Call to worship:
Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.
For you, O Lord, are my hope,
my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;
you are he who took me from my mother's womb.
My praise is continually of you.Psalm 71:4-6
Questions for reflection:
What are the core aspirations of my prayer life?
How would my prayers change if the glory of God was my primary perspective?
Corporate Prayer:
Our Father in Heaven,
Make us understand the way of your precepts, and we will meditate on your wondrous works. Grant us vision to see your Son and the grand work of redemption yesterday, today, and forever. Give us ears to hear and a heart to obey all that the Spirit would will for our lives.
May you increase as we decrease.
In Christ we pray.
Amen.
Notes//Quotes//Slides:
John 14:12-14
“Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.” (James 5:17)
“It was a notable event for God to put heaven in some sense under the control of Elijah’s prayers, to be obedient to his requests. From Elijah we may see the miraculous power of prayer.”
- John Calvin
“Notice that Calvin is being careful here, he’s saying in “some sense.” He doesn’t believe that somehow (in our prayer) we may grab control of the universe out of God’s hands, but he’s still saying that the power of prayer is that God in His goodness makes the world susceptible to our prayers. That’s power!”
- Tim Keller
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” (James 4:3)
“35 And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:35&36)
“God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
“In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them…”
(2 Corinthians 5:19)
“We can be sure our prayers are answered precisely in the way we would want them to be answered if we knew everything God knows.”
- Tim Keller
Fix your heart where true joy is found and then ask for everything.
- Augustine