Mt. 6:9-13
Intro – want to welcome you to 2015…a new year of growth and opportunity, of going deeper and further in our walk with God…of seeing God do even greater things here at NBC than He has been doing…
I have one simple message this morning to give you from the heart of God as we start off this new year…
God is calling us to pray together more than we ever have before…to strengthen our corporate praying…to learn how to pray with other people…
This isn’t to downplay private, personal prayer…praying alone with God is important and Biblical and essential to a growing Christian life…
But there is a power and authority in praying together that takes us to a whole new level in prayer…Jesus spoke about it in Mt. 18:19-20 when He said, “I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather together in my name, there am I with them.”
There is a growing prayer fire at Northgate…an increasing number of lives that are being set on fire by God with a passion for prayer…and we are seeing God answer prayer on a regular basis…eg. little August Wohlgemuth last week…
…God is hearing our prayers and responding…
…but what God is asking us to do is to join these praying hearts together with others…so that just like hot coals in a fire, when in contact with each other, they ignite the other coals and create a larger, stronger fire…and God’s Spirit blows His living breath over people’s hearts, and He fans into flame this prayer fire and creates a blaze…
House of Prayer
Jesus said, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations”. Mk.11:17. God really does want Northgate to be a house of prayer…for all nations……to really be a praying church…a church known for it’s corporate prayer life…
…the fire is here: God wants it to grow…
You want to know why praying with other people is important? because what matters most in life cannot be accomplished by people, but only by God:
• salvation of lost loved ones…
• physical healing, emotional healing…
• restoration of a broken relationship…
• love for other people…
• love for the lost and a boldness to reach out to them with the gospel…
• strength to stand firm in a hostile world that opposes a public stand for Christ…
• the success of missions work in all corners of the world…
You and I cannot accomplish any of these things that matter most…no matter how smart or influential or wealthy or important we are…we cannot produce spiritual results with human effort…only God can do the things that matter most, and prayer is His appointed means to accomplish these things…united, bold, humble, fervent, dependent corporate prayer…
When these things flourish in a church, we call it revival or spiritual awakening because the Spirit of God is at work giving life where human resources have reached their limit.
God is calling us to pray together more than we ever have before…to strengthen our corporate praying…to learn how to pray with other people…
I say all of this because it’s exactly what Jesus taught. And one of the places He taught it is in the very well known Lord’s prayer, found in Mt. 6:9-13…(turn there)…
Prayer…
Now as I read this very familiar prayer…I want you to notice the plural pronouns…”our, us, we”…those little words that are large with meaning…I want you to see that Jesus’ use of plural pronouns in the Lord’s Prayer is an invitation not only to pray, but to pray together with other believers…
…read…
There you have it: Jesus’ view of prayer is strongly communal, something done with others, not simply a private experience, but a shared experience of calling out to God with other praying hearts…
What places do you have that give you this opportunity, to pray with others? I hope you have at least one place…there are a number available…if you want to pray alongside some great pray-ers, come out on Tuesday night…
…question is: how can your gathering of fellow believers become a place of prayer? are you willing to take the step of helping your group become a place of prayer so that Northgate will become a house of prayer?
…we all have reasons that hold us back from praying with other people…things that make us reluctant or unwilling…some are very compelling…but for many of us it’s simply time to get over our excuses and reluctance…and take the courageous step of faith and begin praying with other people…
The Value and Importance of Corporate Prayer
Let me give you a few more reasons why praying together with other believers is important and valuable.
• faith grows…
• our prayer life grows…we cannot expect our private prayer life to advance in maturity and depth and intensity if we never pray with others who can lift us higher and take us deeper. That would be like expecting a child to become a gifted conversationalist, but always sending him out of the room whenever there was a grown-up conversation…
The more earnestly we pray in private, the more powerfully we will pray in a group. And the more powerful the prayer of the group, the more we will be helped to go hard after God in private. The two help each other…
• love, unity and community grows… Praying together reminds us that we are part of a larger family with a Father who knows our needs and loves to meet them.
• encouragement and hope grows…
• following the example of the early church in Acts that prayed together often and saw God do amazing things…
The Prayer Plan for the next few months (insert)
-respond to God’s call to Northgate to become a house of prayer…six Sunday evenings starting Feb. 1…personal prayer guide…submit prayer requests and answers…Sunday am sermons and testimonies…talk about how your group can raise the level of prayer together…
-would love to hear your ideas of how Northgate can become a house of prayer…
Jesus Longs for our companionship in prayer
As I wrap this up and we prepare for communion, I want to remind you that Jesus is the greatest model of a praying person we could ever ask for…His life was one of constant prayer…He is still praying for us in heaven as our Advocate to the Father…
There is one moment in Jesus’ prayer life comes to mind…that was on the night He was betrayed…
…in Mk 14 we find Him in the Garden of Gethsemane overwhelmed with sorrow, deeply distressed and troubled because of His impending flogging and crucifixion…and He asks them to join Him in prayer…
…read vv.34-41…
Mk. 14:37-38 “…are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
If there is one thing that just might overcome our reluctance to pray…that just might ignite a fire in us to become a person of prayer and pray with other people, then it can be found here: that Jesus longs for our companionship in prayer…
May the HS ignite a fire for prayer in each of our hearts, so that our church will become a “house of prayer for all nations…”
Let us close by praying the Lord’s Prayer together (on screen)
Worship…Communion…