Notes from Pastor Rick

How to pray.

Are there certain ways to pray? Are there rules? Are there guidelines that will make prayer more effective?

The Bible gives us some guidelines - but let me caution you. Don’t make prayer a miserable experience to be tolerated. Let it be a comfortable, joyful experience.
Prayer is time with your heavenly Father.

You can pray any time, any place, in any position, but there are some biblical guidelines to note.

1. Pray to the Father in Jesus name.
John 16:23 “… I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”
There is no other name by which we may be saved. Neither is there any other name through which we might pray. We dare not approach God in our own name or upon our own merits.
Jesus has given us access to the Father.
Ephesians 2:18 “For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”
Ephesians 3:12 “In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”

In fact, this promise is so generous, it is like Jesus has given us a blank check, signed his name to it, and told us to fill out the amount.

Now, that does not mean we can have anything we want. We must:
2. Pray according to God’s will.
1 John 5:14-15 “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him.”
We should never ask for anything contrary to what we know to be the will of God or contrary to what the Bible says.
Suppose we were to pray for harm to come to someone - or for the breakup of a family - or for something else that would be obviously contrary to the nature of God and contrary to His Word.
Then again we might ask God for something that would not be best for us or according to his specific will for us.
James tells us -
4:3 “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

3. Pray believing
Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Don’t waste God’s time praying prayers you don’t expect to be answered.
The wording is interesting in the modern translation which is consistent with the original language. “Believe that you HAVE RECEIVED it…” He is saying, ‘when you pray, consider it done.’
Now that is positive faith!
The secret of all the biblical saints is that they believed God - they trusted and obeyed God’s Word.

4. Forgive before you pray.
Mark 11:25 “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Sinful attitudes block our prayers. If hold unforgiveness in your heart it will hinder your prayers.
Men, did you know that impatience with your wife can hinder your prayer life?
1 Peter 5:7 “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”
So, wrong attitudes can paralyze your spiritual life and ruin your peayer life.

5. Pray with a clear conscience.
Psalm 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
Sin is like a blocked artery that stops the blood flow to your heart. A blocked artery will make you tired and weak and will eventually kill you if the blockage is not removed.
In the same way sin must be removed because it will have the same effects on your spiritual life.
Confess and forsake your sin and your prayers will be more powerful.

What should you pray about:
Anything and everything! Nothing is too big for God to do or too small for Him to be concerned about. Unselfish prayers are the best. Don’t always ask – give to God your time and attention.

Doing it:
Set a time for planned, daily devotions and prayer. Jump right in. You may not always feel like it and you may not always feel His presence, but He is there waiting to spend time with you. Don’t disappoint Him.
Just do it!

REMEMBER: RELATIONSHIPS ARE BASED ON MUTUAL COMMUNICATION. CLOSENESS IS DEVELOPED THROUGH SPENDING TIME TOGETHER.

Missionary Speaker

Next Sunday morning, July 26, we will have Byron and Jodie Kelchner,
missionaries to Bolivia sharing their ministry with us. The Kelchner’s are
devoting their lives to taking the gospel to the lost people of Bolivia. Let them
challenge you as they share what God has called them to do.

THERE WILL BE NO ALBANIAN SERVICES FOR THE NEXT 3 WEEKS. PASTOR AND PATTI WILL BE ON VACATION. WE WILL MEET AGAIN ON AUGUST 16, 5 PM.

Teach Us To Pray

Luke 11:1 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray , as John also taught his disciples.
Prayer is the most important thing that we can do.
It is vital that we learn to pray. It is significant that the disciples didn’t ask to be taught to preach or work miracles. They watched Jesus and realized that everthing else he did flowed from his prayer life.
Prayer is communication with God. It is our lifeline.
Prayer need not be complicated or flowery – just express yourself to God honestly and openly.

There are various ingredients of prayer:

Worship –
“When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”
Meditate on the greatness of God. Acknowledge who he is. Express to God how great you think He is. Give Him praise.
He is our Heavenly Father - the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He is our Provider and Protector.
A vital part of prayer is recognition of who God is.

Seeking Him and His Kingdom -“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.”

– Just spend time getting to know God better – to understand Him more – to allow Him to change you - His kingdom to be established in your life. (God is more interested in what you offer Him than what you ask for. He wants you, not just your shopping list.)
We need to ask that we be ‘conformed to His image. Spend some of your prayer time allowing him to transform you. The disciples spent much time with Jesus. We must do the same.

Petition – asking God for something.“Give us day by day our daily bread.”

God knows our needs before we ask, and he delights in providing for his children.
But when we ask - when we make our requests known, it shows our trust and our dependence on Him..
God said,
Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Forgiveness
“And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.”
When we seek forgiveness we acknowledge our sin. This involves confession.
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins he is just and faithful to forgive us…”
Remember, sin separates us from God. As we confess our sin, it removes the barrier through grace and forgiveness. As we forsake our sin, we become more pleasing to him.

Let us pray for God’s protection and guidance - “And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.”

We need, not only forgiveness of sin, but also deliverance from the temptation to sin.
“Lord, guide us away from evil and into straight paths. Protect us from the snares of the enemy and the lure of this world.”

There are several other areas of prayer we nee to attend to -

Intercession – This is praying for others or praying on behalf of others. Don’t just pray selfishly. God is looking for people who will stand in the gap for others.
Ezekiel 22:30 “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”

Will that be true today? Will God find those who will break out of their own narrow existence and intercede for others? Will you be one?

Fellowship – just being with God; being aware of His presence.
Can you just spend time in God’s presence without asking for something. Have you ever known someone who didn’t have time for you unless they needed something? Don’t treat God that way.

Listening – you need to give God a chance to speak to you. Just get in His presence, read you Bible, and ask God to speak to you.

PRAYER IS NOT A ONE-WAY COMMUNICATION.

How much time do you spend in prayer?
How much of that time do you spend listening?
Will you determine to spend more time with God?

NEXT WEEK - SUNDAY, JULY 19, 5 PM - SPECIAL WORSHIP AND CONCERT WITH OPEN DOOR CHURCH AND ALBANIAN CHURCH - IN THE SANCTUARY. BRING A FRIEND.

SUNDAY, JULY 26 - 11 AM MISSIONARIES BYRON AND JODIE KELCHNER WILL BE SHARING IN THE MORNING SERVICE THEIR BURDEN FOR BOLIVIA.

The Church

Matthew 16:18 “. . . upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

The Church – What is it and what is its purpose? Why do we build these buildings and meet together? What is our function in this world and in the lives of people?

The church is, first and foremost, a place to meet with God.
Man was made for fellowship with God. In the Garden of Eden, God would come down to the garden and meet with Adam and Eve.

Then early on we see Cain and Abel bringing offerings to the Lord in worship.
We worship God because He is the creator and the giver of all things.
After the Flood, Noah built and altar and offered sacrifices to God. (Genesis 8:20)
When God appeared to Abraham, Abe built and altar and worshipped him. (Genesis 12:7) In fact, everywhere Abraham went he built an altar to the Lord.
God commanded Jacob, and later Moses, to build and altar.

God instructed Moses to build a tabernacle, and here is where we see clearly the purpose of the church building –
Exodus 25:8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.

Quoting a passage from Isaiah, Jesus said,
“… It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer…” (Matthew 21:13)

The church is, first and foremost, a place of worship.
As we track through the Bible, we see that the church – the temple – became the center of Jewish life – because God was at the center of their lives.

Note this, the church didn’t go to the people – the people came to the church. Since the time of Jesus we have the mandate to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel.” We are to take the message OUT to the people.
But we don’t invite them to church – we invite them to Jesus.

When they come to Jesus they will begin to come to church in order to be fed spiritually and fellowship and worship with other believers.
Yes, we need to ‘go into the highways and byways to bring them in’, but if after they come to Jesus we have to beg them, bribe them, and entertain them to get them to attend church there is something drastically wrong with their conversion experience.

Today we have taken church attendance to a new and dangerous level. We try all kinds of gimmicks to get people to come to church. We try to make the church ‘user friendly’. We compete with the world to attract people’s attention. We water down the truth and try to make it less offensive. We think that occupied seats are a sign of a healthy church. No! No! No!
Worshipping believers are the sign of a healthy church.

Maybe I am living in an idealistic dream world, but I long for a church where people come because they love God and want to faithfully worship and serve him – not because it is so much fun and entertaining.
I seriously wonder sometimes if we are really getting people to heaven or if we are just getting them to church.

Okay, enough of my soap box sermon.

What is the church?

The church is not a building. It is people. We are the church. Church means “those who are called”. The church is that group of people who are called:
- out of sin and into righteousness;
- out of darkness into light;
- out of the world and into the Kingdom of God.

Colossians 1:12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
1:13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
The church is people who are separated from sin and set apart for God.

Without going into great detail today let me just say that the church is variously referred to as:
The Flock of God -
Psalms 100:3 . . . we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
God, like a shepherd, cares for us and guides and protects us. Jesus said,”I am the good shepherd…” John 10:14

The Family of God -
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God …
Romans 8:15 … but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

The Temple or Building of God -

1 Peter 2:5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood…
1 Corinthians 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you…
2 Corinthians 6: 16 . . . for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them . . .

God lives in us. We are God’s representatives in this world just as Jesus was when He was here in bodily form. Just as God was in Christ, He is now in us.

The Body of Christ -
Romans 12:5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
1 Corinthians 12:27. Now ye are the body of Christ…

THE TRULY AMAZING THING IS THAT, NOT ONLY HAS GOD RESCUED US FROM ETERNAL DEATH, BUT HE HAS INTRUSTED TO US THE MESSAGE OF ETERNAL LIFE.

Why Is the Church Important?

1. As we already established, the local church is a place of worship.

2. The church is also a place where we learn and grow in our spiritual walk with God.
Not only should we learn from the Sunday School Bible study and the sermon, but we should encourage, comfort, correct, and assist one another. The older, more experienced should teach the younger.
Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds.
10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

3. Thirdly, the church has been given the mandate to evangelize the World.
We are here as representatives of Christ to spread the gospel (the good news of salvation through Christ). That is our commission and privilege - to win the world for Christ.
Mark 16:15 Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations . . .

In conclusion:

Everyone should be a part, an active member, of a local church. We all need the guidance and support it offers.
We need the ministry and friendship in times of need or sorrow. We need the strength of the group in weak moments.
We need the accountability it provides.
Also, we need the opportunity to serve, to help others, to be a vital part of the ministry (service) of the local church.
You see, you need the church and the church needs you.

Coming Events -
Special Music Service
Sunday, July 19 we will have a special joint service with the Albanians at 5 PM. We will have special music from both groups.
If you would like to share in this service please let Pastor know. All are urged to join us for this celebration of praise and worship.

Church Membership
If you are interested in becoming a member of Open Door Church please find an application in the foyer, fill it out, and give it to Pastor or put it in the offering bag.

The large table near the kitchen, in the fellowship hall, has free magazines. Please help yourself, and then pass it on to someone else.

www.icarecoalition.org
This organization raises awareness among parents about the dangers to children on the internet, pornography, sexual predators, sexual slavery, trafficking and the constant flood of sexualized media messages. There are many things on this site that parents should know, including instructions on how to keep your children and grandchildren safe. Pass this website on to your friends and family members, as well.