Why Do We Pray?
Notes
Transcript
Object Lesson
Object Lesson
Fitting objects into a jar?
Introduction
Introduction
Illustration:
Shortly after Dallas Seminary was founded in 1924, it came to the point of bankruptcy. All the creditors were going to foreclose at noon on a particular day. That morning, the founders of the school met in the president’s office to pray that God would provide. In that prayer meeting was Harry Ironside. When it was his turn to pray, he prayed in his characteristically refreshing manner: “Lord, we know that the cattle on a thousand hills are thine. Please sell some of them and send us the money.”
While they were praying, a tall Texan came into the business office and said, “I just sold two carloads of cattle in Fort Worth. I’ve been trying to make a business deal go through and it won’t work, and I feel that God is compelling me to give this money to the Seminary. I don’t know if you need it or not, but here’s the check.”
A secretary took the check and, knowing something of the financial seriousness of the hour, went to the door of the prayer meeting and timidly tapped. When she finally got a response, Dr. Lewis Chafer took the check out of her hand, and it was for the exact amount of the debt. When he looked at the signature, he recognized the name of the cattle rancher. Turning to Dr. Ironside, he said, “Harry, God sold the cattle!”
Michael P. Green, 1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), 274.
If you recall we are now on sermon number 3 of our summer series “Why?” where we question the basic things we do as disciples and explore what the Bible has to say about them and what should be motivating us as disciples of Jesus to do the things that we do. We talked already about Why we Come to Church, and Why We Read the Bible, today our question is “Why Do We Pray?”
It’s a good question. We talked about prayer as a part of the church service in the first sermon, so today we’re going to be talking primarily about private prayer, between an individual disciple and God. So why do we do it? Honestly sometimes it can be hard to do it. I’m no stranger to being bored in prayer, or avoiding prayer, or falling asleep in prayer. Sometimes even if we make ourselves do it, it can feel like a chore and we can feel unmotivated to put our hearts and souls into it. So then these are the times where we need reminders of why we are doing it in the first place.
The first thing we need to do to arrive at a suitable answer to the question “why do we pray?” is to first define what we mean by prayer. I think here the simplest definition is also the best one. Prayers is simply talking to God. It’s not a religious ritual that must be done a certain way a certain number of times a day and for a certain period of time. Prayer is a conversation, where you speak with the God who created the universe. Since we believe that God is present everywhere and knows all things, that means that He quite literally hears us when we talk, so when we address Him specifically and talk to Him we have a fancy word for that. Prayer.
So with the definition of prayer firmly in mind let’s answer the question, “Why Do We Pray?” In my survey of what the Bible says about the reasons for prayer three in particular truly stood out to me. First, we pray because God Himself has asked us to pray. Second, we pray because our ultimate role model Jesus practiced regular prayer. Third, we pray because prayer gets results because God answers our prayers.
God is Asking Us to Pray
God is Asking Us to Pray
Illustration: I am very stressed by the idea of making unsolicited phone calls. This was especially true when I was raising money for YFC, which involved unsolicited phone calls where you knew you would be asking someone for money.
I want to assure you that when we pray, we are certainly not making an unsolicited call to God. God has certainly taken the initiative when it comes to prayer. Remember last week we talked about how the Bible is God’s word, or in other words it’s God talking to us through His prophets and apostles. Here are a few places where God asks us to pray:
Matthew 6:9 (CSB)
“Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy.
In that passage Jesus tells us not just that we should pray, but how we should pray.
Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.
Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.
Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving.
pray constantly,
First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone,
That’s just a sample. There are more places in Scripture where God calls us to prayer.
Let us not forget that God is a person. I don’t mean that He’s human, although Jesus is God and man, I mean that He’s a person meaning He has thoughts, emotions, a will. Prayer is not just a means to an end, a way for us to access God’s power for our needs or our wants, it is communication with the God who loves us and longs to be in a relationship with us.
That is perhaps the chief reason why there are so many places in the Bible that call us to prayer. Jesus taught us that God was our loving father. A loving father wants to hear from his children. Wouldn’t you? So we see repeated again and again God taking the initiative to call us to prayer.
God knows that we need the reminders. I certainly do. So the question becomes, will we answer the call. Now that we’ve seen so many places in the Bible that are telling us that God wants to speak with us, we are left with a choice. To answer God in prayer and grow in relationship with Him or to continue without communication with God on our own way and in our own strength.
When God became flesh and dwelt among us, even He depended on prayer every day, which brings me to my second point:
Jesus Prayed A LOT
Jesus Prayed A LOT
Illustration: If you wanted to be as good a hockey player as Wayne Gretzky, what would you do? Well the secret to being a pro athlete isn’t being born with talent, but with relentless practice. If you want to play like a Gretzky you need to practice like a Gretzky.
The Bible calls us to be like Jesus. If we want to have the wisdom, righteousness, and relationship with God that Jesus had, what do we do? We do the things that Jesus did. One of the chief things that Jesus did was pray. Here are some of the places in the Bible that talk about Jesus’ prayer habits:
After dismissing the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. Well into the night, he was there alone.
He sought solitude and prayed late into the night.
Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he told the disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
In His darkest moment Jesus turned to the Father in prayer.
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up, went out, and made his way to a deserted place; and there he was praying.
Yet he often withdrew to deserted places and prayed.
During those days he went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God.
When you think about the fact that Jesus is the one and only Son of God, who is Himself equal to God, than you realize that if anybody in all of the history of the entire human race could claim that they had no need for prayer, it was Jesus. Again, He IS God. Yet do we find Him saying this? Do we find Him avoiding prayer? In fact we find just the opposite. We find the man most dedicated to prayer in all of human history.
Why? In part to teach us something I’m sure. He wanted to be the ultimate example of preaching. He was also perfectly obedient to the law of God which meant that He had to pray lest He be sinning, and He is the only one without Sin. Yet I think the biggest reason why is because of the strength of His relationship with the Father. In John He tells us that He and the Father “are one” and that He doesn’t do or say anything apart from the Father. How could someone so in love with and so closely related to the Father not spend hours in prayer? That’s why it’s so important to realize that prayer is not a religious ritual, it’s talking to God.
While there is a lot involved in living up to the call on our lives to be more like Jesus, probably the most important aspect is our relationship with the Father. That’s the part of Jesus’ life we should be most determined to emulate. How did Jesus maintain His relationship with the Father while He was on the earth as a man? By prayer. Making prayer a constant priority. Sacrificing time and prestige to take time alone with God and set His heart right before Him. So then living by the example of Jesus the challenge to us is to find time to go alone to pray. Maybe find a mountain like Jesus did, I’m sure there’s a couple in New Brunswick where you could find some solitude. Maybe find the time in the early morning, or late at night when everyone else is asleep. Get some extra babysitting help. Do whatever it takes. Watch our kids or do the chores for our spouses so they can have time to pray. It’s the most important thing we’ll do all day.
Prayer Has Power
Prayer Has Power
Illustration: Teaching children to ask.
If then God is our Father, who is calling us to pray to Him, than shouldn’t we expect Him to help us when we ask for help. Consider the words of Jesus when He promises answers to prayers based on God’s nature as a Father in Matthew 7:7-11
“Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Who among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him.
Remember that when Jesus came the Jewish people didn’t really think of God as their loving Father. Though there are occasions in the Old Testament where God is compared to a Father no one addresses Him that way. Jesus changed that. He showed us that we should expect answers to prayer, because the one we are praying to isn’t some distant king figure like most people conceived of gods at the time, He is our loving Father who wants to help us, but wants us to learn to ask for His help.
Plus we don’t have just a generic promise that God will answer prayer, but more specific promises like the promise that God will give us peace in
Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
The promise of mercy and grace in times of need in
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.
The power to avoid temptation in
Stay awake and pray, so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
And the promise of healing and forgiveness in
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.
Let’s all ask ourselves in our hearts a very important question at this point. Do we believe those verses? Not do we know that those verses are true, but do we actually feel in our hearts that God will answer our prayers. That He will give us peace, grace, mercy, strength, and healing if we would only ask? Not in all cases, but sometimes I think the biggest obstacle to finding time and motivation to pray is the feeling in our hearts that it doesn’t matter. That God won’t hear or won’t act. That we’re just talking to the ceiling. Why sacrifice time that could be spent relaxing or getting other things done if it feels like nothing will come of it.
Yet the same God who raised Jesus from the dead is promising in His inspired word that He will hear our prayers and that He will act. Let’s let that sink in for a moment. Maybe we need to start reading these verses every day. Maybe we need to make some cheesy Bible verse signs to put all over our homes. Maybe we need to tie signs on our foreheads that say “God answers prayer!”
It’s normal to have doubts. At least I hope so, because I experience doubts. It’s normal to question whether any of it really matters. On the other hand we need to be careful that doubt doesn’t define us. Do we find ourselves doubting most of the time. Do we find ourselves neglecting spiritual disciplines out of apathy? If so than we need to rediscover our passion for prayer. Our passion for knowing God. Our passion for seeking His love and grace.
Conclusion
Conclusion
So what do you think, have we adequately answered our question? Remember that in today’s Sermon we have been asking and answering the question, “why do we pray,” and we’ve done so by exploring three reasons given in the Bible for why we should be praying. We have seen that throughout the Bible God repeatedly calls us to pray, because as our loving Father He longs to speak with us and be in relationship with us. We have seen that Jesus though He was Himself God in the Flesh practiced a regular discipline of prayer and sought alone time with God as a high priority because He relied completely on the Father both as our example and as a loving Son who wanted to be with His Father. Finally we have seen that we pray because the Bible promises us that God is our loving Father who longs to give good gifts to His children, meaning that He listens to our prayers and answers them with wisdom and love.
I’m sure there are a lot more questions we could ask about prayer. This summer series could easily become a multi-year series if we chased down every possible question about every possible subject so I’ve had to leave a few things by the wayside in this sermon. I however couldn’t close without a quick word of reassurance about unanswered prayer. We’ve talked about how God hears us and longs to answer and I believe whole heartedly that it’s true, but there are sometimes reasons why God decides its in our best interest not to receive that which we are asking for. Sometimes because God is using our suffering to help us grow. Sometimes to teach us persistance in prayer. Sometimes because we simply ask for something that we don’t realize is foolish or wrong and God knows better than we do.
Yet we are called to pray in faith with persistance anyway. Why? Because remember that while we believe that prayer works, our first priority in prayer is not receiving the things that we pray for, but receiving God Himself. And rest assured in the seasons when we are distraught and lost and no not how we should pray that the Word assures us that the Holy Spirit prays with us, and the Son prays for us at the right hand of God. And on that note, let us pray.