Creating A Culture Of Consecration (2)

Creating A Culture of Prayer

Acts 2:41-47 “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

Defining Prayer:

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Prayer)

Prayer. The addressing and petitioning of God. Prayer to a god or gods is a feature of many, if not all, religions, but here attention will be restricted to the biblical teaching and some of its implications.

A classic definition of Christian prayer is “an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgement of his mercies” (Westminster Shorter Catechism).

Christian prayer is the end product of a long process of change and development in God’s relation to men.

Two Things About Prayer:

1.) Prayer is hard to start but easy to continue

2.) Prayer shouldn’t be a last resort; but the beginning of every decision-making process.

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Prayer in the OT)

Prayer in the OT. Newly created man, made for fellowship with God, “walked with God.” Sin broke this intimate, direct relationship. Nevertheless, when the Lord formed his gracious covenant with Abraham (Gn 15) the relationship between the covenant partners was also direct, at least by comparison with what was to follow. Abraham’s prayer for Sodom and Gomorrah (Gn 18) is a striking combination of boldness and persistence, and a recognition of his own smallness and inferiority compared to God. The same could be said about Jacob’s wrestling with the angel at Peniel (Gn 32). But boldness and directness is not to be confused with familiarity. Biblical prayer is shot through with a recognition of the distance between the Creator and the creature, of human sin and of God’s grace. The basis of a person’s approach to God in prayer is never simply “man’s search for God” but God’s gracious initiative, the establishing of the covenant, and the promise of help and deliverance on the basis of that covenant. It is this covenant relationship that gives the warrant for prayer. Thus in patriarchal times prayer was conjoined with sacrifice and obedience.

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Prayer in the NT)

Prayer in the NT. The NT’s teaching on prayer is dominated by Christ’s own example and teaching. His dependence on his Father in his mediatorial work expresses itself in repeated prayer, culminating in his high-priestly prayer (Jn 17) and the agony of Gethsemane with the prayer from the cross. Yet Christ is explicit in describing his relationship to his Father as a unique one (Jn 20:17). His teaching on prayer, particularly in the Sermon on the Mount, is to be understood as contrasting with current Jewish practices, not with OT ideals. Prayer is an expression of sincere desire. It is not to inform God of matters that he would otherwise be ignorant of, and the validity of prayer is not affected by length or repetitiveness. Private prayer is to be discreet, secret (Mt 6:5–15). The parables are another important source of Christ’s teaching, emphasizing persistence in prayer (Lk 18:1–8), simplicity and humility (Lk 18:10–14), and tenacity (Lk 11:5–8).

My personal definition of prayer is always this:

Talking, Listening and Obeying God

It is Dr. Kimberly and my belief that every believer should be able to pray. However; the expectation of a believer to pray comes with two-fold desire to teach the believer to pray and for the believer to have a desire to be taught how to pray.

When a new believer comes into the family, the one thing they should see more than anything else, is praying believers.

Yes, it is important for us to get to know the new believer, as well as, important for the new believer to get to know us. The most important thing that the more mature believer should be modeling is a lifestyle of prayer before the new believer.

We should be so immersed into prayer that the new believer should be attracted to our prayer life that a hunger is created in the heart of the new believer to want to pray like us to the point where, they ask us:

“Will you teach me to pray?”

Luke 11:1 “Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.””

So, prayer starts with a desire. A desire leads us to being taught. Teaching one to pray, Now gives them a template for prayer.

This Is How We Pray

Luke 11:2–13 (ESV)

And he said to them, “When you pray, say:

“Father, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread,

and forgive us our sins,

for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

And lead us not into temptation.”

A third source of teaching is the Lord’s Prayer. Once again there is the blend of directness (“Our Father”) and distance (“Who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name”). The requests given in the Lord’s Prayer are concerned first with God, his kingdom and his glory, and then with the disciples’ needs for forgiveness and for daily support and deliverance. Occasionally it seems from our Lord’s teaching that anything that is prayed for will, without restriction, be granted. But such teaching ought to be understood in the light of Christ’s overall teaching about prayer (“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven”).

* Luke continues on teaching the model prayer and then he teaches how to be persistent in prayer.

And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Christ stated that when the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, came the disciples would pray to the Father in the name of Christ (Jn 16:23–25). Accordingly we find that after the coming of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost the early church is characterized by prayer (Acts 2:42) under the leadership of the apostles (Acts 6:4). The church praises God for the gift of his Son and his Spirit and petitions God in times of difficulty (Acts 4:24; 12:5, 12).

It is in Paul’s writings that the theology of prayer is most fully developed. The NT believer is a son, not only a servant. The Spirit who, as a result of Christ’s triumph, has come to the church is the Spirit of adoption, enabling the Christian to come to God as his Father, with all his needs. Prominent among these needs, in the mind of the apostle, are a deepening of faith in Christ, love for God, and a growing appreciation of God’s love in turn (Eph 3:14–19). Prayer is a part of the Christian’s armor against satanic attack (Eph 6:18), the effective ministry of the Word of God depends on the prayers of God’s people (Eph 6:18, 19), and the Christian is enjoined to pray for all sorts of things, with thanksgiving (Phil 4:6), and so to be free from anxiety. Paul’s own example in prayer is as instructive as the teaching he gives.

The Christian’s prayer is rooted, objectively, in Christ’s intercession; subjectively, in the enabling of the Holy Spirit. The church is a kingdom of priests, offering spiritual sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving (Heb 13:15; 1 Pt 2:5), but Christ is the “great High Priest.” This thought is developed fully in Hebrews. Because of Christ’s human sympathy, the power of his intercessory work (i.e., the triumph of his atonement) and his superiority over the old Aaronic priesthood, the church is encouraged to come to God (“the throne of grace”) boldly, to find grace when it is needed (Heb 4:14–16; 9:24; 10:19–23). Prayer and obedience are linked both in the case of Christ, who learned obedience by the things that he suffered (Heb 5:7, 8), and in the case of the church (Heb 10:21–25).

The priesthood of the OT, although ordained by God, was of purely symbolic significance. The OT high priest could no more effectively intercede for the people than the blood of bulls and goats could take away their sins (Heb 10:4). Further, nowhere in either the OT or NT is there any encouragement to pray to individuals other than God. Nowhere in Scripture is it suggested that there is any other mediator between God and men except Christ (1 Tm 2:5).

Difficulties in Prayer. How creatures are able to petition God, and to receive answers to their prayers, is a mystery that Scripture does not theorize about, but asserts as fact. Thus petitionary prayer is central to biblical religion. Yet the possibility of petitionary prayer has presented difficulties for many. Why does God answer some prayers and not others? And, more fundamentally, how is God able to answer any prayers at all?

In attempting to answer the first question it is necessary to bear in mind that prayer is not to be thought of in mechanical terms. Prayer involves a personal relationship with God. So the reason why God answers one prayer and not another has nothing to do with volume or length of prayers in themselves. Because prayer involves a personal relationship with God, sincerity and unaffectedness in that relationship are of paramount importance. As already noted, there must be no hypocrisy or mere formalism in prayer. Length of prayer may be an indication of strength of desire, or it may not. Scripture contains examples of both long and short prayers.

Assuming sincerity, the most fundamental factor is the relationship between the one who prays and the express will of God. The only warrant for praying at all is that God commands it and desires it, and the only warrant for praying for some particular thing rather than for some other thing is that God wills it, or may will it. A knowledge of the will of God as it is revealed in Scripture is basic to a proper understanding of petitionary prayer and to proper conduct in prayer.

It is necessary to distinguish between those matters that God has declared that he will unfailingly grant upon true prayer being made and those matters that he may grant upon true prayer being made. The guide for prayer is not the petitioner’s own needs, either real or imaginary, nor his feelings or state of mind when he prays, nor his or others’ speculations about the future. The guide is Scripture alone. And the Scriptures distinguish between those things a person may pray for that are desirable or good in themselves and yet that are not for every believer’s highest good, and those things that concern redemption. For instance, health or wealth, or a particular career, though each is desirable and lawful, may nevertheless not be best, in the wisdom of God, for a particular individual at a particular time. Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor 12:7–9) and the death of the child of David and Bathsheba (2 Sm 12:15–23) are examples of unanswered prayer. So although health or wealth may be sincerely and warrantably prayed for, yet God in his wisdom and sovereignty may decline to grant these things, they not being included in that particular array of things that are working together for the good of the believer concerned (Rom 8:28).

Ultimately, our prayers should be a desire to draw closer to God above all things.

Two Reasons Why We Should Create a Culture of Prayer:

Deuteronomy 32:30 “How could one have chased a thousand, and two have put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had given them up?”

The only way we can destroy the enemies of our lives together is because who our source is. When we bombard Heaven together. Something powerful takes place and the devil and our enemies has to back up and flee from our lives, our church, our families, our jobs, our finances, and our bodies.

2. Matthew 18:18-20 “Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.””

Amos 3:3 ““Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet?”

Agree - “Come to terms with God and you will prosper.” “to be of the same mind,” “to come to a mutual understanding”):