What Is Prayer?
Notes
Transcript
Intro; Most people have probably seen the movie “Beauty and the Beast”. Beauty and the Beast is the title track of the movie and was a song sung by Mrs. Potts [Angela Lansbury], when Belle and the Beast dance in the ballroom of the castle. It about the budding romance between the couple. Here are the lyrics to the first verse;
Tale as old as time
True as it can be
Barely even friends
Then somebody bends
Unexpectedly
Beauty and the Beast
Those lyrics are a true definition of our next doctrinal study in our Christian Life Study Series, “PRAYER”
Prayer is as old as time [man]
Prayer can and should always be truthful
Prayer starts out with those who are barely friends [God/man outside of salvation]
Then somebody bends [man repents], and the rest is history!
Beauty {God} and the Beast {man}!
What is Prayer? Prayer is the budding love story between God and man.
Text; Mt. 7:7-11
Matthew 7:7–11 (NKJV)
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
There are three main words I want us to look at tonight; Ask, Seek, Knock.
I want us to look at these words not in the sense of keep asking, keep seeking and to keep knocking in prayer, but in the sense that these three words cover the entire spectrum of What Prayer Is!
1. Ask In Prayer; 7a
1. Ask In Prayer; 7a
Prayer is undoubtably about asking so we can receive while we are talking to God. It is about making our requests known to God in faith and waiting for His answer. But there are two words used for “ask” in the scriptures.
erotao [I- tare- o]- this word suggests that the petitioner is on the same footing or equality with the person whom he is making requests of. When Jesus prayed to His Father, this is the word that he used for He was on equal terms or footing with God the Father.
John 11:41–44 (NKJV)
41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”
43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”
44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
aiteo [ah- teh-o]- this word is used by the petitioner being lesser in position than the One be petitioned. A child asking of a parent, a subject of a king, man asking of God. That is the word used here.
This word suggests we approach God in humility recognizing our limitations, but also in confidence that God will answer because it is prayer in His will.
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
How do I know I’m praying according to God’s will? There are two aspects of God’s will that we need to understand. His Sovereign will and His Moral will.
God’s Sovereign [decretive] will- supreme ruler, supreme power over all things. God is the Sovereign ruler of the universe who ordains all that happens. There is nothing that happens that is outside of God’s sovereign will.
For example, it was God’s sovereign will that Joseph be taken to Egypt, put in Pharaoh’s prison, interpret the king’s dreams, and eventually save his people from famine and be honored by all (Genesis 37–50). At first, Joseph and his brothers were completely ignorant of God’s will in these matters, but, every step along the way, God’s plan was made plainer.
20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
9 Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’
Nothing can change or frustrate God’s Sovereign will
God’s Moral [permissive] will- deals with the principles of right and wrong behavior. The moral will of God is what God wants us to do (or not do), and God has revealed that to us in the Bible—His precepts are plainly stated.
8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
Pray for our enemies, for the salvation of the lost, for our leaders, for our needs, for healing, forgiveness, etc…
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
To Ask in Prayer is to pray according to the revealed will of God in scripture, and it will be given to you!
2. Seek In Prayer; 7b
2. Seek In Prayer; 7b
There are times when we don’t know the will of God regarding a matter, whether spiritual or material [Job, major purchase of something, relocation, a work of ministry, spiritual gift, serving]. This is where we are to “seek” God in prayer.
Seek- look for, a desire for, strive to find
When you are seeking for something there are two things you need in the process; focus and faith.
Focus- the center of interest, tunnel vision
When seeking God in prayer regarding any need, our focus doesn’t need to be on the need, but God!
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Faith- complete trust and confidence
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
4 Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face evermore!
If you seek your Lord Jesus in all things you will truly find Him, but if you seek yourself you will find yourself, and that will be to your own great loss.
Thomas à Kempis (Ascetical Writer)
Don’t seek the blessing, seek the Blesser.
Unknown
3. Knock In Prayer; 7c
3. Knock In Prayer; 7c
When we knock on someones door, we are trying to get their attention to open the door because we are there to visit. That visit usually has intent behind it [fellowship, seek guidance, borrow something, talk about an issue]. And we won’t give up on trying to visit with them if they don’t come to the door or we don’t find them at home the first time. We just keep knocking until they do answer. It’s the same thing with “Knocking in Prayer”!
When we know the will of God, yet we find heavens door closed, we are to knock until God opens the door and answers!
This type of prayer is the prayer that moves mountains, the prayer that perseveres until the impossible becomes possible.
Elijah prayed for rain seven times before God sent a cloud that became a storm [1 Kings 18]
Blind Bartimaeus cried out to Jesus for sight while people were telling him to be quiet [Mark 10]
A man with an epileptic son came to Jesus for healing when Jesus disciples couldn’t heal him [Mt. 17]
Four men would not let a crowd keep them from getting their friend to Jesus to be healed so they went up on a roof, removed the roof and lowered their friend down before Jesus [Luke 5]
A widow woman persevered until an unjust judge avenged her of her adversary of doing her wrong [Luke 18]
Paul prayed three times that a thorn in his flesh would be removed and the Lord answered by giving Paul sustaining grace [2 Cor. 12]
1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,
18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
17 pray without ceasing,
Knocking on heavens door in prayer is not to try to get God’s attention, God knows what we need before we even ask Him. Knocking in Prayer is all about us and our motive for praying!
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
4. Answered Prayer; 8-11
4. Answered Prayer; 8-11
As parents we listen to the requests of our children and we give them what they need. We would not give them anything bad that would hurt them.
[v.11] Jesus says that if sinful men give good gifts to their children then how much more will a Holy God give to his children when they ask, seek and knock!
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
All things that seem impossible to us become possible when we come to God in the right attitude of prayer; Asking, Seeking and Knocking!
Close;
We pray for “things” often in our prayer time, and we know that God hears and will answer.
But how often do we pray for maturity in our Christian life or growth in spiritual walk/gifts? Do we pray for a pure heart, a passion for souls? Do we pray for a spirit of humility, a forgiving spirit, or the removal of bitterness?
If we would pray more for Christian virtues, instead of just for “things”, we would see revival in our own lives and in our churches.
Prayer is “Asking, Seeking and Knocking” for those things that will make us more like the Lord Jesus Christ.
That’s a tale as old as time, true as it can be!