Foundations: Prayer - SERMON NOTES

Below are Pastor Ben's sermon notes from this past Sunday, in case they may be helpful for further study.

Intro: (1) prayer service (2) praying the psalms — God’s Prayer Program (T.M. Moore)

Why – greater awareness of

1. God’s power: (1) 104:1-3 — images convey God’s greatness/glory (cf. Isaiah, transfiguration) (2) 2:1-4 — God has declared a king that all other kings are to recognize, their attempts to reject are laughed at (cf. election year) (3) psalm prayers remind us who has true power

2. God’s presence: (1) 19:1-2 — God reveals himself through creation (cf. devo book) (2) 19:7-9 — God reveals himself through his words (3) 27:13-14 — discipline of cultivating hope (4) psalm prayers remind us that God is always with us

3. God’s protection: (1) Psalm 3 (2) recognition of foes, yet also God (3) app #1 — spiritual warfare (cf. armor of God) (2) app #2 — relationships with adversarial people (cf. 83:16) (3) app #3 — persecuted church (cf. mission partners) (4) may still experience harm (cf. John the Baptist)

4. God’s peace: (1) Psalm 16:1-6 (2) pressures that rob our peace — jobs, marriage, parenting, finances, relational struggles, political fears (3) even things that are “good” can rob us of peace apart from God (cf. Olympic swimmer) (4) psalms-based prayer brings truth-based peace (v.8-11)

How

1. Connect them to ourselves: (1) Psalm 23:1-3 (2) meditation, writing it out, paraphrase praying, changing pronouns (3) plan — when and where, how (cf. my personal approach)

2. Connect them to Christ: (1) messianic psalms (cf. 22, 110) (2) kingly psalms, victory psalms (3) framework for righteousness before God (cf. 15:1-2)

3. Connect them to others: (1) praying for those who are suffering (cf. 37:27-28) (2) praying for mission partners (cf. 67:1-3)

Conclusion: (1) getting started (2) prayer service (3) fasting (4) prayer cards