Our presentation from our men's ministry meeting on 2/6/2016

1. Spring 2016, A Man
And His
Disciplines
NAZ MEN

2. TO PRAY LIKE A WARRIOR

3. YOUR GOOD HABITS AND DISCIPLINES GUARD YOU AGAINST ATTACKS
BY YOUR ENEMY. REMEMBER YOUR ENEMY IS REAL, TARGETING YOU
AND LETHAL.

4. 1. Discipline of Purity
2. Discipline of Marriage
3. Discipline of Fatherhood
4. Discipline of Friendship
5. Discipline of Mind
6. Discipline of Devotion
FALL SEMESTER
2015

5. 1. Discipline of Prayer
2. Discipline of Worship
3. Discipline of Integrity
4. Discipline of Tongue
5. Discipline of Work
6. Discipline of Perseverance
SPRING SEMESTER
2016

6. INTRODUCTION TO PRAYER!

7. Gentlemen, I have lived a long time and am convinced that God governs in the affairs of
men. If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an
empire can rise without His aid? I move that prayer imploring the assistance of Heaven
be held every morning before we proceed to business. ~ Benjamin Franklin
If you find your life of prayer to be always so short, and so easy, and so spiritual, as to
be without cost and strain and sweat to you, you may depend upon it, you have not yet
begun to pray. ~ Alexander Whyte
GREAT QUOTES ON PRAYER

8. Can you think of a prayer that God has answered for you in a big way? Something you
couldn’t have done for yourself?
Can you think of a prayer that God has NOT yet answered for you?
Which one of these is easier to recollect, and why do you suppose that is?
WHY PRAY?

9. Ephesians 6:18 And Pray in the Spirit on All occasions, with all kinds of prayers and
requests,. With this in mind, be alert, and always keep on praying for all the saints!
There are 5 elements of this scripture that we are going to discuss this morning:
1. Pray in the Spirit
2. Continual Prayer
3. Varied Prayer
4. Persistent Prayer
5. Intercessory Prayer
FOCUS SCRIPTURE

10. What do you think it means to pray in the Spirit? (We can’t be obedient to Paul’s
words unless we know what it means)
Romans 8:26 tells us that the Spirit prays for us with groans that we cannot express . . .
Jude, verse 20 says “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith
and pray in the Holy Spirit”
Do you believe the Holy Spirit will tell you what to pray for? Consider that the third
person of the trinity is guiding your prayer. Until the Holy Spirit is involved in your
prayer, it is limited by your reason. But after that ???
1. PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT

11. When the Holy Spirit guides our prayer, He gives us the CONVICTION they are God’s
will.
George Muller was once asked if the two men he prayed for salvation for 50 years would
be converted he replied, “Do you think God would have kept me praying all these years
if he did not intend to save them?”
Have you ever considered your deepest heart’s prayer is a powerful weapon?
How do you do this? It’s actually quite simple . . .
PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT (CONT.)

12. Acts 1:14 “They joined together constantly in prayer”
I Thessalonians 5:17 Paul tell us to “Pray Continually.”
What does this mean to you? Is it possible?
Think of continual prayer as a posture of your heart. Is it receptive at any
moment to the words of a Holy God?
What is the undercurrent of your heart at any given time? What is the song
in your heart? Your focus?
2. PRAY CONTINUALLY

13. His heart is ever lifted up to God at all times and in all places. In this he is never
hindered, much less interrupted, by any person or thing. In retirement or company, in
leisure, business, or conversation, his heart is ever with the Lord. Whether he lie down
or rise up, God is in all his thoughts he walks with God continually, having the loving
eye of his mind still fixed upon Him and everywhere “seeing him that is invisible.”
-John Wesley
CONTINUOUS PRAYER, (CONT)

14. This is the concept of praying in the moment about that which affect us or our loved
ones. Prayers to resist temptation, prayers for wisdom, for words, for self-restraint,
patience, etc.
Floyd Pierson, retired African Missionary prayed in all occasions. As his habit, he
stopped to pray, when in his 70s as he got into his car to take a drivers test. He looked
at the examiner and said, “I always pray before I drive- let’s bow our heads together”. I
wonder how the examiner felt about that?
Don’t’ be afraid to send up little prayers in the moments of everyday life.
3. VARIED PRAYER

15. Remember the story of Moses standing on the mountain overlooking the battle?
Even Jesus spoke about persistence of petition in Luke 18:1-5
He tells us in Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it will be given, Seek and you will find, knock and
the door will be opened unto you. Notice they are active verbs. There is an applied
persistence here.
If God hasn’t answered your prayer, keep on asking!
4. PERSISTENT PRAYER

16. Praying for God to intercede on
behalf of the saint. Paul asked
believers often to pray for him.
We need to remember to pray for
our fellow saints and spiritual
leaders.
Have you a habit of praying for
your spiritual leaders?
5. INTERCESSION

17. The problem is often in beginning. We don’t make a plan to succeed, so we don’t fail if
we don’t start. How long would that attitude survive on a football squad?
In trying to pray, our biggest problem is often getting distracted once we begin.
Develop a prayer list or multiple lists. Categorize by family, friends, church, those
needing jobs, unsaved friends, local national world. There isn’t really a right or wrong
way to categorize.
Don’t feel like you have to pray everything every day. This is discipline, not legality.
SO, HOW DO WE DEVELOP A PRAYER LIFE?

18. Place: Think of the quietest place where you are least distracted! Go there if possible.
Basement? Garage? Garden?, Fishing Boat?
Time: Jesus demonstrated his prayer early in the morning. Find a time that works, but don’t
wait until the last thing before bed. That doesn’t work. Try morning. It gets the day
started better.
Posture: Sit, kneel, pray, whatever works is fine.
Prepare: Maybe your best time with God is when you have your morning coffee ready.
How Long?: Start short. A legalistic commitment to duration is a killer. Start with
maybe 10 minutes. Don’t try to pray it all every day.
HOW TO IMPLEMENT PRAYER LIFE

19. Find the natural part of yourself that
doesn’t want to do this prayer time. It
is usually your emotion. (call it
laziness) It’s like working out.
If you decide with your will (think will
power) to do this for a couple weeks,
your emotion falls in step and it
becomes an emotional desire.
REMEMBER PRAYER IS
WORK!

20. Next meeting is Feb 20, 8:30am.
Most Men’s ministries overestimate what they can do in a year, and underestimate
what they can do in 10. We are starting year 4. Do you have a vision for our Men of
this church?
Bring a son, bring a friend!
Please give me feedback on how this ministry helps you, and how we can develop it to
reach others.
Call or text me at 678.733.1302
NEXT MEETING

21. MATT REDMOND