Wake up and pray

Wake Up and Pray!

Genesis 1:1–3; Colossians 4:2

Sermon 2

By Dr. Daniel Henderson

Have you ever gotten in your car, driven to your destination and not remembered how you got there? Your thoughts wandered somewhere else and your brain went in autopilot mode while you drove from Point A to Point B.

Daniel Henderson says in an article in the preacher's sourcebook “I have often said that prayer is the most often talked about and least practiced discipline of the Christian faith.”

Introduction

We face a constant dilemma of prayer-less living and sleepy praying.

Prayerlessness is our declaration of independence from God, and it is easy in our society with so many human resources to live on Christian autopilot as we neglect real prayer.

If I sit down and take my phone with me or open my computer, I am going to chase a rabbit for sure; all in the name of studying.

Further, when we do pray, we can be very sleepy and lethargic about this high and holy calling.

Most of us have fallen asleep while praying.

Perhaps you’ve been involved in prayer times that soon became prayer naps.

Like Peter, James, and John in the garden, who kept napping while they should have been praying (Matt. 26:36–44), we need to heed the words of Jesus,

“Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.“The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt. 26:40, 41).

When Paul wrote to the young New Testament churches, he said a lot about prayer.

He commanded the saints to gather collectively in passionate, Spirit-guided, energized prayer as he challenged them to stay awake and alert (Eph. 6:20; Col. 4:2); and then Peter writes in (1 Pet. 4:7).

Ephesians 6:20

20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

NIV

Colossians 4:2-4

2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.

NIV

1 Peter 4:7-8

7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.

NIV

God is not the author of boredom, especially when we are conversing with Him.

4 points

The Possibilities of Creative Prayer

The opening verses of Genesis not only describe the beginning moments of creation but also lay a foundation for God’s design for us to relate to Him.

If you have turned to Genesis 1:1-3 Let's read.

Point I

We always pray to a creative God.

The English Bible opens with these words, “In the beginning, God created.”

This first action in all of human history is also the original description of His character.

God is creative. A. W. Tozer states,

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

Our prayers should always begin with great thoughts about God, even as Jesus taught in His model prayer (Matt. 6:9).

Matthew 6:9

9 "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

NIV

When we pray, we should have a high view of God as Father, Provider, Protector, and Guide, among His many other attributes.

We must also worship Him in His creativity. This sets a positive expectancy in our prayers.

When Hutson Taylor was sailing to China to begin his missionary work, his ship was in great danger. The wind had died, and the current was carrying them toward sunken reefs which were close to islands inhabited by cannibals—so close they could see them building fires on the shore.

Everything they tried was to no avail. In his journal Taylor recorded what happened next: The Captain said to me, “Well, we have done everything that can be done.” A thought occurred to me, and I replied, “No, there is one thing we have not done yet.” “What is that?” he queried. “Four of us on board are Christians. Let us each retire to his own cabin, and in agreed prayer ask the Lord to give us immediately a breeze.”

Taylor prayed briefly and then, certain that the answer was coming, went up on the deck and asked the first officer to let down the sails. “What would be the good of that?” he answered roughly. I told him we had been asking a wind from God; that it was coming immediately.

Within minutes the wind did began to blow, and it carried them safely past the reefs. Taylor wrote: Thus God encouraged me ere landing on China’s shores to bring every variety of need to Him in prayer, and to expect that He would honor the name of the Lord Jesus and give the help each emergency required.

Knowing that our prayers touch the heart of our loving Father in Heaven and that He can meet any need, we should be confident that He will hear and answer when we cry out to Him.

Source: The Works of J. Hudson Taylor, Hudson Taylor

Point II

We should pray from the creative Word.

The creation account records that when God unleashed His creative power, He did so by speaking (“And God said” vs. 3.)

Today, His creative insight, direction, and language for prayer still come from His written, inspired word.

The most mature prayer warriors have learned to pray from an open Bible, talking to God in His words.

This provides creative exploration in prayer.

While very ill, John Knox, the founder of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, called to his wife and said, "Read me that Scripture where I first cast my anchor." After he listened to the beautiful prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17, he seemed to forget his weakness. He began to pray, interceding earnestly for his fellowmen. He prayed for the ungodly who had thus far rejected the gospel. He pleaded on behalf of people who had been recently converted. And he requested protection for the Lord's servants, many of whom were facing persecution. As Knox prayed, his spirit went Home to be with the Lord.

The man of whom Queen Mary had said, "I fear his prayers more than I do the armies of my enemies," ministered through prayer until the moment of his death.

Point III

We can pray by the creative Spirit.

In Genesis 1:2 the triune God looked over a formless, dark, and empty mass.

The Spirit of God hovered over the shapeless abyss of raging, chaotic waters.

Suddenly, at the will and voice of God, light appeared.

Soon all that we know existed in order and beauty through the power of God’s Spirit.

That same Spirit leads us in our prayers and inspires deep understanding as we pray (Rom. 8:14, 26, 27).

Romans 8:14

14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

NIV

Romans 8:26-27

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

NIV

1 Corinthians 2:9–12 reminds us that:

“The eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit . . . that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”

This is our assurance for the energy we can experience for creative prayer.

Point IV

We can pray in a creative way.

If we go back to Genesis we discover God’s design in creating humanity with these words:

“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26).

We must conclude that this “image” entails a profound and abounding creativity as we recognize that one of Adam’s first assignments was to name all the animals.

Conclusion

So, when you pray, be creative, just like God.

It is who He is in you.

It is what He made you to do.

He is not the author of boredom, especially when we are conversing with Him.”

“Eugene Peterson says it well in his book: Working The Angels: The shape of pastoral integrity.

“Prayer is language used to respond to the most that has been said to us with the potential for saying all that is in us . . . Prayer is dangerous . . . it moves our language into potencies we are unaccustomed to and unprepared for . . . We restore prayer to its context in God’s word. Prayer is not something we think up to get God’s attention or enlist his favor. Prayer is answering speech. The first word is God’s word. Prayer is a human word and is never the first word, never the primary word, never the initiating and shaping word simply because we are never first; never primary . . . the first word everywhere and always is God’s word to us, not ours to him.”

Work Cited

Peterson, Eugene. Working the Angles. Grand Rapids : Eerdmans, 1987.

Excerpt From

Nelson's Preacher's Sourcebook

Thomas Nelson

https://books.apple.com/us/book/nelsons-preachers-sourcebook/id6443651804

John 14:6

6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

NIV

The plan of salvation.

Being at peace with God is not automatic. By nature, we are all separated from Him. The Bible says,

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

God is holy, but we are human and don’t measure up to His perfect standard. We are sinful, and in Romans 6:23 it says:

“the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

God’s love bridges the gap of separation between you and Him.

When Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the grave, He paid the penalty for your sins. The Bible says in,

1 Peter 2:24

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

NIV

What should our response be to receive Christ?

Again the Bible says,

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

Admit you’re a sinner.

Ask forgiveness and be willing to turn away from your sins.

Believe that Christ died for you on the cross.

Receive Christ into your heart and life.

Romans 10:13 says,

“Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”