How to Pray with Power

Pastor Craig Carter In our current sermon series, we’ve gained insights from Pete Greig’s book, How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People. In the book, Pete suggests the Lord’s Prayer is structured around four basic steps captured by the acrostic, P.R.A.Y. – Pause, Rejoice, Ask, Yield.  First, we pause in prayer by remembering whose presence we’re in – Our Father. We come before the Lord in silence and stillness. Next, we rejoice in prayer because we have a Father in heaven and hallowed, or holy, is His name. We praise Him for who He is and thank Him …

How to Get Right with God

Pastor Terry Tatum There are not many things I’ll claim to be an “expert” on. I’m just an ordinary guy, after all.  But one thing I’m great at, dare I say “an expert on,” is getting right with God. I have had to get right with God just about every day of my life since becoming a Christian. And through the years I have gotten really good at asking for forgiveness for all the dumb things I have done and continue to do! I boldly make the claim that I’m probably better at doing this than anyone I know. 🙂    …

How to Deal with Unanswered Prayer

Pastor Craig Carter  In our current series we are learning how to pray based on a prayer Jesus taught us called the Lord’s Prayer.  Last week Pastor Terry addressed how we need to ask in prayer. He said that in our prayers of petition and intercession we should give God a chance, be bold and specific in our requests, and ask in faith. Since we have a loving Father who wants to give good gifts to His children, in our asking we receive, in our seeking we find, and in our knocking doors are opened. And we all know the …

How to Ask in Prayer

Pastor Terry Tatum Over the past few weeks we have been in a sermon series titled How to Pray. Pastor Craig has helped us learn ways to pause in prayer and rejoice in prayer. Today we are going to discuss How to Ask in Prayer.  I need to confess up front that I struggle with prayer. It’s not that I have a problem with praying itself or that I have trouble talking with God. The issue is that I struggle with asking God for things.  I don’t want to be that pesky kid who keeps saying “I want this” or …

How to Rejoice in Prayer

Pastor Craig Carter During our current sermon series we are learning how to pray based on a prayer Jesus taught us called the Lord’s Prayer. It is found in Matthew chapter six and Luke chapter eleven. Last week we observed that in order to start praying we actually need to stop praying. We learned how to pause in prayer and spend time in silence and solitude. It is in quietness and stillness that we are able to position ourselves to hear from God and receive all that He has for us.  And that pause is prompted by the way in …

How to Pause in Prayer

Last week I introduced a new sermon series on prayer called How to Pray. The series is based on The Lord’s Prayer with insights from a book by Pete Greig called How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People.  According to Luke 11:1, the disciples came to Jesus with a request, “Teach us to pray…” And Jesus said, “This is how you should pray…” (Luke 11:2a NLT). Then He launched into a model prayer that has endured through the ages, “Our Father…” For us, that’s a familiar prompt to continue, “…who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name.” But …

How to Pray

Pastor Craig Carter The start of a new year gives individuals and organizations an opportunity to review past performance, consider the present state of affairs, and make plans for the future. As a pastor, I tend to see the start of a new year as an opportunity to realign our priorities and make sure we’re keeping the main thing the main thing. That’s why I am choosing to start the new year with a sermon series titled, How to Pray. The priority of prayer is written on almost every page of the Bible and in every chapter of church history. …

Pray Great Prayers

Pastor Craig Carter In recent weeks we have been looking at how we can become great in God’s eyes. This should be the desire of every believer because being a great Christian, rather than settling for just being a good Christian, enables us to bring great glory to God and accomplish great things for His kingdom. We have observed that our journey toward greatness begins with thinking great thoughts, dreaming great dreams, and surrounding ourselves with great people. We’ve also learned that God wants us to enjoy great moments with Him and those around us. Starting today we’re going to …