February 9, 2025
Relentless Pursuit of God in Prayer
- Matt Nickoson
Sermon Notes
What makes you pray the most?
Luke 19:39-40 NIV
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
Luke 19:41-42 NIV
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.”
The heart of Jesus was always to save people and love them deeply.
Luke 19:43-44 NIV
“The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Luke 19:45 NIV
When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling.
Luke 19:46 NIV
“It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
Jesus’ statement is one of both stern judgment and profound hope.
Isaiah 56:6 NIV
“And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord
to minister to him,
to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold fast to my covenant—"
Isaiah 56:7 NIV
“these I will bring to my holy mountain
and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations.”
Isaiah 56:8 NIV
The Sovereign Lord declares—
he who gathers the exiles of Israel:
“I will gather still others to them
besides those already gathered.”
Relentless Pursuit is a prayer-driven effort!
Q: What is prayer?
A: In short, it’s a conversation with our Father God, where we connect with Him and align our hearts to His.
Matthew 6:5-6 NIV
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Q: Why pray?
“What if I actually strip away the music and the community and the sermon, strip away all the noise of my familiar faith expression? Left with just me and God, what if I discover there’s actually not much to just me and God? Prayer means the risk of facing silence where we’re addicted to noise. It’s the risk of facing a God we’ve mastered talking about, singing about, reading about, and learning about. It means risking real interaction with that God, and the longer we’ve gotten used to settling for the noise around God, the higher the stakes. What if it’s awkward or disappointing or boring, or what if God stands me up altogether? When we’ve got that much to lose, prayer might be scarier than the avoidance of never being alone with God.”— Tyler Staton, Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools: An Invitation to the Wonder and Mystery of Prayer
A: Because our Father loves us, knows us, and wants to both bless us and use us.
Matthew 6:7-8 NIV
“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
Q: How do I pray?
Monthly Elder-led Prayer Nights in 2025:
In The Venue, 7:00 – 8:00 pm
- Sunday, February 16
- Tuesday, March 11
- Sunday, April 13
“Many people are pretty comfortable with the spirituality they’ve got, and prayer… risks the possibility of silence. “Silence is frightening because it strips us as nothing else does, throwing us upon the stark realities of our life,” writes Dallas Willard. “And in that quiet, what if there turns out to be very little to ‘just us and God’?”’ - Tyler Staton, Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools: An Invitation to the Wonder and Mystery of Prayer