Back to Basics – Prayer – #1 Pray into the Presence

Series Text

Matthew 6:5-8 (NLT2) ⁵  “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. ⁶  But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. ⁷  “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. ⁸  Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!

The Lesson

Psalm 63:1–8 (NIV) ¹ You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. ² I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. ³ Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. ⁴ I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. ⁵ I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. ⁶ On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. ⁷ Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. ⁸ I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.

1. Don’t when it seems He isn’t there.
2. You have to Him more than anything.
3. about His love and the good things He’s done for you
4. opens the door into His presence
5. with what you have
6. is good!
7. the things He’s done for you
8. of your worries, and
9. take control