Prayer

Introduction

Well, good morning!

If you have a Bible, and I hope that you do, open ‘em with me to Colossians chapter 4…Colossians chapter 4.

This is our second week looking at things we should devote ourselves to; spiritual disciplines…things the Bible lays out for us, that are good for us…healthy diets…things that grow us, mature into the image of Jesus Christ, as Ephesians chapter 4 says. That’s our goal…Amen?

Last week, we talked about Bible intake; how its impossible for us to have a healthy Christian walk without us constantly engaging with the Word of God, right? Because we know it’s inspired…it’s authoritative…it’s powerful, in our lives.

This morning, the second spiritual discipline I want us to look at, its the practice of prayer.

Now, I actually preached about this a couple of years ago…but in Acts chapter 6, the church, it was growing…and because of that, the people’s needs became great. It was taking away from the preaching of the Word and from the prayers of the apostles. And so, the apostles, they told the church to raise up deacons that could care for their physical needs so that they could devote themselves to what?

Acts chapter 6, verse 4:

Acts 6:4 ESV

But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” [or to the preaching of the Word].

Prayer and the Bible, it’s like two wings to a plane. Without one, the other becomes irrelevant.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not getting on a one-winged airplane. It’s not gonna happen...because what I realize, without both, that plane’s not gonna fly. I mean, when we think about planes, we don’t really see the wings as two separate pieces of the plane...we see the wings as one, they’re unified in their objective of lifting the plane off the ground, right?

Prayer and the Word of God…they’re the exact same. Prayer is us dialoguing with God…and the Bible, its God dialoguing with us. Prayer isn’t gonna accomplish what God intends for it to accomplish without the Bible; and the Bible, its not gonna accomplish what its meant to accomplish without prayer.

Listen, if we’re honest, prayer, its one of the most challenging areas of spiritual discipline. I know that’s true in my life.

It’s one thing to read Scripture because we get this instant benefit of knowledge and insight. For prayer, it’s just one of those things that require faith. I mean, we’re praying to someone we can’t see…and we’re expecting an answer we can’t control. It makes us feel silly sometimes…It’s why most of us struggle to pray in front of other people. It’s an intimate thing for us. And just like every other thing that requires faith, prayer, it runs contrary to the nature of man…it runs contrary to the world. And so, not only is it oftentimes neglected in our lives, it’s just difficult for us to do.

F.B. Meyer said this is his book, “The great tragedy of life, is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.”

Charles Spurgeon, one of the greatest preachers of the 19th century, he said this, “If the spirit of prayer isn’t with the people, the minister may preach like an angle (or preach true) but [he] can’t expect success. There may be in that church wealth, talent, labor and many outreach efforts, but the Lord isn’t there. Prayer is as sure evidence of the presence of God as the rising of the thermometer is evidence of an increase in temperature. If God is near a church, it [will] pray. If he isn’t, one of the obvious signs of His absence will be a [lack] of prayer.”

Guys, if we’re gonna be honest this morning, we’d have to admit that prayer, for the most part, its an undisciplined area in our spiritual life. At best, its just sporadic…And listen, I want you to see this morning, prayer, it’s an untapped resource for us; its an unexplored continent, where there’s just countless treasure remains to be dug up for us.

Prayer, its talked about the most but it’s practiced the least.

If we’re gonna grow, if we’re gonna be conformed into the image of Jesus, prayer has to be a disciplined area in our life…both individually and corporately. Prayer, it deepens our dependency on God and it empowers us to live for His glory.

And so, what should prayer look like?…That’s the question I wanna answer this morning; that’s what Colossians chapter 4 is gonna teach us.

And so, if you’re there with me, let’s stand and read our passage together. It says this, starting in verse 2:

Colossians 4:2–6 ESV

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Thank you, you can be seated.

[Prayer]

There’s five points for us this morning…number 1, Pray Persistently…number 2, Pray Passionately…number 3, Pray Gratefully…number 4, Pray Selflessly…and then number 5, Pray Dependently.

And so, if you’re there with me in Colossians chapter 4, let’s look at this first point together.

I. Pray Persistently (v. 2a)

Pray Persistently.

Now, just a little context...I know we’ve been a little topical these past several weeks but again we can’t dive into a passage without the context, without knowing what’s going on with the author? Who was the original audience?…What was the purpose of the letter?…When was it written? All that stuff, right?

Colossians, its one of the prison epistles…meaning Paul wrote it from prison in Rome. He wrote this letter in either 60 or 61 AD…and at the time of him writing this, Paul hadn’t actually been to the church in Colossae himself. And listen, he wrote this letter to call out some heretical teachers that had infiltrated the church there in Colossae, which is the reason why this letter really emphasizes the preeminence and the sufficiency of Christ in all things. It was to correct some of their teaching…But listen, throughout it, this letter…like our passage today, it really gives us an example of certain disciplines we should be modeling ourselves because we believe Jesus to be the very things Paul says throughout this letter to the church of Colossae.

Because Jesus has all authority…because Jesus is eternal…because He’s God…we pray, trusting that God hears us and that He’s capable of answering us in His timing and through His will.

Look at verse 2 with me again…this is actually how Paul closes his letter to Colossae…He’s encouraging them to pray. It says:

Colossians 4:2 ESV

Continue steadfastly in prayer…

The NASB and CSB translations, they say, “Devote yourselves to prayer.” The New King James version, it says, “Continue earnestly in prayer.” There’s huge differences in how your translations might word it. It’s just a very difficult phrase in the Greek to translate. Personally, in studying the Greek for this, I think the ESV gets it right. Again, it says, “Continue steadfastly in prayer.”

The word in Greek for “continue steadfastly,” its actually one word…and it can mean “persist in, adhere firmly to, remain devoted”…it can mean “to give unremitting care to.” It carries this idea of dedication…of devotion…discipline, right?

What’s interesting, this word, for “continue steadfastly,” in the Greek, its used 10 tens throughout the New Testament…and listen, four of those times, its referring to prayer.

Paul says the same thing to the church of Thessalonica in 1st Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 17. He says:

1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV

pray without ceasing,

We actually looked at these two letters and this particular verse last year…but if you remember, this phrasing, Paul’s not saying, “If you so choose to do so…or if you’d like to!” He’s not really telling you, “You CAN do this.” He’s saying, “Just do it!” He’s giving a command…an imperative.

Persistent prayer, its not really an option for the Christian.

Now, let me be clear…salvation, just as the Bible lays out, its comes through grace and faith in Jesus Christ. Our salvation’s made possible through the finished work of Christ on the cross, alone…that’s it! But as James says in his letter, “Faith without works, it’s dead.” That’s James chapter 2, verse 26.

When you’ve repented…when you’ve turned from the world, when the Spirit of God has taken up residence in you, you’re changed…everything about you; your desires, your ambitions, your speech, your actions…everything, it changes. And when you’ve been set apart, when Jesus’s righteousness is imputed to you, there’s things you devote yourself to. We devote ourselves to following Christ and His teachings, right?

Again, John 14:15, “If you love me, you WILL keep my commands.”

And so, with prayer, understand, its not just the apostle Paul commanding us to do it, but even Jesus orders it Himself. He’s given us a direct command to pray.

Two examples of this is found in the Gospel of Luke…Luke chapter 11 and Luke 18. They both talk about being persistent in prayer.

In Luke 11:9, we get this promise about prayer. Jesus says this when it comes to prayer:

Luke 11:9 ESV

I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

If you study that verse, each of the verbs Jesus uses here, it’s in the present tense and they’re all in the active voice…And so, you could translate it as, “Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking.” Jesus is saying, “Don’t give up…be persistent!” Be like a child at the store that just doesn’t stop asking for that toy, right? (Maybe don’t ask for something like that…but I think you get the picture)! Don’t give up! Be persistent.

Luke 18:1 also says:

Luke 18:1 ESV

And he [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

Another thing about persistence, it doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be long. Like, there’s a difference between a persistent prayer and a long prayer, right? A person who’s persistent in prayer, they don’t necessarily have to pray for a long time. They’re simply people who’ve developed a habit of prayer…a practice of prayer in their life.

George Muller, one of the greatest prayer warriors of all times, he said this about persistence in prayer.

"[It’s] a common temptation of Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and prayer when our enjoyment is gone; as if it were of no use to read the scriptures when we do not enjoy them, and as if it were no use to pray when we have no spirit of prayer. The truth is that, in order to enjoy the Word, we ought to continue to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit of prayer is to continue praying. The less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray."

If we’re gonna take up our cross and follow Jesus, prayer, it can’t be an option for us. If we’re gonna be like Jesus, we have to pray like Jesus. He was persistent in prayer and as His followers we’re commanded to follow Him…to model Him.

That’s why He told his first disciples in Matthew 4:19, “Follow me, and I’ll make you fishers of men.”

And so, that’s the first thing…pray persistently!

II. Pray Passionately (v. 2b)

The second thing Paul lays out for us here, about prayer…it’s also found in verse 2…we’re to pray passionately!

Listen, if you’re gonna be persistent in something, I think it’s safe to say that you gotta be passionate about that thing as well, right?

Paul says, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful…”

The Greek word for “watchful,” it means “vigilant…alert…awake.” It’s the opposite of slothfulness or carelessness.

One author wrote this about Jesus’s passion for prayer. He said, “It [wasn’t] only his regular habit, but his resort in every emergency, however slight or serious. When perplexed he prayed. When hard pressed by work he prayed. When hungry for fellowship he found it in prayer. He chose his associates and received his messages upon his knees. If tempted, he prayed. If criticized, he prayed. If fatigued in body or wearied in spirit, he had recourse to his one unfailing habit of prayer. Prayer brought him unmeasured power at the beginning, and kept the flow unbroken and undiminished. There was no emergency, no difficulty, no necessity, no temptation that would not yield to prayer."

I mean think about it…every single time we see Jesus pray in Scripture, He prays with passion.

In Luke 3:1 at His Baptism…while He was praying, it says the heaven was opened…Passionate prayer, it can open Heaven.

In Luke 6:12 before He called His disciples…He spent the whole night in prayer…Passionate prayer it can open the windows of heaven and it can shine God's light of direction on our path.

In Luke 9:29 at His transfiguration…while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, His clothing became white and gleaming…Passionate prayer, it ushers us into the throne room of heaven and it enables us to experience the glory of the Father.

In John 17 He prayed for all those who would follow Him (His elect), that we would be kept from the evil one; that we would be sanctified by truth, which is His word…Passionate prayer, it expresses the deepest desires of our heart and it reveals our love for others.

In Luke 22:44, where Jesus is praying through the night, in the garden of Gethsemane, the Bible says," And being in agony, He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground."…Passionate prayer, it enables us to be completely honest with God, even amidst our most terrifying circumstances. It allows us to be intimate with Him.

Luke 23:24, as He hung on the cross. Passionate prayer was a portal to God's power…Prayer, it strengthens us internally and it’s a conduit for God's grace upon on lives.

Guys, what I want you to see…Jesus, He prayed with passionate because ultimately He knew who He was talking to and He knew that access to the Father, its a powerful thing.

Prayer from the heart, that’s what passionate prayer is. It’s prayer from the heart, not just from the head. I mean, just think about that. When’s the last time you prayed like that?

I hear all the time, “I want God to save my kids…I want God to reveal His will in this situation…I want God to give me strength as I deal with whatever issue it is I’m dealing with.” When’s the last time you passionately prayed for that thing from your heart?

I can’t help but go back to Abraham, right? Just before Sodom and Gomorrah…him and God, they’re talking to each other…and we see Abraham plead for the people of the city. Of course, we know, his heart, its really just longing for Lot to be saved. He’s persistent with God…he was passionate in his request…like a child with his Father.

How did the Lord respond?…He saved Lot, right?

What about the four men that bring the paralyzed man to Jesus in Luke chapter 5? Why does Jesus say he saved the man? Because of the 4 friend’s faith! They didn’t give up! When the crowd was too large, they broke through the roof and lowered him down instead…that’s persistence; that’s passion.

God is a good Father. Its just that you might not care enough about the you’re asking for as you might think. Or it might just be that you’re more wrapped up in the world and its priorities, more so than you wanna admit. God wants to give you comfort in your situation. He wants to give you peace. God wants to see those you care about receive salvation. He does! It’s just that you haven’t been persistent with it…you haven’t been passionate about it. You’re not bringing it before the King of glory, the only One capable of doing whatever is you’re asking.

James says in 5:16:

James 5:16 ESV

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it’s working.

The power, it comes from actually believing that God can do all things…which causes us to passionately seek Him in all things.

That’s the second thing.

III. Pray Gratefully (v. 2c)

The third thing we see here, its that we should pray gratefully.

Paul says, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with” what? With thanksgiving!

If you’re familiar with Paul’s letters, this is just a constant theme that runs through ‘em all.

Ephesians 5:20 (ESV)

giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Philippians 4:6 (ESV)

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (ESV)

give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Colossians 3:17 (ESV)

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

1 Timothy 4:4 (ESV)

For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,

Again, there’s this constant theme of thanksgiving with Paul’s writings. It seems like Paul writes more about this than anything else. He was thankful…He had good reason to be thankful. God had radically changed his life…He opened his eyes…He gave him purpose.

And so listen, through this attitude of thankfulness, Paul was showing his dependence on God now. He knew exactly who God was…He knew exactly who he was, in his depraved state. He knew, because of the grace of God, just how desperate he’d be without God’s providence and without God’s presence in His life.

You see, when we pray, it should always be in a way that expresses our understanding that with every breath we take, its a gift from God…every day we wake up, it’s because of God sustaining grace. The hope we have about the future, its all because of God’s love…it’s because of the person and work of Jesus!

When we approach prayer without thanksgiving, when we’re not intentional in our gratitude…what we’re saying, “I’m self-reliant…I’m self-sufficient.”…Which is just another thing gratitude reorients in us.

Paul, he kept this attitude of thankfulness, because it kept him in a state of humility. He knew just how helpless he was without God.

I mean, doesn’t Jesus say in Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek [or the humble], for they shall inherit the earth.”? An attitude of thankfulness, as we approach the Father, it keeps us humble. Reminding us, that we are who we are today only by the grace of God.

Everything in this world…our flesh, our culture, the people around us…everything, it tries to reinforce this idea that we’re self-made people. But guys listen, everything in God's Word, it’s contrary to that idea.

Micah 6:8 says, "He has told you, oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God."

Guys, when we fail to approach God with thankfulness, its us taking God for granted…its us assuming that we somehow deserve His grace and His kindness.

Listen, we’ve all seen examples of ungrateful children, right? If you haven’t, just spend an hour in Walmart. It’s heartbreaking to me…They don’t see what mom or dad has done to make sure they have everything they need to live and to thrive. They’re ungrateful.

But guys, understand this…when you fail to express your thankfulness to the Father, constantly and consistently…you’re just like that ungrateful child.

Approaching prayer with an attitude of thankfulness, it demonstrates our relationship. It shows that we know our Father…it shows that we know His for loves us…it shows we know He provides for us.

Guys, the only way you’re gonna remain grateful in your prayers, is to constantly remember the gospel…its to constantly remember the work of Christ. That’s the point of things like the Lord’s Supper. We should never tire from hearing about the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus. When you constantly see the cross, when you constantly use that as a filter throughout your day, you approach the Father gratefully.

If you need some kind of reorientation in your life, look to the cross…That’s why we see this constant theme through Paul’s letters…he always saw his circumstances through a gospel lens.

And so, pray persistently…pray passionately…pray gratefully.

IV. Pray Selflessly (vv. 3-4)

Number 4, pray selflessly.

Listen guys, If you’ve tuned me out already this morning…I want you to pay attention to me for this next part right here. This is something I think we all really struggle with when it comes to the discipline of prayer.

Paul tells this church in Colossae, “2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.”

Listen, I wanna make a statement…and then we’ll circle back to what Paul’s asking for in this text.

Too much of the prayers being offered in the modern day church and in the modern day life of the believer, too much of the prayers being offered is selfish in nature.

Most of the time, we’re praying for God to give us something or to do something for us. And listen, there’s a time for supplication…there is, when its connected to God’s will. But even prayers in corporate worship, a lot of times…if you visit any American church…most of our prayers, we’re asking God to do something within the church, among our people long before we’re praying selflessly for the kingdom of God.

I heard a pastor say once, “We pray more to keep Christians out of heaven and out of the presence of Jesus, than we do for God to save sinners.” We’ve become a selfish generation of Christians.

Again, prayer, its the most discussed thing, or its the most offered thing…but its also the least practiced thing. How many times has someone asked for prayer…or you told someone that you’d be praying for a particular situation…and then you just never did it? (That’s a retornicle question, don’t answer that). But if we’re honest, it happens more times than not, right?…This is one of the those areas that I’ve really tried to strengthen in my own spiritual life. When I say I’m gonna pray for something, I do it persistently, I do it passionately, I do it gratefully…Because number one, someone believed God would hear my prayers…they believed I’ve been set apart, right? That I’m capable of approaching the throne of grace. And number two, I pray because I believe prayer, its the greatest tool we have in this life…because we serve a God that’s capable of anything.

Paul, in Ephesians, when discussing the armor of God…he describes these different pieces of armor for things like the Bible and the mind, the heart…our feet, which take the gospel out. You have the helmet of salvation, and the breastplate of righteousness…the shoes of peace…he gives you all these pieces of armor…and then he gets to prayer, and he just simply says don’t forget prayer. He doesn’t give it some fancy name or illustration…prayer is what it is, it stands alone…there’s nothing else like it, it’s the greatest tool you have as a believer. DON’T FORGET IT!

And listen, the way that Paul typically asks for prayer in his letters, it’s an acknowledgement of how he views its practice. He see’s prayer as a powerful tool for us to serve our brothers and sisters. It’s a great weapon against the enemy.

In thinking about Jesus’s prayers, throughout His earthly life…almost all of ‘em were outwardly focused.

In Luke 22:23, Jesus tells Peter, “I’ve prayed for you, that your faith may not fail.”

Luke 23:34, on the cross, Jesus prays, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

John 14, Jesus prays, asking the Father to send us the Holy Spirit.

John 17, Jesus intercedes for the elect, saying, “I ask on their behalf; I don’t ask on behalf of the world, I ask on behalf of those whom You’ve given Me.”

Romans 8:34, it tells us that even now, Jesus, He sits at the right hand of the Father, doing what? Making intercession for us, right?

Even the disciplines, those that walked with Jesus in the flesh…they witnessed Him do all these great and mighty things…they didn’t ask Him how to raise people from the dead…or how to turn water into wine…what they thought was the most incredible and the most powerful thing that came from Jesus, it was His prayers. They said, “Jesus, teach us how to pray.”

Luke 11:1–4 ESV

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.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”

It’s the greatest tool we have…and I’ll give you a simple way to pray using this passage in just a moment…but notice this, even in Jesus’s model, there’s nothing selfish about that prayer at all.

Going back to Colossians, Paul wanted his readers to know, the power of Prayer, its in what you’re praying for. He’s asking for a specific thing…a specific purpose. He wanted them to pray for him, asking God to open doors so that they could speak the gospel. It was the gospel that Paul lived for, it was the preaching of the gospel that landed him in prison…it was the preaching of the gospel that was always on the forefront of Paul’s mind. You see, Paul was about following the great commission…He was about making disciples of all nations…And listen to this, his prayer requests and his own prayer direction demonstrated that. He didn’t pray for his own peace…he didn’t pray that he’d be released because it was really hard to be in prison…his request, it was to be released so that he could go out and do the same thing that landed him in prison to begin with. His prayers matched the heart of Christ…and his prayers were outward in nature. He didn’t need to pray for himself, because he trusted in a sovereign God to sustain him. His trust for God, came out in his requests and in his prayers. He cared most about the glory of God and the mission of God. His prayers reflected that.

And so, let your prayers be selfless…demonstrating who you are in Jesus.

IV. Pray Dependently (vv. 5-6)

And then the last point, pray dependently.

Look at verses 5 and 6. It says:

Colossians 4:5–6 ESV

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Listen, I’ll be quick here…these two verses, Paul’s not talking about something else. He’s still giving ‘em prayer requests. He’s saying, “Pray for my ability to advance the gospel…” And now he’s saying, “Pray for your ability to be a Christlike example, also for the advancement of the gospel.”

You see, again, I’ve said this a lot but when you have the right view of God and the right view of yourself…you start to realize you’re own inability to have the mind of Christ, right? Like you start to understand your own inability to be like Christ to the people around you. Heck, we can’t even stay too long at a stop light without flipping out. Again, when you see God for who He is…and us for who we are, you start to really grasp your own depravity…your own fallen nature, right?

And so, what Paul’s saying here, “Pray for yourself to walk in wisdom…to say the right things…to do the right things.” Don’t try and do these things on your own because you’re gonna be inconsistent and you’re gonna fail…again, because of who you are. Pray for God to do these things in you.

I mean, isn’t that what we saw from David last week in Psalm 119? “God cause me to hate what’s bad and to love what’s good…I know what I’m supposed to do, but I’m struggling…Cause in me…Make me be,” right?

That’s Paul’s prayer for his reader here. He wants us to be dependent on God alone to work in us and through us. He wants us to see and to acknowledge where the power in us comes from.

Even in Jesus’s model prayer, His example is us showing dependency on God, right?

Listen, the Word of God, it makes the promise to us that God’ll complete the work He started in us…there’s a promise that God’ll make us more like Jesus…but guys, you have to understand, that’s not an end unto itself. That promise, it was always purposeful. He wants to conform you and me into the image of Jesus so that we can continue the work Jesus started. That’s what Jesus says in John 20:21, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

Listen, our purpose in spiritual growth, it’s not just for us to enjoy the personal benefits of fellowship with God (I mean, yea we certainly get that)…it’s about being useful in the kingdom and about carrying out the great commission to all nations.

You’re prayers, they should all reflect that change in you.

Closing

And so, in closing…how should we pray? Persistently, passionately, gratefully, selflessly, dependently.

If you’re looking for a model…if you wanna simplify Jesus’s model, use the ACTS strategy. It’s A.C.T.S. (this is also on our website under resources). But, Adoration (praise God for who He is-hallowed be your name!), Confession (acknowledge who you are and how you’ve wronged God), Thanksgiving (thank Him for the physical and spiritual blessings He’s given you), and then Supplication (come before Him with selfless requests, petitioning Him to do things that only He can do).

Listen guys, we have to be a church that stands on the Word of God…and we have to be a church that unifies ourselves in prayer. We have to bring the two wings of the plane together so that we can lift up off the ground.

And so listen, here’s what I want us to do…I’ve been convicted in this area for a while now. I’ve discussed this with our deacons for years at this point. And so, I wanna stop talking…I wanna strengthen what we know is weak here at FBC. You’re gonna see us incorporate prayer into other services that we hold here…But listen, I also wanna build a prayer team here at our church. And I promise, being a part of this prayer team (if you so choose to), it’s not gonna take anymore time out of your day, its just gonna come alongside of things we’re already doing. And so listen, I have a sign up sheet just outside the sanctuary, if you’ve convicted, like me, and you wanna be apart of that…if you would just sign up for that at the end of the service.

But the idea with it, it’s to rotate people, people that sign up, every Sunday morning, during our service, to pray for the worship, for the preaching, for the hearing of God and His Word. Charles Surgeon, He actually did this during his ministry, and he said, this is where the power of his preaching came from…He said it was God working through the petitions of the saints.

And so, I would just ask you to really consider this. There’s gonna be other things that we do throughout the year as well.

But regardless, what does your prayer life look like this morning?

Would you bow your head and close your eyes with me?

Listen, I just want you to respond to the Word this morning. What in your prayer life needs to change? Are you persistent in it? Are you passionate in it? Do you approach it with an attitude of gratefulness? Are you selfless, dependent in your prayer life? Those are the things I want you to ask yourself…and those are the things I really want you to take before the Lord this morning.

And also, just take this time to really get your hearts right. Ask the Lord to cleanse you before we gather around the Lord’s table.

But listen, before we close, before we take communion together as God’s people…if you’re here today and you’ve never turned to Jesus Christ. I just wanna take a moment and let you know what the Bible says about us.

Understand that you were created for God’s glory…Psalm 139 says God knew you before the foundation of the world…it says that mankind was created perfectly. God desires a relationship with us. But guys, for us to have a relationship…we have to acknowledge a couple of things…we have to acknowledge our sin nature…we have to acknowledge that while we were created perfectly, we rebelled. We’re sinful in nature and by choice. And according to Paul, the wages of sin, its death. And we have to acknowledge, on our own, there’s nothing we can do to save ourselves from that outcome…But listen, the Bible, it tells us that Jesus is God, that He came to us in the form of a man, and that He died for our sins…It tells us that salvation, its all a free gift. And that when we confess with our mouth and believe in hearts, that Jesus is Lord, that He raised from the dead…when we confess and believe in that…when we repent and believe…it says, we will be saved.

And so listen, maybe you just need to take some time this morning to do that.

But listen, whatever it is, whoever you are…I just want you take this time…respond to what the Spirit might be doing in your heart right now and then we’ll come together at the Lord’s table in just a moment.

[Prayer]

Matthew 26:26 (ESV)

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”

Matthew 26:27–29 (ESV)

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”