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(Sermon)

Following is an excerpt of "A Prayer You Can't Take Out of School" by Steve Wagers added on 10/16/2009.
A Prayer You Can't Take Out of School
Pastor Steve N. Wagers
Matthew 6: 5-8
August 20. 2009

Sermon Outline
1) Pray GENUINELY!
a) The Presumption He Discloses
b) The Pretense He Despises
2) Pray PRIVATELY!
a) What we're Shut Up IN
b) Who we're Shut Up TO
3) Pray INTENTLY!
a) Don't Stammer Foolishly
b) Don't Stumble Forgetfully
4) Pray EXPECTANTLY!
a) The Victorious Promise
b) The Valuable Place

Because our focus and vision in prayer is too small, we are often like the woman, and her son, who got caught in a fierce tornado that swept through their tiny town in Texas. She grabbed hold of a tree for dear life, but in the process her son was taken up in the wind and blown into the air, and she light sight of him for good. She cried out to God, "Lord, if You'll just bring my son back to me, I'll follow you. I'll obey You. I'll serve You with all my heart. I'll keep my eyes on You the rest of my life. I promise!"

Immediately, the boy was dropped right smack dab down in front of her. The wind stopped and set him down on the ground without a scratch. The woman looked at her son, then looked up to Heaven and said, "Lord, he had a hat."

One of the saddest days of American history is June 25, 1962. On this date the U. S. Supreme court rendered its decision regarding the case Engel v. Vitale which basically removed prayer from public school.

That is a far cry from the prayer of Abraham Lincoln at the National Fast Day in 1863:
"But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the need of redeeming and preserving grace; too proud to pray to the God that made us!"

The disciples had seen Jesus heal the sick, opened blinded eyes, restore the crippled, raise the dead, and even preach the greatest sermon ever preached. Yet, they asked Him, "Lord, teach us to pray!"

There was something about the prayer life of Jesus that must have made His disciples feel that they didn't know how to pray, had never prayed, and they could only learn to pray by listening to the Master.

A. C. Dixon comments, "To learn prayer, one must go to the depths of the soul and climb to the heights of God."
Matthew 6 records timeless advice as to the practice of prayer. The school of prayer is in session and prayer can't be taken out.

1. Pray GENUINELY!

[5] "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward."

A) The PRESUMPTION He DISCLOSES

"WHEN THOU PRAYEST." (3 times)

The presumption is being made that we are spending time with God in prayer. ...

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