Pray With A Purpose

Introduction - Everything in the Christian life is connected to our purpose in Christ.

We began in this series understanding that God has a purpose—- it is a wonderful purpose, it is a marvelous purpose.

We said it is eternal, unstoppable and it is in Christ.

Out of His amazing purpose, comes our purpose.

And because of this, we are involved in the plan of all the ages.

I want you to understand when all of this is dissolved—- when it all goes away— what is left standing will be the Saints of God—- the heavenly host of God and the eternal God.

The Bible tells us of this world, 1 John 2:15–17 “15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

Before this time, the Lord Jesus Christ stated in Matthew 24:35 “35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

The way life is now —-will not always be—

However, we are in this time and in this place… the Lord has a purpose for us—

In John 17— the Lord prayed concerning His beloved disciples and concerning us as well. He stated in verses 14-17 “14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

The Bible tells us we are co-labourers with Him.

There is no higher call in life, than the call to walk with God.

Paul says in this very letter 2 Timothy , “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

The necessary tools for the Christian life are available for us.

What are those tools? Well…

God has given to us His Word, remember the Lord said, sanctify them by the truth. Thy word is truth how is it where to grow in the Christian life? You can only come as we take in the word of God.

We have the Holy Spirit, — he is the master teacher. He is the comforter he is the enabler and empower.

He has given us the church —- the fellowship of believers—- a wonderful pastor—-

and He has given us the precious power of prayer. Might say it this way who can do something about this situation it’s out of my control. It’s beyond me.

Could I use the word of Paul in 2 Timothy 2:7.

2 Timothy 2:7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

I want us to understand tonight that prayer is not just a tool —- it is not just a formality—- it is not just a command (although it is commanded)—- prayer is our lifeline.

It is our communication to our all wise God.

It affects our heart… it affects what we’re thinking.

many times it immediately affects our emotions.

It changes us….

Let’s read verses 1-3 tonight and then pray.

2 Timothy 1:1–3 “1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;”

Let’s pray.

2 Timothy 1:3 “3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;”

I want you to consider just a few thoughts tonight praying with a purpose…

We notice that Paul begins in this letter speaking about prayer. now, if you or I were to be writing to Timothy, especially in the condition that Paul is in perhaps we would open up the epistle by saying dear Timothy, my brother, would you pray for me that I get released out of prison? But this is not what we find here.

It is no accident that we find prayer at the beginning of the letter.

In fact, as we think about the situation that Paul finds Himself in, we are reminded that so much of this life is out of our immediate control.

There was a situation in our lives just recently that was out of our control. And you know what it did it sharpened our prayers. It caused us to look harder to the Lord.

Secondly, We are also reminded, that no one can take away our ability to pray.

Paul is praying from a prison cell.

I am reminded that Jonah prayed from the belly of a great fish. (Jonah 2:1)

The tribe of Judah prayed in the midst of the battlefield.

(2 Chronicles 13:13-14)

David we are told prayed in his bed. (Psalm 63:6)

Jeremiah prayed from the depths of a dungeon.

Nehemiah prayed in the palace. (Nehemiah 2:4)

John the apostle prayed exiled on Patmos. (Revelation 1:10)

Stephen prayed while being stoned. (Acts 7:59)

The Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke 23:33–34 prayed while on the cross.

Evidently, Paul could write and send out this letter to Timothy. Paul cannot get up and go. Paul couldn’t walk out of the prison Cell. Paul’s case was such that he could not leave the prison cell in which He was in, but He could still pray.

I. Pray Thanking God

We notice, first of all, that Paul begins by thanking God.

OK, good It is hard to imagine —- that one could thank God from a prison cell, but yet we discover that Paul does.

But listen, “Paul was in touch with the living God—-the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, the One who have invaded time in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ: who conquered death and all of its powers; and who controls all of the factors of matter, space, and time. All of the regiments of the Roman Army could not hinder Paul’s communion with such a One as that…” (Phillips)

Psalm 100:4 “4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, And into his courts with praise: Be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”

Psalm 96:8 “8 Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: Bring an offering, and come into his courts.”

Colossians 4:2 “2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;”

In the midst of our praying ought to be our thankfulness to God, our praise to the Lord…

We ought to speak about His goodness and His mercy… we ought praise Him for all that He is an all that He has done, is doing and will do.

In fact, there is something protective about thanking the Lord…

It moves our thoughts from self to Him.

Not only are we to pray thanking God, but notice also we are to pray in submission to the Lord.

II. Pray In Submission To God

You will see this submission in the second clause of verse 3.

Paul’s states this to Timothy, “…whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience…”

Paul could state, I serve the Lord, I am in submission to Him…

Part of God’s plan was His present state. He was in the prison house because of wicked and evil men, but they could not have put Him there except the Lord allowed them too.

Paul states here His submission to God, and says my conscience is clear…

My friend we can not imagine living like the devil and then expect God to answer our requests…

But I will tell you, a Christian who is praying with a purpose—- is praying in submission to God’s will.

In Luke chapter 11 we see the disciples, asking the Lord to teach them how to pray…

To which the Lord responds “And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.”

That example was to not to be something vainly repeated… we know this because the Lord tells us this in verse 7 of Matthew chapter 6, the Lord says, “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.”

I cannot stress to you how important it is to pray in submission to the will of God.

This does not mean that we cannot pray asking specifically for God’s intervention in a particular situation, but rather that ultimately our trust is in Him.

Romans 8:26 tells us “26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

In other words, if the Lord, who knows best designs something else, I am submitted to the Lord and accepting of His will.

You will remember that Paul had to learn this very valuable lesson as well.

In 2 Corinthians 12:7–9 “7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

When our prayers focus on the will of the Lord they will less likely be tainted with pride and self…

III. Pray Frequently

As we think about this example of pray, given to us in the Scriptures, we see that Paul prayed night and day.

This gives the idea of two things:

Consistently— (on the regular basis).

and frequently (often)—

I would say this, If we hold a biblical world view then we will be praying people.

What exactly do I mean by that?

I mean to say there is no shortage of need when we look at the world around us—- and even when we look at ourselves measured by Christ.

Folks need to be saved.

God’s people need to be spiritually mature.

God’s people need protection.

We need wisdom from the Lord.

We need understanding of the situations we face.

We need help personally help for daily warfare…

We need help in the lives of our families….we think about marriages…we think about children… we think about our siblings…

And we could go on and on….

IV. Pray With Knowledge

Paul prayed specifically with knowledge. This is why the prayer meeting of the local church is so important.

This is why the fellowship of believers is so important.

When you read the beginning part of this epistle—- what you discover is that Paul knew a lot about Timothy.

Paul knew Timothy’s spiritual heritage.

Paul knew Timothy’s spiritual gifts.

Paul knew Timothy’s potential in service to the Lord.

Paul knew some of the temptations that Timothy would face.

They had spent much time together, in fact Paul by this point had been on three missionary journeys of which Timothy had joined him during the second one after Acts 16.

He had gone with Paul to Troas, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. Paul knew Timothy very well.

When I say praying with knowledge, what I mean is to know what you are praying for, who you are praying for, and as best as we can to know the heart of the Lord.

Sometimes our prayers are without knowledge. This is yet another vital reason to spend time in the Word of God.

Sometimes our prayers are nothing more than disaster relief…

If I am praying according to Scripture—- I can rest assured that my requests are on good grounds.

V. Pray For The Spiritually Weak

Turn with me to chapter 4.

2 Timothy 4:16 At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.