Pastor Sydney read from James 5:16. How did Jesus tell us to pray? Why pray? Prayer changes things. 1) We pray because we believe that there is a God. 2) We have to know that He wants to reward us for seeking Him. When you talk to the Father you are going to Him in the legal right of Jesus. Jesus is your attorney. Prayer is a legal thing. Luke 5:16, Jesus prayed often. Most times we are looking to get something when going into prayer. When prayer goes from something we do to something we do to spend time with and have relationship with the Lord. We treat prayer as if it is something we have to do when it should be something we want to do. Pastor Sydney uses him spending time with his wife as an example. How it is a privilege to spend time with her. That is how our prayer with the Father should be. It should be a privilege to be able to go and pray and talk with the Father. You receive major revelation when you pray. Pastor Sydney read from Luke 9:2. Pastor Sydney asked if there is value an hour of prayer? An hour of prayer could be of value or not depending on your outlook. If you are looking to put in a certain amount of time or pray in unbelief, it is equivalent to having no value in prayer. Take time and get away with the Lord. Take a date and get past the surface and back to the basics. Don’t forget that the Father is always with you. Pastor Sydney read from Luke 18:9, still talking about what prayer is. Prayer is a two way conversation or a dialogue. Prayer is not talking to other people but over God’s shoulder. Prayer is not people preaching to other people through prayer. Prayer is not talking to the devil. It is not losing and binding, we are not talking to God when we do that. In the throne of Heaven or courtroom there is no need for the sword. God is our judge. Pastor Sydney read from Isaiah 56:6-7. Prayer is not mournful. Matthew 6:5-6, there is a correct way to pray and there is wrong way to pray. You pray to the Father. You do not pray to Jesus or the Holly Spirit. Deuteronomy 5:4, do not pray to other gods. Pastor Sydney referenced Matthew 12:4 and John 16. Pastor Sydney encourages us to pray like Mary did. Pastor Sydney mentioned that we want answered prayers but, we do not honor His name. He talks about using God’s name in vein. We are to honor His name.
