October 6, 2012 - Church at Worship

Sermon: "The Peril of Proper Prayer Part 5 - The Kneeling Disciple" - Randy Roberts

Pastoral Welcome: Rob Mohr

Ordination of Deacons: Shirley Ponder, Marvin Ponder

Meditation:

The prayer preceding all prayers is—
“May it be the real I who speaks. 
May it be the real Thou that I speak to.” – C. S. Lewis

“We must lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us,” wrote C. S. Lewis.  To put it another way, we must trust God with what God already knows. – Philip Yancey
… if we come to God, feeling helpless and dependent, as we really are, and in humble, trusting faith make known our wants to Him whose knowledge is infinite, who sees everything in creation, and who governs everything by His will and word, He can and will attend to our cry, and will let light shine into our hearts. – Ellen G. White

Scripture Reading: Luke 18:9–14 NLT -Iris Mamier

Sermon Notes: 

How honest are you in your prayer life with God? Do you feel pressure to “behave”
when you pray? Or are you real when you pray? If you’re angry with God, do you tell
him? If you have doubts, do you express them? If you are thankful, do you share your
heart with God? If you have questions, do you voice them?

On a human level, one of the relational realities we most prize is authenticity. We yearn
to be honest with the important people in our lives and we long for them to be honest
with us. In fact, it is disheartening to (at times) discover that people we love have not
been honest with us. And yet, in our prayer lives, there is a tendency to be the way we
think we ought to be rather than the way we truly are.

Today’s passage presents us with two people who are praying in the temple—one is
praying in all the right ways, but his words are not an expression of the authenticity of
his soul. The other person does it all wrong—and yet, receives the affirmation of Jesus
for his prayer.

We need to listen carefully to this parable of Jesus, asking, What might this teach us
about prayer?

Wishing you God’s blessings as you pray.

Randy Roberts
Senior Pastor