Becoming a People OF Prayer

Intro

Last week we dove into the first conversation around the people response to God’s mission. that is, they stopped what they were doing, and devoted themselves in prayer. Today I want to pause and give part 2 of that message where we dive a bit deeper into the question begged of those passages: “How do I Become a person of prayer?”

To frame this in the context of the passage in Acts 1, “How do I become the kind of person, that when a situation arises where we don’t know what to expect, we are up against insurmountable odds, we have forces seeking our failure, I feel alone and filled with anxiety while others are looking to me for strength/guidance/peace, that my first response is not only to take stock of myself and my feelings about it all, but to lead others in real, meaningful, and powerful time of seeking God’s will and God’s face about it all.”

How do I become a person OF prayer, rather than just a person who does pray. And is there a real difference between those two things at all or is Juston doing that pastor trick where they emphasize something to seem all profound?

Tension

The reality is that prayer is a fairly mysterious thing even inside of the household of God. His people know about it, see it performed from time to time, participate themselves in their own personal routine. But we are also very confused about it at the same time.

“Does prayer really work?”

“Does it really change God’s mind?”

“What makes prayer good or bad because I don’t feel that good at it.”

“Is God really listening because I don’t feel like it all the time?”

“Why does he choose to intercede sometimes and not at others?”

“Is He not answering because I don’t have enough faith, I heard a pastor that before?”

The reality is we just don’t do it enough and many more people have a clunky relationship to prayer than those that don’t. So, today, I want us to dive a little deeper into what it looks like to be that kind of person. So, let’s pray for our time in the word this morning and then we will hit the ground running.

Prayer

Exposition

Today is gonna be a little different as we are going to be a systematic study over prayer. Sometimes we take a passage and read it in it’s individual context, along with the context of its greater message, it’s place within the cannon, the author, the audience, and so forth. A systematic study, however, operates by going and finding all the places a subject is mentioned, talked about, studied, or explained and allowing those instances to help us gain a fully fleshed out perspective over that subject. For instance, if we wanted to find out everything the Bible teaches us about salvation. We’d pull passages from the NT, the OT, the gospels, Romans, and all over. Because this brings us to one of the best interpretive principles found in Bible Study and good hermeneutics: “Let Scripture Interpret Scripture.” So, using that model, today we are going to shotgun prayer in the Bible and see what we can learn by allowing these passages to build up in us a greater panoramic view of what prayer is and what God wants it to be in our lives. Then we will finish today by distilling these all down into some usable precepts for us to plug into our lives. So we will start with our familiar passage from last week.

2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV

14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

So here, we have this famous call to arms where God tells his people that their response to Him in prayer is what is holding them back from the promises He has ready for them. Ironically, this message is given right after Solomon gives the most lavish sacrifices ever to dedicate the temple to the worship of Holy God. 22k oxen, 122k sheep, worship, priests, music, it was a service lasting 8 days, and they would be days to remember. However, right after this Solomon is given this word. That as they have just set that place apart for worship of God, that God wants the sacrifices of His people’s prayers instead. God wants that place to be set aside for a people of prayer. And then we get this verse as instruction. The people must humble themselves before him, prayerfully seeking his face and turning from themselves.

No doubt, the people of God were not always that God honoring. They did wicked and evil things in his sight and the law stood as a very high resolution mirror of sorts that showed them that. 2 things would be rendered from the prayers of these types of God’s people: they would be healed and so would the land. They would be healed from the consequences of their sin, persuing God’s righteousness and holiness instead of their own way. And as a result, that desire for godliness would ripple through their neighbors into the land.

Matthew 6:9–14 ESV

9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,

Jesus’ famous teaching gives us further insight. When the disciples asked Him to teach them to pray this was his word to them. First understand who you are talking with and too. God is not a vending machine or a magic genie. You don’t come up with your requests, push A5 and then your blessings pop out the bottom. No, this is a hollowed, holy, set apart, holy other than you God. His name is uplifted and glorious. You stand before a throned king and you should acknowledge his Holiness. Or as it was put to Moses, “take of your sandals because you walk on Holy ground.”

Secondly, we need to acknowledge that we need to be about his Kingdom coming and his will being done here in our world in our time. Notice how this contrasts with the ideals of us building our own kingdoms, fame, brands, following. No, our desire should be sincerely to see his Kingdom grow, hole-stop. Boy could we just camp here in our world where everyone is so concerned about God helping them in all of their issues. Not realizing that we are supposed to be devoted to him and his kingdom’s expansion.

He then goes on to asking of God, but not for lavish items or lofty fames but for simple needs. Not wants but needs. The bread needed to keep me alive and working for you. This is a callback to the people in the wilderness when they were given just enough to eat for the day, making sure they remembered that each day they had to trust God to fill them up again. We are to have the same lesson. God, you’ve provided for me each day what I needed, I acknowledge you’ll do it again.

Next, Lord forgive me my shortcomings with the same heart with which I forgive others. Ooooo. Think about the implications of that spelled out. Lord forgive my debts with the same level of care, compassion, forgiveness, grace, and mercy that I show to others. The fear should start to creep up your spine right now. What if God only forgave you with the same measure that you gave to others? Would you be relieved or have cause for fear? Either way, by praying in this way I am reminded and empowered by the graceful love of God and aiming that love towards others for His glory.

Deliver me from the evil I desire to walk into and same me from the want to. Temptation is real, even for the devoted and commited follower of Christ. Don’t pretend it isn’t. Instead, ask God to strengthen you from it and for Him to deliver you from it.

And vs 14 further clarifies vs 12. We’ve heard this a thousand times, I wonder if our prayer has been shaped by it enough?

Matthew 6:5–8 ESV

5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

OoOOO. this one is deep. This one deals with the struggle many feel when they hear people on stages quote/unquote “who pray so good.” I’ve had many say this to me over the years that they don’t want to pray in public because they don’t say the right things or sound that good. Yet this passage tells us that the least concerning thing for you in prayer should be to be praying for recognition. Its not about using good words or allowing the words to reflect on you at all.

In fact, the antagonist of this passage is a hypocrite. A person who prays like that publically, not so that God would be glorified or that he would speak with God at all but that people would look on him as a person of holiness. So that others would be impressed with him. Instead we are told to pray where no one can see us. In secret. Where its only you and God and your desires or impulses to be noticed or well thought of disappear.

Hebrews 4:16 ESV

16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

How about this one. We can approach God knowing that when we need him, we can have real and genuine confidence that we will find him filled with grace and mercy. God is not bothered by your needs. He’s not annoyed by your asks. He’s not troubled by how many times you come to him. You can come to him in confidence knowing He’s able and willing to help you. How many people over the years have I heard tell me that they don’t want to “bother” God with their problems because He has more important things to see too. Oh, friends, God doesn’t see you as a burden but a beloved. He wants you to meet with Him and often has great things to show you if you’ll bring Him the burdens of your heart.

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 ESV

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

God has a will for you to be a person who constantly is praying and thanking Him. That an attitude of gratitude is apart of your normal DNA everyday because of how much prayer effects you. I think of it like marinading meat. Yes its delicious. Put some salt and pepper on it and it becomes more so. Marinate it overnight in a bag of seasonings and spices and those flavors permeate it so deeply that you can taste it all throughout the whole roast. Have you been so thouroughly marinated by prayer that you can’t stop being grateful, no matter what circumstance arises? Good, bad, ugly, “I’m blessed.”

Philippians 4:6–7 ESV

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

In that same vein of conversation, Paul tells the Philippians to stop allowing their anxiety to tell the story. Instead, allow prayer and supplication (asking of the Lord) to be what wins the day. How many of us needs to hear this word today I wonder? Are you plagued with anxiety and fear about what could or will happen? Have you prayed about it, like really? Have you prayed and asked God his opinion and saturated yourself into the word so much that peace has overwhelmed that anxiety? Its like a ship that is set ablaze on the high seas. It might rage for a while but eventually it has to answer to the waters of the ocean.

1 John 5:14–15 ESV

14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

God hears you. Like really hears you. He’s listening. You didn’t have your call dropped. Yet, we assume that he doesn’t because we haven’t recieved the response we’d like. I’ve heard many over the years describe God’s answer to prayer being one of 3 “Yes, No, wait.” It’s okay to keep praying for the things that weigh on your heart. He knows them. He hears them. And, he will do what his will is regarding it as He sees fit. It doesn’t mean he hasn’t heard or won’t answer.

Mark 11:24 ESV

24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

This guy right here is one of the most quoted, least understood passages ever. This feels almost prosperity gospel if you read it out of any context. However, this is told in the same passage where Peter responds to Jesus cursing a fig tree. It had withered and died. That story is recounted as “Jesus was hungry, the fig tree didn’t have any food, so he cursed it” on your first read. But if you clump it together in the context the picture comes to focus. What happened the very next section is Jesus cleansing the temple of the money changers and then you get him explaining this verse in 20-25. So what is he saying. The fig tree represented the Israelites who had great promise of faith but had none. It was a prophetic remark about how they were dead inside. The disciples, astonished by how Jesus had cursed the fig tree, and now, walking by it again, its dead all the way down to the roots. Jesus explains that they too have the power to do such things if they have genuine faith knowing that you already have that power in you. Faith accepts it as good as done when you pray for God’s will to be done in a situation.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 11:22–24

Jesus made this promise on the recognized premise that petitions must be in harmony with God’s will (cf. 14:36;

So, when we pray in genuine faith and unity with God’s will to be accomplished, humanly impossible things, like a mountain being cast into the sea, are possible, because we’ve tapped the divine power of God. This is the whole meaning of these words the next time you’re in a position to explain them.

Ephesians 6:17–18 ESV

17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

This one is cool. Here we have the famous armor of God in the context of protection of a warrior on a battle field. He puts on each piece to protect himself in the coming battles, he arms himself with the word of God. But in addition to all that, he prays constantly, beseeching almighty God to keep him alert and help him to persevere. Not only that, but he asks this of God over all his fellow warriors in the faith. His brothers and sisters. He brings them and their perseverance before the Lord as well.

1 Timothy 2:1 ESV

1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,

Here Paul, encourages young Timothy, the newly appointed pastor of the church in Ephesus that one of his Jobs is to lift up the people in his congregation before the Lord. To keep them and their needs before God in concern and for shepherding purposes. It also adds to me the reality that God is aware of and cares for the needs of the flock. Such burdens weigh heavy on the pastor’s heart but he need not carry them himself. God is ready, willing, and happy to help him in the caring of the people.

James 5:16 ESV

16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

And in James we see that we are to confess sin to one another in the Lord and then pray for one another. That God will honor such prayers when we lift one another up to him. Wow, what a promise that we rarely take God up on. When is the last time we confessed sin and failure to a trusted brother or sister? such things have gone out of style and likewise, this is why we don’t feel the freedom of the healing such confession provides.

So, putting all these passages together, in their contexts we begin to see that prayer is not just an activity that we engage in from time to time in certain occasions. Prayer becomes a kind of person we are. It marinades us in God’s glory until we take on the same flavors that he does. That is where I get my idea I keep talking about. Are we a people who pray or a people of prayer. Boiling these ideas into a list, I think that a person of prayer looks like this.

People of prayer are people that...

Humbly come to God knowing He is what they need, not just the means to get what they need.

God is not a vending machine, he is the prize. He’s not the way to what I want, He is what I need. I am no prize and my desires, my wants, my hungers, and my plans often are an extension of my own sinful nature. I need a new nature. I need his nature. I need him to change my desires, my hungers, my wants, my needs. I need him. He doesn’t need me.

Come ready to meet and be changed by God. They Want to want God’s will.

I must decrease, He must increase. Prayer changes the person. As I pray for his will, seek it out in scripture, genuinely seek his face, He will marinade me throughout my whole self. I will be changed and made over in his image. And prayer, real prayer, where I come with readied and pliable heart, ready to be molded by my time with God, is one of the most intimate ways in which this happens in the life of a believer.

Want to grow in their relationship/worship/devotion with God.

The more you grow to know him the more you grow to love him and the more you love him the more you grow in worship. The more you worship him the more you want to know him better and the cycle expounds upon itself. Prayer is an intimate time of communion and growth between me and my God.

Are concerned with His kingdom’s growth, not their own.

Our world is facinated with itself not knowing that its glory is only borrowed. In fact, it is a pale reflection, a fingerprint only of a greater glory it could not hope to encompass. God is beauty and power and glory and his kingdom is never ending. Our names, our histories, our kingdoms, our governments, they all pass away. They matter in our minds and our stories because we have no concept of eternity. The person of prayer is cemented in the eternal because they know that the bills, the jobs, the struggles, the circumstances are only temporary moments but God’s kingdom is forever.

Love what and who God loves.

They pray for others. They confess sin to others and allow them to do the same. They lift up the body knowing God’s power is only a prayer away. They are the first when calamity strikes to gather the faithful in an upper room and devote themselves to prayer. Their heart bleeds for the lost and their prayer life is evidence of it. They bring them before the Lord constantly and all that pray with them know it.

So friends. Are we a people of prayer? Could we be these kinds of pray-ers?

So, some easy ways that you can start getting this kicked off in your life.

Make a time each day that you can spend in prayer with God. Make it the most awake part of your day. Be rested, awake, ready, and uninterruptible.

Start small and grow. 10-15 minutes. No one that has a thriving and epic prayer life started that way. We grow into it. Time is not the most important part. Honesty, openness, transparency, and relationship. All those take time to develop with anyone.

Take stock of what is going on. Start with a notebook or a journal. Write down the things you thought about the most over the past week. The things you’re stressed about. The problems that weigh on you. Write them down. Systematically bring them to God in prayer. Counter them with scripture. Write down what you’re studying. Write down the lessons God has given you through his word, godly advice, worship. Bring these lessons back up to the Lord as he makes you aware of them and deals with you about them.

And lastly. In order to help us keep prayer at the forefront of even how we worship. I’m implementing a blast from my past. When I first came to church I showed up to our youth building and found a wall dedicated to prayer requests and lost friends that students could put up and before anyone would go and do activities around the place, every student stopped by the wall to pick a request and pray for it. My name was on the wall and it always stuck with me that people were praying for me before they ever met me.

As you come into worship each week I am asking us as a church to gather on the outside wall of the sanctuary and pick a request and pray for a moment before you come in. The lost, a struggle, a praise, for growth and maturity, for revival. Whatever God calls you too. That you could take a moment and lift up in prayer before we come into worship each week and center ourselves on Him and his will being accomplished.