesus and we thank you because we know that you have heard our prayers in the name of jesus and everybody say in jesus name in jesus name you may be seated well as we begin this study first of all a prayer journey okay we've called this a prayer journey and tonight i don't want to insult anybody okay because i look around and we've all been in church we all have a background in church but the way i may talk tonight and some of the things i have to say it may sound like i'm talking to newcomers okay because when i began to really think about this i thought you know what i feel like before we begin i want to get back to the basics you know just get back to the basics because sometimes i think we all need just to go back and just kind of remember some things so as we begin this study this journey some of these things that i will say may seem elementary and very simple but we are starting like i said with basics getting back to the basics of prayer i'm going to try to create a foundation in which we will only build upon as we grow in our recommitment and devotion to god so no matter how long you've been in church no matter how long you've had a prayer life it does not matter we're gonna think of it right now we're starting a new journey in a new year okay and the first thing i thought i would do and i do this a lot when i'm studying certain things i go and i look up definitions does anybody else do that it's like oh let's just see what webster's has to say about this i don't know it's the thing i do but when i looked up in the dictionary to see what the man-made definition was some of the things that said was an address such as a petition to god a set order of words used in praying and earnest to request or wish the act or practice of praying to god a devout petition to god or an object of worship a spiritual communion with god or an object of worship as in supplication thanksgiving adoration can fashion the act or practice of praying to god or an object of worship a formula or sequence of words used in or appointed for praying example like the lord's prayer but then i got to thinking how do you define prayer how do i define prayer and i started thinking about how i really do to find prayer and i think the first word that comes to my mind when i think of prayer is communication it's communication it's a communication between us and god and communication is a conversation and a conversation is not only us talking but also us listening and that is just as important as talking to god is to take that time to learn to listen and to hear his voice it's a spiritual communication between man and god a two-way relationship in which we should not only talk to god but also listen to him i actually i forgot to do something can you do care to do something for me inside that laptop case there are some you'll find some cards i don't index cards and pens somewhere and then it may be in the other zipper part if you don't mind just get those out for him just a minute prayer is also and i want you to be thinking about how you define prayer as well not just what i'm saying prayer is the practice of being in the presence of god and you know that part when i really thought about that that's what it is prayer is a way that we are ushered into the very presence of god it's the place where we lay down pride and i've got to be honest with you i think pride stops a lot of people from praying i think i can i think i can confess i can't remember back specifically anything that maybe had happened but i feel like pride at some point in my life kept me from really praying like i was fooling god like i didn't see the real mean you know that i was needy and i needed him so pride got in the way of me really having a true prayer life a true communion with my creator so but prayer is a place where pride is abandoned it's a place where hope is lifted supplication it's where is made it's where we bring our needs to him prayer is the place of admitting our need you know sometimes we have a weakness someone that's strong and strong-willed and independent and self-reliant even with god can happen we can have a hard time saying you know what i need this i need you but that's what prayer is it's saying you know what i can admit right now that i am in need of god i can't do this by myself i need you it's a place prayers a place of adopting humility i've already talked about pride placing pride and putting it down and picking up humility that's where what you find in prayer it's claiming complete dependence on god and that's okay that's okay not to be completely self-reliant i think that there are things that we absolutely do for ourselves faith without works is dead but i do believe that we claim dependence on god it is also the needful practice of a christian isn't that what christians do if we believe in christ shouldn't we commune with him shouldn't we talk to him so that's a practice that we should have prayer is the exercise of faith and hope i hear about people that go to the gym i hear people do that and yay yay that's good i have nothing against going to the gym or exercising but when we pray that's what we're doing you can just think you know get a visual of you know building your muscles you've been doing some physical therapy you're building muscle you're you're exercising something well every time we go and pray we're exercising our faith you may go into prayer with not a lot of faith but the more time you spend there the more time you spend talking to god and listening to him then that's building your faith so prayer is a place where it's an exercise that builds your faith and your hope who do we have hope in we have hope in christ that's where our hope is found where do we find him where do we find this hope when we go and talk to him when we go into prayer and we confess to him that hey i need you jesus i need you and they set communion like i said i know that i'm talking very some things that we have heard a long time i realize that but like i just feel like to revisit some things it's gonna be a starting point to where i hope that we will go over the next few weeks you know and prayer is also the privilege it is a privilege it is there are people right now in our world across the globe that if they're going to pray they have to go somewhere and they have to hide away in fear for their life but right now it's a privilege to pray we can pray out loud if i wanted to go stand on the street right now i might get people may look at me strangely some people may point and laugh but the thing is is we are free to pray out loud it is a privilege to pray and it's also a privilege because we get to touch the very heart of our heavenly father and that's something i really want us to think about for just a moment the creator the one that spoke this entire world into existence prayer is us getting to go to him he is an approachable god he is very approachable and i think even christians even born-again christians that have been in church sometimes i feel like you know if we are not getting something just right that we had this fear that comes over and all of a sudden god's on approachable but he is god is very approachable and that's what prayer is is going to him because he's waiting for us and that does something to my heart when i think about how god is waiting just to talk to me just to hear and he's waiting to talk to each of us and that is to me a privilege and one that i do not want to take for granted then the second part of what we're talking about a prayer journey we've covered what prayer kind of how its defined but and i still want you to be thinking about how you personally define prayer but the second portion of this is a journey so defining journey once again i turn to the dictionary the dictionary defines journey as something suggesting travel or passage from one place to another example the journey from youth to maturity and sometimes that journey for some takes a lot longer than others sorry or it's a journey through time we just made a journey through 2019 and here we are in 2020 also it would says that it was it's an act or instance of traveling to a different location a trip to go on a journey is to travel to travel over or through so when you think of going on a journey when you think of going on a trip do you make preparations now i understand spontaneity some people are like oh we're just gonna get in the car and we're just gonna go but i'm talking tonight about a specific detailed trip you know that you're going specific purpose do you make preparations and i think most people do the last a couple of times my husband and i have flown we are determined not to check in any luggage so and that stresses me out because i tend to overpack so i'm giving this suitcase that says this is the carry-on and i'm and i look at it and i'm like okay how long are we gonna be gone and i look at it and i think okay i have to pack smart okay i have to pack smart so i have to think okay what am i gonna take and i'll have it up on the bed and opened up and i've got all this stuff surrounding the suitcase and thinking there's no way that all that is going in this box and then maybe my suitcase so and i'm looking at it and i'm thinking okay so i have to plan accordingly i have to think about where we're going and what are we gonna do when we get there and i try to pack just what i need so when you think of beginning a prayer journey what are some things that you personally think that you would need and if you don't can you open those up and hand everybody a card what would you think of a prayer journey now i know this is kind of like i said it's kind of a simple thought and sister katie's going to pass out card key hand me one of those please - real quick thank you you should be getting a little index card like this but think about a prayer journey you're going to address you've got a destination in mind and you're gonna be you need to take some things with you and then it's a prayer journey now i know this looks like an index card but pretend it's your little suitcase okay and you're gonna pack for this prayer journey there are no right or wrong answers but just start to jot down some things that you would want or that you absolutely think you need to go on a prayer journey okay just begin to write and i actually when i first started making a list i thought well this is gonna be a huge list of me i was started to wracking my brain thinking what what i need on a prayer journey and what would i need to take with me and i'm gonna go ahead and give you some of my answers as you begin to write like i said just it's just thoughts now if you happen to think of something that i didn't include then i want you to raise your hand at the end of this okay and i started thinking prayer journey what would be the first thing that i would take on my prayer journey packing my little bag this is your suitcase okay the first thing that i would take is i would take my bible i would pack my bible and i got to thinking about that my bible why because the bible is the word of god it is god breathed it is alive it speaks to us so the first thing that i would grab on my prayer journey is my bible and not only is it the word of god it gives us inspiration we find inspiration from the word of god sometimes we even find conviction in the word of god sometimes that word of god steps on my toes and that's okay cuz you know what i wanted to go to heaven one day so step on my toes the word of god would go with me in my bag this is your little suitcase you're going on a prayer journey and you're gonna think of things that for those that just came in think of things that you would take on your prayer journey that you would need just write them down so i would take my bible because not only that the word of god gives us direction it's a road map it's god speaking to us so i would pack my bible on my prayer journey the next thing that i need on my prayer journey is time where do you get the time isn't that something that we all deal with i don't have enough time oh the hours just get away where do the days go like i said i mentioned we just got through with 2019 we're to 2019 go i really want to know it's not rhetorical somebody answer me know where does it go i mean it goes by our days ago we all get i think pastor says it's we all have the same amount of time every we have 24 hours a day but we need time on our prayer journey because we need to make time to pray sometimes that's easier said than done also in my little suitcase for my prayer journey i'd put faith even if you don't have very much faith there's an old course that we used to sing i'm not gonna try to sing my throat's mess even if it wasn't it would still be horrible so i'm not gonna sing it faith faith faith just a little bit of faith it doesn't say don't take a lot you don't need a whole lot just use what you've got faith faith faith just a little bit of faith so i would get that faith that i have and i would put it in my bag for this prayer journey that i'm going on then a desire i thought about desire we need a desire to be in god's presence and sometimes when we desire certain things but don't we need to desire to be in god's presence that desire would lead me to a prayer time so i would pack desire a burden a lot of people don't like that because what is a burden it's something that is it's heavy and you don't always enjoy a burden but we need a burden born-again saints the church we need to carry a burden with us a burden for the lost our loved ones those that are sick for our world the things that are happening all around we need to carry that burden so if i have a burden there's a good chance that i'm gonna go to the lord in prayer about that so i'm gonna pack a burden with me submission we've got to be willing to submit to this it takes a commitment i've got to submit to this i've got to have a spirit of submission motivation some people i think i mentioned people that exercise or go to the gym and you know that they need motivation to do that or motivation to eat the right kinds of food or you know some people need extra motivation well there are times that i need some motivation i need motivation so i go ahead and put that on my journey i need some motivation discipline oh my goodness discipline i need discipline self-discipline because i can get so distracted so many things that can happen i need discipline let's say i'm gonna make this happen and i have one more thing that i thought of at the very end of this maybe worship and prayer music because it kind of sets the tone maybe it helps you i know that sometimes it helps me if i'm having a hard time concentrating if i put on some praise music or worship music or even something some soft instrumental inspirational music it just kind of helps me focus on what i need to do and i'm just gonna something just came to my mind i don't know this kind of tickles me a little bit maybe you never did this but back you know maybe when your teenager or whatever and you had a little crush you have a little breakup and you know maybe that you're going through the radio and there's a song they might come on the love song i think i don't need to listen to that because i feel like crying anyway because i'm just going to shed some tears did you ever do that how embarrassing but it's but you know what we laugh about it but i mean i have no i'm sorry you don't have to admit it but i oh my goodness watch some sappy little old movie that makes you crying you just like you just give in to it because all those tears just feel so good and i'm just gonna listen to this sad song cuz my heart just hurts and i just need to cry well hey if that's what it takes to get you to pray then put some music on that moves you there i guarantee you right now there's there are songs that can we can sing over there and some of them just get you and you're just like a mess you're just you just oh jesus i need you right now because of a song that has has set the tone so there's nothing wrong with that don't feel guilty and i know i brought that well funny story but i mean it just it kind of tickles me but it's true sometimes it's like you know what i need to be in the presence of god so you know what that song i'm gonna play that song because i feel jesus when i hear that song so go ahead and do that anybody put anything in your bag that i didn't mention for your little sister kim eternal excellent prayer journal prayer journal for you exactly write things down take things with you absolutely write down your prayers write down the answers to your prayers so you've packed that's good prayer journal anybody else before we move on so they gives you an idea we're going on a prayer journey so we're packing our bag and we're ready to begin it's a new prayer journey and like i said at the beginning that some of this is gonna sound very simple very elementary things that we have been taught and we've known most of if not all of our lives but we're on a prayer journey it's something new it's a new year our destination is the presence of jehovah so we need to prepare ourselves for what we're gonna see maybe we'll see miracles signs and wonders road may be bumpy and i can almost guarantee you that you are going to experience some turbulence but that's okay we're gonna stay the course we're gonna stay focused and we're going on this prayer journey back to the basics is what i'm talking about tonight just the basics of prayer a foundation in which we're going to grow on things that maybe we just need to be reminded of we know that prayer is a two-way communication between us and our creator it's a conversation with our god and with our heavenly father the first rule in my personal opinion in your prayer journey and here it is you ready revelation just do it i mean really it's so simple we tried to perfect everything we try to do everything just so-so you know what just do it just pray begin somewhere anywhere but whatever you do just pray pray pray pray corrie ten boom said don't pray when you feel like it have an appointment with the lord and keep it a man is powerful on his knees and i've always i've read that quote through the years and i've always thought of it keeping up make the appointment and keep it make the appointment and keep it make it with we're making it with god now most people like to be at work on time if you've got a job i'm gonna guess unless you're the boss your employer wants you to be at work on time if you're paid hourly and you're scheduled to work monday through friday 9:00 to 5:00 okay just let's we're gonna throw that out there and you don't here comes monday you don't show up tuesday you don't show up wednesday thursday comes you're not at work friday comes around it's a pay day and you know what time the paychecks are gonna be handed out so you show up just in time to get in line for the paycheck but you've not been there all week long but yet you got there in time to get in line for your paycheck and you got your handout what do you think is gonna happen nothing you're not gonna get paid even if you let's just say you still have a job you're not gonna get the paycheck too often we and i'm pointing to myself we want the rewards of a prayer life without investing the time we want to reap the benefits but bypass the altar we've got our hand out but we're not taking the time to go to him in prayer so make that appointment with the lord and keep it just do it just pray show up and it's time for the church to pray it's time for us to remember why we pray god is waiting when i think about that when i think about god is waiting daily oh she should be coming where's stacey and to think that the god of glory is waiting to talk to us and what if we don't show up oh my goodness the one that came down out of heaven robed himself in flesh became that perfect sacrifice died on a cross he shed his blood for me he shed his blood for you he just wants to commune with us and i would keep him waiting or i wouldn't even show up at all god help us just to pray i don't want to be too busy look if we're too busy to pray we are simply too busy too busy to pray if you find yourself i just didn't have time today and hey before i get oh before you misunderstand anything that i'm saying there have been days that my prayers were basically on the go literally i am listen i'm a work in progress i'm not someone that's an expert on prayer i'm just someone that's trying every day to do my best i've got to pray i've got to get into the presence of jehovah i've got to do this and to know that he's waiting for us the enemy oh my goodness oh my goodness he wants to distract us he wants us to put it off he wants us to justify not finding the time and we all do it we've all done or we've all done it days have slipped by sometimes it's situations and circumstances being sick whatever you just the day went by and it's gone and oh lord i didn't pray and you barely squeeze one in right before you go to sleep matter of fact you may fall asleep praying because oh my goodness i gotta pray just a little bit and the enemy tries and he tries and he tries to keep us distracted keep us busy so busy that we feel like we don't have time to pray i don't have my phone right now but that phone and most of us do i think we could all be convicted of our phones and devices and social media but if you've got time if i've got time to be on facebook or instagram or anything that's out there those are the only two things i can handle but anyway but if i've got time just to look through my phone even for 15 minutes guess what i've got time to do i've got time to pray somebody wants to i see people talking about binge watching their show if you've got time to watch the news if you've got time to listen to our radio program or pick up another book not the bible but and just read for pleasure you've got time to pray we've got to prioritize and sometimes it says we've got to reprioritize because we know i'm looking around here right now we all know we're supposed to pray we do but we are also human and aren't you glad that god knows we're human and that sometimes we do mess up sometimes we went days passed by but can you tell when you've not prayed oh boy i can i can tell and we listed some things that we need to begin and have a successful prayer journey we talked about some of those things all the things that you pack to your back but let's talk about a few things that we don't need and you may be able to give some feedback maybe there's something i'm not thinking about something that we don't need in our prayer life on our prayer journey is doubt and doubt is just a human it's just something we deal with maybe you prayed about something and the answer never came or you see things happening you don't understand you have questions so therefore you just doubt we don't need to doubt we have no room for doubt and on this journey that we're on also fear and i got to thinking about fear you know some people and i think i may have a confession coming fear getting into the presence of god getting close to god why if i could just keep him right here because if i get any closer to him and i get really close to god he asked me to do something i don't want to do have you ever thought about that i have if i can just keep him you know i want to pray i want to talk to him i want to live for him but i'm just gonna keep him right there and i'm not gonna give my coz if i get him this close he's gonna start talking to me and he's gonna tell me that i need to do something or go somewhere talk to somebody oh that's and that's fear and maybe you've never really thought about it i have because i had to really like get over that but i thought my goodness so we don't need any kind of fear we need to get as close to jesus as we possibly can discouragement now discouragement it's not a sin but we don't need discouragement because the more discouraged you get the more heavy you feel the more you then you begin to your mind just you don't feel like praying you don't feel like doing it so we need to find a way to either encourage ourselves get into church get into the word of god let someone else encourage you listen to some inspirational christian music that lifts up your spirit find a way to be encouraged because we don't need to be discouraged on our prayer journey negative thoughts whether it's you know step on my own toes here but negative thoughts things that are going on in the world you know your neighbor anything anything negative negative feelings towards yourself anything we need to rid ourselves of negative thoughts distractions oh boy distractions your phone social media house you know the laundry piling up you name it the dog the cat that flying squirrel that got my house oh my word did y'all hear about that y'all how much time listen friday morning before i got sick this is probably what made me sick i get up really good and early and i'm thinking you know what i had mccade my little grandson there and he's asleep it's dark the house is quiet my husband left really early to get to the office so he could get finished early it was his birthday he left me with this flying squirrel anyway so i'm in the i had my coffee going i had my first cup of coffee had five all had mine the music going i was just always just gonna be me and jesus and i was so excited because i just thought it was just real quiet still dark outside gonna hear something in the basement and of course i said there froze for just a moment and i thought no i really hears something in the basement and something's like falling over i'll call my husband i was like where's the gun so yeah okay so i get a gun that's hidden away from kids and i'm perched up on my couch because i'm pretty sure somebody's coming up my basement i'm talking about distractions and so here i am going all annie oakley up in my living room with my gun thinking that there's an intruder while the sudden i see something small come out from my arm or thing and it's just about that long and of course i squeal it's a wonder i didn't shoot it and here i'm thinking all i wanted to do was get up have coffee talk to jesus i mean that's really and so if you think the enemy will not distract you he will use whatever he can including a baby flying squirrel that found its way in my house so trust me i know all about distractions anything and everything will happen needless to say is i can't go on to that i don't have time chaos ensued at my house i had a couple come to jesus meetings my devotion my time of devotion didn't go quite as planned but anyway i did talk to jesus as a whole lot but but what i'm talking about is being distracted being distracted and the enemy will make sure have you ever sat down to pray matter of fact to put your phone away when you pray if you've got somebody that's always calling you and texting you didn't say hey this is my prayer time i put my phone in the other room because i guarantee you i've done it before this is my phone you're down to pray jesus oh it's so good to be to have another day and be in your presence geez who's that oh my lord i had talked to him 14 years this is probably a divine appointment from jesus i didn't talk to i mean seriously it will happen everything under the sun that you can think of and the things that you can't think of like you know the flying squirrel will happen to distract you and to get you off track so try to remove all those distractions we don't need distractions on this prayer journey we have got to make prayer a priority no matter what happens we've got to make it a priority even if you mess up and guess who messes up this girl right here i mess up but you know what i do the next day i'm gonna make that appointment and i'm gonna do my very best to keep it and you know why it when we're consistent and we don't give up and we keep trying and maybe you didn't get that hour in but you got in 25 minutes well thank god for that 25 minutes tomorrow maybe you won't get more just keep doing it keep doing it the thing is is to stay on track to stay focused i'm going to pray the enemy's not gonna stop me don't wait for the laundry to go away or the dishes not to be there or the kids too we can't do anything you got to take care of your children but i mean don't walk up the babies but you've got you've got to stay focus you've got to be able to keep creative you're gonna have a baby soon you know what babies crying maybe that baby likes to be in the stroller go for a prayer walk i tell you what when you're determined to find a way to pray you will pray and it will happen because the enemy will never stop trying to stop the church from prayer because he understands even the devil understands i've got to stop them from praying because he knows that there is power a power that he will never have when the church begins to pray that's what we have got to make up our mind so don't wait for the perfect conditions also don't think that your prayer has to be perfect just be real it's amazing to me how people will think that you know they've got to change the verbage in the way they talk and all this stuff thou are holy he knows me he knows i don't talk like that i mean seriously i'm not being disrespectful but i'm not the kjv i'm i'm not abraham and sarah i'm stacey in 2020 and i'm like god god would you where are you that's me you know get real with god because he already knows your personality he already knows how you talk so don't change and get all fancy trust me i gotta overcome this is your prayer coordinator at church i i have to fight the enemy every time i get up on up there totally prayer because i'm telling you the enemy is out to stop us just be real with god that's what he know he knows us we're his creation so just be real with him you know when i learned along and this changed my prayer life when i had this revelation that god knows the real mean i don't have to put on this facade of somebody else i just go and it's as if i've pulled up a chair at my table and jesus is across from me and we're we're talking over a cup of coffee go ahead whatever it is and just talk to him he is your best friend i don't care how many best friends or your spouse is your best friend that's great it's wonderful but at the end of the day jesus is your best friend and talk to him that way tell him what's on your heart jesus these kids are driving me crazy my husband's getting on my last nerve just go ahead he already knows you're having those thoughts so go ahead and tell him just and the more that was life-changing for me when i began to realize that god's not waiting for me to come up with these perfect fancy words god i don't know how much longer i can handle this job lord can you send an angel to come clean my house i'm just saying get real because he knows us so take that stress off of yourself if you think that it's got to be this the perfect sounding prayer a prayer that could be like you know used in some big cathedral somewhere and would be so impressive god doesn't care about that he knows us so just be real that was life-changing for me simple but life-changing luke 11 and 1 it says and it came to pass that as he was praying we're talking about jesus here was praying in a certain place when he ceased one of his disciples said unto him lord teach us to pray and i'm gonna stop right there teach us to pray not teach us how to pray and i got to thinking about teach us to pray and sometimes we want to be taught we want to read books or fine i've got lots of books tons of books oh my goodness books books big books and spiritual growth is wonderful it's great read but at the end of the day you're gonna learn how to pray by praying just just do it just pray but when i read that and it said lord teach us to pray and i got to thinking about us today in 2020 right now lord teach us to pray when we're discouraged lord teach us to pray when we're depressed teach us to pray when the kids are fighting teach us to pray when that baby is teething clingy and crying and snotty teach us to pray when there's a struggle in my marriage lord teach us to pray when the dishes and the laundry have piled up lord teach us to pray when i'm sick and body teach us to pray god when i just don't feel like it teach us to pray because there are gonna be those times when everything around you is overwhelming everything around you is all that you can focus on and i feel like it's like teach me to pray when i don't feel like it lord i need you to teach me to pray thin and that's what we've got to do we have got to pray in spite of circumstances in spite of situations and things that are just just getting to you just pray lord teach me to pray when i don't have time when i'm frustrated teach me to pray when i'm mad teach me to pray when i'm angry teach me to pray when i'm all these things that i know i'm not supposed to be will you please teach me to pray then teach us to pray when we're distracted how many times have you ever went to pray and he's like oh i just don't feel like it have you ever felt that it's okay to admit that i have i have i just don't feel like it that's when i want him to help me i don't want jesus to help me to pray at that very moment because that's when i really need to learn to pray that's when i just don't feel like lord just teach us to pray i have heard people say that they didn't know how to pray i heard this girl one time and she was twenty five six years old and she said i don't know how to pray i've never prayed now part about not knowing how to pray i can kind of understand someone saying that someone that maybe had not been raised in church i can kind of understand that but to know that you know she said she believed in god but i could not fathom ever praying my whole life and it broke my heart and i got to thinking you know and we don't have to perfect prayer to pray and i don't want anybody out here thinking that i was she's just this you know no i hear the vest of mangan's i hear the joy haney's and i read her books and all the things that have oh my goodness people that there are these prayer warriors and you're thinking it's okay but you know what you should never do in your prayer life compare it's okay to have a mentor someone that you can look up to but don't compare your prayer life is your prayer life that's your relationship with god you grow on that you can be inspired by other people i'll never be a vista megan and i can't think of it has anybody ever heard josh hearing oh my goodness gracious if you've not heard him go google him listen to him for a minute i promise you that man could go to mcdonald's and order fries and there'd be 14 people with the holy ghost i promise you if you've ever heard him you know exactly what i'm talking about go listen to josh i promise you i'm just like oh my word oh my word i mean there's just some people you know you're thinking wow what a powerhouse that's not me our prayer life is our own prayer life don't focus on what i can't do that and then you feel discouraged you give up just pray just pray and be real but your real ways gotta be intentional with your prayer time did you know the more you pray the more you're gonna want to pray the more time you commit to prayer the easier it will actually get i'm not saying that there's gonna be days that something doesn't happen some unexpected event will take place that may stop you but here's what you do you don't beat yourself up you think you know what i'm sorry i did not spend enough time in prayer with you today i didn't talk to you enough to but tomorrow i'm gonna try it will you help me do better will you help me to do better don't beat yourself up because to me that's another thing that the enemy does if you don't get it right one day or two days or three days and then all of a sudden when i've not really prayed really good and probably a week and then you start feeling guilty and the enemies start saying why bother and all of a sudden you found it find yourself that you know out of practice it just doesn't happen and that can happen to the best of the best the ones that have been in this for a long time it does i'm not talking about just newcomers that this happens to it happens to very seasoned saints we have to be very intentional with our prayer time so don't compare yourself to anybody make that prayer time you're a prayer time personal it's yours now i am not saying that if you have if you have a spouse if you have children you do need that prayer time with your family those within your household absolutely that's important but you've got to have your own personal prayer life that's what you've got because that is part of your relationship with god corporate prayer at church it's important we need that we need to be a praying church that prays together but at the same time we need our own personal prayer life and we need to grow that and you know what happens when we each begin to grow our own personal prayer life then we come together corporately do you know what's gonna happen we're gonna really start to see a move of god maybe beyond anything that we've ever seen before and that's what we want right don't you want to see those miracles signs and wonders i believe that when we grow and we take the time to grow our own personal prayer life start and go back to the basics go back luckily you're just starting out get back to the basics just do it just do it and we grow that and then together as a church we come together it's just power packed we're all going to be growing individually and together prayer time commit that time the more you'll want to pray how many prayer meetings have you been even if it's just been individually and it's just you've gotten into the presence of jehovah and it's so beautiful you don't want to leave the more we experience that the more we're gonna be like you know what nothing is stopping me from my prayer time today the more we will be determined that this is how i start my day you know your schedules you know best than anyone what your schedule is like you find that time if you can't do one hour at a time okay do 15 minutes here they're 15 minutes you just define it up but find a way and commit to that and do your best to stick to it mess up okay god understands talk to him do it again tomorrow make that appointment with the lord and show up keep it our devotion increases when distractions decrease the more we learn to focus on him and to remove the unnecessary distractions that would keep us from getting into his presence our devotion will begin to increase our relationship will god with god will begin to thrive our prayer life will thrive the people around us will be affected by that my goodness no wonder the enemy wants to stop prayer do you have an unsaved loved one i do of course he doesn't what the devil doesn't want me praying why because when i pray something's gonna happen and the devil knows that when you pray something's gonna happen heaven's gonna hear your prayers god's gonna say hey you know wait a minute this is about the 18th day she showed up at this time to pray you know what i think it's to give her an answer of course the enemy wants to stop us so get those distractions out of the way devotion increases when distractions decrease so what are we gonna do we're gonna pray we're gonna just do it we are surprisingly running out of time if i were gonna give you homework i'm not but but let's just say if we were gonna get up and say you know what between now and next week what should i be doing this is what i'm gonna do i'm gonna make an appointment daily to talk to god i mean i am i'm gonna set my arm as if i have somewhere to be and when that alarm goes off i'm gonna be like okay right now this is it so i'm gonna make my appointment and i am going to talk to god and i'm gonna do my very best to keep it that's what i'm gonna do so i encourage you make an appointment and if you're already doing this keep it up just keep it up encourage others encourage somebody let's encourage one another and here's another thing walk your tongue like you want to pray an hour a day but maybe you can't do it all together walk your time so come you know i prayed from 7:00 to 7:20 log that time be accountable to yourself keep track of it did you know your phone has there's ways to track how much time you spend on your phone and i guarantee you if we did that we would be like shocked if we're really really really i mean really come on so log your time in prayer so you can see it's not for you to share either this is not for you to bring in so i can go what's going on here cuz i mean who knows what mine's gonna look like so so it's just for you it's your personal prayer time it's for you so log your time so you can be personally accountable to what your prayer time is keep that prayer journal if you don't have one you don't have to go out and buy things see one just get a little notebook a prayer journal keep your bible handy as i stand up here without one keep your bible handy it is the word of god it's living it's breathing you open that up god will talk to you you will hear from heaven don't lie now i've sent it but i'm gonna say it one more time before we close don't beat up yourself if you mess up just get up try again the next day during your prayer time this week find time to focus on self-evaluation i do that a lot do some soul-searching god i know that i pray i know that i may have this prayer time but maybe i'm not concentrating the way i need to maybe i'm very distracted i'm i may be on my knees but my mind is somewhere else have you ever done that oh my goodness if you have it then please tell me your secret because i promise you that's when my mind goes crazy when i'm like okay and i'm not gonna talk about that squirrel again but i'm gonna pray and i mean my mind will surely it will go so many places did i do that oh i better make that grocery list seriously clear your mind self-evaluation lord i know that i need to do better i need to be in your word more i need to pray more self event write some things down sometimes i write i complain about myself on paper so i can say up and you don't need to do that again so dude i mean don't be afraid of it because you know what i want to grow i am 50 years old y'all y'all and that's okay i've been that way since you live last year and i'm accepting it and it's okay but i'm 50 years old but i want to grow i want to have that hunger i want to have that desire i want to commune with god the god that spoke this world into existence wants to speak to you he wants to speak to us and we're robbing ourselves when we don't spend that time with him we are we're robbing ourselves a prayer journey and that's what we're doing we're going on a prayer journey i just thought that one song going on a bear hunt god is good we are going to pray more individually when we come together on sunday we're gonna be with each passing sunday with each passing wednesday prayer meetings wherever you are your prayer life is gonna start to change the atmosphere where you are oh my goodness i think about it i think wait a minute if i want some things to change then i need to fall on my face before god i need to spend some time in prayer so this week let's make that appointment with him and let's keep it so let's all stand we're gonna go ahead and close out god is good my voice held out didn't have to take one drink of water god's good so let's pray together right now more we thank you for this time that we've had together god we thank you for another opportunity to jesus just to focus on you god because we need you god i thank you for this church i thank you for these people lord i thank you jesus because you are talking to us and we are going to grow together we're going to grow individually we're going to be closer to you god i believe that we will receive a spirit of expectation the more time lord that we spend in prayer to god we are going to see miracles signs and wonders we're going to see answers to our prayers we are going to see our loved ones come in prodigal --hz come home jesus i am trusting you tonight and i worship you got it i thank you i thank you for this time together jesus i pray a blessing on each and every one that's here tonight keep your hand of protection on them as they travel home and bring us back together this sunday and we are going to worship you we are going to worship you in spirit and in truth we give you all the praise tonight jesus can we do that right now can we clap our hands lift our voices and just worship him because he is worthy hallelujah you jesus thank you jesus hallelujah thank you jesus you are good god hallelujah hallelujah and you're dismissed in jesus name hallelujah