The Rock San Diego – 6/21/09 – Bubbles – Part 1, What is Prayer?

• A hypocrite is someone who believes one thing and does the opposite.
• Repetition is not prayer
  • How would your dad feel if you said “Happy Fathers Day” seven times because you thought that’s how you thought you could be heard?
• He wants you to talk to Him – from your heart – every time
• He’s a person, not an object – speak to Him – He understands your pain, desires
• Be real with your emotions, fears, etc
• The Lord’s prayer is the model for prayer
• Be specific in your prayer
• There are hinderances to your prayers being answered / addressed
• God wants to bless you – and He has them waiting just for you

• Communication is the exchange of ideas or information
• God’s bubbles are waaaay better than your bubbles – we send up junk (and He wants your junk)
• Prayer is your faith reaching out to God
• God’s voice is a small still voice
• Wait for God to respond
• It is absolutely expected that prayer is two-way – it’s communication (I have been feeling lately that it was presumptuous of me to think that God would talk to me every time I prayed)
• Jacob said “I’m not letting you go until you bless me”
  • Wrestling with the Lord is prayer
  • Don’t “punk out” with God and give up your wrestle (prayer) before you are blessed by God – He delights in blessing you
  • God’s telling you “come on.. come get it”
• God may let you suffer with pain to allow the lesson to be learned (for your own good)
• God’s not in the business of making us happy – He’s in the business of making us holy

• Jeremiah 33:3 – Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and mighty things that you do not know
• Call Him on His promise – but remember God’s ways are not our ways – He will do for you what He knows you need in His way
• You may ask Him a Yes or No question and He may give you a completely different answer
• “Lord give me wisdom about…”
• Psalms 119: 169 – Let my cry come before you Lord.  Give me understanding according to your word.”
• He will help you make decisions about your life according to the Bible.
• It’s not enough to ask for ‘happiness’ or for ‘a blessing’ – He wants you to be specific about a unique challenge, decision, issue, confession, etc
• If you tell God, He can clean out the junk in your heart

• He changes the way you think, process information, and how you feel
• He changes your desires
• Psalms 51: 10 – Create in me a clean heart, oh God.
• Your heart wants to be wicked – you don’t even realize how wicked your heart is – you want to think you’re “not that bad”
• Lord, change my heart – give me a desire to be holy
• Holy desires come from God – not you
• Romans 12:1 – … present your body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable…
• Sometimes we ask God for something that we wouldn’t ask if our heart were clean
• When you ask the questions He wants, He will bless

• Power = Ability, authority, and freedom to do, or to act
• What God can do, man cannot do, ever
• There’s no question God has power, there’s no question He loves you, there’s no question he’s telling you to pray, there’s no question He’s going to put you in a position where you need His power, so He’s going to put you in a corner where you either self-destruct or you trust Him
• He has power to make you strong – He’s looking for you to trust Him
• Get on your knees and ask for God to clean your heart
• Moses had to wait 80 years before his ministry (40 years of education, 40 years of tenderizing his heart, then 40 years of ministry)