Growing in Grace: Prayer (Part 2)

#5 Growing in Grace (Prayer Part 2: Portrait, Practices, and Power) 

Col. 4:2-4; Col. 4:12

Matthew 26:36-46

Introduction:

Growing in grace: Transformation through the spiritual disciplines. 

Growth is the goal. Strengthening. Maturing. Transformation. Yet, for many of us, there is a gap between the change we long to see in our lives and the stagnation we so often feel. What is missing?

The missing link is training—intentional discipline in the means of grace. God has provided habits of grace, spiritual disciplines—places where we position ourselves to receive His transforming power.

At the heart of this transformation is metanoia—repentance. The Christian life is not just one moment of change but a long obedience in the same direction—daily turning from sin, daily dying to the old self, and daily putting on the new. A life of repentance. A life of falling and getting back up. A life of strengthen our power over sin in our lives to live a transformed life, of godliness and holiness for the glory of God. Not by works but by his grace. 

When you repent and turn. When you are “saved.” 

You will desire change. 

You recognzie something is wrong with the world and in your own sinful habits. You’ll begin to see and notice tendencies you never thought much of before. 

And while through renewed spiritual affection you will strive for transformation, God alone supplies the power—His Holy Spirit enables the change.

But He also calls us to obedience—to walk in the regular channels of His grace:

The Word

Prayer

Fellowship

Worship 

Sabbath rest

Solitude

Fasting 

Last week, we looked at the voice and posture of prayer, focusing on the triple threat: Adore, Ask, Abide.

This week, we turn our eyes to the discipline of prayer through the lens of Jesus’ own prayer life. 

A portrait of prayer 

Practices of prayer 

Power of prayer 

E.M. Bounds puts it plainly:

“The church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men.”

We don’t need more strategies, more programs, or new techniques. We need people of prayer—men and women whom the Holy Spirit can use.

What the church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men and women whom the Holy Spirit can use- people of prayer, mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods (and machinery), but through people.

If we truly desire change, we must be disciplined.

And at the center of that discipline is prayer—the conduit of God’s power.

Are we willing to step into it?

A Portrait of Jesus’ Prayer Life 

1. Jesus' Regular Prayer Life - Morning and Evening and Solitude

Jesus would often start his day with prayer, seeking guidance and strength for the day ahead.

Mark 1:35 “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” 

Luke 4:42: "At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place to pray."

Jesus made regular time for prayer, often withdrawing to a solitary place to pray and seek God's guidance.

Matthew 14:23: "After he had sent the crowds away, he went up the mountain by himself to pray."

  Luke 5:16: "Jesus withdrew to the wilderness for prayer, and spent the night in prayer."

2. Jesus' prayer in the wilderness

Jesus’ dependence upon God and the spiritual power to sustain him is significant. 

Matthew 4:1-11: Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness, fasting and it can well be assumed he was spending his time in prayer. This was to demonstrate his power over Satan and his faithful righteous king who is set apart to lead his people out of the wilderness with righteousness. As he identifies himself as the Messiah, the chosen leader of the people of Israel who emerges from the wilderness, as a conquering suffering servant and messiah. 

3. Jesus' prayer with his disciples

Jesus did not always pray specifically alone in solitude. But would bring others with him. 

Luke 9:18 Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, Who do the crowds say that I am?

Luke 9:28 (transfiguration) Now about either days after these says he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered and his clothing became dazzling white. 

4. Jesus’ prays blessings 

Matthew 14:13-21: Jesus fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two fish, after praying with his disciples. He blessed the food. (similar in the feeding of the 4,ooo

And taking the five loaves and two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people and he divided them among all. 

In Luke 22:19-20, Jesus blesses the bread and the cup during the Last Supper, saying, "Do this in remembrance of me."

5. Jesus' prayer with his disciples before the Last Supper

John 17:1-26: Jesus prayed to God, asking for his disciples to be protected and sanctified.

Jesus prayed for his disciples, asking God to glorify him and to keep his disciples in his name.

Luke 22:32 “but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.””  

6. Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane

Jesus' prayer in the garden was a time of intense emotional struggle, as he faced the prospect of his own crucifixion.

Matthew 26:36-46: Jesus prayed in the garden, asking God to take away the cup of suffering.

Luke 22:39-46: Jesus prayed, asking God to take away the cup, but ultimately submitting to God's will.

7. Jesus' prayer on the cross

  Jesus prayed from the cross, asking God to forgive his enemies and to complete his mission.

Luke 23:34: "Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.'"

8. Jesus Teaching of the Lord’s Prayer  

Luke 11:1 “Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.””  

Pray like this… 

Practices of Prayer 

Exercise Your Prayer Muscles Through the Lord’s Prayer Pattern 

Some of you might go to the gym. Or jump on a peloton, take a work out class. Find a exercise plan and schedule. This is to work out different parts of your body and get a whole body work out. 

So to avoid just asking asking asking all the time. Come up with a plan to exercise the whole body of prayer. 

Sunday: The Lord’s Prayer

Monday: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name

Adore and thank God for who he is and his abundant faithfulness   

Tuesday: Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven

Pray for God’s rule and reign to become a reality in our lives and our areas of influence.   

Wednesday: Give us this day our daily bread 

Ask for God’s daily provision in our lives and make your requests known to him.  

Thursday: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.

Confess and acknowledge our sin to the Lord and forgive people who have wronged us. 

Friday: Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil 

Ask for God to guide us in paths of righteousness for His name's sake and God’s protection against the strategies of Satan.  

Saturday: For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Abide in humble dependence on God’s limitless power and authority over all creation, now and always. Honor God as the name exalted above all other names. 

Practices: Exercising Habits for a Disciplined Prayer Life

Train yourself for godliness. 

Train your body to respond in prayer instead of worry, anxiety, and stress. 

Train your response time… 

Sports and reflexes of the triple threat. Over repetition and dedication and discipline. Practice these things as Paul says to Timothy. 

You find yourself slow in responding. Your body has not been trained to respond in obedience to what my mind says. 

Golf, so much discipline in training your body to just naturally, follow through and swing smoothly so the ball goes where you want it to go. 

Driving. You just do it. Drive, you barely have to think about it. 

Prayer is similar. 

Prayer walks/drives

I often in warmer weather go to Cathedral of the Pines and walk. Hike the mountain or on my bike. 

Drive to work, shut the podcasts or radio off. Pray.  

Prayer Closet/location 

Journaling your prayers

Prayer Lists 

Praying Psalms 

Prayer books

Praying the prayers of the church and past saints.

Give examples.  

Praying with others

Pray in small groups

Prayer Nights - February 26th. Explain 

Series Goals (in light of prayer) 

Less can be more. 

Tree rings. (pruning, logging, thinning out to stimulate growth) Notice the increased growth after the forest is logged and thinned out. 

What can I subtract in order to make way for multiplication!!! 

Effort not earning. 

No quick fixes. 

We are all walking together; no one has arrived yet. 

Beware of the allure of legalism.  

Spiritual life is hard work and full of joy. 

Salvation is a rescue and a renovation. Transferal and a transformation. Salvation and sanctification.  

Falling down is an opportunity to get back up. 

Don’t be surprised when you are opposed for doing right.   

Sabbath is made for man not man for the sabbath. 

The goal is the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. 

Power in Prayer (Conclusion) 

Power… or unction. 

Unction: Unction, derived from the Latin word for anointing, has multiple religious contexts. But used in relation to prayer, gives true power and efficacy to prayers. 

E.M. Bounds writes: “It is unction that gives edge to prayer. Without unction, prayer is lifeless, dull, and ineffective. Unction elevates prayer from mere words into a force that moves heaven and shakes hell.”

How does Jesus in his moment of being pressed, like an olive press in garden of gethsemane respond? What does Jesus do when the pressure of the whole world was being pushed down upon him? 

Jesus knows the power of prayer. Because in his greatest moment of distress. Jesus prays. And he urges us to do the same. 

Watch and Pray

Matthew 26:36-46 

Jesus’ words to His disciples in Gethsemane are not merely a warning for them but a call for us today:

“Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41)

The contrast is clear:

The spirit is willing – We desire to follow Christ, to be faithful, to stand strong.

The flesh is weak – We are prone to distraction, complacency, and spiritual slumber.

J.C. Ryle warns us:

“But does our Lord excuse this weakness of his disciples? Far from it: those who draw this conclusion mistake his meaning. He uses that very weakness as an argument for watchfulness and prayer; he teaches us that the very fact that we are hedged about with weakness should stir us up continually to “watch and pray.”

If we know anything of true religion, let us never forget this lesson. If we desire a strong walk with God and not to fall like David or Peter, let us never forget to watch and pray. Let us live like men on enemy’s ground, and be always on our guard. We cannot walk too carefully; we cannot be too jealous over our souls. The world is very ensnaring; the devil is very busy. Let our Lord’s words ring in our ears daily, like a trumpet. Our spirits may sometimes be very willing; but our bodies are also very weak. Then let us always watch and always pray.” (J. C. Ryle, Matthew, Crossway Classic Commentaries (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1993), 263.) 

Are You Watching or Sleeping?

Peter, James, and John were physically with Jesus, yet they could not stay awake. How much more are we tempted to drift into spiritual sleep? Do we recognize the urgency of our situation?

Peter failed that night, but look at how God transformed him. Later in his life, Peter writes with clarity and conviction and real spiritual unction. 

“Be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith…” (1 Peter 5:8-9)

The battle rages. How can we afford to sleep?

…

What can you afford? 

Can you afford not to pray? 

A Call to Action: Will You Be a Watchman?

The question before us today is simple:

Will you be found watching or sleeping?

Will you be like Peter before Gethsemane—overconfident, unprepared, and sleeping?

Or will you be like Peter after Pentecost—awake, watchful, empowered, and urgent in prayer?

There is real power when the people of God pray.

We train ourselves for godliness in every other area of the Christian life—we must also train ourselves in prayer.

We must believe that our prayers are effectual, that they matter, and that God supplies the power in our hour of need. 

So let us watch and pray—until Christ returns, until the enemy flees, until God moves.

Voice - middle

Posture - Adore, ask, abide. 

Practice - exercises and practices 

Power - unction, enables watchfulness