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Teach Us to Pray

8/8/2021 to 8/29/2021

Matthew 6:11-13

August 29, 2021 • Mike Holwerda • Matthew 6:11–13

Your Kingdom Come

August 22, 2021 • Zach Weihrauch • Matthew 6:10

In this message, Pastor Zach uses Matthew 6:10 to help us reflect on what it truly means to pray “your kingdom come, your will be done.” It is easy to acknowledge the need for a regime change in the world, but we are slower to admit the need for a new King in our hearts and minds. In prayer, we can go to God with our despair and our discouragement over the broken kingdom of the earth. But we also must acknowledge the state of our own hearts and our desperate need to surrender to our Savior. If left to our own devices, our kingdoms will always lead to death. But, Jesus’ kingdom begins with death and births an eternal life. Through Jesus, we see a prayerful and purposeful life of surrender to God. Surrender is vital to the Christian life. It is essential to pray that we have the power to bring a heavenly kingdom to our hurting earth. Your kingdom come, God. Your will be done. On earth, as it is in heaven.

Where Prayer Begins

August 15, 2021 • Zach Weihrauch • Matthew 6:9

In week two of our message series, Teach Us To Pray, Pastor Zach reflects on Mathew 6:9 and shows us where prayer begins, why prayer ends, and how to keep it going. Too often, we think of prayer as a discipline or a duty, but it is so much more than that. Jesus came so that we would know, without a doubt, that our God is willing and able to help us and that his glory and our good are linked. As Pastor Zach so beautifully puts it, “As a Christian, you never look at the circumstances of your life to know if God is willing and able to help you. You always look to the fixed point of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Don’t look to circumstances. Look to Jesus.” And as we continue to look to Jesus, we will be emboldened to bring our prayers, big and small, to the feet of a heavenly Father who loves us and wants to hear from us. *We are starting a 97-day prayer journey as a church beginning August 30th and going to the beginning of Advent. It will be a corporate meditation on the Lord’s Prayer. The prayer journey books are available for sale in the Atrium for $5 each. Please, join us as we watch the Lord work mightily in our midst through prayer.*

Before You Pray

August 8, 2021 • Jim Colledge • Matthew 6:5–8

Pastor Jim Colledge walks us through Matthew 6:5-8 and the practical tips that Jesus gives us regarding prayer. Through Pastor Jim’s message, we learn a little more about the wrong way to pray, the right way to pray, and how Jesus helps us make the transition. The wrong way to pray involves performing and pretending. The right way to pray is about authentically pursuing God. And, through Jesus, we can learn how the right kind of prayers help us approach our heavenly Father with confidence and security. Our Father in heaven wants us to come to him, and Jesus is the Great Shepherd who leads us there. God doesn’t expect perfect prayers. He doesn’t want performances or pretending. He wants us to be present with him, pursue him, and seek him with our authentic selves daily.