02-03-19 Kevin Goins - The Desire to Pray

“The Desire to Pray”   Matthew 6:5-13

It takes more to pray than simply knowing how to do it. Something else is required and what is required is desire. Do we want to pray? Why should we love to pray? Our text tells us.

I We may swear we l_______ God, but can we really mean it if we have no d_______ to talk to him.

A. How, can it be that we don’t love talking with God? The enemy has taken our v________ and turned everything u________ d_______.

B. Matthew 6:9-13 is a p________, or b_____________, for the kind of prayer which followers of Jesus need to pray. But not only does this passage teach us h_____ to pray, but in this prayer we learn why we should l______ to pray.

II Who are the super-saints who have a n__________ a________ to love prayer? Jesus says it is the h_____________.

A. Hypocrites could not choose the t______ for prayer, but they could decide w______ they would be when those times came.

B. But notice Jesus’ response: he does not say the hypocrites were hypocritical because they prayed in order to receive a r________, he says they are hypocrites because they pray for the ________ reward.

III Here is the first reason why we should be t________ with prayer: Prayer strengthens the most wonderful relationship we can have, a relationship with _____.

A. The reason we often think of prayer as duty, rather than pleasure, is because we look at prayer in the _______ way: We often think of prayer as one long list of r___________ to dump on God.

B. Prayers of request are legitimate prayers, but they are not the o____ kind of prayer and they are not the most i________ kind of prayer.

IV The four steps for relational prayer are:

A. P___________ yourself to God without p___________.

B. A__________ to how you t________ about God.

C. P_________ yourself of anything blocking your relationship with God.

D. A_________ God as the f_______ concern of your life.