04 Nov Prayers: Don’t Trust The Heart, Yet You Need The Heart
Pastor Vincent - 23 January 2014
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Prayers: Don’t Trust The Heart, Yet You Need The Heart
Verses to read:
<Jeremiah 17:9> <Mark 7:20-21><James 4:7-10><James 4:1-2,4>
Introduction:
“Pray in the spirit with all kinds of prayers in all occasion” <Eph 6:18>.
- Yet, prayer is by far one of the most difficult spiritual exercise in most Christian lives. Few enjoyed prayer becoz they could not draw near to God.
- In prayer, our heart lies at the center of the problem.
- Should we trust our heart? Yet without the heart, how to pray?
- The Lord is near to the broken-hearted, and HE saves the contrite in spirit <Ps 34:18>.
1. The Gospel reveals the nature of the Heart.
1) Its deceitful above all else <Jer 17:9>.
- It creates its own truth, even about God.
- People who believes in the wrong gospel are NOT praying, even though they are.
- What is the fundamental gospel truths?
– SIN (against God)
– Salvation (through Faith in Christ alone)
– To live in pursuit of God and the Kingdom
2) So there must first be a renewal of the heart
- heart of stone to a heart of flesh <Eze 36:26>.
3) Yet, the heart is always prone to spiritual attacks.
- Prone to the enemies lies (temptations, accusations, worries of life, feel abandoned by God, etc)
2. How to draw near to God, despite spiritual attacks?
1) Know our spiritual enemy – The Devil
- He works through:
(1) Our sinful desires
(2) The World
(3) Haughtiness, proudness
2) Yet God showed us MORE GRACE! <v6>
- My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. <1 John 2:1>
- If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. <1 John 1:9>
3) Act of True Confession <v8>
- (1) Wash your hands, you sinners
- (2) Purify your hearts, you double-minded
4) Grieve, mourn and wail… <v9>
5) Humble yourself before the Lord and he will lift you up. <v10>
Reflection:
1) What is the greatest obstacle in your prayer life?
2) How do you usually deal with a “no heart to pray” situation?
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