Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast.
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Thanks for listening.
Hopefully each of you were able to get one of the prayer guides that we've got distributed out amongst you guys in the congregation.
If you don't have any, we'll see if we can get you one.
They might be back there at the tables that are there.
When we were kind of kicking around some ideas of what to do, as this is a new year, it's a new Sunday on a new year.
And God, we really felt impressed on us as a church staff to go this direction, not only to give you guys an opportunity to come and to gather together on what can typically be kind of a busier day for us and enjoy a meal and have this time together.
But then first and foremost, to start the year off, I believe in a way that is going to glorify and honor God.
How many of you, let's a quick show of hands, we're all family in here.
How many of you already have a New Year's resolution that you've made?
Whether it's just one or ten of them, you got them, right?
Raise your hand.
Let me see all the people who are committing to something.
That is wonderful.
I just raised my hand as an example.
I haven't come up with any yet, and I'm not really good at them anyways, right?
But here's what I know, right?
There's some of you that are going to go into the new year, and you're going to crush your resolution.
365 days, you're going to do whatever it is that you said you're going to do.
You're going to achieve the goal that you said that you were going to achieve.
And then some of you are going to wake up at 5 o'clock in the morning tomorrow and go,
Nah, I ain't doing the gym.
You know what I mean?
That's just where we are.
And I found that as I talk with, and even in my own life,
one of the things that God just kind of brings to the forefront of my mind each year
is how the Lord can grow me in prayer.
But also when I talk to people, I find that this is a topic,
this is a spiritual discipline that's very intimidating for people.
And so what we wanted to do this morning is not only come together as a church
and lift up the name of the Lord together
and be in prayer strategically around some specific topics,
but we also wanted to do it as a family so that we can help each other and encourage each other.
And so as you look at your prayer guide, I hope that that's a tool that you can use today,
but I hope it can be a tool that you can take from here and use
or maybe even model it and adapt it to the things that the Lord's laid on your heart.
But what we're going to do is we have six different topics of prayer that we're going to go through.
We're going to spend, you're going to spend quietly as I lead you through this,
you're going to spend time to about two minutes in quiet prayer between you and the Lord.
And then we'll come back together for prayer corporately together that I'll lead at the end of each one of these topics.
But this past week, as I was studying about prayer, I came through and we know that prayer is important,
but I didn't know until this week specifically some of the details that the scripture gives us
of the certainty of how important it is and how much God wants us to pray.
I didn't know until this past week that there are over 650 prayers listed in the Bible.
650 recorded prayers in scripture.
And then also in scripture are 450 recorded answers to prayer.
Now I'm going to go ahead and just sidebar real quick.
That's something that the Lord laid on my heart that as I journal throughout the year,
I'm really good at journaling my prayer request.
I'm really bad about taking note and journaling how God answers and when God answers those prayer requests.
But not only do we see 650 prayers listed in the Bible, but we see 450 recorded answers to prayer.
The first time prayer is mentioned in the Bible is found in Genesis chapter 4 verse 26.
The Bible records Jesus praying at least 25 different times in his earthly ministry.
And Paul who writes most of where we gain a lot of our theological study and theological disciplines from in his writings.
He was 41 times that Paul mentions and commands that we pray.
Now that's not just 41 times that we're commanded in all scripture, but 41 times that Paul commands it.
And we're all a little different.
And we all like to pray differently.
And prayer can and should be done differently for each of us.
But what it shows here in scripture is that how we pray is even listed.
So the Lord gives us by the different ways that we position our body.
That the Bible lists that we can pray while we sit.
The Bible says that we can pray while we stand.
The Bible says we can pray while we kneel.
The Bible even calls us to pray with one's face pointed toward the ground.
And the Bible calls us to pray with one's hands lifted up.
And so what do I come to the conclusion of all of these different things?
The different types of prayers.
The different ways that we're called to pray.
The different prayers that are listed.
The different prayer responses that are recorded.
Here's the one conclusion that I come to.
God wants his people to pray.
And that's what I hope that we're going to be about this morning.
Capturing and understanding the heart of the Lord.
And so if you've got your prayer guide.
We'll go ahead and begin to look at this.
And where we're going to begin this morning is a prayer of thanksgiving.
I don't know about you.
But I find sometimes.
If I'm being honest and transparent.
That my prayers can be a little selfish sometimes.
I come to the Lord with this is what I need.
This is what I want.
Or probably most importantly.
This is what I like to complain about.
Right?
And so I want us though to move into a different mindset.
And to begin with a prayer of thanksgiving.
Psalmist writes in Psalm 7, 17.
I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness.
And I will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high.
And so in just a moment we're going to go into a time of prayer together.
And you'll see that I've given you three bullet points that you can pray through.
Now you don't have to use these three bullet points.
But what I would like us to do in unity and in accord together as a church body is come to the Lord and thanks.
Maybe you thank the Lord for his love for you, his grace, his mercy, his faithfulness, and his salvation.
Maybe you thank the Lord for this past year, both the challenges and the blessings, and how he's been faithful through it.
Or maybe you need to thank him for this coming year.
Thank him for the opportunities he will provide for you to serve and to worship him and to grow in his relation, and to grow in your relationship with him.
But we're going to begin our prayer time together by going before the Lord in a time of thanksgiving.
Would you bow your heads and offer those prayers to him?
Thank you.
Lord, we come to you this morning.
We're thanking you for who you are.
Lord, your love for us, your grace and mercy shown to us, your faithfulness to us, Lord, and for the good, sweet gift of your salvation.
Lord, may we enter into this year by living a lifestyle of praise and worship to you, of thanking you for your kindness and your gentleness toward us and who you are and your love.
Thank you, Lord.
Lord, as we face the challenges and who you are and your love.
Lord, as we face the challenges and the battles of this past year, Lord, we know that you were there with us, building us and strengthening us and growing us through it all.
Lord, we thank you for the many blessings that you bestowed upon us and that you so freely gave to us, Lord, and we thank you for both the challenges and the victories that we experienced.
Lord, as we face this upcoming year, may you be who we keep our eyes on.
May we ever be reminded of your kindness and your grace and your compassion and your gentleness to us.
Lord, may we see opportunities to serve you.
May we see opportunities to worship you.
And Lord, may we desire above all else to grow in our relationship with you, our Father who loves us.
God, we thank you for your beauty and for who you are.
And it's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
The next prayer I know we're going to have today is our prayer for the lost.
I know a lot of you carry a close friend, relative, an acquaintance, maybe even a co-worker who you know is far from the Lord.
And this morning what I would like for us to do is to spend some time in general praying for the lostness that's around us.
As we see the brokenness in the world, the pain, the hurt, the suffering.
We know that the reason for this is the sin that fills those and that sin that fills their hearts.
And what they need above all else is Jesus.
Paul was burdened for this as well.
And it's why he writes about those whom he loves dearly.
In Romans chapter 10, verse 1, he says, "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved."
You know, as we pray for the lost, maybe we begin for a prayer for ourself that God would give us the heart of Paul, that God would give us his heart to be burdened for those who are far from him.
So I want to encourage you this morning to pray for those who God has placed in your life who do not have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
Pray that God would give you the opportunity, the words, and the boldness to share about your relationship with Jesus with them.
And then pray that God would give them an opportunity to hear the gospel.
Maybe from you, maybe from another person, or maybe by an invitation to a church.
But that this year, God would give that man, that woman, that child the opportunity to see, to hear, and to respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Would you bow your heads as we go to the Lord and pray for the lost?
Thank you.
God, what a wonderful privilege it is that you give us to be the messengers of the gospel.
Lord, may that truth of your word resonate deep into our very being, that not only did
you save us, but you called us on mission to go and through the power of the Holy Spirit
who lives in us to be your witnesses, all where you place us.
And so Lord, we thank you for what a wonderful privilege it is that you give us to carry the
gospel.
God, I ask that you would burden our hearts for the lostness that surrounds us.
Lord, everyone in here knows a neighbor, a friend, a family member who is far from you.
Lord, I pray that we would have such a desire for them to know you, that we pray for, we seek for,
Lord, that we look for opportunities to share our story of Christ with them.
Lord, we look for opportunities to engage them in a conversation, to invite them to church or to our small group or just maybe across our dinner table where we can talk more with them about Christ.
Lord, God, open our eyes to see those around us who are hurting and who are searching for many answers in many different ways.
But the answer that they need is not what they long for.
The answer that they need is Christ.
God, we thank you that we were once lost, but now we are found.
And may we carry that message wherever you send us.
And it's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Next, we're going to enter into a time of prayer for our church.
I love our church.
I love that you and I are church family, that we are brothers and sisters in Christ, that God has brought us together to be the unique body of Christ that we are in Lexington, South Carolina, to minister here and to see people come to know the Lord.
And as we gather together this morning, I want us to take that opportunity to pray for our church, to pray for one another.
Paul writes in Colossians 1, 9 through 12.
He says,
And so from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power and according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in life.
And so as we take time to gather together, we want to lift each other up.
On here we've got several things listed.
I want to invite you and encourage you to pray for the ministry leaders of this church, both staff and volunteers.
It takes a lot of people to do what we do week in, week out.
Pray for us as we make decisions.
Pray for us as we lead.
We desperately need to cling to the Lord and we covet your prayers that you offer.
Ask God to bless and strengthen and to grow our church as we see Christ and to continue to see us pointed and our eyes locked on him.
But I think most importantly, pray that God would use this church as a light, as a hope to the brokenness of the people who were in this community.
And that we would then point them not to us, but that we would point them to Jesus.
Would you go before the Lord in prayer?
Thank you.
The body of Christ.
What a pleasure and joy it is to pastor here and to belong here.
Lord, I lift all of the families up to you.
Lift up all of our leaders and our volunteers.
Lord, and I thank you so much for who they are and the investment they make in my life.
Lord, as we look into this year, Lord, we thank you for your faithfulness and how you've
blessed us, how you've grown us, how you've strengthened us as a body of believers.
Lord, and we look forward to your faithfulness and seeing how you are going to do that.
And Lord, may we never forget that it is not out of our work, that it is not out of our
power, that it is not out of our talent, that the kingdom of God is grown, but it is
out of the will and the work of the Lord.
And I thank you, God, that we get to be a part of that.
Lord, I thank you that in all of the things that we're, where we could be, Lord, you've
brought us here and make this place home.
God, I pray that Willow Ridge and this coming year, more so than any year before, will be
a light of hope, a beacon of the gospel to this community.
I pray that men and women and children would come to faith in Christ, not because they
were coerced into a set of beliefs, but because the Holy Spirit worked in their heart and drew
them to you, Lord, and they were radically and deeply and permanently saved.
And they now identify as sons and daughters of the living God.
Lord, I thank you for this church.
Pray that you would use us in a powerful, powerful way.
And it's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Next, we're going to move into prayer for our missionaries.
Paul, while he prayed for the churches that he planted, Paul also asked prayer for a missionary,
for himself being a missionary and a church planner.
Look at his prayer request in Colossians 4:3-4.
"At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word,
to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison, that I may make it clear
which is how I ought to speak."
You know, it warms my heart every time I have an opportunity to speak to not just our missionaries
that we partner with, but any missionary.
Because this is their heart.
That God would give them opportunities wherever he has placed them to be able to proclaim the gospel.
And so we're going to spend some time lifting up these men and women and families that are scattered all over this world.
On here we have listed our missionaries that we partner with, but I don't also want us to forget the organizations that we partner with as well.
Black Mountain Children's Home, who has so many different men and women who are ministering to the broken and the hurting of those kids who were found in the western mountains of North Carolina.
But also, as we're a Southern Baptist Church, to pray for our international missionaries that are all over this world,
ministering to and sharing the gospel in some of the most hard reach places where you could lose your life for proclaiming the gospel of Christ.
And they do it faithfully.
We pray for our North American Mission Board missionaries, many of them church planners, planning churches in difficult-to-reach areas like the Stockmans in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Where Christianity there is at the single percentage.
It's not a part of the culture.
It's not a part of the norm.
But we pray for them and their faithfulness.
So as we take this time in prayer, go before the Lord.
Pray that God would bless their ministries, bless their families, bless their marriages, and bless them personally.
But also pray that God would send them the workers they need into the harvest which God is preparing.
Would you bow your heads as we go before the Lord in prayer?
Thank you.
Lord, while we are all called to take the gospel where we are, Lord, there are those who have been called out and sent to places far from their home, to live amongst a people who are different than them.
Lord, who are to take on a special calling in their life, Lord, one that we know as missionaries.
Lord, and while on a piece of paper in front of us is a short list of individuals and families and organizations, Lord, we know that you're using many different denominations, many different missionaries, many different families all over this world to carry the hope of the gospel of Christ.
Lord, I pray for all of them as they go, Lord, that they would be encouraged.
Lord, the number may not be where they would like it to be.
The threat that they receive might have put a sense of unsettledness in their spirit.
Lord, the news they got this morning might not have been the news that they were hoping for.
But, God, they don't cling to any of those things as their hope, or they cling to you.
Lord, I ask that you would bless them and bless their ministries and their families.
Lord, strengthen their marriage, strengthen their relationship with their kids.
Lord, strengthen them personally in their walk with you.
And, God, I pray that you would send more workers to them.
Lord, maybe an individual or a family here who feels called to go maybe for a week, maybe for a year, maybe for their lifetime.
To go to be obedient, to take the gospel, maybe where it's never been proclaimed before.
And we'll give you all the praise and honor and glory.
And it's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Next, we're going to go into a time of prayer for our schools, but also our elected and local, state, and national leaders.
I know these topics can oftentimes be ones that are controversial.
Of who do we like or who do we not like?
Who do we agree with?
Who do we not agree with?
But God's word calls us to lift them up and to pray for them.
1 Timothy 2:1-4.
It says, "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people.
For kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
This might need to be a verse that we read every day before we send an email of complaint, before we make a Facebook post out of anger, that we begin by prayer for those.
So I want to encourage you to pray for our local, for our state, and for our national elected leaders.
Ask God that they would seek to glorify Him as they lead in their office.
Pray for our schools and our leaders in our schools.
Pray that our students would be safe and given an opportunity to learn and grow as contributors in our community.
And pray for unity amongst people.
It's God to unify and bring together all, even those who have sought to divide.
Would you go before the Lord in prayer?
Let's pray for our children in prayer.
God, we come to you this morning.
We lift up our leaders to you.
Lord, those who know you and those who don't.
God, we pray that as they make decisions,
they will be the decisions that glorify your name.
Lord, for those who know you
and whose identity is found in Christ, in Christ alone,
Lord, I pray for their boldness to lead in the power
and the truth of the gospel,
whether it's at a national, state, or local level.
Lord, for those who do not know you,
I pray that there's an individual,
whether it serves on their team
or maybe even a person that they'll encounter at a coffee shop,
that would share with them the hope of Jesus Christ.
And God, I pray that their hearts would be opened and respond to your grace and your mercy.
Lord, I pray for our schools, for our students, for our teachers, for our leaders.
I pray for our homeschoolers, those who are in private school, Lord, and those who are in public school.
Lord, I pray that this wonderful tool of education that you give us,
Lord, where their minds can grow and they can learn
and then they can go into society and be who you called them to be
and do what you've called them to do, all for your name and all for your glory.
Lord, strengthen our teachers.
Give them the hope and the resolve and the reminder of what a blessing they are to these individuals.
Lord, be with our leaders in these schools as they make decisions that oftentimes aren't popular,
but, Lord, need to be the decisions that are made.
Lord, may they be ones that glorify you.
Lord, as a people, may we move away from the things that the world seeks to divide us
and may we find unity in Christ and in Christ alone.
And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
At the end of this next time of prayer, we're going to take the Lord's Supper together.
So if you don't have one, you can feel free to move back to the back and get one.
But as you do, what we're going to pray about moving into that time is a time of prayer for ourselves.
This is where we get to pray about us, right?
But we're going to ask that during this prayer time, maybe the list of things that we normally pray for are pushed to the side.
And that instead, as we look for all the things, how we want to grow and improve ourself in 2023,
we can begin by seeking the personal repentance that we need.
Asking God to show us the sin that's in our hearts and asking him for the ability and the power of his spirit to grow,
to display more of the fruit of the spirit in our life.
Second Peter 3:18 says,
"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity."
So in just a moment, we'll go into time of personal prayer together.
And during that time, I'd like to ask you to encourage you to use that time as you prepare your heart for taking the Lord's Supper.
Asking the Lord to forgive you, seeking the repentance that you need from the sins that we commit.
But then also asking him to set your feet on the path that he has for you, the path of obedience.
I'll conclude in a brief prayer.
And then after that, we'll take our Lord's Supper together this morning.
Would you go before the Lord with me in prayer?
Thank you.
Lord, we come to you in closing.
Lord, as we prepare to partake in the Lord's Supper together.
Lord, we first come in the spirit of brokenness and repentance.
Lord, through the power of your Holy Spirit, open up our eyes and our minds to the areas of our life that do not glorify you and that do not exalt your name.
Lord, bring us to a place of repentance where we acknowledge the sin that is there, where we lay it before you.
Lord, and we ask for the strength to pursue the things of you.
Lord, may we stop settling for the lives of this world to realize that we have the sufficiency of Christ before us.
Lord, we thank you that you are faithful to forgive, that you seek to bless us and to love us.
Lord, and in every area where we've chosen less than you, Lord, we're sorry, and we thank you that you choose us.
Thanks again for listening to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast.
We hope that you enjoyed listening to this week's message.
If you'd like to learn more about who we are or explore additional resources, visit us online at www.willowridgechurch.com
or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on Facebook and Instagram.
Thank you.