Pray with your mouth AND ears!
Scripture Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7a
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
A time to speak and a time to be silent.
INTRO
Prayer – simply put is communication between people and God. Speaking and Listening. Not all of us are good at communicating.
THE MEN’S THESAURUS (men don’t always say what they mean) – excerpts:
When a man says: "IT’S A GUY THING" He means: "There is no rational thought pattern connected with this, and you have no chance at all of making it logical"
When a man says "UH HUH, SURE HONEY,” or “YES, DEAR" He means: Absolutely nothing – It’s a conditioned response.
When a man says "IT WOULD TAKE TOO LONG TO EXPLAIN" He means: "I have no idea how it works"
When a man says "TAKE A BREAK, HONEY. YOU ARE WORKING TOO HARD’’
He means: "I can’t hear the game over the vacuum cleaner"
When a man says "YOU KNOW HOW BAD MY MEMORY IS." He means: " I can hum every bar of the intro to Star Trek – original and TNG; the address of the first girl I ever kissed & the vehicle identification numbers of every car I ever owned – but I forgot your birthday"
When a man says ’OH, DON’T FUSS, I JUST CUT MYSELF. IT’S NO BIG DEAL"
He means: "I have actually severed my arm and I am about to pass out.
LISTEN
Ps 5:1-2
Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray.
Ps 81:8-14
"Hear, O my people, and I will warn you — if you would but listen to me, O Israel! You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god. I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. "But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. "If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!
Eccl 5:1-2
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. (Jeanie, Bev, Paulette) Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.
Matt 17:5-8 TRANSFIGURATION
While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid." When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
James 1:22-25 BE DOER OF THE WORD
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does.
ABOUT PRAYER
In Acts we read that the first converts - devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (Acts 2: 42) In Thessalonians,
Paul says pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; (1 Thess 5: 17-18) In his letter to Timothy he urges that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone (1 Timothy 2: 1) Jesus words - whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. (Matthew 6: 5)– hence – a prayer room.
SPEAK
CHILD’S PRAYER
A little girl was being punished by eating alone in the corner of the dining room. The family paid no attention to her until they heard her pray: “I thank you, Lord, for preparing a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.”
2 Chron 7:13-16
"When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
Luke 19:35-40 A TIME TO SPEAK
They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
Corporate Spoken Prayer
Eph 5:19-20
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God speaking to us Corporately:
Rev 2:7
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Jesus speaking to us personally:
Rev 3:20
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
Please visit our new prayer room and be in communion with our Lord Jesus Christ!
