The Prayer Journey

relationship for it to be successful on any level has to have some open communication and there are so many ways to communicate with each other especially here we are in 2020 which blows my mind it really does that we are in i mean it is 2020 but especially with the advancements in technology i mean communication nobody really has a good excuse not to communicate anymore because there's so much out there things that i don't i don't do with i mean i can i do some with technology but not a lot but whether you're talking face-to-face which is something that i think we need to get back to a little bit but i won't talk about that picking up your phone and actually calling somebody and talking to them and hearing voices on the other end that kind of conversation that's another way of communicating you've got text messages you've got emails you've got i mean i guess snapchat you actually talk on snapchat i don't i mean the word has chat in it so i'm just assumed that snapchat is another way to talk to somebody quickly make it snappy i don't know that's just my mind i don't know anything about snapchat you've got instant messaging you got facetime you've got skype you've got facebook you know communication is important i don't care if you have to send smoke signals or communicate through interpretive dance but in order for there to be a growth in relationships you've got to communicate on some level somehow and i would like to just kind of throw in there you know the more meaningful the the conversation or the means of communication and the more chance that relationship has to grow i remember a few years back when all the abbreviation things came through text messaging now i know fyi but now i'm gonna be honest with you i think it was my husband that got a text message and he was like what is going on here can you read this message and i looked at and i was like who is this do they have a problem spelling cuz i'm like that was you know in the beginning of btw and i see why am i in case you miss it whatever i had to google and i get like a i had to get help because to decipher this text message because everything was a had all these little abbreviations and things and i thought i couldn't read it we couldn't read it we were just stood there just scratching our heads like i don't know we couldn't read it but anyway communication and i'm just gonna go ahead and say that and this is me maybe showing my age that sometimes technology may not hasn't been may be very helpful in some ways of communicating because i think somewhere along the way maybe it's lost some meaning but that's for something else i think about a marriage before the wedding you dated or you should have for those that are we hope you did for those that are single and you hope to get married one day you need to date first you need to get to know that individual before you say i do but think about back to when you were day those that are married you dated someone you got to know them the more time you spent with them the more you had a conversation with them the more that relationship began to grow started to blossom it grew we should know our spouses you should know the little things the little things that you don't think matter you should know what their favorite color is what their favorite type of food wear you know do they prefer the beach or the mountains or you know the little things we should communicate and we should know our spouse don't have time for another funny my husband money he has a loves birthday cake love's birthday cake sometimes he will randomly say hey we should get a birthday cake i like whose kind of birthday nobody but let's get a birthday cake okay but anyway his favorite cake is chocolate cake with white icing that's his favorite birthday cake so when we first got together his birthday is january the 3rd so i thought i'm gonna order him a birthday cake and you know what i did i got him italian cream because it's my favorite anyway cuz it's just so funny but this point is is i know what his favorite cake is it's chocolate with white icing but it's not mine and i wanted to be able to enjoy it with him so i have gotten him since then his favorite cake so that's all good but what about our relationship with god do we and i know i know i know that i've said this every week we are a praying church where our church has been filled with the holy ghost we believe in acts 2:38 we have a relationship with god so i know that i'm talking to the church but do we really want to know god and i know you say well i don't know i do know god i have a relationship with god but one of you just today stop talking to your spouse just stopped communication just stopped you look at and pass and just look at him just stare at him my husband would be like what's up but what if we just stopped talking that relationship would take a hit it would hurt my marriage if i just stopped communicating we see and he stopped communicating with me i didn't hear from him he didn't hear from me lived in the same house but there was no communication i know god i have a relationship with him i've been filled with the power of the holy ghost but i've got to keep up that relationship with god as do we all prayer is a conversation with him it's a time and i know i'm repetitive it's a time of talking to him it's a time of listening to god the more time we spend talking to god praying that's prayer when you talk to him whether you're no matter what physical position you you know no matter what prayer posture you've taken whether it's on your face or driving down the road when you're talking to him we get closer to him the more we talk to god the closer we get to him if you go a day without prayer and that day turns into three days and that i've been there and then the next thing you know it's been a week that you've really had like real prayer time a real conversation with god and you start to feel it and a lot just like in human relationships the longer you you don't talk to someone and the longer that that space there's more distance emotionally that comes between you and it becomes awkward then after you know about a month where you just really not had a good prayer life and you and it gets harder to go back to that doesn't it i mean it does it you have to be very intentional but we want to be close to god so our conversations our prayers should also be real and from our heart and i think that like i told you a couple weeks ago that was one of the most life-changing things that ever happened to me with my prayer life was just talking to god real not trying to come up with fancy words or do anything cuz he knows me he knows who i am he knows you he knows what you sound like he knows how you talk he knows what's on your heart and mind so be real with god i'm gonna read something really quick that i found i don't know who wrote this i know i have the name but i don't know this person his name is dustin but he titled it a conversation with god the lights in the sanctuary were dim the silence dwarfed the lone individual sitting on the front pew his head was bowed and his arms were resting on his knees a mere couple of minutes into his prayer he had run out of words to say every cliche had been used every term of endearment had been repeated repeatedly he sat staring silently blankly at the floor no one would have guessed how fast my mind was spinning my thoughts were racing in circles hopping from one thing to another finally exhausted my thoughts focused on my present situation what was i going to do about prayer i knew that so far i had not accomplished a thing the thought had never occurred to me just to talk to god to actually have a conversation with him but there in my silence i realized for the first time that god wanted to talk to me as much as i wanted to talk to him i decided to give the idea of a conversation with god a try i was determined god it's me dustin i haven't really talked to you in a while so here goes things have been a bit hectic lately life's been a bit stressful and i'm not really looking forward to the next week that's how it started soon i was praying not to a distant god but to a close friends i was not presenting a wish list to an impersonal deity i was really getting to know jesus better the coolest thing about it was that as i got real with god he became real to me james said in james 4 and 8 draw nigh to god and he will draw nigh to you that day those words became a part of my life since then i have lived with james foreign aid continually in the back of my mind when i feel that god has deserted me i asked myself have i left god have i sat down recently and just had a good chat with him i cannot say that i have practiced that scripture every time i've prayed but when i take the time to stop and converse with god and draw closer to him god always has the time to draw near to me i have found that god always has the time to be my best friend when i look at each prayer as a conversation with god i realize the shallowness of my relationship with him when i measure my me time or my friends time against my god time conviction engulfs me and i draw closer to god in turn god draws closer to me looking back on that one lonely night in a dark church i realized that at that time when i felt the most alone i experienced a companionship with god when i felt at a loss of four words i enjoyed a conversation with god and that moved me because i've been there and that was one of the things that really changed the way i prayer when i pray when i realized god just wants me to talk to him god already knows us sometimes have you ever asked yourself you don't have to lift your hand but if god are he knows everything about me and he knows that he knows our needs before we ask he already knows my thoughts or then why do i need to spend so much time in prayer why is it why is it a necessity he knows things about us that we don't even know about ourselves i mean it's true he knows the things that you share with no one else he knows those things he knows everything but here's the thing prayer is for us prayer does it change god it doesn't prayer changes me it will change you god doesn't need us to pray he once that time with us but it doesn't change who he is he's still god it doesn't matter what's going on or what circumstances are going on he's still god whether i make my appointment to remember make the appointment with god and show up i can make that appointment and not show up he may miss me he may not but you know what he's still god he's still king of kings and lord of lords that prayer time that's for us that relationship it god forbid but i walk away from the church i walk away from god guess what he doesn't lose out he's still king of kings lord of lords he's still on the throne it's me that suffers oh it hurts his heart don't get me wrong he doesn't want us to leave the church he doesn't want us to leave truth he doesn't want us to walk away from him but what we do does not change who he is so even though god knows your most inner thoughts he knows your emotions the things that we may hide from others god knows it all but he still desires to commune with us for us to take the time to pray to him because he enjoys that time with us and not only that god wants to bless us he really does he wants to bless his church he wants to answer prayer but he wants us to come to him he's still god no matter what so remember prayer time your prayer time that's your relationship with god that's where it begins that's where it grows in it but it does it never changes god it changes your relationship with god but god is unchanging he's the same all the time he has a faithful good god prayer changes us it changes who we are so don't complicate prayer don't overthink your conversation with god look at your prayer time as an opportunity to know god more more every day whether you have been in church your entire life you grew up on a pew or you're just you're new to this it does not matter every day we can grow closer to him we never we never reach a place a plateau like okay this is good god i'll stay here you know i'm comfortable here with your relationship with god i don't want to reach that place where i think you know what i think i'll just kind of coast right here no everyday needs to be an opportunity to say you know today i'm gonna get closer to you god that is my desire i am determined to get close to you and where do i do that where does that come from when i get into the word of god because when you open the word of god what happens it's living it's breathing it's god breathes you want to hear god speak to you and your prayer time open up your bible god speaks to us through his word where do i grow closer to him in my prayer time just talking earlier about talking with people that you don't know and developing relationships and friendships and things that grow from communication you have to have an avenue of communication that is open and how much easier it is to converse with someone that you know which brings me to this the more you pray the more you talk to god guess what the easier that becomes the more that you say you know and that becomes a habit and i know when sometimes we can think about habits it's almost has a negative inclination but there are good habits to have and prayer is a good habit i don't want to go to prayer just because i feel like well i'm going to get in trouble i want to be something that is a desire in my heart that drives me to pray but every day if i may even and here's another thing i'm going to throw this in here so i don't think it's in my notes anywhere don't pray based around your emotions if you wait to pray until you you wait until you feel like it or you wait and to pray until there's absolutely nothing to be done at the house or the kids aren't somebody's not crying or somebody's not calling you on the phone if you wait for the perfect moment to pray there will always be something always be something so do not wait just make that appointment keep it and pray because i want to grow that relationship you know relationships friendships you know marriages obviously those are all important and we want to grow those relationships we want good healthy relationships in our lives it makes us happy individuals didn't finish what i was saying about emotions anyway pray through your emotions those times you don't feel like it you're too sick or you're this or that pray through your emotions it will lift you up because there's gonna be times that you don't feel like it you may whether you're fighting depression or maybe you are fussing with that spouse or you're you're fighting with a child or any so many things can happen that can keep us from feeling like we need we can pray just pray anyway relationships thrive on communication and your relationship my relationship with god is going to thrive when i communicate with him and i'm consistent i know we talked about a couple weeks ago about praying an hour and how to do that i've said it before i'm gonna say it's not when you don't pray that our everyday don't beat yourself up i think that one of the main keys to a successful prayer life is consistency just show up i didn't get to pray my hour but you know what i did do i had a powerful 15 minutes with jesus today sometimes its quality over quantity so you just be consistent with your prayer life i've got to be consistent just show up and do it build that relationship keep that line of communication open with god i refer to at the beginning of this a few minutes ago about how much easier it is to have a conversation with someone you know opposed to someone that you do not know sometimes we need to be reminded of who we are talking to i know we know who jesus is we have a relationship with him we've received the power of the holy ghost but when we go to prayer when we're having a conversation with god we are having a conversation with jehovah the great i am i am who i am only but that title only belongs to jehovah god our proper response to jehovah the great i am is to fall down in awe of the one who possesses all authority in exodus chapter 3 verse 13 and 14 there's a conversation going on here between moses and god moses said unto god behold when i come into the children of israel and shall say unto them the god of your fathers have sent me unto you and they shall say to me what is his name what shall i say unto them and then god answers moses see that's what happens when we pray we talk to god he'll talk to us so god says to moses he tells them how to reply to respond i am that i am that's who we're talking to when we go to prayer again in john chapter 8 and verse 58 jesus is speaking here and he says unto them verily verily i say unto you before abraham was i am so when we go to prayer we are talking to the great i am oh we're talking to the great i god is infinite romans chapter 11 3300 the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of god how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out god is beyond measurement we cannot define him by or you know size him up or say how big he is he has no beginning he has no end god has no limits when we go to prayer were praying to an infinite god he is the alpha and omega when we pray we are praying to the alpha and omega revelation 22:13 i am alpha and omega the beginning and the end sathorn when you pray you're speaking to the alpha and the omega the beginning and the end revelation 1 in 8 you are talking to the almighty one who is and who was and who is to come the almighty that's who we're talking to when you go to pray oh my goodness i'm getting chills right now thinking about do we understand the conversation we're having do we understand have we forgotten who we're talking to what a privilege john chapter 6 and verse 35 when we go to pray we are talking to the bread of life jesus said unto them i am the bread of life he that cometh to me shall never hunger he that believeth on me shall never thirst oh my goodness that's who i'm gonna meet when i pray that's who's gonna be listening to me that's who's gonna be talking to me if i'll take the time to listen to him when we go to prayer who are we talking to the chief cornerstone psalm 118 22 the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone that's who we're talking to john one and one the word in the beginning was the word the word was with god and the word was god this is who were talking to when we go to the lord in prayer this is who we're talking to immanuel isaiah 7 verse 14 she will give birth to a son and will call him immanuel which means god with us we're talking to emmanuel god with us he's right there that's who i that's who i have the right to approach and speak to that's who you can approach and talk to every single day john chapter 1 verse 29 the next day john seeth jesus coming unto him and saith behold the lamb of god which taketh away the sin of the world oh my goodness we're talking to the land that spotless lamb that came and became the perfect sacrifice who laid down his life for you and i'm for the entire world for whosoever will that's who i go to when i go to prayer i'm talking to him the one who laid down his life for me who took my sins and cast them away why would i not want that relationship to grow why would i not want to talk to him why would i not want to have a conversation with him why would i not want to hear what he has to say to me he died for us that's who we get to go talk to every single day what a privilege it is to go to the lord in prayer oh my goodness i do get excited and i feel the holy ghost here because sometimes i don't want to keep mentioning my age because i have come i really have come to terms within 50 but i grew up in church you know i grew up in church i have been preached to about jesus name acts 2:38 i have heard this message since i was born physically born but i get so excited steel and i'm so thankful for that too because i don't want to ever take for granted who jesus is i don't want to ever take for granted the revelation of who i'm talking to i don't want to ever take for granted the revelation of jesus name and who he really really is and like i said a few weeks ago he's an approachable god he's not that distant god that's standing up you know pointing his finger at us no he is a loving and approachable god and that is why we go to him in prayer he wants that he wants that relationship with us why because he loves us the god of this universe loves us does that not just that humbles me i'm not worthy of that but yet he loves me and he loves you and he wants to talk to us and he wants us to talk to him why would i not want to pray to him luke chapter 2 and 11 when we go to prayer we're talking to our savior for unto you is born this day in the city of david a savior who is christ the lord the savior of the world that's who we talked to who who are you talking to sometimes i think you know well i mean i don't want to speak for anyone else but i don't want to pray out of such a it to be such an obligation that i just slip in and say this almost meaningless prayer and forget that i have the opportunity to get into the presence of god himself into the presence of jehovah that's what prayer does if we will allow it prayer will usher us into the presence of jehovah we want miracles we want to see miracles signs and wonders we've got to build this relationship with god everybody's like i want to be a prayer warrior i want to be this talked about vesta mania and joy haney there's all kinds of the teenies there's all kinds of prayer warriors that people know around the world those names so many people know those names that i just mentioned and everybody's like let me just jump right into being a prayer warrior they didn't just wake up one day and be like you know what i'm a prayer warrior it started somewhere no one may ever know your name your circle may not be very big i may not be well known my circle may be very small but i want heaven to know who i am when i pray you don't have to have a big well-known name and come from a family that's well known and don't get me wrong you know i respect those people that i just mentioned but we can be a prayer warrior but it starts somewhere it starts with that daily consistent i'm gonna do this i'm gonna pray i'm going to talk to god i'm gonna remember who he is i'm gonna dwell on who he is and what he's done for me and as we begin to build that relationship in that prayer life we can become that prayer warrior that will move and shake heaven that when you get up and you hit your knees or you fall on your face that hell trembles because you're up in your praying but we don't just jump into that and maybe you've had that prayer life in the past and maybe you've got i'm gonna go ahead and confess i'm good at confession but i can remember where i was very consistent there were times i've had ups and downs in my prayer life very consistent and now all the people call me a prayer warrior i'm not gonna say that and i'm not tooting my own horn place on this almost hurts for me they even talk about because it i don't want you to think that i'm up here but i was determined everyday to get in the presence of jesus i was going to prayers i wanted them to change situations and that's how i prayed and i've seen prayers immediately answered i've seen big things happen but i also know what it's like to get back from that and drift from that a little bit and that back and forth i don't want that i want to be consistent i want i want to have a made up mind and here's the thing we have a loving god that even if we on those days that we slip or those weeks or those months we can find our way back to that we can find our way back to that it just takes a daily determination to say i'm talking to god today i'm getting in his presence think about who he is and who you're talking to when i begin to think about who he really is and that he's waiting to hear from me that's a motivation for me to pray a friendly reminder for the church this is actually going a lot quicker than i thought it would who is jesus when we're talking to him who is he and i know i just named office i mean i read some scriptures and honestly i had so many more scriptures because when you start talking and looking in the word of god and want a definition of who he is it's all we could be here all night we could be here for days and i could just go on and on and on and on so i just picked a very just just a handful i don't even know if it's equivalent to a handful but he is we're talking about jesus he is the first he is the last he is the beginning he is the end he is the keeper of creation he is the creator of all he is the architect of the universe he's the manager of all time he always was always is and he will always be he is unmoved he is unchanged he is undefeated he was bruised but he brought healing he was pierced but he eased pain he was persecuted but he brought freedom he was dead but he brings life he has risen to bring power and he reigns to bring peace the world can't understand him armies cannot defeat him schools cannot explain him and leaders cannot ignore him herod couldn't kill him nero couldn't crush him the new age can't replace him and no one can explain him away when we fall he lifts us up when we fell he forgives when we're weak he is strong when we're lost he is the way when we're afraid he's our courage when we stumble when we stumble he steadies us with his mighty hands when we hurt he heals us have you ever been healed sicknesses diseases broken hearts a broken spirit he heals jesus he is light he is love he is eternal he is the lord he is goodness he is kindness he is faithfulness he is god he is holy he is righteous he's powerful and he is pure his will is unchanging his mind is on us his ways are right his word is eternal he is our savior he is our guide he is our peace our peace that passes all understanding he is our joy he is our comfort he is our lord this is who we're talking to when we go to the lord in prayer he is all these things his bond is love his yoke is easy his burden is light and his goal for us it's abundant life he is the wisdom of the wise he is the power of the powerful the ancient of days the ruler of rulers and the leader of all leaders he will never leave us he will never forsake us he will never mislead you or misguide you he will never forget us we are on his mind the creator of this universe the king of kings and the lord of lords he wants to talk to you he wants you to talk to him that moves me he is wonderful he is counselor he is the mighty god the everlasting father he is the prince of peace when you go to the lord in prayer you address him what do you need today do you need peace well good because guess what he is is the prince of peace do you need direction do you need advice good go to him in prayer let him be your counselor do you need someone to lead you and to guide you like a father would look good guess what he is the ever lasting father anything and everything that we need we find in him when we do not pray we're robbing ourselves of a relationship with god when we only take a minute here in a minute there we're robbing ourselves like i said at the beginning god is still god whether we pray or not whether i come to church or not he's still god what i do doesn't change who he is but we had the opportunity to be in his presence every single day to be in his presence and sometimes i think we just need to look back and read some scriptures get into the word and remind ourselves of who it is that we're talking to because when we remind ourselves of who he is it's much easier to have that conversation then that stranger that you don't know remember the stranger the people that you don't really know it is so much easier to have a conversation with someone that you know and he knows us so we can take comfort that god knows me and he's welcome he wants me anyway in spite of myself in spite of who stacey is god still wants me he still wants that relationship so remind yourself every single day when you pray call out the prince of peace call out the count to the counselor call out though jehovah jireh he's my provider he's your provider find those names of god those descriptions of who jesus is and when you pray insert that and not only insert that into your prayer but remind yourself wait a minute this is who i have the privilege of talking to every day this is who i have the privilege of him talking to me every single day and as we begin to grow because you know believe it or not when we get the holy ghost and we're born into this church and to this wonderful wonderful truth it doesn't stop there it doesn't just revolve around see the stronger our relationship with god the more powerful our prayer time is and our prayer life is that changes the atmosphere everywhere you go everywhere you go you've stepped into the store the atmosphere has changed you go to your workplace the atmosphere has changed if your home is if it's a place of prayer where your family prays together or you're praying by yourself it changes the atmosphere of your home i want to be effective in my prayer not just for myself but so others can experience what we've experienced a relationship with god being filled with the power of the holy ghost we need to share this with a world we need to remember who god is when we're praying he is everything for everybody everywhere every time and in every way that is who we worship that in prayer is our worship you worship during your prayer time we're worshiping we're praying to the king of kings and the lord of lords the one who who breathed this word the one who spoke this world into existence the person that the one that knew you before you were formed in the womb that's who we're talking to oh my goodness it amazes me and i don't want to lose that amazement i don't want to lose that amazement in that love and that hunger god make me hungry to be in your presence make me hungry i want a thirst after you i want a hunger for you i want that and you know what the more i do that the more i get into his presence the more i feel that it's a rule it's a rewarding feeling and i can go in prayer and i can get encouraged and i can get what i need and then you know what we get to do we can go out into the world and we can change our world around us one person at a time one person at a time you're gonna reach somebody that i can't i may reach somebody that you can't but we've got to get our hearts into this i've got i'm talking to myself tonight i've got to get my heart into this because i know we say it a lot but it is so true in 2020 jesus is coming back for his church i can't i doubt that anybody that stands before the lord on that day it's gonna say man i prayed way too much i mean really i you know i didn't really have to go to church that much i didn't really have to give that much i didn't have to do this i didn't i doubt anyone what i would say is there's gonna be somebody many they'll stand why didn't i pray more i should have prayed more i should have done more i should have witnessed more our prayer life is our relationship with god our ultimate goal is to be ready to meet him when he calls but in the meantime we have a job to do the church we've got to go and we've got to compel we've got to reach we've got to love where do we get that strength where do we get that help to do that it's in our relationship our personal relationship with god where does that grow it grows when we communicate with our creator that's in our prayer time don't skip it if you have to pray on the go okay they're gonna be days you pray on the go do it anyway pray keep that appointment make it and keep it and let's grow and let's remember who we are talking to he is our everything jesus is our everything he's everything to us i want us to worship him i want us to pray to him i want us to remember who he is look back and think about where he's brought you from and worship him he's our savior that's who were praying to tonight and tomorrow and the next day who's going to grow the relationship we've got i don't catch on my life i feld from time to time and in my past 50 years but i want to grow closer and closer and never get comfortable with where i am until i hear him say well done stacy you made it and i'm just gonna fall at his feet i'm gonna fall at his feet so i'm gonna pray now i want god to move me god don't let me get comfortable if i get comfortable you know what happens obviously not in my notes and i have learned this from experience if we ignore our prayer time too much if we ignore our relationship with god a little too much he will send something our way to get our attention because god wants us to be saved god wants us to be saved have you ever had some god send something and it's something that maybe troubles your spirit and causes you to fall on your face god wants us to pray he doesn't want us to drift from this i want that hunger i want that desire i want to thirst after him think about the woman at the well you know she knows what it's like that living water that living water she was living a life of shame and she took a drink of that living water he's life changing he doesn't care where you are where you've been what you've done he has all things to all people we've just got to get into his presence we've got to listen to him we've got to get into the word of god and let him minister to us let him talk to us and this is where that happens incorporate this word into your prayer time remember who we're talking about a description of who jesus is who are you talking to when you go to prayer think about it do you pray at night okay when you go pray tonight who am i talking to tonight i think if we were really to be intentional to stop and think okay i'm fixing to pray but think who is it that i'm talking to you and when i start to really think about who he is and what he has done for me now what oh my goodness how faithful he has been to me that's who i'm talking to i am talking to my healer i'm talking to the one that picked me up off of a deathbed that's who i'm talking to i'm talking to the one that took me back when i filled him and i walked away from church that's who i'm talking to i'm talking to my redeemer that's who i'm talking to so when you go to the lord in prayer you think about what he has done for you who he is to you think about who the word says he is that's who you're talking to so you ask yourself when you start to pray who am i talking to don't let him be a stranger don't let there be distance that grows between you and god if you've if you've failed in your prayer life it's okay get back on track that's the wonderful thing about jesus he loves us he forgives us all we have to do is say hey god i've messed up forgive me so tonight let's just stand we're gonna just stand up i want us just to lift our hands take whatever prayer posture you want lift our voices lift our hands and let's just praise them for just a minute before we leave here tonight jesus we thank you god