Prayer

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Sermon Reflections from Prayer | Alex Hardt | July 12, 2026

Pastor Alex had an amazing week that led him to pray for us, for him, for his family and for Crossroads during the time that would have been devoted to his sermon. His heart was full to overflowing with Praises for the Father.

Where have we seen this phenomena in scripture? I think David’s psalms of praise would fall into that category. Psalm 146:1-2 is an example.
“Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.”

Mary also lets us in on her praise of God in Luke 1:46-50 in a portion of scripture known as the magnificate. “And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.”

Pastor Alex let his praise of God flow from the events of his week just like David and Mary did. They saw God at work in their lives and could not contain the praise on their lips.

In my card making, I have some stamps to put on cards, like slogans. One set is called Pray More. Here are a few that are worthy of thought:

Pray more Worry Less. I think that one comes from Paul’s admonition in Philippians 4:4-7 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Prayer is the Cure for a confused mind, a Weary soul and a Broken Heart. Here are some scriptures that speak to these problems and God’s promised restoration. Jeremiah 14:9 “Why should you be like a man confused, like a mighty warrior who cannot save? Yet you, O Lord, are in the midst of us, and we are called by your name; do not leave us.” Jeremiah 31:25 “For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

Be faithful in Prayer. This one actually has a scripture reference in Romans 12:12. This comes in a list of things Paul is exhorting the Roman Christians to do in their lives, to show faithfulness to God. “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”

Pastor Alex showed us in his prayer that all of our life is under God’s sovereign control. This last saying goes along with that idea: Pray on it, Pray over it, Pray through it! All of our life needs to be submitted to God in prayer.

This is easier said than done but the more we pray the better we get at expressing ourselves to God and laying things before Him. One of my favorite stories in the Old Testament comes from 2 Kings 19. The Assyrian king, Sennacherib, had defeated the northern kingdom of Israel and carried them off of Assyria. He then set his sights on Judah. He sent a letter to King Hezekiah basically telling him to give up because His God was not powerful enough and they would be defeated. Hezekiah took the letter to the house of the Lord and laid it before God. He prayed, 2 Kings 19:15-19 “And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said: “O Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made the heavens and the earth. 16 Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 17 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands 18 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 19 So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone.”

You can guess what happened! His answer came from God through the prophet Isaiah in 2 Kings 19:32-36 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. 33 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. 34 For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”

35 And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh.

Hezekiah did not panic but took his requests to God and laid them before Him. He knew in the power of God and trusted in Him! This is a good example to us as we seek to live lives based on prayer and faith.

Thanks, Pastor Alex, for bringing us to the throne this Sunday morning and modeling how to talk to God and experience His blessing as we worshipped Him.

Linda

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LINDA'S BLOG
Linda is a member of Crossroads church and regularly blogs about her faith.

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