Sunday, April 7, 2019

Lent 5: Connect to God in Prayer


• Fifth Sunday of Lent.
with Daniel 9 and Luke 11
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A video of the worship service was posted on Facebook 4/7/19 https://www.facebook.com/FUMCWV/videos/298869024376267/
Sermon number five of five in a series based on the book One Faithful Promise by Magrey deVega.

• A mark of a good conversationalist is the skill of listening, which includes prompting / asking / inviting / encouraging talk.
We know that prayer is conversation with God, but the dialogue part of it feels complicated.
Our reading from Daniel 9 begins with Daniel reading scripture – listening to God, asking, in essence, what’s on God’s mind, what makes God tick, what God’s priorities are.
Daniel’s response follows our OneFaithfulPromise outline.
Confide in God / Confess.
Compose your spirit – be serious about committing self to God.
Claim the covenant. For the sake of your name, petition for mercy.
Choose faithfulness. Daniel laments unfaithfulnes.
And today’s C: Connect to God in Prayer.
Which is also what Daniel did. Wrap it up in prayer.
• In prayer we position ourselves before God. Wesley encourages set aside time and place, and literally position as a means of directing our attention.
But how do we pray?
• Our Luke 11 reading today also begins with seeking God as the disciples request of Jesus teach us to pray.
That in itself is a prayer, a connecting with God.
Ye have not because ye ask not. (James 4:2)
Ask for connection with God. And claim the covenant:
God is good, and because God is good God gives what we need.
Consider the meanings in the phrases of the Lord’s Prayer:
Our (community) Father (relationship) in heaven (confession of elevation)
Hallowed (holy, set apart) be thy name (relationship. I’m not God)
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as in heaven
   (May your inherently superior goodness and righteousness infuse our existence)
Give us our daily bread (sustain us. You know better than we do. We rely on you.)
And forgive as we forgive. (relationship with God, relationship with others.)
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil (give us strength to follow your righteous path)
For thine is the kingdom… (praise)
• Connect in prayer. Wrap it up in prayer. Begin middle and end in prayer. And enjoy prayer.
• PRAYER God of grace and love, thank you for your constant presence and power in my life. Help me to serve you with full willingness and obedience, without expectation of blessing in return. Grant me an enjoyment in my prayer life, that I might hear your voice, know your heart, and understand your will. Amen.
• Hymn 618 Let Us Break Bread Together

Luke 11:1-13 (CEB) 
11 Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 Jesus told them, “When you pray, say:
‘Father, uphold the holiness of your name.
Bring in your kingdom.
3 Give us the bread we need for today.
4 Forgive us our sins,
    for we also forgive everyone who has wronged us.
And don’t lead us into temptation.’”
5 He also said to them, “Imagine that one of you has a friend and you go to that friend in the middle of the night. Imagine saying, ‘Friend, loan me three loaves of bread 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has arrived and I have nothing to set before him.’ 7 Imagine further that he answers from within the house, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ 8 I assure you, even if he wouldn’t get up and help because of his friendship, he will get up and give his friend whatever he needs because of his friend’s brashness. 9 And I tell you: Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 Everyone who asks, receives. Whoever seeks, finds. To everyone who knocks, the door is opened.
11 “Which father among you would give a snake to your child if the child asked for a fish? 12 If a child asked for an egg, what father would give the child a scorpion? 13 If you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” ò

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