The Gospel and Prayer

Tonight in PowerSource we looked at Hebrews 4:14-16 and discussed how the gospel relates to prayer.

Here is a quote that I shared tonight at the end of the sermon:

"Effective prayer is saturated in the gospel.....You don't move on from the cross to go deeper in prayer. Ultimately, all effective prayer is rooted in the cross.

Think about it. The gospel is the starting point of prayer. Without Christ's blood, you couldn't even approach God. Only in Jesus' righteousness are we invited to enter His presence. There's no mantra we can learn, no catchphrase we can recite, that will move God's hand. We appeal to him based on the person and work of His son. Jerry Bridges writes, "When we pray to God for His blessing, He does not examine our performance to see if we are worthy. Rather, He looks to see if we are trusting in the merit of His Son as our only hope for securing His blessing."

Students of the school of prayer never graduate from the school of the gospel."

C.J. Mahaney from The Cross Centered Life

--Mark