The Privilege of Prayer

Short Talk (SHT008) The privilege of prayer © Jane Hulme 2015 Aim of Short talk: Main themes: Biblical references: Props: (SHT008) To inspire people with the privilege they have of praying to Almighty God! Prayer Isaiah 55:1-3, Ephesians 2:18, Hebrews 4:16, James 4:8 Invitation in a gold envelope (You can buy a gold envelope on Amazon) SHORT TALK: “THE PRIVILEGE OF PRAYER” ........................................................................................................................ I wonder what is inside this very special envelope. (Wave around gold envelope)  Shall we have a look? (Open envelope and pull out the invitation) It is an invitation from Buckingham palace.  This is what it says: o “The Lord Chamberlain is commanded by Her Majesty to invite (your name) to afternoon tea in the garden of Buckingham palace on July 25th from 4-6pm. o Morning Dress, Uniform or Lounge Suit” Wow....how exciting is that!  To have a personal invitation to have tea with the Queen.  Has anyone here ever received an invitation like that? The Queen is such an important person that we can’t just turn up and see her whenever we feel like it, can we?  We have to wait to receive an invitation from her office.  Wehavetobegivenadayandatimeslotwhensheisfreetoseeus.  We are then told what to wear and where to go to see Her Majesty. I doubt if many of us will ever receive an invitation to go and have a personal conversation with Her Majesty. But this morning I want to tell you that each one of you has been given a much more exciting invitation than the one in this envelope.  We have been given an invitation by Father God, who is King over all of the Universe,  not just the United Kingdom,  to come and spend time with Him. Father God says to you and me, “Come to me....come and spend time with me and I will satisfy you.”  What an incredible invitation that is.  We are invited to come and spend time with the Creator of the universe,  to get to know Him and be known by Him. © Jane Hulme 2015 2 And you know what....there is no appointment time on that invitation from God.  We can come and spend time with Him at any time of day or night,  for as long as we like,  and He will give us His full attention. We don’t have to go to a special place to talk with Him;  we can meet Father God anywhere.....  Isn’t that a wonderful invitation? There is one thing you need to know though about this invitation.  You need to wear the right clothes to come and spend time with Father God,  and I am not talking about wearing your best shirt or your best dress.....  I am talking about wearing the clean robe that Jesus alone can give us. You see Father God is very very holy and we cannot simply turn up as we are......  We have to come before Him completely clean on the inside.....  completely sinless. But don’t worry – none of us can do that by our own efforts.  It is possible because Jesus has dealt with our sins,  when he died on the cross and rose again. If we come to Jesus and ask him to wash us clean from our sins,  He not only does that, but he gives us His clean robe to wear for ever.  Now it is possible to respond to Father God’s invitation to come and spend time with Him. So what are you waiting for?  Let’s all enjoy spending time with God this week as we respond to His wonderful invitation. © Jane Hulme 2015 3