Step 11: Seeking God Through

Prayer and Meditation

Message By: Pastor Harold Long

Step One

• 1 We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable.

• I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Romans 7:18

Step Two

• 2. We came to believe that a

power greater than ourselves

could restore us to sanity.

• For it is God who works in you to • For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Philippians 2:1

Step Three

• 3 We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in • Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Romans 12:1

Step Four

• 4 We made a searching and

fearless moral inventory of

ourselves.

• Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. Lamentations 3:40

Step Five

• 5 We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

• Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. James 5:16

Step Six

• 6 We were entirely ready to have

God remove all these defects of

character.

• Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:10

Step Seven

• 7 We humbly asked Him to remove

all our shortcomings.

• If we confess our sins, he is • If we confess our sins, he is faithful and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.1 John 1:9

Step Eight

• 8 We made a list of all persons we

had harmed and became willing to

make amends to them all.

• Do to others as you would have them do to you. Luke 6:31

Step Nine

• 9 We made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

• Therefore, if you are offering your gift at • Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23-24

Step Ten

• 10 We continue to take personal

inventory and when we were

wrong, promptly admitted it.

• So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! 1 Corinthians 10:12

Step 11

• 11 We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us, and power to carry will for us, and power to carry that out.

• Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Colossians 3:16

Principal Seven

• Reserve a daily time with God

for self-examination, Bible

reading, and prayer in order to

know God and His will for my know God and His will for my

life and to gain the power to

follow His will.

(Steps 10 and 11)

Steps 1-10

We are reminded to do a

Heart Check!

“H-E-A-R-T”

Ask yourself daily if you are

• Hurting

• Exhausted• Exhausted

• Angry

• Resentful

• Tense

Romans 12:3-17

• “Be honest in your estimate of yourself…. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of good. Love each other…. Be patient in each other…. Be patient in trouble…. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable.”

What is Prayer?

• Prayer is conversation with God; the

intercourse of the soul with God, not

in contemplation or meditation, but

in direct address to him. Prayer may

be oral or mental, occasional or

in direct address to him. Prayer may

be oral or mental, occasional or

constant, ejaculatory or formal.

• Ejaculatory Prayer is a very

short prayer often attached as a

form of pious devotion.

Prayer Continued

• It is a “beseeching the Lord” (Exodus 32:11); “pouring out the soul before the Lord” (1 Samuel 1:15); “praying and crying to heaven” (2 Chronicles 32:20); “seeking unto God and making supplication” (Job 8:5); “drawing near to God” (Psalms unto God and making supplication” (Job 8:5); “drawing near to God” (Psalms 73:28); “bowing the knees” (Ephesians 3:14).

• Supplication is the action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humbly, e.g. "he fell to his knees in supplication"

Prayer Continued

• Prayer is frequently commanded in Scripture (Exodus 22:23, 27; 1 Kings 3:5; 2 Chronicles 7:14; Psalms 37:4; Isaiah 55:6; Joel 2:32; Ezek. 36:37, etc.).

Prayer presupposes a belief in the

36:37, etc.).

• Prayer presupposes a belief in the personality of God, His ability and willingness to communicate with us, His personal control of all things, and of all his creatures and all their actions.

Ambrose Bierce - 1842-1914

Pray, noun: “To ask that the

laws of the universe be

annulled in behalf of a

single petitioner

annulled in behalf of a

single petitioner

confessedly unworthy”

Robinson’s Job

“Prayer is like

the dove that Noah sent forth,

which blessed him not only

when it returned with an olive-when it returned with an olive-

leaf in its mouth, but when it

never returned at all”

Martin Luther

“You must learn to call on the Lord. Don’t sit all alone or lie on the couch, shaking

your head and letting your thoughts torture you. Don’t worry about how to

get out of your situation or brood about your terrible life, how miserable you feel, your terrible life, how miserable you feel, and what a bad person you are. Instead,

say, “Get a grip on yourself, you lazy bum! Fall on your knees, and raise your hands and eyes toward heaven. Read a

psalm. Say the Lord’s Prayer, and tearfully tell God what you need.”

Martin Luther

“No one can believe how powerful

prayer is and what it can effect,

except those who have learned it

by experience. Whenever I have by experience. Whenever I have

prayed earnestly, I have been

heard and have obtained more

than I prayed for. God sometimes

delays, but He always comes.”

Martin Luther

• “Grant that I may not pray alone with the mouth; help me that I may pray from the depths of my heart.”

“All who call on God in true faith, • “All who call on God in true faith, earnestly from the heart, will certainly be heard, and will receive what they have asked and desired.”

Mother Teresa

You can pray while you work. Work

doesn’t stop prayer and prayer

doesn’t stop work. It requires only

that small raising of the mind to that small raising of the mind to

him: I love you God, I trust you, I

believe in you, I need you now.

Small things like that. They are

wonderful prayers.”

Mother Teresa

“If we neglect prayer and if the branch is not connected with the

vine, it will die. That connecting of the branch to the vine is prayer. If

that connection is there then love is there, then joy is there, and we will that connection is there then love is there, then joy is there, and we will be the sunshine of God’s love, the

hope of eternal happiness, the flame of burning love. Why? Because we

are one with Jesus. If you sincerely want to learn to pray: keep silence.”

Mother Teresa

“Every moment of prayer,

especially before our Lord in the

tabernacle, is a sure, positive

gain. The time we spend in having gain. The time we spend in having

our daily audience with God is the

most precious part of the

whole day.”

Mother Teresa

Said once in an interview:

• Reporter: “What do you say when you pray?” (MT) “Nothing I just listen.”

• Reporter: “Then what does God say • Reporter: “Then what does God say when you are in prayer?” (MT) “Nothing He just listens”

• “My secret is very simple: I pray. Through prayer I become one in love with Christ. I realize that praying to him is loving him.”

Philippians 4:6 (NIV)

• 6 Do not be anxious about

anything, but in every

situation, by prayer and

petition, with thanksgiving,

situation, by prayer and

petition, with thanksgiving,

present your requests to

God.

Morning Prayer

• God, direct my thinking today so

that it be empty of self pity,

dishonesty, self-will, self-seeking

and fear. God, inspire my thinking, and fear. God, inspire my thinking,

decisions and intuitions. Help me

to relax and take it easy. Free me

from doubt and indecision.

Morning Prayer Cont-

• Guide me through this day and

show me my next step. God, show

me what I need to do to take care

of any problems. I ask all these of any problems. I ask all these

things that I may be of maximum

service to you and my fellow man.

In the spirit of Jesus I pray these

thing. Amen

11th Step Review

• When we retire at night, we

constructively review our day.

Were we?

• Resentful• Resentful

• Selfish

• Dishonest

• Afraid

11th Step Review Cont-

• Do we owe an apology?

• Have we kept something to

ourselves, which should be

discussed with another person at discussed with another person at

once?

• Were we kind and loving toward

all?

11th Step Review Cont-

• What could we have done better?

• Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time?

• Or were we thinking of what we could do for others, of what we

• Or were we thinking of what we could do for others, of what we could pack into the stream of life?

• Be careful not to drift into worry, remorse or morbid reflection. That would diminish your usefulness to others.

Evening Prayer

• God, forgive me where I have been resentful, selfish, dishonest or afraid today. Help me to not keep anything to myself but to discuss it all openly with another person. Show me where I owe an apology and help me with another person. Show me where I owe an apology and help me make it. Help me to be kind and loving to all people. Use me in the mainstream of life, God. Free me of worry, remorse or morbid (sick) reflections that I may be of usefulness to others. AMEN

Prayer of St. Francis• Lord, make me a channel of Thy peace

- that where there is hatred, I may

bring love - that where there is wrong, I

may bring the spirit of forgiveness -

that where there is discord, I may bring

harmony - that where there is error, I

that where there is discord, I may bring

harmony - that where there is error, I

may bring truth - that where there is

doubt, I may bring faith - that where

there is despair, I may bring hope - that

where there are shadows, I may bring

light - that where there is sadness, I

may bring joy.

Prayer Continued

• O, Divine Master, grant that I may

not so much seek to be consoled,

as to console; to be understood as

to understand; to be loved, as to to understand; to be loved, as to

love; for it is in the giving that we

receive; it is in the pardoning that

we are pardoned, and it is in dying

that we are born to eternal life.

Matthew 6:9-13

• 9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name,10 your kingdom come,

your will be done,your will be done,on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us today our daily bread.12 And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.13 And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.

What is Meditation?

• Answer: Psalm 19:14 states, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” What,

then, is Christian meditation, and

how should Christians meditate?

What is Meditation? Conti-

• Unfortunately, the word “meditation” can carry the connotation of something mystical. For some, meditation is clearing the mind while sitting in an unusual position. while sitting in an unusual position. For others, meditation is communing with the spirit world around us. Concepts such as these most definitely do not characterize Christian meditation.

What is Meditation? Conti-

• Christian meditation has nothing to do with practices that have Eastern mysticism as their foundation. Such practices include lectio divina, transcendental meditation, and many forms of what is called transcendental meditation, and many forms of what is called contemplative prayer. These have at their core a dangerous premise that we need to “hear God’s voice,” not through His Word, but through personal revelation through meditation.

What is Meditation? Conti-

• Christians are not to abandon God’s Word, which is “God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). If the Bible is sufficient to thoroughly equip us for every good work, how could we think we need to seek a mystical experience instead of or in addition to it?

What is Meditation? Conti-

• Christian meditation is to be

solely on the Word of God and

what it reveals about Him. David

found this to be so, and he found this to be so, and he

describes the man who is

“blessed” as one whose “delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:2).

What is Meditation? Conti-

• True Christian meditation is an

active thought process whereby

we give ourselves to the study of

the Word, praying over it and the Word, praying over it and

asking God to give us

understanding by the Spirit, who

has promised to lead us “into all truth” (John 16:13).

What is Meditation? Conti-

• Then we put this truth into

practice, committing ourselves to

the Scriptures as the rule for life

and practice as we go about our and practice as we go about our

daily activities. This causes

spiritual growth and maturing in

the things of God as we are

taught by His Holy Spirit.

Rumination

• ru�mi�na�tion

• ˌro͞oməˈnāSH(ə)n/

• noun• 1.

• a deep or considered thought about • a deep or considered thought about something.

• "philosophical ruminations about life and humanity"

• 2.

• the action of chewing the cud.

• "cows slow down their rumination"

Meditation

• Equals: Listening to the

Father, Son, and Holy

Spirit, by going over and

over the word of God with

Spirit, by going over and

over the word of God with

the process of rumination,

just like a cow chewing a

cud.

Simply Put

• Prayer is talking to God.

• Meditation is listening to God.

• Simply focus on and think about

God or a certain scripture verse God or a certain scripture verse

or maybe even just one or two

words, like using the “fruits of the spirit” example from last week.

Let’s Pray

• Dear God, help me set aside all

the hassles and noise of the world

to focus and listen to just you.

Help me get to know you better. Help me get to know you better.

Help me to better understand

Your plan, Your purpose for my

life. Father, help me live within

today, seeking Your will and living

this day as You would have me.

Prayer Continued

• It is my prayer others see me as Yours; not just in my words but more importantly, in my actions. Thank You for Your love, Your grace, Your perfect forgiveness. grace, Your perfect forgiveness. Thank You for all those You have placed in my life, for journey, my healing, and my church family. Your will be done, not mine. In Your Son’s name I pray, Amen.