The Principles of Prayer | Rev. Wil Cantrell

This sermon will address the “why” and basic principles of prayer by making 3 main points. 1) The purpose of prayer is to give us a language for related directly to God. (Gen 1:26-31; 3:8). Having a language for relationship is part of being made in God’s image – the image of the Trinity, a relationship between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the Garden of Eden intimate connection with God was expected. 2) Prayer is meant to be public and private. Jesus teaches his disciples to pray privately (Mt 6:5-6). He also teaches and demonstrates public prayer. (Mt 15, Mt 21, Luke 23, Mk 15). All Christians need to be comfortable praying publicly because it is one of the primary ways we Share Christ by teaching others the language God created for direct relationship with us.  3) For Jesus, fasting and prayer are inextricably connected. (Matthew 6:16-18) Just after teaching about prayer in the sermon on the mount, Jesus teaches about fasting. He always intended the two to go together. Fasting is itself a prayer. It is a special way of focusing on God and learning to listen. John Wesley encouraged the early Methodist to fast from sundown on Thursday until 3pm on Friday – mirroring the hours of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. We mention fasting in the sermon and mention that we will be more intentionally exploring fasting explicitly from food with our congregation during Lent.

Additional Materials: 1)  Front/back handout (maybe a book mark) – front = principles of prayer, back = principles of fasting, 2) Kids prayer requests on altar