Sermon Cloud

Synopsis: Elijah was expecting God to answer his prayers in a certain way and through his experience he learned to listen for the way God communicated. Prayer is communication with God that we do everyday all the time. It is more than a part time activity; learning to pray is a full-time job.

Three steps (please display them on the screen together as well as individually when they come up):
Listening
Living
Learning

Text: 1 Kings 19:11 - 12 (NIV)
11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by."
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

Please display a quote from a book I will read. Prayers by Michel Quoist.

If we knew how to listen to God, if we knew how to look around us, our whole life would become prayer. For it unfolds under God’s eyes and no part of it must be lived without being freely offered to Him. At first we communicate with words, which may be dispensed with later on…as one does the peelings of a fruit. Words are only a means.

However, the silent prayer which has moved beyond words must always spring from everyday life, for everyday life is the raw material of prayer.

Under the last section, Learning, please list 4 bullets:
Praying the Scriptures
Conquering the Attention Span
God Cares All the TIme
Forming a Relationship

Under Praying the scriptures, display additional scripture:
Psalm 103:1
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless God's holy name!