Dangerous Prayers
“Thanksgiving”
2 Samuel 7:18-29
Intro: History of my table, this is the table of hardwork
“Prayers are our roots. The roots do the hard work of strengthening the tree, but this hard work is hidden work. The same can be said of prayer.” John Onwuchekwa

1. True thankfulness is rooted in the gospel. 2 Samuel 7:18-22
“If we give priority to the outer life, our inner life will be dark and scary. We will not know what to do with solitude. We will be deeply uncomfortable with self-examination, and we will have an increasingly short attention span for any kind of reflection. Even more seriously, our lives will lack integrity. Outwardly, we will need to project confidence, spiritual and emotional health, and wholeness, while inwardly we may be filled with self-doubts, anxieties, self-pity, and old grudges.”
― Timothy Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God
2. True thankfulness is found by trusting in the things only God can provide. 2 Samuel 7:23-27
“Hear me. We won’t consistently pray if we’re not sure of God’s ability. So much of our failure to pray come from subtly believing that within God exists the possibility of failure. Because of this, we never ask God to do the impossible. Instead, we only pursue the things we can accomplish on our own.”
John Onwuchekwa
3. True thankfulness flows from the promises of God, not the resolve of his people. 2 Samuel 7:28-29.
• “O Lord God, you are God, (v.28)
• “your words are true, (v.28)
• “you have promised this good thing to your servant.” (v.28)