Where We Pray
Notes
Transcript
Intro; The great thing about prayer is that we are not constrained by time or space. Because prayer is communion with God, we can pray whenever we want and wherever we are!
It is an ignorant statement to make when we say, “they took prayer out of school”. If you are a christian and you are in school, nothing is stopping you from praying except you! A prayer does not have to be audible for God to hear it.
Matthew 6:7–8 (NKJV)
7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Tonight we’re going to look at “Where We Pray”. We will look at several places in the scriptures where people prayed, starting with the disciples in the Book of Acts.
1. The Upper Room; Acts 1:13-14
1. The Upper Room; Acts 1:13-14
13 And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James.
14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
Upper Room- the place where Jesus spent His last night with his disciples before Calvary. [ref. John 13-17]
An upper room would have been on the roof of a typical home and may have been open-air or covered by some sort of canopy [ref. Mk. 14:12-15].
In this Upper Room, Jesus washed the disciples feet, comforted their troubled heart, encouraged them to stay connected to Him {vine & branches}, warns them not to fall away in persecution and then prays for them that God will keep them in the world.
Some of Jesus’ most beloved and comforting words are from the Upper Room Discourse:
John 14:1–3 (NKJV)
1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.
2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
John 14:6 (NKJV)
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 14:15 (NKJV)
15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
John 15:5 (NKJV)
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
John 15:9 (NKJV)
9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
John 15:13 (NKJV)
13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
John 16:13 (NKJV)
13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
John 16:33 (NKJV)
33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
John 17:25–26 (NKJV)
25 O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.
26 And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
The Upper Room might not be a place we can’t go physically, but it is where we can go spiritually to pray. It is where you met Jesus! It is where you were saved by faith. It is where you started your journey in Christ. We need to go there often in prayer!!
2. At Home; Acts 2:42-47
2. At Home; Acts 2:42-47
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
The early believers prayed with each other in their homes.
Probably one of the least used area of prayer in the christians life is at home. I believe there are two major reasons why;
There are too many distractions; [TV, internet, homework, hobbies, home maintenance, honey do lists] all these activities take us away from time with God at home!
Matthew 6:6 (NKJV)
6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
We don’t feel comfortable praying with our spouse/family; Prayer together hasn’t been a priority at home for so long we don’t know how to start. Family devotions and prayer are the key to blessings.
25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
3. In Church; Acts 12:5
3. In Church; Acts 12:5
5 Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.
Now the church here was in the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark [v.12]. But when we come together as the church, we need to pray!
What kind of prayers are we to pray when we meet here at church? Constant Prayer
Constant Prayer- praying until God answers!
We need to constantly place all our needs, circumstances, situations, and trials in our life before God in prayer.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
We need to constantly pray for one another in our faith to be strong in the Lord and His work.
9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
We need to constantly pray for each other to mature in our faith
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
We need to constantly pray a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord
15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
4. Pray Among Unbelievers; Acts 16:25
4. Pray Among Unbelievers; Acts 16:25
25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
We are never to pray in public to draw attention to ourselves but to bring attention to God.
Paul and Silas were in some unusual circumstances that put them on display before unbelievers, they were in prison. They could have been like most and began to complain and even curse God for the situation they were in, because they were there in prison for Christ!
But they didn’t. They were not ashamed of Christ or mad at Him, so they prayed!
We need to be mindful that God is God in public as well as in private. And we should never be ashamed of Him, nor be embarrassed to call out to Him in public.
Mark 8:38 (NKJV)
38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
I was told about a woman who at the retirement center asked if those who sat with her to eat minded if she asked grace over the food. They said sure and it has become something that they want her to do always, saying it has become like a sermon. This woman is in her 90’s. God is still using her.
5. Pray Everywhere; 1 Tim. 2:8
5. Pray Everywhere; 1 Tim. 2:8
8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;
Though the context of this scripture is about prayer in public worship, it should be taken that there is not a place where we are not able to call out to God in prayer.
Samson prayed from between the pillars in the Philistine temple before he took his life with the life of God’s his enemies [Judges 16]
Darius prayed for Daniel in the lions den. I’m sure Daniel prayed too. [Dan. 6]
Jonah prayed from the whales belly [Jonah 2]
Jesus went up on a mountain to pray [Mt. 14]
The prodigal son prayed from a pig pen [Luke 15]
The rich man prayed from hell [Luke 16]
Stephen prayed from a stoning pit [Acts 7]
Peter was praying from a housetop when the Lord sent Him to Cornelius [Acts 10]
Paul prayed in a shipwreck [Acts 27]
Peter prayed in the storm when he began to sink [Mt. 14]
Close;
We are instructed in the scriptures to pray in all places at all times for everything. What a privilege it is to be able to talk with God at any time, any place and under any conditions, about anything, knowing that He will hear and answer.
Prayer should never be thought of as something I have to do, but something I want to be a part of!