Pray First!
Jeff Ecklund
Matthew 7:7
21 days of prayer
Open: Welcome to the New Year and the first series of the year which is on prayer!
Matthew 7:7 (ESV)
7’’Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
I’m believing that this series and time of focus will bring clarity, blessing and greater understanding this year because at the heart of prayer is relationship with God!
Speaking of prayer, I asked one of my grandsons this year to pray over our Christmas dinner and reminded me how unconventional or ‘‘real’’ that kids can be when they pray. A couple examples...
Dear God: Please send a new baby for Mommy. The new baby you sent last week cries too much. Debbie, 7
Dear God: Who did you make smarter? Boys or girls? My sister and I want to know. Jimmy, 6
Dear God: How many angels are there in heaven? I would like to be the first kid in my class to know the answer. Norma, 8
Dear Lord: Thank you for the nice day today. You even fooled the TV weather man. Hank, 7
Dear God: I need a raise in my allowance. Could you have one of your angels tell my father. Thank you. David, 7
Dear God: This is my prayer. Could you please give my brother some brains. So far he doesn’t have any. Angela, 8.
sermon central
There is a saying that we are all familiar with that is fundamentally wrong and that is ‘‘if all else fails, pray’’.
Now I agree with the statement that says ‘‘prayer succeeds when all else fails’’ but honestly too many times we pray like it’s a ‘hail Mary’’...
Instead of a first lean its the last!
Now there are times when you could say ‘‘all I can do now is pray’’ but if we are honest our first lean into anything is to try and accomplish it in our own strength, own resource and then when that fails we pray!
Prayer should be first and not last. It should be first, should be middle and should be at the end as well!
That is why we are starting out this year with Pray First!
Can you imagine wha ...
Jeff Ecklund
Matthew 7:7
21 days of prayer
Open: Welcome to the New Year and the first series of the year which is on prayer!
Matthew 7:7 (ESV)
7’’Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
I’m believing that this series and time of focus will bring clarity, blessing and greater understanding this year because at the heart of prayer is relationship with God!
Speaking of prayer, I asked one of my grandsons this year to pray over our Christmas dinner and reminded me how unconventional or ‘‘real’’ that kids can be when they pray. A couple examples...
Dear God: Please send a new baby for Mommy. The new baby you sent last week cries too much. Debbie, 7
Dear God: Who did you make smarter? Boys or girls? My sister and I want to know. Jimmy, 6
Dear God: How many angels are there in heaven? I would like to be the first kid in my class to know the answer. Norma, 8
Dear Lord: Thank you for the nice day today. You even fooled the TV weather man. Hank, 7
Dear God: I need a raise in my allowance. Could you have one of your angels tell my father. Thank you. David, 7
Dear God: This is my prayer. Could you please give my brother some brains. So far he doesn’t have any. Angela, 8.
sermon central
There is a saying that we are all familiar with that is fundamentally wrong and that is ‘‘if all else fails, pray’’.
Now I agree with the statement that says ‘‘prayer succeeds when all else fails’’ but honestly too many times we pray like it’s a ‘hail Mary’’...
Instead of a first lean its the last!
Now there are times when you could say ‘‘all I can do now is pray’’ but if we are honest our first lean into anything is to try and accomplish it in our own strength, own resource and then when that fails we pray!
Prayer should be first and not last. It should be first, should be middle and should be at the end as well!
That is why we are starting out this year with Pray First!
Can you imagine wha ...
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