Untitled Sermon (3)
PRAY acronym series • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 2 viewsNotes
Transcript
P.praise R.repent A.ask Y.yield
P.praise R.repent A.ask Y.yield
PRAYER
Prayer is mentioned between 300 and 700 times, depending on what version of the Bible you are using
Prayer is our open line of communication with God; it's our opportunity to have a say so in everything that's happening in our lives.
It's our opportunity to reach out and help the people who won't allow us to help them in the physical realm. So, prayer allows us to be there in the spiritual realm!
If the inspired Word of God talks about something hundreds of times, then I think it's pretty wise for us as Christians to take it seriously!
Ephesians 6:18 says “Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints”.
Ephesians 6:18 says “Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints”.
Paul is talking about Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God in the overall context of these scriptures. The idea is all kinds of prayer or prayer upon prayer. We should use every kind of prayer we can think of: group prayer…individual prayer…silent prayer…shouting prayer…walking prayer… kneeling prayer…eloquent prayer…groaning prayer… constant prayer…fervent prayer.
We've got to pray and every type of prayer is needed! We've got to cover ourselves in prayer. The acronym that we are going to study is Praise Repent Ask Yield.
We've got to Praise God for what He's done in our lives and in our friends’ lives and what He's still doing. Praise and Thanksgiving go together.
Then we've got to Repent of anything that the Spirit convicts us of, but also self-evaluation and repentance are grouped together.
After you Praise God and Repent to God, you can begin to Ask God for the things that you need and or want in your life and in your loved one’s lives.
Now God is not a magic genie, but He tells us to ask Him for things, and I believe He will give us those things as long as they are within His will and they are asked from a sincere heart.
Then after we have praised God and cleared our hearts and gotten right through repentance to God, and after we have prayed and asked God whatever it is you need to ask Him, we must Yield to God. We must yield to His direction and commands.
So let's take a look at these one by one.
Praise and Thanksgiving
Praise and Thanksgiving
What do we have to thank God for and praise him for? Let's Read Psalm 147…then read
1My soul, praise the LORD, and all that is within me, praise his holy name. 2 My soul, bless the LORD, and do not forget all his benefits. 3 He forgives all your iniquity; He heals all your diseases. 4 He redeems your life from the Pit; He crowns you with faithful love and compassion. Psalm 103:1-4
1My soul, praise the LORD, and all that is within me, praise his holy name. 2 My soul, bless the LORD, and do not forget all his benefits. 3 He forgives all your iniquity; He heals all your diseases. 4 He redeems your life from the Pit; He crowns you with faithful love and compassion. Psalm 103:1-4
There's never a second that goes by that we don't have a reason to praise God and thank God.
When we begin our prayers with Praise andThanksgiving we're putting everything in perspective. God is the creator; He is the one who puts air in my lungs and pumps blood through my veins…He is the one who knitted me in my mother's womb…He is the one who sent His son to die on the cross…He the one who loved me before the foundations of the universe…He's the one who redeemed me…He's the one who saved me…He's the one who transformed me into a godly man,
So, I don't know about you, but I don't ever not have a reason to Praise Jesus. I don't ever not have a reason to Thank Jesus, because my very existence is cause to praise Him and thank Him!
The air in my lungs is reason to praise Him, the prayer's other's pray for me is reason to thank God, the chains that God freed me from is reason to praise and thank Jesus.
1 Chronicles 16:34 says, “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever”.
1 Chronicles 16:34 says, “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever”.
So church begin praying with Praise and Thanksgiving! Then we should Repent and/or do some self-evaluation!
REPENT
REPENT
“The one who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy”. Proverbs 28:13
“The one who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy”. Proverbs 28:13
I heard a saying a long time ago that said “you're only as sick as your secrets”, meaning as long as you keep sins a secret you'll continue to be affected by that sin.
This verse is telling us that hiding your sins will keep you from prospering, but repenting and confession of your sins and renouncing them will result in mercy from God.
“Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out.” Acts 3:19
“Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out.” Acts 3:19
God tells us that repentance, plus turning away from the sin, which is a part of repentance, will result in the sin being whipped out!
We know that we must continually evaluate ourselves spiritually and rely on the Holy Spirit to convict us of anything that is not right. After we praise and repent, then we move to asking God.
There's a ton of scripture on asking.
“Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for — believe that you have received it and it will be yours”. Mark 11:24
“Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for — believe that you have received it and it will be yours”. Mark 11:24
This is Jesus Himself talking, and He tells us as you read, believe that you have received and it is yours!
But we can't forget what Jesus goes on to say in the following verses, which is, “if you haven't forgiven others that our heavenly Father hasn't forgiven you of your own wrongdoing”.
And finally, after we've praised, repented, and asked, we have to yield to God. See praying isn't just us talking God's ears off, we have to listen to what God is saying to us as well. When He speaks back to us, we have to yield to what God is asking of us. Yield, submit, surrender to God every part of our lives!
“Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness. Romans 6:13
“Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness. Romans 6:13
We have to yield to God not to sin, stated here as unrighteousness.
New living translation says it like this, “Do not let any part of your body become a tool of wickedness, to be used for sinning”.
When we yield to the flesh we are becoming a tool for wickedness which is death, but yielding to God makes us tools for righteousness working for God to do what He calls us to do.
Everything we've talked about is something we should do daily. We've definitely got to pray daily, I would even say hourly but we've got to praise God and thank God every single day; and we need to self-evaluate and repent every day, and we need to ask God for His will daily. We have to yield to God and what He is doing in our lives every single day, and by doing these things it will help us build a prayer life.