Timely Prayer
Notes
Transcript
Handout
intro: Juggling
There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—
Birth, death
plant, uproot/harvest
heal, kill
weep, laugh
mourn, dance
throw stones, gather stones
embrace, shun embracing
search, give up as lost
keep, throw away
tear apart, sew together
silent, speak
love, hate
war, peace
James begins and ends his letter urging believers to pray.
Just after the introduction he wrote,
(James 1:5
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
Later he wrote,
(James 4:2
You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.
Near the conclusion of his letter James urges us to pray when we are in trouble, happy, sick, or in sin
(James 5:13-18
Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.
Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;
and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.
Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.
-"Men may reject our message, oppose our arguments, and despise us as persons, but they are helpless against our prayers."
Sidlow Baxter
-"Satan does not care how many people read about prayer if only he can keep them from praying."
Paul E. Billheimer
-"No learning can make up for the failure to pray. No earnestness, no diligence, no study, no gifts will take its place."
E. M. Bounds
-"The little value we put on prayer is seen from the little time we give to it."
E. M. Bounds
-"I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach."
Charles Spurgeon
-"One should never begin anything until it is soaked with prayer."
Author unknown
Prayer is talking and listening to God.
Prayer is talking and listening to God.
It is the intimate communion between a beloved child and the Heavenly Father
-"Prayer is not monologue, but dialogue. Prayer is talking to God and listening to him."
Andrew Murray
Some historians wrote that James had calluses on his knees from kneeling in prayer.
Prayer was a habit for James.
He wrote about it from experience.
In the closing words of this letter he calls us to prayer seven times.
-"You can never do more than pray until you have prayed."
A. J. Gordon
Prayer is the action that unites us with our Father,
God Almighty,
the Just and Gracious Ruler of heaven and earth.
Make Prayer a Habit: In Good Times and Bad Times
Make Prayer a Habit: In Good Times and Bad Times
(James 5:13
Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.
1. Pray to God in the bad times
1. Pray to God in the bad times
(James 5:13).
When trouble comes,
The Bible counsels each of us,
"Pray your problems."
- The God of the mountain is the God of the valley
(Ps. 23:4
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
If prayer is talking to God, then all we need to do when we are in need is communicate to God.
-“God does nothing except in response to believing prayer."
John Wesley
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
We expect things from God, yet we ignore His expectations on us.
He expects us to ask
Even though he knows what you are going to ask before you do
-"Prayer is not overcoming God's resistance, but laying hold of His willingness."
Martin Luther
God invites us to
"approach the throne of grace with confidence....
(Heb. 4:16
Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Prayer is the arm that reaches out to God, and faith is the hand that receives.
When others mistreat us,
we should pray instead of just talking to friends about our persecutors.
When we lose our job,
let us pray.
When disaster attacks our lives,
let us call upon God-not blame Him.
- When we pray, let us remember that God does not always remove our problems
Remember the 4 basic answers to prayer
NO
YES
Yes, but later
Yes, I’ve already done that
Sometimes His plan is to use problems to
strengthen,
refine,
and mature us
(James 1:2- 4
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
At such times we can trust God to give us the grace we need to endure and grow.
No matter how big are troubles are, God's grace is bigger.
"He gives more grace" (James 4:6).
Biblical examples of prayer in bad times
Cain prayed for protection
Scripture Gen. 4:13-16
Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to bear!
“Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
So the Lord said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord appointed a sign for Cain, so that no one finding him would slay him.
Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Moses prayed for Miriam's healing from leprousy.
Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman);
Suddenly the Lord said to Moses and Aaron and to Miriam, “You three come out to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them came out.
So the anger of the Lord burned against them and He departed.
But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous.
Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “O God, heal her, I pray!”
But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut up for seven days outside the camp, and afterward she may be received again.”
So Miriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was received again.
Hannah prayed for a son. (Samuel)
Daniel prayed for God's help. (lion’s den)
Jonah prayed for deliverance.
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish,
and he said,
“I called out of my distress to the Lord,
And He answered me.
I cried for help from the depth of Sheol;
You heard my voice.
“For You had cast me into the deep,
Into the heart of the seas,
And the current engulfed me.
All Your breakers and billows passed over me.
“So I said, ‘I have been expelled from Your sight.
Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.’
“Water encompassed me to the point of death.
The great deep engulfed me,
Weeds were wrapped around my head.
“I descended to the roots of the mountains.
The earth with its bars was around me forever,
But You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.
“While I was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
And my prayer came to You,
Into Your holy temple.
“Those who regard vain idols
Forsake their faithfulness,
But I will sacrifice to You
With the voice of thanksgiving.
That which I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation is from the Lord.”
Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.
Paul prayed for God to remove a thorn.
Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!
Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.
And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
Paul prayed that God would remove his "thorn in the flesh."
Instead, God gave Paul the grace he needed to turn weakness into strength (2 Cor. 12:7-10).
In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus asked the Father to remove the cup from Him (Matt. 26:36-42.
Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed.
Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”
And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”
And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour?
“Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.”
Instead of removing the cup,
the Father gave Him the strength to continue to the cross.
Prayer may not remove our problems.
- But through prayer, we receive strength from God to overcome
Whatever troubles we face,
our Father's door is always open.
He invites us to talk with Him about our problems.
And He delights to help us.
God's Word to us is: "Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray" James 5:13
2. Sing to God in the good times
2. Sing to God in the good times
(James 5:13
Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.
When we are happy,
we may be less careful to avoid the pits of
money,
praise,
and privileges.
Some talk with God only when things go wrong.
But God also likes to hear from us when things are going right!
James writes, "Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise" (James 5:13).
- Singing praise to God is a form of prayer
When things go right,
let us thank our Father by singing His praise.
-"Each time, before you pray, be quiet first, and worship God in His glory.
Think of what He can do, and how He delights to hear the
prayers of His children.
Think of your place and privilege in Christ, and expect great things!"
Andrew Murray
Parents like to share the bad times and the good times with their children.
Likewise, our Heavenly Father enjoys sharing all of life with us
-the valleys of trial,
and the mountains of victory.
- The commands to pray and praise are in the present tense
So let us make prayer a habit throughout the day
-in sunshine and in rain,
in death and at birth,
in sorrow and in celebration.
It is always time to pray
-"Don't pray only when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A person is powerful on his knees."
-Corrie ten Boom
Let us pray without ceasing
-making all of life an altar to commune with God.
Famous Quotes on Prayer
Famous Quotes on Prayer
"Prayer does not prepare us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work."
Oswald Chambers
"It is not enough to begin to pray, nor to pray rightly; neither is it enough to pray for a while; but we must be patient, believe, and continue in prayer until we receive an answer."
George Müller
"We are too busy to pray, and so we are too busy to have power. We have a great deal of activity, but we accomplish little; many services but few conversions; much machinery but few results."
R. A. Torrey
