Seek - Chip Judd

Here is part two of the "Breakthrough" prayer series from Seacoast Church. Probably the greatest takeaway from this that I got was the revitalization of what we believe prayer is. Too often, prayer has become a lifeless ritual that we feel guilted into doing. However, the truth of the matter is that it is the release of God's power on this earth, as well as one of our primary methods for getting to know Him. It's easy to forget this, and this message does a good job of bringing it up.

Another interesting thought from this sermon is the idea that God created a world that could distract us from Him, so that we could voluntarily go to Him, motivated by a deeper love for God and desire for Him. What a strange idea! Although compliant with scripture I'd say. That's the answer to the question, "If God wanted us to love Him, why didn't he just create us without the ability to choose a life apart from Him?" The answer: Is forced love real love?


Here are some notes I took:

• Prayer is an invitation to shape culture, change things, join the unseen adventure
• Is the reach and impact of heaven limited by our prayers?
• 3 kinds of prayer
• Ask: asking for & receiving what God has promised & already paid for
• Can approach with confidence, and differently than other types
• Seek: building an intimate conversational relationship with God
• Setting can be important - create the right place to hear God
• Knock: fighting with & for others who need God's help
• Intercession
• Prayer is talking to someone you can't see, working with power you can't measure, to achieve results you can't control.
• When I go to God, I must understand:
• He's there, He's listening, He responds
• Is God hiding? What about when God is silent?
• He created a universe that could distract us from him, so we could have a voluntary choice to talk to him
• By trying to be strong, I may be actually blocking God's power
• God is thrilled at just our attempts at prayer
• Every time you say "yes" to God, you get more sensitive to His voice and less sensitive to the flesh
• 1 John 5:14-15 - "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him."
• When you want to hear God's voice, open it (the bible)
• God becomes visible to those who look for Him