Sermon Tone Analysis

Purpose:

Subject:

Complement:

Big Idea:

Introduction:

A wile back I was praying with our little foster daughter at bedtime.

I gave thanksgiving for the blessings we have received and for the safety and well-being of those dear to us.

Then she started to pray.

“God I pray for Coco (one of our dogs) that you will keep her safe tonight, for Sophie (another one of our dogs) that you will watch over her and keep her from snoring tonight, for Ceecee (our third and final dog) that you will watch over her and keep her safe tonight, Jesus I pray that my doll that is chewed up will be healed tomorrow, and Jesus be with my Mommy Alley and my daddy Cole.

In Jesus name I pray amen.”

As I was trying not to laugh and correct her about what we should be praying for I realized that we as adults do the exact same thing.

We are just better at masking our selfish desires in our prayers and then end it with something that is so unselfish it would seem to cover up all the selfish things we just prayed for.

What is so important?

If you remember my last message was on the spiritual discipline of Scripture Intake and hiding the word in our hearts.

Today I want to continue the series of spiritual discipline with prayer.

If you have your bibles please turn to Colossians chapter 4

As we read scripture we get instant knowledge and insight, but prayer requires faith.

We’re praying to a God we can’t see and expecting an answer we can’t control.

Faith completely contradicts our human nature and we tend to find a rut of praying the same prayers, exactly the same way, day in and day out, but how often to we circle back to see how those prayers were answered?

If we are all honest with ourselves prayer is not usually a disciplined part of our Christian life.

Sure we may pray every day maybe even several times a day, but how focused are those prayers?

How disciplined are we in paying attention to what God is telling us and praying for specifics in those areas?

F.B. Meyer once said "The great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer."

There are many days where we just feel too overwhelmed, too busy, to take the time for prayer.

If we stop and pray we feel like there is no way we will ever accomplish everything we need to get done that day.

tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.""The

great

Charles Spurgeon when talking about prayer in our churches once said "If the spirit of prayer is not with the people, the minister may preach like an angle but cannot expect success.

There may be in that church wealth, talent, labor and many outreach efforts, but the Lord is not there.

Prayer is as sure evidence of the presence of God as the rising of the thermometer is evidence of an increase in temperature.

If God is near a church, it must pray.

If he is not, one of the obvious signs of His absence will be lethargy in prayer."

the spirit of prayer is not with the people, the minister may preach like an angle but

cannot expect success.

There may be in that church wealth, talent, labor and many

outreach efforts, but the Lord is not there.

Prayer is as sure evidence of the presence of

God as the rising of the thermometer is evidence of an increase in temperature.

If God is

tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer."

near a church, it must pray.

If he is not, one of the obvious signs of His absence will be

lethargy in prayer."

Exposition

Turn your Bibles to:

Exposition

A. Exposition

B. Illustration:

Paul completely understands the importance of prayer and just how powerful it can be.

He was exemplary in his prayer life and continually instructs those in the churches he writes to pray.

Let’s read:

C. Application:

Second Movement:

A. Exposition:

B. Illustration:

C. Application:

Col

Third Movement:

A. Exposition

B. Illustration:

The truth is prayer is essential for our spiritual growth.

Without a healthy prayer life we grow stagnant in our walk with Christ and if the body of our church isn’t praying our church becomes stagnant.

Oh sure you can have salvation and not pray, you can also be married and not talk to your wife.

Prayer is our communication with God through Jesus.

Without communication neither one of those relationships would ever realize it’s full potential.

C. Application:

\’s full potential.

The Christian that is growing spiritually, the disciple who is fruitful, will be the one that knows how to pray and uses it.

Conclusion:

Subject:

Complement:

Big Idea:

Epilogue: