Prayer – Mission Possible

Agent Community Covenant Church:

Your mission, if you choose to accept it…

Help bring God’s new kingdom to earth through the power of PRAYER.

Five Act Play - NT Wright1. Creation: Prayer = Personal, Not Redemptive

Genesis 4:1 (NIV)

Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.

Five Act Play - NT Wright1. Creation: Prayer = Personal, Not Redemptive2. The Fall: Prayer = Redemptive, Not Personal

Colossians 1:3-4 (NIV)

We always thank God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints…

Five Act Play - NT Wright1. Creation: Prayer = Personal, Not Redemptive2. The Fall: Prayer = Redemptive, Not Personal3. Israel: Prayer = Redemptive, Little Personal

Genesis 4:14 (NIV)

“Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

Genesis 4:17 (NIV)

Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant.

Exodus 3:4-10 (NIV)

“When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”

Exodus 3:4-10 (NIV)

At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.

Exodus 3:4-10 (NIV)

So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey… And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

Five Act Play - NT Wright1. Creation: Prayer = Personal, Not Redemptive2. The Fall: Prayer = Redemptive, Not Personal3. Israel: Prayer = Redemptive, Little Personal4. Jesus: Prayer = Personal AND Redemptive

A Reading (lights down low)

John 1:1-18

John 1:12-13 (NIV)

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

Five Act Play - NT Wright1. Creation: Prayer = Personal, Not Redemptive2. The Fall: Prayer = Redemptive, Not Personal3. Israel: Prayer = Redemptive, Little Personal4. Jesus: Prayer = Personal AND Redemptive5. Church (Us): Prayer = Personal & Redemptive

(but different)

Luke 11:1 (NIV)

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Luke 11:1 (NIV)

“‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”

John 6:32-35 (NIV)

“Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

John 6:32-35 (NIV)

“Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

NT Wright wrote:“The Lord’s Prayer is an invitation to share Jesus’ own prayer life — and with it his agenda, his work, his pattern of life, and his spirituality. The Lord’s Prayer marks out Jesus’ followers as a distinct group not simply because Jesus gave it to them, but because it encapsulates his own mission and vocation.

And it does this in a form appropriate for his followers, which turns them into his co-workers and fellow-laborers in prayer for the kingdom.”

John 17: 20-23 (NIV)

“I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

John 17: 20-23 (NIV)

I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Acts 3:12-13, 16 (NIV)

“When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus...

Acts 3:12-13, 16 (NIV)

By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.”

Acts 9:40 (NIV)

“Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet.”

Mark 5:37-38, 41-42 (NIV)

“He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was.

Mark 5:37-38, 41-42 (NIV)

He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old).”

1 John 1:1-4 (NIV)

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.

1 John 1:1-4 (NIV)

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”

Prayer – Mission Possible