A Praying Church

Love Worth Finding

Media Give App

A Praying Church

Matthew 7:7-8

September 15, 2024 • Adrian Rogers • Matthew 7:7–8

Give

Sermon Overview

Scripture Reference: Matthew 7:7-8

There is no substitute for prayer, and a church is only as useful as her prayer life. The devil cannot keep God from answering our prayers, so he tries to keep us from asking. But our Lord has commanded us to pray.

Adrian Rogers says, “The greatest problem that you have in your life is not unanswered prayer; the greatest problem is unasked prayer.”

Matthew 7:7-8 says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

These are the words of Jesus—an undeniable, impeccable promise to a praying church.

God already knows our needs before we ask. We pray, not to impress or inform Him, but to invite Him into our circumstances. God wants us to abide in Him, and prayer teaches us to depend on Him.

This passage reminds us first to ask and express our desires to God.

There is no division between spiritual things we should ask for and secular things we shouldn’t. We can’t consider some things too big or too small for God to answer. Whatever our desires may be, if they are something we can ask God’s help for, we should give them to God. Sometimes the answer is direct.

Secondly, we’re reminded to seek and expect direction from God.

Sometimes, God’s ways are unknown to us, so His answers are different from what we expect. What we ask for is not what God wants us to have. As we seek God, He will direct our prayers over time so that we will ask for the right things.

Finally, this passage tells us to knock and exercise determination with God.

We cannot give up too easily; we must remember that sometimes, God’s answers are delayed and we must be persistent. We should only stop knocking after we have an answer in hand or in our hearts, or if God says “no.” Until then, we must ask, seek, and continue knocking, inviting God into our lives, one prayer at a time.

Apply it to your life

Is there something in your heart and mind that you’ve been afraid to pray for? Freely ask God, seek Him, and continue knocking. He is faithful to answer, whether directly, differently, or delayed.

Christmas Tribute to the Trinity

December 15, 2024 • Adrian Rogers • Luke 1:35

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Luke 1:35 Many who don’t believe in Jesus will call Him a great moral teacher. But when we look closely at His teachings, we find that He left no room for interpretation. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and the story of Christmas is a tribute to the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:35 says, “And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.’” The doctrine of the Trinity is what makes our faith different from all other faiths. First, we must recognize the sublime mystery of the Trinity. We will never understand the Holy Trinity by human investigation, logic, or science. The only way we can know about the Holy Trinity is by divine revelation. There is one God, and He is a triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If we try to understand it on our own, we will lose our minds; if we deny it, we may lose our souls. Adrian Rogers says, “I wouldn’t have any confidence in a God that I could understand.” Second, we recognize the sacred history of the Trinity. John 1:1-3 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” There is no contradiction between the three, because they are One. The Trinity, together, created the world, composed the Scriptures, conceived the Christ, and commissioned the Church. Finally, we recognize the saving ministry of the Trinity. Through the Holy Trinity, we have our salvation. Salvation has been in the heart and mind of God before we were ever born. The Father thought it, the Son bought it, and the Holy Spirit wrought it. Adrian Rogers says, “You have been selected by the Father, saved by the Son, and sealed by the Spirit.” Because of the mystery of the manger, the blessing of Bethlehem, and the treasures of the Trinity, we can never lose our salvation. Apply it to your life It’s not enough to simply accept the intellectual premise of the Holy Trinity. Give your heart to Jesus, the Son of God.

Christmas in the Old Testament

December 8, 2024 • Adrian Rogers • Micah 5:2

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: Micah 5:2 Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but His existence did not begin in Bethlehem; He has been from everlasting. The Book of Micah offers us a clear picture of Christmas to come in the Old Testament. Micah 5:2 says, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” Adrian Rogers says, “Without the Lord Jesus, the Old Testament is simply a bundle of unfulfilled prophecies, of unexplained ceremonies, of unattainable laws. But when you bring Jesus into it, it unlocks the whole thing.” First, there are portraits of Jesus in the Old Testament. In Luke 24:44, Jesus says, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” Jesus is who all the Old Testament prophets have given witness to. He is portrayed as the Prophet, Priest and King of every story from Genesis to Malachi. He is in every ceremony, and even in the design of biblical architecture such as the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant. When we read the New Testament, we find the fulfillment of each law and prophecy. Second, there are prophecies of Jesus in the Old Testament. There are more than 300 prophecies concerning the Messiah in the Old Testament. Throughout the Books of Law and Prophecy, God narrows the focus to a specific man from the nation of Israel. He would come from the Tribe of Judah, specifically the family of Jesse, and the household of David. He would be born of a virgin in Bethlehem, betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, crucified, and then raised from the dead. Jesus fulfilled each of these prophecies and many more. Mathematically, when we speak of the laws of probability, there is no doubt He is the Messiah. Finally, Jesus is presented in the Old Testament We must decide how we will respond. Do we crown Him or crucify Him—accept or reject Him? As we study Scripture, we’ll find that we can believe the Bible and trust Him as our Savior. Apply it to your life Jesus has been presented to us in the Old and New Testaments. How will you respond? Do you believe in Him? Do you accept Him as your Lord and Savior?

Miracle Births

December 1, 2024 • Adrian Rogers • John 3

Sermon Overview Scripture Passage: John 3 Birth is, perhaps, the greatest miracle each of us has ever experienced. But John 3 mentions an even greater second birth for those who are born again in Jesus Christ. In John 3, the Pharisee Nicodemus represents the problem of the sinner’s birth. “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’” (John 3:3). Because Nicodemus was born into the natural world, he was bound to the sinful world. Those of us once-born have a sinful nature. There is no “cleaning up” our nature before we get saved. Our sinful nature also blinds us to the spiritual world. Adrian Rogers says, “I can preach truth, but only the Holy Spirit can impart truth. They may get the words, but they’ll never get the music unless the Holy Spirit of God turns the light on in their soul.” But this passage also reveals the purpose of the Savior’s birth. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Jesus came, being born of a virgin, to redeem us, to reveal the truth of God to us, and to restore us to be what God made us to be. Then, we experience the second birth. God breathes new life into us, and we become completely new creations. The Word of God and the Holy Spirit are the “parents” of our new birth. As a result, our new character mimics that of our spiritual parents. (See John 3:5.) We love the Lord Jesus Christ and have the witness of the Spirit. We have the nature of our Father and desire to share Jesus with others. Just like there is a finality in our natural birth, once we are saved, we are always saved; we receive a fresh start and begin to grow with the certainty of our miraculous rebirth. Adrian Rogers says, “A newborn child has no yesterdays; he’s all tomorrows. So it is with the new birth: we receive a brand new future; our past is in the grave of God’s forgetfulness.” Apply it to your life Do you have the markers of a twice-born believer? Do you love Jesus, have the inner witness of the Spirit? Do you have the nature of your Heavenly Father, and a desire to share the Gospel with others?