Core Values: Prayer Is Vital!

Introduction: As we continue with our worship of the Lord this morning, I want to invite you to turn with me to Acts 2:42-47. I have told many of you, that you are going to hear me reference this passage of Scripture a lot over the next few months... and that’s Ok. We need to hear this over and over again... especially if we are going to establish some “Core Values” as a Church.

But, before we dive into God’s word this morning, let’s stop and ask Him to open our hearts and minds to understand the Scriptures.

Let's Pray Together.

Before we look at Acts 2:42-47, let me set the stage, so to speak, about what has happened leading up to this point. Jesus has been raised from the dead. The disciples have been hanging out with Jesus for 40 days, and then Jesus ascends back to heaven, but He has told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they receive power from on High.... they are waiting for the Holy Spirit to come. As they are waiting... they are praying... and as they are praying the Holy Spirit falls on them, and they go out into the streets and are proclaiming the Gospel of God to the people. Some people are cut to the heart and ask the disciples, “What must we do to be saved?” They are told to repent and believe in Jesus Christ.... and that day 3000 people come to faith in Christ!  The church just explodes with this massive growth. What in the world are they to do? How in the world would you even manage a crowd that size?

This is where our text picks up. Let’s look at the Word of God.

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved (Ac 2:42–47).

We see a lot of different things going on in this passage, but I honestly think that we can best summarize what is be done here by the early church by “Our Core Values” list.

Remember what we said last week, our Core Values are the very things that we believe should dictate our lives and actions. They are the values that are so basic to life that everything we do is going to be built off of them.

Remember, there are two types of Core Values. There are actual Core values.... those are the ones that we are actually living by. And then, there are our aspirational core Values....those are the things that we say we would like to live by.... but right now... we are not actually living by those things.

So, here is what I see going on in the early Church. Here are the Core values that seemed to actually drive the early church.

The WORD is foundational

‌PRAYER is vital

‌TRANSFORMATION is not optional

‌The GOSPEL is central

‌Every disciple is a DISCIPLE-MAKER

‌LIFE is to be lived together

‌GOD is to be GLORIFIED

What we are doing, over the next several weeks we are going to be looking at this list together and establishing the biblical basis for them, how they impact life, and we incorporate them into our lives.... both as a church and as Followers of Christ.

I honestly believe, if we are going to see change take place in our lives.... in this church.... and in this community, then we have to get back to the basics. We have to get our eyes back on Jesus because it is so easy to lose sight of Him. We get so distracted by the things of this world that we forget what really matters. If we come back here.... let these statements remind us of what the Bible teaches.... then we get to faithfully follow God, does that make sense? Isn’t that what you want out of life? Don’t you want to follow Jesus? I think we all do.

Let me give a recap from last week. Last week we talked about ‘The Word Is foundational” without going through the whole sermon again, the main idea was that the Bible, being the Word of God, should be the thing that directs our lives as Christians and a Church. We need to value it over and above everything else that this world has to offer. The bible alone is given by God... and it is enough for life and our spiritual growth. We are confined to the Scriptures for our relationship with God and what we do as a Church. It is through the Bible that we get to know Christ and what it means to live life in a right relationship with Him. We ended with a challenge of reading the Bible for 15 minutes a day and writing down one thing that stood out to you, how did that go for everyone?

Body: What we are going to talk about this morning is.... PRAYER is vital

To say something is vital, is to say, that it is something that is completely and totally necessary for life. It is to say that we are unable to do anything without it. It is like a vital organ... without it we will die. Pray is the same way. We may not die physically, but we will slowly die spiritually. We need it like we need food or air. That is what we mean when we say that prayer is vital.

But, we can say that..... but do we actually mean that? Do we really believe that to be true in our lives?

Statistics show that only about 40% of men pray daily and 60 % of women. I don’t know how true those stats are. You can make stats say just about anything you want if you frame the question the right way. But let’s assume that these numbers are close to being true. These were based on those who professed Christ by the way.... not just men and women in general. I know for me, prayer is one of the hardest spiritual disciplines for me to follow. I have the tendency to try to solve all of the problems on my own without any help. I know many guys are like that. We are fixers. That is not always a bad thing.... it is just a bad thing when we are trying to do it without seeking God first. We normally make a mess of things if we are honest. We must learn dependence on God as we seek to live life with Him. As we think about this topic this morning, there are a few things I want us to consider as we think about prayer being vital to our lives. If our goal in this life to live like Jesus, which if we are Christians, then that should be our main goal, then we need to ask ourselves what did He see as a priority for his life? Out of all of the things that could be said about Jesus, I think one of the things that gets overlooked about Him was the fact that... Jesus was a Man of Prayer. 23 After dismissing the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone. (Mat 14:23 CSB) 35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He got up, went out, and made His way to a deserted place. And He was praying there.36 Simon and his companions went searching for Him. 37 They found Him and said, "Everyone's looking for You!" (Mar 1:35-37 CSB) 12 During those days He went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God.13 When daylight came, He summoned His disciples, and He chose 12 of them-- He also named them apostles: (Luk 6:12-13 CSB) 18 While He was praying in private and His disciples were with Him, He asked them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?" (Luk 9:18 CSB) 7 During His earthly life, He offered prayers and appeals with loud cries and tears to the One who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence. (Heb 5:7 CSB) These are just a few examples from Jesus’ life. I mean who could forget that on the night Jesus was going to be betrayed and handed over to pay for our sins, he went into that garden and began pouring himself out in prayer to the Father. Or as He was on his way to the garden how he lifted up prayer for the disciples and for all of those who would come to know Him because of their ministry. If Jesus made time to pray in His life....even if that meant stepping away from some necessary things.... Wouldn’t it be wise for us to do the same things? Shouldn’t we make Prayer a Priority? Why don’t we? Why is prayer so hard for us? Here is what I think happens, and this can happen in life and the life of the church. We can get so busy doing so many different thing..... even good things..... that we feel like we do not have enough time to stop what we are doing to pray. We have this meeting to go to. We have these items to discuss. We have this program to run. We have this outreach event to plan. We have this errand to run. If we DO NOT do it.... how will it ever get done?! So, we run and we run and we run.... and as we are running we are running on our own power and strength. We are working so HARD. WE are giving it are ALL.... and we just keep going..... but we are not making any time for prayer. This is how burnout happens. We think that we have to do EVERYTHING. We tend to think EVERYTHING is dependent upon ME. There are so many GOOD things that need to be done.... that we try to do them. But listen to me, you and I are not God. We cannot do EVERYTHING. When we try to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders without running to God, we are going to crush ourselves. Listen to me, I know that this can happen. This has happened to me. I can get so focused on what I need to get done that I am too busy for prayer. Do you hear how crazy that sounds out loud... but yet that is how many of us are living life. If Jesus made prayer a priority for his life and ministry, how much more do we need to make prayer a priority for our own lives? We have to be willing to get away from the busyness of life and ministry and just get alone with God. We need to be able to pour out our hearts before Him. It is through prayer that we get to communicate with God. It is one of the ways that we build any healthy relationship. Think about it this way, if I say that I love my wife with all of my heart. That I want to be around her. I want to spend time with her. That she has the love and affection of my heart.... but yet at the same time I make NO effort to spend time with her or speak to her.... would you question my love? Isn’t it the same way with God? If we say that we love God and we make little to no effort to communicate with Him, either through prayer or Bible reading, then shouldn’t we question our hearts? What are we desiring above God? What has taken that place in our hearts? Because here is the reality of the Bible... The People of God are expected to pray. 5 "Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. I assure you: They've got their reward!6 But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.7 When you pray, don't babble like the idolaters, since they imagine they'll be heard for their many words.8 Don't be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask Him.9 "Therefore, you should pray like this: (Mat 6:5-9) Prayer for the people of God is not some new inventive way to talk to God. We see all kinds of examples of the people of God praying throughout the Bible. Abraham prayed for healing over a King in Gen. Moses praying, a lot of times, for the people of Israel so that God doesn’t take them out. Daniel Praying three times a day. The Church gathering together in the upper room, or on multiply occasions, just pouring their hearts out to God in Prayer. Prayer has always been a way for the people of God to communicated with God. To come before the God of the universe and speak to Him. To worship Him. To relate to Him. Like a Child to a father. To lay request down before Him. This is what God wants from us. But it is not only the fact that we are expected to pray.... We are commanded to Pray! 12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. (Rom 12:12). 18 Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. (Eph 6:18) 6 Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Phi 4:6-7) 2 Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving. (Col 4:2) 17 Pray constantly. (1Th 5:17) There are so many more verses that we could talk about this morning that deal with prayer, but these verses alone let us know that God wants us to be a praying people. God wants you to come to Him. God wants you to keep running to Him. Pray is where we are coming to understand our dependance upon God. If we can see that prayer was a priority in Jesus’ life, he expects us to be people who are praying.... and He even commands us to pray.... What Should We Pray About? In a way, there is always so much to pray for, but we have to ask the question, does the Bible direct us in things in which we are to be praying for? The answer, Yes…. yes, it does. The Bible gives us a huge list of things that we can be praying about. We don’t have time to go through all of them this morning, but consider just this list… We are to Pray for our Enemies (Matthew 5:44-48) 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Mt 5:43–48.) We are to Pray for God to Send Out Missionaries (Matthew 9:38) 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”  Mt 9:37–38. We are to Pray for those Who are Sick and Suffering (James 5:13-20) We are to Pray for Wisdom (James 1:5-8) 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. We are to Pray for Effective Evangelism (Philemon 1:4-6) We are to Pray for Our National Leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-8) We are to Pray for Open Doors for Ministry (Colossians 4:2-6) 2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. 5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. We are to Pray for the Spiritual Growth of Each Other (Ephesians 3:14-21) We are to Pray to confess our sins (Luke 18:9-14, Psalm 51, Ezra 10:1) We are to Pray for the Salvation of the Lost (Romans 10:1-4) 10 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. We are to Pray for the spread of the Gospel (2 Thess. 3:1-2) We are to Pray for the Boldness to speak the Gospel (Ephesians 6:18-20) We are to Pray for the physical health of our brothers and sisters (3 John 1:2) 2 Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. 3 We are to Pray Persistently (Luke 18:1-8) We are to Pray in Faith (Matthew 21:22) We are to Pray in Accordance with Jesus’ will (1 John 5:14-15) This is not an exhaustive list by any stretch of the imagination. There is so much in Scripture about how we should direct our prayers. Sadly, and I speak for myself on this one, we can spend so much time on other things and we neglect one of the most important things in life. Let's be honest, it is easy to measure how much time you spend on doing other stuff. We have accountability built in most of our lives. If you don’t study for a test…that will reflect on your grade. If you don’t get that project done at work…well your boss will know that for sure. If I show up on Sunday and just wing it up here…that will show for sure. But here is the scary thing…. you and I can go days, or weeks without spending time in prayer and no one will ever know it. We can hide that from people. Again, this is why we need the church. We need people to ask how we are doing in these areas. We need people who gather around us and spend time praying together. We need people to hold us accountable for our own prayer lives. I need you to ask me... Pastor, how is your personal prayer life? We need to be able to ask these types of questions without getting all defensive and bent out of shape. We need accountability. This is what we see in a Healthy Church. I love what John Piper said. He said, “One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time.” Conclusion: There is one more point I want talk about this morning as we consider Prayer being vital to our lives. How Is Prayer Possible? When you think about prayer, we are talking about sinful humans being able to speak to a Holy, righteous God. How can we even approach Him? One of my favorite pictures in the Bible is found in Isaiah 6. In this passage, Isaiah sees into Heaven. He is in the throne room with God. And what we read in this passage is about these majestic creatures who are there. We see God sitting on His throne. The creatures are crying out Holy, Holy Holy. There is smoke that fills the temple. It is this awesome picture that captures God in all of His Glory. Keep this in mind when I read this text. 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. (Heb 10:19–24.) Or consider this text... 14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb 4:14–16.) So, how do we answer the question.... How is Prayer Possible? The answer is really simple: You and I are able to approach the throne of God because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. It is through the Gospel... the good news that God sent to the Son to come and die for Sinners that make prayer possible for us! You and I had rebelled against God. We deserved the wrath of God for our sins. Yet, God in His love for us, Sent Jesus to come and die on the cross for us. Jesus came and lived the life that you and I could never live and died the death that you and I deserve. Jesus took the wrath of God for us. We broke God’s law and Jesus paid the fine. Then, he was buried in a tomb and three days later he rose again. Defeating sin and death. Now he calls all Man, Woman, boy, or girl, to repent of their sins, turn away from them, and believe on Christ... to trust Him. He says that when you do that you pass from death to life. He takes you and makes you’re his child. When you do that, you are given a relationship with God. You have a relationship that you are now able to draw near to God with confidence. Not because of your own works but because of Christ. This is what Christianity is about. This is not some self-help program where you clean yourself up and then come to God... NO! God calls you to come to Him now! Give your life to Him Now! Through Christ, He welcomes you into His throne room. Draw Near to Him with Confidence. There is so much more that I want to say this morning, but we do not have time to cover this topic exhaustively, and that is ok. I want to invite you, on Wednesday Nights we have been about different aspects of prayer, so if you have not been coming on Wednesday Night, I want to invite you to come. And also, starting at the beginning of the year we are going to be doing a study on Prayer on Sunday Nights. So, there are a lot of opportunities to learn more about this topic of prayer. I want to leave with this: Main Point: Prayer Is Vital. If we are going to see change take place in our lives, in this church, and this community, then we have to run to God in prayer. This cannot be a negotiable aspect of our lives. We have to be committed to it. Here is my weekly challenge to you: Spend 15 minutes a day in prayer. I know that may not seem like a lot... and maybe to some that sounds like a crazy amount.... but start here. Jesus expected that His disciples would be a praying people. Let us be devoted to Prayer. May God change us as we come to Him and lay these things down before Him. Let’s Pray