Don't Pray Under the Influence

Introduction

Opening Story/Illustration:

I don’t know if you’ve ever had this happen to you, but it’s happened to me a few times. You’ll get in your car and you’ll start driving down the road, and somewhere along the way you stop paying attention and you’re on auto-pilot. I can remember one time in my life where I did this. I was headed to Walmart and I ended up at the college I was attending at the time. You see when we fail to focus, we end up at the wrong place.

Transition to Scripture:

The apostle Peter had some things to say about focus and paying attention. He writes the letter of 1 Peter to believers who are suffering or are getting ready to suffer through some tough stuff. He reminds them of some very important truths.

Scripture:

Tonight I just want to read one verse of scripture - 1 Peter 4:7.

1 Peter 4:7 (ESV)

7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

Preview the MI: Let’s look tonight at what Peter has to say about paying attention.

Points

Peter Tells his readers that the end of all things is near

The end began when Jesus was resurrected.

At the day of Pentecost, Peter declares that they are living in the last days.

If they were living in the end almost 2,000 years ago, we are really living in the end now!

Every generation has believed that Jesus would come back during their time.

This is good - we are supposed to live in expectancy of Christ’s coming - He could return at any moment and soon for us is not the same as soon for him!

Peter tells believers they need to be Self-controlled and sober-minded.

The end is near, therefore - you gotta have your head in the game.

He’s writing to believers who were facing and were getting ready to face tough times.

The word grace is used in this letter a lot. It’s used 8 times in this short letter.

The word suffer is used an awful lot as well. It’s used 17 times in this short book.

Translation - you’re going to go through a lot of stuff - and you’re going to need God’s grace. You’re also going to need a good dose of what Peter Calls - Sober-Mindedness. He uses this phrase 3 times. (5:8, 4:7, 1:13).

What he means here is this - “To be free from the influence of intoxicants.”

The idea is associated and even translated in the King James as “Watch.”

In other words -BE AWAKE AND BE FOCUSED!

The other idea he lays out here is “Self-Control.”

These two ideas are a little confusing, because they are in a sense two ways of pointing to the same idea. What he means here by self-control is this - Be able to think correctly.

Peter Says they need to do this so that they can Pray

He knew it would be hard to pray right if we think or believe wrong things about God.

He knew it would be hard to pray if we had constant distractions coming our way.

Peter knew that at the end - our prayers need to become even more focused.

YOU SEE -

You and I must realize the Time - The End is Near

Even if Jesus’ return isn’t going to happen “soon” as we would think of it - the truth is that everyone’s end is near! We could all go at any moment!

Illustration - When I was in High school, I remember getting word one day that a girl that I was acquainted with (She was very good friends with some of my friends) - She had just turned 16, gotten her license and her car. She was driving down the road and at 16 years of age - She had a heart attack and died.

Everyone’s end is near - I remember going to a nursing home service one time for our church. The speaker was talking to the crowd like they were on their last leg of life. As we were leaving my friend, who was in his 70’s said “I hate it when they talk like that to us old people. The truth is, you may be closer to death than I am.”

Because it’s the end, it requires different behavior.

This is an important note.

What Peter Doesn’t say here is “It’s the end, go hoard up food and stay in a bunker.” What he doesn’t say here is “It’s the end, go make lots of speculation as to who the antichrist is.”

What he does say is this - The end is near - You should behave knowing that it’s close.

This is how all the new testament writers talk about the end - It’s never “The end is near go crazy and try and figure it all out..” It’s always - Jesus is closer today than he was yesterday and that should effect the way you live today. You should love more. You should give more. You should be more holy.

How something ends is always more important than how it begins.

You don’t watch a football game for the beginning. You watch to see what the score is in the end.

Illustration - Imagine your favorite football team. They are playing a tight game. They are down by 6 points and they happen to tie it up with no time left on the clock. All that is left is the extra point kick. They can win this thing. Imagine that as the kicker gets ready to kick the ball, he sees, out of the corner of his eye, his girlfriend sitting in the stands. The ball is snapped, and, rather than kicking the ball, he decides that this is an appropriate time to blow her a kiss and yell asking her where she wanted to eat after the game. They would loose the game! (You see, the game requires his full concentration and attention! He should be giving it all throughout the game, however, when it comes down to the wire, even more is on the line. How much more should he keep his head in the game! Because everything is riding on him!)

You and I have must stay focused and awake!

Illustration - I was watching a movie a few months ago and there was a Navy Seal team in the movie preparing to go on a mission. The head of the Unit met with everyone the night before. He asked them some simple questions - What’s going on at home? Is there any problems that are going to be distracting you? You see he knew that once they were out there, their lives depend upon that team having full focus and commitment. They couldn’t be distracted.

I thought - Wow - this is the way we should act as Christians. We are in a war. We have to be focused.

What’s distracting you?

What’s keeping you from praying?

So many of us become so Busy and so overwhelmed with life that we find it difficult to focus on the things that really matter.

When’s the last time we cut off our TV or put down our phone or shut off the computer and God alone with God?

When’s the last time we really and truly shut out all distractions and just met with Him?

The trick of the enemy is to keep us busy - to cause us to loose our focus.

You and I must pray effectively

In order to pray effectively, we must learn how to minimize distractions.

Illustration - The idea that Peter uses here of being sober-minded - we all know what it means DUI occurs. Someone is drunk and they get behind the wheel. Because of the alcohol in their system, they can’t drive effectively.

When this occurs they can’t focus, they swerve here and there - and perhaps they may even wreck and, heaven forbid, someone dies.

What if the same were true of our prayer life? We can become so drunk and so intoxicated and so distracted by the things of this life that we cannot pray effectively. And when this happens we begin to swerve around in our walk with God -and perhaps we even wreck - and heaven forbid, we take someone else down with us.

Paul tells us in the Pastoral Epistles - That some had “Swerved from the Faith” and He goes on to say that some have “Shipwrecked their Faith.” I love the language - You see the people he was writing about had become so intoxicated by the things of this world that they began to swerve and eventually they wrecked.

So my point tonight - Don’t pray under the influence.

Some of us are praying under the influence of un-forgiveness and hatred

Some of us are praying under the influence of a life too full to really spend time with God

Some of us are praying under the influence of nostalgia - We remember how things used to be and our prayers

Some of us are praying under the influence of false views of God - We think God is a vending machine or a Santa. Or we think God is so mad at us that he doesn’t want to hear us.

Clear your schedule - make time for prayer

Clear your mind - Take captive every thought

Get alone with God and speak with Him and let Him speak to you.

How do you stay on top of this?

Peter would tell us we need a good dose of God’s grace and help

He would also remind us - Remember that the end is near. When we remember this it puts an urgency in our hearts.

Pray like this is the last prayer you get to pray.

Conclusion

MI - Don’t Pray under the influence

So what? How are you doing in your prayer life? Is it distracted and in-effective? Let’s take some time this week and seek God.

Now what? I want to invite everyone to this altar - let’s spend some time with the father.