The Content of Prayer
Notes
Transcript
Scripture Intro:
Scripture Intro:
Scripture Reading (“Please stand…”)
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God,
who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!
Pray...
Intro:
Intro:
Have you ever had that experience where you thought you knew what you were doing...
only to find out you actually had no idea?
This happened to me back when I was a couple of years into seminary.
I would come home to Florida from St. Louis over Christmas.
So the pastor of my home church asked me to preach (since he would be on vacation).
Sure, my opening illustration was from the movie “The Hunt for Red October”...
based on a book by Tom Clancy.
The crux of the story is interactions between Jack Ryan (CIA agent) and a Russian submarine commander,
who had come dangerously close to the east coast of the United States.
My illustration centered on the moment when the Russian sub commander defied logic
and turned toward on oncoming torpedo...
in order to engage it before it became armed and able to detonate.
After the service, people came up to talk with me.
And since I grew up in that church,
everyone said really nice things (and they were quite gracious - first sermon outside of seminary).
“Thank you.”
Shaking everyone’s hand.
One guy walks up (who I didn’t know)...
“Marvalusky.”
Thinking he was making some glowing comment with a twist on the Russian language...
I said, “Thank you.”
Fast forward to us leaving church and I’m in my parents car,
and my mom says,
“Hey, did you meet our friend, Marv Lusky?”
“What??”
“Marv Lusky is a person’s name?”
So a guy comes up to me to introduce himself, “Marv Lusky”...
and I say, “Thank you.”
I thought I knew what was happening...
only to find out that I had no idea.
I think the same thing can happen with prayer.
We think it needs to look one way...
only to find out we are making it a whole lot more difficult on ourselves.
Or that we are missing the heart of prayer.
People often ask,
“What do I pray about?”
“What should I say?”
“I get so distracted and my mind wanders all over the place.”
“Prayer seems so mysterious so I don’t do it.”
The Content of Prayer...
God gives us his word...
and it teaches us to pray.
God's Word Gives Us Words for Prayer
God's Word Gives Us Words for Prayer
Psalm 146 begins with,
“Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul.”
These words are given by God to his people.
Sing praises to him.
From the depth of our soul.
Psalms - the songbook of the OT
What is a song that is used in worship?
A prayer set to music.
Think about it...
who are you singing to?
God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit)
We sing to him.
In praise
In petition (asking)
Our singing is not for the person next to us nor the person sitting in front of us.
Our singing to to God...
b/c it’s a prayer.
So the book of psalms is a book of prayers.
God gave us the words for prayer.
NT Use of the OT
Cross References in the Bible
Chris Harrison attempted to capture this visually.
63,779 cross references in total
Psalms in the middle
Open Bible
I used the Psalms only.
From the Psalms,
404 uses of the the Psalms in the New Testament.
Jesus on the Cross
At the time of his greatest anguish.
What made up his prayers?
The psalms.
In John 12, when Jesus says, “My soul is greatly troubled” (just after the Triumphal Entry) (John 12:27)
he used Psalm 6:3.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.
Ben Patterson -
"The master of creativity saw no need to be original or extemporaneous.” (Ben Patterson)
extemporaneous - in the spur of the moment.
Said another way, the great creator (Jesus) did not see it necessary to be creative in prayer.
He prayed the words of the psalms.
From the heart...
not rote words that he repeated mindlessly.
He prayed the words of the Scriptures.
Peter and John (Acts 4)
The religious leaders in Jerusalem were “greatly annoyed”...
“b/c they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.”
So they were arrested,
told not to speak or teach about Jesus anymore,
and released.
They went straight to their friends...
to tell them what had happened.
And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,
“lifted their voices together to God and said” = Prayer
Together = Prayer Meeting
What did they say?
… Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them...
The people in Acts 4 continue in their prayer...
who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’—
These are quotes of Psalm 2:1-2.
God’s word gives us words for our prayer.
App. Psalms or Paul’s letters
Psalms:
Two ways
150 / 30 days = 5
Today’s date, January 26
Add 30
Choose from 26, 56, 86, 116, 146.
Or multiply by 5.
Choose from that one or the 4 previous.
Day 1 times 5 = 5
So Psalms 1 thru 5.
God's Word Gives Us Variety in Prayer
God's Word Gives Us Variety in Prayer
Just comb through any psalm and the variety of topics is evident.
Our psalm from this morning, Psalm 146...
Praise the Lord...
"O my soul" - from the depths of me
Why do I only lightly praise or somewhat disinterested?
"As long as I live"
The breadth of our lifespan.
Often people think they will praise him later.
The psalmist wants to praise him before he runs out of time.
What other topics?
Worship, Provision, Faith, Thanksgiving, God’s character and faithfulness,
Celebration, Praise, Grief, Persecution, Blessing, Creation, Family
Sin, Repentance, Forgiveness
Death, Honor, Suffering, Wealth/Poverty, Pride, Hope, Children
Power, Guidance
Salvation.… on and on.
The psalms speak to our emotions.
Emotions of the Psalms
Whatever you are feeling… the psalms speaks to it.
“I don’t feel like praying” (Psalm ??)
“I think everyone is against me.” (Psalm
“I feel so alone.” (Psalm
“I’m scared.” (Psalm
“I’m lost, both literally or figuratively.” (Psalm
“I’m so down and apathetic.” (Psalm
“I don’t know what to do.” (Psalm
On the positive side:
“Life is good.”
“Thank you God for how you provide.”
“Thank you for my family and my grandchildren.”
“After a hard day’s work, I can rest.”
Who is he concerned about?
the oppressed
the hungry
prisoners
blind
bowed down
righteous (positive)
sojourner
widow
fatherless
wicked
God's Word Gives Us Confidence in Prayer
God's Word Gives Us Confidence in Prayer
Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
Trust - put your hope in, put you confidence in
man - no salvation
When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.
Where will he end up? Back into the ground.
Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.
He comes to nothing.
help - ezer
hope - looking toward
God's track record
made heaven and earth, the sea
keeps faith
executes justice
gives food
sets prisoners free
opens the blind's eyes
lifts up
loves
watches over
upholds
brings to ruin the wicked
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free;
If our trust is not in princes...
who is our trust designed to be in?
The Lord Jesus Christ.
forever
The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!
keeps faith
will reign
imperfect - "the future tense in the active voice"
"all generations"
Close in Prayer
Close in Prayer
Closing Song:
Closing Song:
“Praise to the Lord the Almighty”
Recounting many themes from Psalm 146.
Benediction:
Benediction:
