There was a five-year-old girl watching her mother apply cold cream to her face. Curious, she asked, “Mother, why do you do that?” The mother replied, “To make myself beautiful.” Moments later, when the mother wiped the cream off, the girl exclaimed, “What’s the matter? Giving up already?” Just like that little girl’s humorous observation, we often approach prayer with the same mindset—giving up too soon. Have you ever felt like giving up on God? Have you ever prayed and felt like your prayers made no difference? In this message, we’re going to see Jesus give an encouraging, definitive teaching on prayer, reminding us that if we belong to God’s family, He hears and answers our prayers. The key is perseverance. Never give up on the God who will never give up on you. Jesus teaches us four key principles about prayer.
Topics: Prayer
For many years, I have been thinking about preaching through the greatest sermon that has ever been preached: Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. It can be read in roughly ten minutes and yet of all the things that Jesus taught, this sermon has been written about more, studied more, examined more, and talked about more than anything else that Jesus ever taught. We are going to entitle this series, “Get Used To Different,” because that is exactly what you are going to have to get used to if you are going to take Jesus seriously and trust in Jesus completely.