Matthew 7:21-29

"Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven."

"Everyone who listens to these words of mine and ACTS on them will be like a wise man who built His house on rock: the rains fell, and the winds blew, and buffeted the house. BUT it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.

"And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand: the rains fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined."

What does this passage say?

What is the HOUSE?
What is the ROCK? What is the SAND? What are the Storms? What are the consequences of building your HOUSE on the ROCK and the SAND?

What happens when you build your life on SAND?

Personal Story

the rains fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined."

How do we make sure we do not become completely ruined?

Attitude/ Disposition:

To constantly seek God: genuine in seeking for His face: to "hunger and thirst" for righteousness

Sharing: (Triads)
What struck you most in this presentation?
Later after the break, we are going to be finding out how we can SET OUR HOUSES ON SOLID ROCK

The next session will be about PRAYER TIME.

Weathering the Storms of Life

Storms are Inevitable

What do we do?
1. We could be like the wise man.

2. We could be like the foolish man.

What did Jesus say?

"Everyone who listens to these words of mine and ACTS on them will be like a wise man who built His house on rock

Lets learn the steps:

LISTENING. RESPONDING.
ACTING

ESTABLISHING A PERSONAL PRAYER TIME

What is prayer?

Why do we pray?

Jesus Prayed.
Early: Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. (Mark 1:35)
Late: One of those days Jesus went out to a mountain side to pray, and spent the night praying to God. (Luke 6:12)

Often: But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. 5:16)

(Luke

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation." (Luke 22:39)

How do you pray?

1. Find a quiet place and quiet down.

2. Open you heart and ask the Lord to come in.

3. You can read the Scripture readings for the day. (if you don't understand, you may ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand) OR you can write the things that are really bothering you: talk to Him as you would talk to your most trusted friend. Know that He will keep your deepest secrets. 4. Journal.

5. Listen to him: Quiet down. (You can also read reflections for the day.)
6. Make a response or an action plan

Important:
prayer is a conversation with God.
What do you mean by conversation? it is a TWO-WAY thing which involves listening and speaking it won't work if you just talk and talk and talk You should set time to pray EVERYDAY: this is your lifeline to God.

Own Prayer Time.