This week, we continue in week six of our sermon series, “Things Jesus Never Said.” Throughout this series, we have been looking at some of the things we have come to believe about God and how He relates to us that are simply not true—things we pick up as we go along that work their way into our understanding of the gospel and how it affects everything we do.
Today, we look at the role of prayer in the life of a believer. Is prayer something we see as necessary? Is it essential to our everyday lives, or just when things go bad? Do we make our plans, work hard to execute them, and then ask for the Lord to be at work? Or do we pray first… seeking wisdom and understanding before we act; “Committing our ways to the LORD; trusting in Him” and then responding accordingly?
Is prayer the final step in our plan or is it the glue that holds the whole plan together? All too often, when crisis hits, we hear people say, “I guess all we can do now, is to pray", as if there ever was something more effective in the first place!
Proverbs 16:1-3
“The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit. Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.”
Psalm 37:1-6
“Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! 2 For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. 3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. 6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.”
