Sunday's Sermon Notes from December 19, 2010

I am not posting the normal link to my sermon notes today so I'm giving you a sense of the sermon this past Sunday. As I have been preaching on prayer on Sunday morning and revival on Sunday night, I begin to see a relationship added with this theme having Christmas overtones (since this is the Sunday before Christmas), so I preached on humility. I entitled the message “Prerequisite to Praying.”

What is the perquisite to praying? We can preach about prayer, shame you into praying for a while. But what is the one, single ingredient that is needed before a person will be a person of prayer?

It is humility. This is my definition of humility: it is knowing who you are and who He is.

Puritan Theologian John Flavel said, "They that know God will be humble; they that know themselves cannot be proud."

II Chron. 7:14 "If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land"

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (1 Peter 5:5, 6).

What does Christmas and prayer have in common?

1. Humility precedes the prayer of repentance.

The lack of humility was the problem in the Garden. Pride. Arrogance. Wanting self-sovereignty and Independence. Autonomy. It was the sin in the Garden and still is the sin of every human being.

To be converted and saved means one has expressed humility to repent of the sin of pride and place oneself firmly in the grip of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection.

B. Humility precedes the prayers of the righteous.

Don’t think of your self more highly than you should, but soberly. Romans 12:3

When one sees himself in humility, he will pray. And prayer is first in the list of II Chron. 7:14

C. Humility precedes the presentation of the Redeemer.

That which caused Lucifer to be kicked out of Heaven in disgrace was the very opposite that caused Jesus leave Heaven in differing to His Father’s will.

Philippians 2:1-11 is an excellent Christmas reminder of the humility of Jesus. His humility did not begin with Jesus being born in a stable. It began as He submitted to the will of the Father to leave Heaven and come to earth. Jesus "humbled himself" becoming obedient to death, even the death of the cross.