12-5-10 Worship – Life Changing Conversations

Big Idea: Prayer is more than a business deal with God; it is fundamentally about a love encounter with God that changes us and then the world.

 This sermon is fourth in a series of worship messages. Last week we asked the question, “Where is the best place to live?” The idea was inspired by the United Nation’s practice of annually releasing a list of the best countries to live in. Likewise, Money Magazine annually determines the top ten places to live in the US. This inspired the question, “Where is the best place to live?” not according to the U.N. or Money Magazine, but according to God.

Where is the place where you and I come most fully alive? Where is the place where you and I become most fully who God created us to be? Where is the place where true riches reside?

Last week we said worship is a great place to live. We said that worship is not something we do for an hour or so on Sunday, but rather, a place where we give our heart to God and center our lives around his will and his love.

Today, we are continuing to ask “Where are the best places in the world, not according to Money Magazine, Forges, or the U. N. but according to God. One of the greatest places where we truly come alive is when we live in the house of prayer. To live in the place of prayer, as opposed to making a visit there now and then, means we learn to pay attention to God, not just when we need him, but in the crazy, normalness that marks our lives. We learn the secret of praying without ceasing, so that always, in all our comings and goings, there is a communing with the God who is near.

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