Prayer: Trusting the God Who Saves
In the first sermon of our new mini-series on prayer, Pastor Matt Maloney explores Isaiah 31:1–9 and Judah's misplaced trust in Egypt. The passage challenges us to consider what our prayerlessness reveals about where we place our confidence, while reminding us of God's covenant faithfulness and His fierce protection of His people. Ultimately, prayer is presented as the response of those who have been rescued by God's grace and given every reason to trust Him.
Prayer — Isaiah 31:1–9
In the first sermon of our new mini-series on prayer, Pastor Matt Maloney takes us to Isaiah 31, where Judah is confronted with the danger of trusting earthly strength rather than the Lord. Faced with the overwhelming threat of Assyria, Judah looked to Egypt for security instead of turning to God. Through this passage, we are challenged to recognise that our neglect of prayer can reveal a deeper problem of misplaced trust. Yet Isaiah also gives us a beautiful picture of God's fierce covenant faithfulness: He is the God who watches over, protects, and saves His people. Ultimately, this points us to the far greater salvation accomplished through Christ, reminding us that prayer is the response of those who have been rescued by grace and who therefore have every reason to trust God rather than anything else.
Prayer: Trusting the God Who Saves
Isaiah 31:1–9
Pastor Matt Maloney begins a new mini-series on prayer by confronting a deceptively simple question: What does our prayer life reveal about where we place our trust?
The Bible contains wonderful promises concerning prayer, but prayer is not merely a Christian discipline to be added to an already busy life. Our approach to prayer exposes something deeper about our relationship with God. When we pray, we acknowledge our dependence upon Him. When we consistently fail to pray, we can reveal that we are looking elsewhere for the security, wisdom, control, and rescue that only God can ultimately provide.
Isaiah 31 gives us a powerful Old Testament picture of this problem.
1. Judah looked for salvation in the wrong place
The historical setting is one of crisis. Assyria was the great military power of the region, and its armies threatened Judah. The northern kingdom of Israel had already fallen, and Judah was now faced with the terrifying prospect of Assyria turning its attention fully toward Jerusalem.
Rather than trusting the Lord, Judah sought security through an alliance with Egypt.
Isaiah begins:
“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help…”
The issue was not simply that Judah had made a poor political calculation. Their political decision revealed a spiritual problem. They had placed their confidence in horses, chariots, and military strength rather than in the Lord.
They were behaving like the surrounding nations.
This is important because Judah already knew who God was. The Lord had rescued Israel from Egypt, established His covenant with them, and repeatedly demonstrated His faithfulness. They had every reason to trust Him.
Yet when crisis came, their instinct was not to seek God but to seek another source of security.
That exposes something uncomfortable about the human heart: we can know about God while functionally trusting something else.
2. The absence of prayer can reveal misplaced faith
This is where the passage speaks powerfully into the Christian life.
We can easily become people who pray only after every other option has been exhausted. We worry, strategise, seek advice, attempt to control circumstances, and turn to earthly resources—and only then remember to pray.
Prayer becomes the final resort rather than the first response.
But Isaiah forces us to ask why.
If prayer is fundamentally an expression of dependence upon God, then persistent prayerlessness may reveal that we do not actually believe God is sufficient for the situation before us.
The problem is therefore deeper than simply having a poor prayer routine. Prayerlessness can expose misplaced faith.
Just as Judah's alliance with Egypt revealed where they had placed their confidence, our functional dependence upon money, relationships, competence, possessions, planning, status, or our own ability to control circumstances can reveal where our hearts are really looking for salvation.
The question is not whether we trust something. We always trust something.
The question is: Who or what are we trusting?
3. God's covenant faithfulness makes their unbelief all the more serious
Judah's failure is particularly tragic because God had already bound Himself to His people through His covenant.
The Lord had rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt. He had brought them into the land and established them as His people. His relationship with Israel was not based upon their ability to save themselves, but upon His gracious covenant commitment.
Consequently, Judah's decision to seek Egypt was not merely foolish—it was an expression of unbelief.
They were acting as though the Lord could not be trusted.
This gives prayer a profoundly theological foundation. We pray because God has first made Himself known to us as the faithful God.
Prayer is therefore not an attempt to persuade a reluctant God to care about us. Nor is it a technique by which we manipulate God into giving us what we want.
Rather, prayer is the response of faith to the God who has already revealed Himself as trustworthy.
The Christian does not approach God hoping that He might become gracious. We approach Him because, in Christ, God has already demonstrated His grace toward us.
4. The remarkable picture of God's protection
The rebuke of Isaiah 31 is accompanied by extraordinary encouragement.
In verse 4, Isaiah compares the Lord to a lion that refuses to surrender its prey. Even when shepherds gather to drive it away, the lion is not frightened.
The image is striking: God is fiercely committed to protecting His people.
Then verse 5 gives another picture:
“Like birds hovering, so the LORD of hosts will protect Jerusalem…”
The imagery communicates both strength and tenderness. God is not distant or indifferent toward His people. He sees them, watches over them, and acts on their behalf.
There is nothing happening in the lives of God's people that escapes His notice.
This gives us an important corrective to our fears. When we face circumstances that appear overwhelming, our instinct can be to focus entirely upon the size of the problem.
Isaiah redirects our attention to the character of the God who stands over the problem.
The Assyrians were powerful.
But God was greater.
5. “Turn back to him”
The heart of Isaiah's message comes in verses 6–7:
“Turn to him from whom you have deeply revolted…”
The call is fundamentally a call to repentance.
Judah must abandon its idols and return to the Lord.
This is important for understanding prayer. The answer to prayerlessness is not simply to become better at performing a religious activity. We need to turn back to God Himself.
Prayer is relational before it is methodological.
The fundamental question is not, “How can I improve my prayer life?” but, “Do I actually believe that God is worthy of my trust?”
As faith turns toward God, prayer follows.
And as we understand more deeply who God is, prayer becomes less of a duty and more of a natural response to His character and grace.
6. God alone is the true Saviour
The final verses of Isaiah 31 promise that Assyria will fall—not because Judah's military alliance succeeds, but because the Lord Himself will intervene.
The salvation of Jerusalem ultimately comes from God.
The wider biblical account records the extraordinary fulfilment of this promise. In Isaiah 37 and 2 Kings 19, the Lord strikes the Assyrian army, with 185,000 Assyrian soldiers falling in one night. Sennacherib subsequently returns to Nineveh and is killed by his own sons.
The point is not merely that God can win military battles.
The point is that God is the Saviour of His people.
Judah did not need Egypt to accomplish what only God could do.
7. The gospel reveals an even greater salvation
This is where the passage ultimately points beyond Judah's immediate circumstances.
The rescue of Jerusalem from Assyria was extraordinary, but it pales in comparison with the salvation God has accomplished for His people in Jesus Christ.
Assyria threatened Judah with death.
But sin brought humanity under the judgment of God.
Judah needed deliverance from an earthly enemy.
We need deliverance from sin, death, and the righteous judgment we deserve.
And God Himself has provided that salvation through Christ.
The gospel therefore gives Christians the deepest possible reason to pray.
We do not pray in order to persuade God to save us.
We pray because God has already saved us by grace.
At the cross, God accomplished what no earthly power could accomplish. Christ defeated sin and death and brought His people into the kingdom of God.
If God has done this for us, why would we ultimately trust anything else?
8. Prayer as the response to the gospel
This provides a helpful way of understanding Christian prayer.
Prayer is an act of faith because it says:
“God, I cannot save myself. I cannot control this situation. I cannot see the future. But I know who You are, and I trust You.”
Prayer is therefore deeply connected to the gospel.
The gospel tells us that we are dependent upon grace.
Prayer is the lived expression of that dependence.
The gospel tells us that God has acted decisively for His people.
Prayer responds by trusting Him.
The gospel tells us that we have been brought near to God through Christ.
Prayer enjoys that access.
And the gospel tells us that our ultimate hope is not found in earthly powers but in God Himself.
Prayer therefore turns our hearts away from the false saviours we instinctively run toward and back toward the true Saviour.
9. A searching question for Christians
Isaiah 31 therefore confronts us with a searching question:
When life becomes difficult, where do we instinctively run?
Do we run first to our own abilities?
To money?
To relationships?
To experts?
To planning?
To distraction?
To control?
Or do we turn to the Lord?
Our prayerlessness may reveal more about our theology than we realise.
If we genuinely believe that God is sovereign, wise, good, faithful, powerful, and committed to His people, then prayer makes sense.
If we genuinely believe the gospel—that God has given His Son to save sinners—then we have every reason to approach Him with confidence.
Prayer does not begin with our ability to pray well.
It begins with God's character and God's grace.
Conclusion
Isaiah 31 calls God's people away from false saviours and back to the Lord.
Judah looked to Egypt because Egypt appeared tangible, powerful, and immediately useful. Yet God reminds them that their true security was never found in horses, chariots, alliances, or military strength. Their salvation rested in Him.
The same temptation remains for Christians today. We can profess faith in God while practically living as though everything depends upon us or upon the earthly things around us.
Prayer confronts that illusion.
Every time we pray, we acknowledge that God is God and we are not. We confess our dependence, receive His provision, seek His wisdom, and entrust ourselves to His sovereign care.
And the greatest reason we can pray is not that we have become worthy of God's attention, but that God has graciously brought us near through Christ.
The God who protected Jerusalem from Assyria is the God who, in Christ, has accomplished the infinitely greater work of rescuing His people from sin and death.
So the call of Isaiah 31 is ultimately a gospel call:
Turn from false saviours. Turn to the Lord. Trust the God who saves. And let prayer become the response of a heart that knows it has been rescued by grace.
A Church Shaped By Jesus
The Five Acts of Redemption
How is the love of the church shaped by Jesus?
His Humble Incarnation
His Perfect Life
His Atoning Death
His Victorious Resurrection
His Glorious Ascension
JOB: Trusting God when he seems to be silent
Job 1:1-22 and Job 2:1-10
This sermon focuses trusting God in the midst of a broken world.
Can we trust God when bad things happen
Can we trust God when our friends abandon us
Can we trust God when he is silent
Pastor Murray teaches us that Gods purpose and plans are higher than ours, that God is in control and working all things for good. We can trust him because our redeemer lives.
Colossians 3: 1-4 | Hidden with Christ
Colossians 3: 1-4
This sermon focuses on our union with Christ, and we see that faith means three things:
We have died with Him
We have been raised with Him
Our lives are bound to Him
Pastor Mike explains that His story has become our story, and also that His security becomes our security.
John 20:30-31 | That You Would Believe and Enter
John 20:30-31
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:30-31 (ESV)
We finish our time in the book of John today with John’s reiteration of the purpose of his gospel - that we would believe in Jesus, and that we would enter into the Kingdom of God and live life in His name.
We specifically look at the seven signs Jesus performed that John shares, and the “I am” statements within the gospel, which clearly show the purpose of John’s gospel, so that we would know the God we worship.
Peter’s Restoration
John 21
“He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’” John 21:7
My lord my God
John 20: 24-31
“My Lord My God” Were the words of Thomas as he saw the resurrected Jesus when he appeared among the disciples. Often referred to as doubting Thomas, Ps Matt Maloney discusses the significance of this detail in the gospel of John, and the unearned title.
Of the many details of Jesus’s life not recorded, this interaction was included “These things are written that you may Believe”
Peace, Purpose and Power
John 20: 18-23
It is said that the two most important days of your life are the day you were born, and the day that you realise why you were born.
What is the reason you get out of bed? Are you living aimlessly? The truth is tyou have been created for a purpose. You have been created to thrive. Jesus wants you to find that purpose.
We can know:
Peace in our hearts
Purpose for our lives
Power for our mission.
Today we unpack this further from the book of John.
Peace be with you.
The Empty Tomb
John 20:1-18
In this service, we examine ‘the silence of Saturday’; the period between the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Pastor Mike notes that whenever God appears to be silent in our lives, He is very much not. As Jesus says in verse 17, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’
He is our Father as well, and one day we will see Him in all His glory.
The Crucifixion
John 19:16-42
‘‘This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled’’ (v 24)
The cross is the event of salvation:
Past,
Present,
Ongoing, and
Future
Behold your King!
John 19:1-16
This sermon places Pilate on trial, in the place of humanity. Exploring how, like Pilate humanity does it’s best to avoid responsibility when it comes to choosing God or the world.
Peter’s denial
Mark 14:66-72
This sermon explores Peter’s denial of Jesus, and examines how Peter’s godly grief contrasts with Judas’ worldly grief.
John 18:28-40 | Jesus on Trial
John 18:28-40
Jesus is in the political and spiritual capital of Jerusalem. Only five days earlier Jesus was welcomed as a king, before being betrayed, denied by His friend, and arrested by the religious leaders. Because those religious leaders cannot impose the death penalty, they hand Him over to Pilate to achieve their goals.
Delivered by the hypocrisy of the religious elders, they don’t just want Him dead, they want Him discredited and shamed.
From the text, we look at three points:
The Kingdom Jesus Has
The Message Jesus Brings
The Rescue Jesus Offer
If His kingdom was on Earth, His authority could conquer the world, however, His kingdom comes from outside this world. The difference, He lays down His life, instead of coming to take life.
Jesus sates that His message is to bear witness to the truth, and that everyone of the truth will listen. We are to abide in His word and know the truth. That is why he was born into this world.
Pilate, finding no guilt in Jesus, offers Jesus the freedom by custom to the Jews at the Passover. Instead, they choose Barabbas, a criminal and insurrectionist. Barabbas is the first man to walk free in place of Jesus. We too are guily, beyond rescue by our own power. We too, are saved by Jesus’s substitution.
John 18:12-28 | Jesus Arrested
John 18:12-28
Jesus’s arrest is the fulfillment of scripture. Up until this point, God’s people saw the law given to them as a vessel through which to be saved. However, Jesus’s perfect life made it clear that this was not the case - the law has another purpose.
Today’s sermon examines the arrest of Jesus, highlights the law’s true meaning, and asks the questions:
What do we need to be saved from?
How are we going to be saved?
John 18:1-14 | Jesus Chose the Cross
John 18:1-14
After the upper room, Jesus withdraws to the Garden in Gethsemane to spend time in prayer. There Jesus will be arrested, orchestrated not by the power of man, but the will and authority of his father. By the knowing sacrifice of Jesus. He was arrested not in the light, but in darkness. Not in public, but in private. This is the intentional end of Jesus’s ministry on earth.
God Chose the Cross
Jesus Willingly Went to the Cross
He Wants to be Your Saviour
He is Lord Over the Chaos
John 17:20-26 The Heart of Jesus for His Church: A Prayer for Unity and Glory
In this passage from John 17:20–26, Pastor Matt Maloney draws us into Jesus’ final prayer for His church—a prayer marked by deep love and eternal purpose. Jesus asks the Father for two central realities: that His people would be united as one, and that they would ultimately be with Him to see His glory. This sermon challenges us to see unity not as optional, but as essential to our witness, and to long for Christ Himself as the true goal of our faith.
John 17:20-26
In this passage from John 17:20–26, Pastor Matt Maloney draws us into Jesus’ final prayer for His church—a prayer marked by deep love and eternal purpose. Jesus asks the Father for two central realities: that His people would be united as one, and that they would ultimately be with Him to see His glory. This sermon challenges us to see unity not as optional, but as essential to our witness, and to long for Christ Himself as the true goal of our faith.
In John 17:20–26, we are given the profound privilege of overhearing Jesus’ prayer just before His crucifixion. This is not a passing thought or secondary concern—this is the heart of Christ for His people. Pastor Matt highlights two central themes that shape both the identity and destiny of the church: our unity in Christ and our future with Him in glory.
1. A Prayer for Unity (v. 21–23)
Jesus prays that His followers “may all be one,” and this unity is not superficial harmony or mere agreement. It is rooted in the very nature of God Himself—“just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you.” Christian unity flows from the perfect unity of the Trinity: shared truth, purpose, will, and love.
This matters deeply because unity is tied directly to our witness. Jesus says that the world will believe the Father sent Him when they see the unity of His people. In other words, the Gospel is not only proclaimed—it is displayed in the life of a loving, unified church. A healthy Christian community becomes a living picture of redemption, showing how Christ restores what sin has broken.
Yet unity is not easy. As Pastor Matt notes, calling sinners to unity will inevitably bring conflict. Our fallen nature resists it. When unity breaks down, the consequences are real—division, hurt, and often people walking away from the faith altogether.
But Scripture shows us that unity is more important than the absence of conflict. In Galatians 2:11–14, Paul confronts Peter not to shame him, but to restore him because his actions were “not in step with the Gospel.” True unity sometimes requires hard conversations, but always with the aim of reconciliation and grace.
The call, then, is personal:
Are we actively seeking to build unity in Christ’s church?
Are we quick to extend grace, even when wronged?
As A. W. Tozer insightfully put it, believers are drawn closer together not by focusing on unity itself, but by fixing their eyes on Christ. The more we are aligned with Him, the more we are aligned with one another.
2. A Prayer for Presence (v. 24–26)
Jesus’ prayer doesn’t stop at unity—it points beyond it. “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory.”
Unity is not an end in itself. It exists because we want Christ. The ultimate hope of the Christian life is not simply a better community or even restored relationships—it is being with Jesus and beholding His glory.
This is a staggering promise. One day, believers will see Christ as He truly is, in all His fullness and majesty. This future reality reshapes our present priorities. Our longing for unity, our pursuit of holiness, and our commitment to the church are all grounded in this greater hope: eternal communion with Christ.
Conclusion
Jesus’ prayer reveals both our calling and our destiny. We are called to be a people marked by unity—costly, grace-filled, Christ-centered unity that bears witness to the world. And we are destined for something far greater: to be with Jesus and to see His glory.
So the question remains:
Are we living now in light of what Jesus has prayed for us?
John 17:6-19 | The Sacred Sound (We Are To Be…)
In John 16:16–24, Jesus prepares His disciples for the sorrow they are about to face while pointing them to the lasting joy that will follow. Though suffering is a reality in a fallen world, Christ promises that our sorrow will ultimately turn to joy through His death and resurrection. In this passage we see Jesus’ warning about coming trials, His promise of unshakable joy, and His invitation to draw near to the Father in prayer so that our joy may be made complete.
We rejoice in the deeply personal words of Jesus speaking to His father in John 17:6-19, sharing his deep love and care for us.
Today we break down five key points that Jesus prayed for us.
That we would be Kept - though Jesus is no longer in the world, where he kept and guarded us, that we would continue to be protected by God.
That we would be One - as Jesus and God are one, being unified in Him.
That we would be Joyful - not just to endure this world, but to be genuinely fulfilled.
That we would be Set Apart - sanctified in the truth of God’s word, growing in holiness.
That we would be Sent - just as Jesus was sent into the world, we are sent into the world for a reason, that we would be set apart for God’s purposes.