Bible, Prayer

Why Should I Pray?

Does prayer really make a difference? Because we’ve prayed for things before and it felt like nothing was happening. Does that mean God didn’t hear you or that He doesn’t care? And if you don’t see anything happening when you pray, what’s the point?  Maybe you’ve started to even doubt that God hears you or cares about you. In this video Pastor Sean gives three reasons to keep praying, even if we don’t see the results we want.

MESSAGE NOTES

[Psalm 4:1]

“Answer me when I call to you, O God who declares me innocent. Free me from my troubles. Have mercy on me and hear my prayer.”

 

[Psalm 5:1]

“O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning.”

 

[Psalm 10:1]

“O Lord, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide when I am in trouble?”

 

[Psalm 13:1]

 “O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way?”

 

 

[2 Samuel 12:13-24]

13 Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD .” Nathan replied, “Yes, but the LORD has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin. 14 Nevertheless, because you have shown utter contempt for the word of the LORD by doing this, your child will die.” 15 After Nathan returned to his home, the LORD sent a deadly illness to the child of David and Uriah’s wife.

16 David begged God to spare the child. He went without food and lay all night on the bare ground. 17 The elders of his household pleaded with him to get up and eat with them, but he refused. 18 Then on the seventh day the child died. David’s advisers were afraid to tell him. “He wouldn’t listen to reason while the child was ill,” they said. “What drastic thing will he do when we tell him the child is dead?” 19 When David saw them whispering, he realized what had happened. “Is the child dead?” he asked. “Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”

20 Then David got up from the ground, washed himself, put on lotions, and changed his clothes. He went to the Tabernacle and worshiped the LORD . After that, he returned to the palace and was served food and ate.

21 His advisers were amazed. “We don’t understand you,” they told him. “While the child was still living, you wept and refused to eat. But now that the child is dead, you have stopped your mourning and are eating again.” 22 David replied, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the LORD will be gracious to me and let the child live.’ 23 But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.” 

24 Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and David named him Solomon. The LORD loved the child.

 

  1. PRAYER RECONCILES US TO GOD

13 Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD .” Nathan replied, “Yes, but the LORD has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin.

 

 

[1 John 1:9]

““But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”

 

 

[Psalm 51:1-14]

“1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins.

2 Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.

3 For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night.

4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.

5 For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.

6 But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there.

7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me— now let me rejoice.

9 Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.

11 Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.

13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you.

14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.”

 

 

2. PRAYER RECENTERS OUR LIVES ON THE GOODNESS OF GOD

16 David begged God to spare the child. He went without food and lay all night on the bare ground. 17 The elders of his household pleaded with him to get up and eat with them, but he refused.

 

22 David replied, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the LORD will be gracious to me and let the child live.’

 

Soren Kierkegaard, “ The function of prayer is not to influence God but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”

 

 

3. PRAYER RESTORES A HEALTHY HEART OF WORSHIP

19 When David saw them whispering, he realized what had happened. “Is the child dead?” he asked. “Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”

20 Then David got up from the ground, washed himself, put on lotions, and changed his clothes. He went to the Tabernacle and worshiped the LORD . After that, he returned to the palace and was served food and ate.

 

Point: Prayer prioritizes my RELATIONSHIP with God over the GIFTS from God

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Application Questions

  1. What stood out to you from this message and why?
  2. What is one thing God is telling you to START doing because of this message?
  3. What is one thing God is telling you to STOP doing because of this message?
  4. How will this message change how you act at home, at work, and in your relationships?

Does prayer really make a difference? Because we’ve prayed for things before and it felt like nothing was happening. Does that mean God didn’t hear you or that He doesn’t care? And if you don’t see anything happening when you pray, what’s the point? Maybe you’ve started to even doubt that God hears you or cares about you. In this video Pastor Sean gives three reasons to keep praying, even if we don’t see the results we want.

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