A Church of Prayer

The Kind of Church God Builds
A Church of Prayer

I. Introduction

A. As Christians—we oftentimes think that something is when life is hard!

1. It’s to truly follow Jesus!

B. John 16:33 (NAS) “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

1. Tribulation – – (Thlipsis) – – to , to compress, to squeeze

2. Jesus prays that this new community—called “the Church”—would be a church of !

C. John 17:1-5 (NLT) ¹After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. ²For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. ³And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. ⁴I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. ⁵Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.”

D. “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.

“If we were able to extract from any person a complete answer to the question, ‘What comes into your mind when you think about God?’, we would then be able to predict, with certainty, the spiritual future of that person.” (A.W. Tozer)

1. Jesus wants to make sure we realize that God is our !

E. Matthew 6:9 (NAS) “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.’”

1. No one—in all of human history—had ever talked about God as their “.”

2. “Abba” means “.” Or “My loving Daddy.”

F. Galatians 4:6 (NAS) Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

G. Romans 8:15 (NAS) For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

H. The starting point of a healthy Christian life is for us to see ourselves as God’s —by way of adoption—through our in Jesus Christ!

I. Seeing God as He is—and seeing yourself as He you are—is the foundation for a healthy Christian life.

1. It’s imperative that we not project onto God our faulty experiences of our earthly .

2. In the deepest part of your heart—what do you feel like your in heaven is really like?

J. John 17:3 (NLT) “And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.”

K. The way out of the distortions handed down to you by your earthly father is to intimately!

L. “The ultimate object of salvation is not merely to keep us from Hell—not merely to deliver us from certain sins. The ultimate object of salvation is that we may enjoy ‘adoption,’ and we may become ‘children of God,’ and ‘joint heirs with Christ.’” (Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

1. We always ask God the Father for !

M. God never gets tired of to you!

1. “Do I pray prayers or just general prayers?”

N. Our Heavenly Father is much more than most of us can imagine!

1. Whenever you come to God—in the morning—in the evening—in the middle of the night—God is there!

O. The kind of church God builds is a church of ! A church filled with people who !

1. The way hope rises up inside of us is when we come into the Presence of God and put our on !

P. John 17:5 (NLT) “Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.”

Q. God gets much more when something He does is an answer to , as opposed to just a “happenstance” of life!

R. Philippians 4:6-7 (NAS) ⁶Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

S. Pray for , everywhere, about !

II. Conclusion