Confession is treated as a dirty word in many Christian circles today. When we confess, we are reminded of the sin that God has separated us from, but we are also ushered into the joyous remembrance of Jesus' sacrifice! Sin is crafty. It hides in the depths of our hearts, disguises itself within our greatest desires, and masks itself behind just causes. It takes the searching work of God to reveal sin to us sometimes. As we close out our series on prayer, we will look at one of the hardest and most necessary asks we can make of God; to search me and know me as I bare my sin before Him.

Request, petition, supplication, asking. These are all words we often associate with the work of prayer. But are all of our times of prayer meant to be times of us leading the conversation? Was David somehow incorrect when he told us to, "be still and know," or was Elijah off base when He silently waited on the Lord's whisper? Was it purely punishment that Zechariah was silenced after his doubt in Luke 1, or was God giving space and direction for a different way of prayer? A way that forms something in us that speaking simply cannot. We often fear the silence, but in the silence God often speaks the loudest.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Paul tells the church at Thessalonica to, "pray without ceasing." This can be a confusing proposition for people in any era. As Christians are we to forgo jobs for a life of constant prayer? Are we to give up friendly acquaintances to be on our knees every waking hour of the day? Or is there something else, something larger at work? Could it be that we aren't supposed to carve out TIMES of prayer as much as we are to live LIVES of prayer?

In the Lord's prayer we're instructed to pray, "Our Father in Heaven, HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME." Do we hallow the name of God by praying to Him? Do we give Him something He doesn't already possess? In week 2 of Teach Us to Pray we'll look at what it means to pray to a God who loves us. Is it our "doing our religious duty," or is prayer meant to work something into our hearts that is constantly seeking to be pushed out? Is prayer more about getting us into heaven or is it about getting heaven into us?

What is the greatest obstacle to a life of prayer? We doubt that the God we pray to actually loves us. In week 1 of our series “Teach Us to Pray,” we look into Psalm 23:1-3 to see the heart of a God who loves us.

I have a great need for Christ; I have a great Christ for my need.

PB&Js for joy is not something we’d typically think of but God has provided the seemingly insignificant parts of our lives than bring us immense joy so glorify Him in those!

God is good and His grace goes on forever church. Be reminded from Scripture and then go out and encourage somebody with that.

Prayer is critical for the health of all believers. Personal prayer but even more so intercessory prayer from one believer for another. Take a moment today to encourage your community and then follow that up with prayer that turns your community over to a loving Father.

We're all in desperate need of unplugging from screens and plugging in to the goodness of God. Here's the first in a series of episodes we'll do Monday-Thursday each week to help you get some time to unplug and plug in.