When do we pray?

Philippians 4:4-7

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High School small group change

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Sermon series. God is Not

Is God ashamed?

Is God clueless?

Is God useless?

Is God silent?

Introduction

Talking through prayer times

When is the right time to pray?

We spoke a few weeks (lessons) ago about some typical prayer times.

Meals

Bedtime

Religious services

In times of need

The second question

When do you need wifi?

There’s an obvious answer here. All the time.

The only people saying they don’t are probably those on unlimited data plans.

It’s tough to function in a home or with technology now without wifi.

Most devices use or have extra capabilities when they are connected to the Internet.

Connected to something greater

Whether it’s devices or people, we all have more capabilities when we are connected to something greater.

We have spent the last few weeks discussing prayer, and we understand prayer as intentionally communicating a message to God.

With this as our definition, tonight, we turn to frequency. How often should we pray? When should we make this intentional communication with God?

Understanding when to pray is vital for answering our final question of why we pray. Let’s dive in.

Background

Philippians 4

Paul writes this book to his friends in the church at Philippi. He is trying his best to give them encouragement in light of his persecution.

A theme of the book is joy, and we are about to learn one way Paul experiences this joy.

In verses leading to our passage, Paul challenged the people of the church to stand firm in the Lord.

Paul also had a habit of sending people alongside his letters to places where he believed they would be encouraged. He also sent people with his letters who he thought would be an encouragement to those receiving the message. Paul asks for some women who had served alongside him to be welcomed into the church.

Paul sets the table for our question with these verses. He challenges them to stand firm in the Lord, which allows them to be welcoming to others. Let's jump in to see what Paul has to say about when we pray.

We Pray Always

[Read Philippians 4:4-7]

Seems cliché

You knew this answer was coming. We are called to pray always.

Why does it seem cliché?

I believe the devil wants us to think this is odd because when we don’t live in constant prayer, we are on our own.

When a man is left to his own devices, we know what happens. Look at the Garden of Eden.

Man was walking with God, and when they went renegade, the whole world fell into sin. 

Three words to remind us

There are three words in this passage that point out the need for us to be in a constant state of prayer.

“Always” – vs. 4

The verse does not say rejoice in the Lord sometimes.

It does not say rejoice in the Lord when it’s convenient.

Rejoice in the Lord always, and one of the most obvious ways to celebrate is communing with God in prayer.

“Everyone” – vs. 5

The verse does not say let the Church know the Lord is at hand.

This is not telling us to keep Jesus to ourselves.

We are called to make Jesus known to all, and our prayers show others the importance of connection with Christ.

“Everything” – vs. 6

When we begin to understand the power of prayer, we see the importance of it.

We reach a point where we realize our inability to tie our shoes without the strength of Christ.

In EVERYTHING by prayer and supplication. We should seek God in all things because He cares for the small details too.

What does “rejoicing always” look like?

In one verse of 10 words, Paul uses the word rejoice twice. Repetition in Scripture means this is important.

Rejoicing does not have to be running around and prancing singing Hallelujah.

When good things happen to people, they often thank the one who provided the good thing.

Our rejoicing could be looking for how God is working in our lives and staying in constant communication with Him.

Rejoicing could also be public praise of God.

Transition

We want to nail down some specifics beyond the pray always. There are two areas this passage calls us to pray in.

We Pray with Others

Optional Illustration: Know What I Like- Football and the Saints

[Tip: This is an excellent spot to connect with your group by sharing a story from your own life. This enables them to connect with you from beyond the pulpit. It shows you as more than a speaker, but a person. Here is the story I used to communicate the truth of advertisement. Read it to familiarize yourself with the concept, then tell your own story about how we all advertise something to the people in our lives, but we hope it is Jesus.]

I enjoy playing board games. My wife and I have regular gatherings at our house to play board games with our friends. We play some classics like Sorry and Monopoly, but we also dive into some other more strategy intense games. We play party games like Apples to Apples or drawing games like Pictionary. I don't have a preference for the board game because I love to play board games.

My friends know I like board games, and I will often have friends send me text messages when they read an article about board games. I'll have friends send me links when they see certain board games on sale. They know I'll be interested in that information because I pretty regularly broadcast how much I enjoy board games. If I meet someone, and they mention the words "board game," I am instantly drawn into the conversation. You only have to talk with me two or three times before I'll mention board games. If you haven't gotten a clear enough picture yet, I like board games. Why do others know that about me? They know because I tell them. They see this information because I willingly and excitedly share it. Each of us in our lives advertises things to those around us. When we are passionate about something, we want to share it with others.

I have to be honest though about what I advertise. You'll know I love board games after three or four conversations with me, but I am not always confident you'll know I love Jesus. I love Jesus, and I have surrendered my life to Him. But I don't always do an excellent job of surrendering my conversations and time to Him.

 Prayer is an advertisement

This is not the primary focus of prayer. Our focus is on connecting with Christ when we pray.

Prayer is an advertisement when we place importance on it.

I love being in a room with Pastors when they make the room stop before an event.

This communicates the power and effectiveness of prayer.

When we pray in a casual sense, it communicates that prayer is casual.

When we pray with excitement, it communicates that prayer is necessary.

Reasonableness and others

Our prayer allows us to be reasonable.

When we are disconnected from God, we find ourselves stuck in our perspective.

When we connect with God, we begin to see others the way God sees them.

Vs. 5 tells us to let our reasonableness be known to everyone.

This word describes someone who looks out for the best for everyone, not just themselves.

When we pray in the presence of others, we welcome the Lord’s presence.

In the Lord's presence, we gain the ability to be reasonable.

Warning of public prayer

Like we discussed last week, public prayer is not designed to bring glory to you.

We are not praying with others to help us look good.

We pray with others to remind everyone of our need to connect with God.

Everyone is better with God in their lives. Our prayer allows the reasonableness to enter and the Lord to be known.

Transition

In a life of constant prayer, we see the beauty in praying with others. When tough times come, though, it's easy to forget to remain connected with Christ. 

We Pray in Tough Circumstances

It’s hard to remember

Vs. 6 starts with a bold command: “Do not be anxious about anything.”

We can quickly say, back up, Paul! You don't know my life! I have a hard family life, school expectations are too high, my extra-curricular expect so much from me, or even my mental health defeats me before I wake up.

<——-Why does Paul make this command?

Prayer is the answer

It’s a tough command because we lack the strength to overcome it on our own.

We don’t overcome the struggles of life because we will them away.

God is working and active in our lives, and our prayer life should reflect this.

“But in EVERYTHING.”

This doesn’t just say death, divorce, or peer pressure.

No problem is too small for prayer, and no problem is too big for prayer. 

By prayer and supplication

We know from reading that prayer is the answer.

What does it mean by supplication?

The Greek word is δεήσει (deh'-ay-sis)

This word means seeking or needing from man to God.

When we find ourselves in prayer during tough circumstances, we can best understand what it means to ask God.

We seek God because He has the strength to overcome.

It’s never too late

One of the worst lies the devil wants to tell you here is it’s too late.

This comes when you have floundered in tough circumstances on your own. Maybe you were seeking your way out.

God hasn’t given up on you, and God will never give up on you.

It doesn’t matter how hard your circumstance, or how far you ran from God.

God crossed from Heaven to Earth to close the gap created by sin. Our current circumstance is not something God is afraid of.

Prayer connects us back

When the world looks away, God is waiting.

God is ready to connect in tough times.

We Pray Always

Repeated, not a typo

Yes, this is the same point as the first, but it's not a mistake.

Why do we repeat this point?

Because it’s easy to view the other two situations as our only times of prayer.

I pray with God around others, and when I need Him. It's simple!

We are called to constant prayer, not situational prayer.

Optional Illustration: Scuba Diving

When a person goes scuba diving, what is one of their primary needs? The oxygen tank strapped to their back. Why do they have this oxygen tank? They have it because they can’t breathe underwater. Just because we are underwater when scuba diving doesn’t change our need for breathing.

When we come out of the water, can we still use the tank for breathing? We absolutely can. We don't have to, though, because there is air to breathe all around us. The air itself doesn't give us life, though, it's our breathing it. My hope and prayer is that our spiritual act of breathing would become prayer.

The situation calls for it

We need to breathe underwater, so we invented a device to help us breathe.

We need to pray around others and in tough circumstances.

Humans don't live underwater; it's a circumstance. My hope is you don't find yourself always around others or in tough times.

Prayer is needed just like oxygen in those situations.

Life calls for it

There is air to be breathed all around us, but you have to breathe it.

There are situations to pray all around us, but you have to pray.

We are reminded in special circumstances about the need for prayer, but what if we made the ordinary special by praying always?

My hope is you breathe when you aren’t scuba diving.

My prayer is you pray whenever possible.

Conclusion

A few questions

We’ve answered a few questions about prayer so far.

What is prayer? Intentionally Communicating a Message to God.

How do we pray? We looked at the Lord’s prayer as a guide for us.

Tonight we discussed when do we pray.

A tall task

It seems like a tall task to live a life of constant prayer.

How am I supposed to walk? Will I run into stuff with my eyes closed?

Prayers don’t have to be long; they have to be sincere.

The challenge

My challenge for this week is to pray with thankfulness.

How would your life look if you prayed a thank you to God every time something good happened?

Would you look for more of the good work God is doing?

Will you join me in this challenge? I look forward to hearing how it went next week!

Let us Pray.

    How often would you say you pray during the day now if we were honest?

2.     Do you feel like you pray a good amount? Why or why not?

3.     Why does it seem cliché to say we are always to be praying?

4.     Why is praying in public hard?

5.     What are some ways we can get more comfortable praying around others?

6.     Why is it important to pray around others?

7.     Why do we forget to pray in tough circumstances sometimes?

8.     Why is it important to pray during tough circumstances?