Prayer Caught

“They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.” Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “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.” Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him. Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!””‭‭Mark‬ ‭14:32-42‬ ‭

Prayer Taught

Four obstacles to prayer

1. Prayer requires a heart that listens, and listing is hard

2. We don’t truly understand the power of prayer and how it works.

3. Our enemy does everything he can to keep us from praying.

4. We are surrounded by pressures that force us into our comfort zone and meaningful prayer doesn’t usually happen in our comfort zone.

“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation but rescue us from the evil one.”‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:5-13‬ ‭

Church of the Nazarene -East Rock

When God Seems Silent

When God Seems Silent: Part 1 “Are You Listening?

“In our world of seemingly endless communication and connection, is it possible that we are missing the most important one of all?

Our connection with the Lord

What do we do when that connection begins to fade?

It is those questions and many more that we will seek to answer in our new teaching series “When God Seems Silent”. Over the next few weeks we will seek to understand how to approach life when God appears not to be speaking, when he seems silent.

The Lord has not left himself without a witness, without voice into our lives, and the world. So, if you are indeed saying, “God seems silent” our first response is to ask: “Are you listening?”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29:11-14

‬‬For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart…Perhaps, if you feel the silence today- Like God is on mute somewhere, I think this passage in Jeremiah would ask us a tough question

Are you listening? Really listening- Like, with all of your heart listening?

Whether it’s listening to someone else, or to God, it’s always an active pursuit. So today, if God seems silent, it may be that we have stopped acting to hear him…What would it look like to seek him- to listen with all of your heart?

Throughout this teaching series we are going to examine a few other areas of our lives and a few other causes that may make it seem like God is silent.

Next week, we will unpack the idea that SIN is the ultimate silencer. Unrepented sin will always block our relationship with God, and therefore our communion with him.

Then, in part 3 we’ll talk about God’s delay. In our fast-paced, 5G phone, gotta have it now world, its often easy for us to mistake God’s delay in acting for silence. We are often tempted to think that simply because we haven’t seen the answer to our prayers, that God isn’t speaking or moving.

Finally, the ultimate issue we must face in hearing from God is trust. Do we trust that he speaks, that he hears, that he acts as he has promised? When we doubt Him, that can easily make him seem Silent.‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7:7-8‬‬“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Listening is never a passive activity, will you take the first step out of silence?