2024-11-03 Sermon Notes1 - Daniel Lyons' Notes

type:
  - "[[Sermon Notes|Sermon Notes]]"
speaker: "[[Archibald Allison]]"
date: 2024-11-03
location: "[[Emmaus Orthodox Presbyterian Church]]"
passage: "[[Isa-64#v7|Isaiah 64:7]]"
sermon series:
sermon link:
subjects:
  - "[[prayer]]"
title: Stir Yourself To Take Hold Of God
takeaways:
publish: true

💡Big Idea

Takeaways and Next Steps

📖Bible Passage

Isaiah 64:7

There is no one who calls on your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have consumed us by means of our iniquities.

Points

We should learn two truths from Isaiah 64:7:
- When we pray we must take hold of ourselves.
  - We must pray yes, even in our prayers. Pray that we would stir ourselves up to take hold of our God.
- When we pray we must take hold of God.
  - Plead with Him to show His face.
  - To call upon His name.
Martin Luther said: "I have so much to do today. I better spend an extra hour in prayer."
John Welsh: his wife said that he spent hours in prayer every day. He prayed family by family for all the 3000 people in his congregation
We are tragically used to backsliding in our prayers.
- Yes, we are determined to change, to improve our prayer, but if we lean on ourselves we will fall back into our old ways.
- Our prayers are like toys that Satan can comfortably sleep next to, when they ought to be like missiles that attack the enemy of God.
- Our prayers ought to be intimate, joyous times with our beloved Father which we delight in and look forward to.
How do we stir ourselves to take hold of God?
- William Carey: One of the first Christian missionaries to India, didn't convert a single person for 8 long years.
  - He found it profitable to focus this time on prayer.
  - Sometimes we learn and grow more in our lives in seasons of waiting rather than in seasons of abundance.
- Thomas Watson: "It was the angel that fetched Peter out of the prison, but oh what joy for the Church, for it was prayer that fetched the angel out of Heaven."
We need prayer warriors in the church.
- Allison: Sometimes older people are feeble and lament "I feel so useless". To them I say "Pray for the whole church. You could be the most valuable person in the church, simply by prayer."
- Prayer is first if we really believe in God.
  - John Bunyan: "You can do more than prayer after you have prayed. But you can do no more than prayer before you have prayed."
  - ❓: Why do we wait until we are a desperate situation before we pray? Pray beforehand.
  - Pray before everything we do.
    - Look through your busy list of things to do, and ask the Lord to help you to do each of those things.
Speak with sincerity in prayer.
- As soon as you bind yourself to a method of prayer, or a time minimum or any of these things, you are dooming yourself to cold selfish prayers.
- Banish every other thought. You are in God's presence now. Take hold of yourself.
Cultivate a continual spirit of prayer.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:17 What does it mean to pray without ceasing?
  - It is a spirit of prayer.
  - It does not mean that you are constantly muttering and speaking things to God. It means that you are regularly thinking about and in communion with God.
    - When you get dressed in the morning pray "LORD, please clothe me in your righteousness this day."
Pray intercedingly.
- We all pray selfishly.
- But we ought to pray for others, many others.
  - It is difficult to hate or dislike others when you are praying for them.
  - Your best friends are those who are praying for you.
    - To intercede for someone is far more important than giving them an expensive gift.
  - Ministers need your prayers.
  - We all need prayers from those around us.
  - Case study Numbers 12:13: Moses' sister Miriam jealously sought to usurp Moses' power and God smote her with leprosy. Did Moses revel in her pain? No he prayed and interceded on her behalf.
Use balance in prayer. Keep biblical balance in your prayers.
- Psalm 11:1-3 Adore God
- Confess your sins to God like Daniel.
What does it mean to take hold of God in prayer?
- 1. It means to take hold of God's own promises found in the Bible.
  - Bring to God His own promises.
  - It is no arrogancy to burden God with His own promises.
  - "Prayer is nothing but God's own promises reversed."
- 1. Read the bible for prayer:
  - Memorize it and meditate on it.
  - Take every phrase and use it as a seed for your prayer.
- 1. Look to the glorious Trinity for prayer:
  - God prays to God. The Son prays to the Father and so forth. Follow Their example.
  - The Holy Spirit stirs up prayer in us.
  - The Son prays and intercedes for us on our behalf.
  - And the Father has decreed our prayer.
  - 2 Corinthians 13:14
- 1. Faith: You lay hold of God when you really believe that God will answer your prayer.:
  - Yes we are unworthy of God answering our prayers, but He is a good Father. Why should we be surprised that He would fulfill His promises?
  - This is why we can pray and keep on praying, even when we haven't gotten an answer yet, because we confidently know that God will provide an answer.
  - Prayer is at the center of the Reformation.
  - Climb up into the lap of God, and tell Him your needs, wishes, confessions.

Application

Further Study

💬Discussion Questions

2024-11-03 Sermon Notes1

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