Getting Prayer Wrong

Pray:

It is hard to believe that we have just had Easter. I am always amazed at how a year can fly. We are a quarter of the year gone already. This year of prayer focus for us as a church and with just a quarter of a year, I see change. Can’t I put finger on it exactly, not really. There is no hard data to point to but I feel change. I hope you do as well. I choose to believe that it is because of prayer. I know it is because of prayer. But as we spend a year focusing on prayer, I thought about my prayer life and what it has been like. Has it been what it needs to be? Am I doing it right? Can we get prayer wrong? I don’t know how you feel about your prayer life but this first few months have taught me that I have prayed wrong. Can we get prayer wrong?

The short answer is yes. I remember just after declaring Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I was praying constantly, with such passion! I remember that i would pray: God if you give me this wonderful life that I have seen, I PROMISE I will change everything. Wow I was so powerfully convicted, not realizing that I was bargining with God and telling him that I and I alone would change my life. Good job Darren. I remember telling my friend and mentor about this prayer and how much it meant to me and watching the look on his face. It wasn’t one of good job! More of a Oh, Ok. Hear maybe read this.

Luke 22:41–42 “Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and began to pray, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me—nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.””

Oops, Well got that one wrong. I was so sure that was what I needed to happen. I needed to make changes and my life would change. I was convinced that following Jesus meant that I would have this amazing life of seeing Jesus work around me everywhere I turned. That my life would be so much better than what it had been. I prayed and made promises to God that I could never in my power, keep.

So I changed the way I prayed. I was embaressed that I would pray that way, trying to make deals with God and that I had the power to change my life through my own actions. I don’t know why I thought it would work, Because I had done a really great job in the past with my life, doing it my way! NOT. I wasn’t going to make that mistake again. I Kind of changed to this kind of prayer.

God I will take myself out of this and i will wait until you show me your will. Please direct me what should I do next. I will wait for your direction. So i waited, boy did I wait. I did nothing but pray, please show me your will, praying those kind of prayers and I was getting crickets. So when I was tired of doing nothing, every conversation that came along must have been God speaking to me through others. So I threw myself at this task or that task. What ever needs that people talked to me about. I did whatever came along, as long it was good, it must have been God’s direction.

Then i found I was struggling with frustration, things were hard. I was not feeling that I was having an impact on people or myself. Longing for the passion that I had at the beginning of my new life. I was doing everything but it was not fulfilling me. In some cases it was actually making me frustrated with myself and others around me. My inaction or then over action was not God’s will, but me being passive waiting for God to speak. Then the opposite, thinking that God was speaking to me with every request to help out or serve here or there. There is a time to pray, if it be your will God but not in the way I was praying it. I was getting prayer wrong.

There were so many times that I felt that my prayer life was a struggle. Do you feel that sometimes? I would try my best and would mess it up. I would struggle and try and then to find out as I went to a service, bible studies or just conversations with people that seemed so good at prayer. That there was more I needed to learn. Some times I felt that my prayers were not effective. Or I didn’t know enough to how to pray right. Or I just didn’t think to pray at all until I had no other option. I think we can all identify these feelings. I have heard so many people state that they can’t pray out-load or just refuse to start. We can pray wrong.

We miss opportunities to pray for people because we feel we will do it wrong. Or we will mess it up, sound foolish. I know that some of the hardest times in my life were lightened because someone prayed with me. Did I think about the person doing the praying and his struggles with prayer, No. Did I judge their length of prayer. No. Did I feel the heart of the person Yes. Did I feel better after the prayer. Yes! I bet that person also had gone through a time of doubt in their life when it came to prayer. This is not just a you problem, it is everyone’s. I have people to thank for their prayers but really need to thank them more for overcoming the feelings of getting it wrong, to be able to pray for me.

Through those prayers, my life was changed. But it was the example of the people who prayed for me or others, in my presence, that gave me the example to keep praying. The bible mentions prayer over 650 times so God has a lot to say about prayer and I really believe that we should strive to pray like Jesus. But our fear of getting prayer wrong should not stop us. whether we are praying our private prayers or praying for others. God says pray continously.

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (NLT)

Always be joyful.

Never stop praying.

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Never stop praying that sounds simple. Paul is not saying that it is easy, but he is instructing us to pray all of the time. He is telling us it is God’s will. Fear has no place in this, in fact Joyful and Thankful are also part of these instructions. Getting prayer wrong can be a powerful fear, which causes us to doubt our ability to pray. If we focus on the the joyfulness in our heart and thankfulness to be in conversation with God the fear will fade. If we pray non stop, God will work in us to reach others. God has made things so simple, sometimes we don’t believe, just how simple. Don’t know what to say in prayer try starting with this

James 1:5 NLT

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.

Don’t complicate it, ask. God will show them your heart.

Doing prayer wrong

So I come back to the statement of doing prayer wrong. Long answer. Is that God in my life, took the times that I was praying wrong and looked at the heart behind it. He didn’t reject me because I tried to bargin with Him. He taught me. He placed people in my life who showed me how to pray. Gently. I would go even farther to say that he felt the heart behind the prayer and did more. He took the change I promised him and could not accomplish on my own and changed me through the Holy Spirit.

Even before I accepted Jesus as my savior. God was working, teaching me, planting seeds. Many years before I ever attended a church. I was in the mall with my daughter and she wanted to to into Ardene’s to shop. I don’t know if you have every seen a Dad, when their Daughter is shopping in a place like that, but lets say I was not looking thrilled as i wondered around the store. As I wondered around the store I ran into some people that I knew as a teenager. I recognized them and said hello. We began to catch up on life and they asked the typical questions about my life and I started to, you know, explain where I live, work, kids and ask them the same things back. Just catching up. I don’t know what I said exactly but I was sort of joking, you know, Job was hard, the kids were teenagers so they were driving me crazy. Life was busy. That kind of conversation that we do when we are explaining our situation with someone we haven’t seen in a while. Nothing to bad but just looking to connect with people. They listened and talked about their lives. At the end of the conversation they looked at me and asked if they could pray for me. I remember thinking oh, did I make my life sound that bad? I thought ok yes I am fine if you want to pray for me. Thinking that they would leave and maybe pray for me at their church because that was my experience with prayer. I was standing between the silly toe socks and the sparkly scrunchies and then these two old friends reached out, placed their hands on my shoulders and started praying outloud in Ardene’s. They prayed for my family, for my work and for Jesus to enter my life. Other than being a little shocked that they meant to pray right here and now in the mall. I didn’t get angry with them. I didn’t judge them for what they said. I just remember thinking wow they really meant everything they were saying. I left that encounter actually feeling better. Years later I realizing how much I wanted to be that bold with my prayers like them.

That encounter stayed with me for a while, then life started back up and it faded. I know now, that God was working through those people’s prayers and their example of boldness would speak to me later. I wonder what would have happened in my life if these old friends had been too scared to get prayer wrong. What if that had changed their ability to pray for me. Where would I be now.

At the lowest point in my life I wonder if that simple prayer, done in public, helped direct me to other’s who would pray for me. Would I have sought out people in my darkest hour to receive support and prayer that I needed to get through when I thought I could not face even one more minute. Would I have allowed my mentors to pray into my life when I didn’t think I had any life left. I don’t know but I sure see God’s hand in it now.

God works in our lives because he loves us. He gave us the gift of his Son to teach us not only how to pray but give us people to pray into our lives and teach us. God sent his Son so that we maybe able to be with God for eternity. Jesus equips us even when we fear getting it wrong. His words, His teaching is all here. He taught us and sacrificed his life for us so that we can be forgiven. He wants us to reach others, through us and we have Jesus to show us how. Maybe this is a good time to take communion together to remember him.

Maybe someone here needs experience the resurrection and the life. That can be only found through the one who says am the resurrection and the life. maybe the today that you say for the first time or need to say it again Jesus I believe that you sacrificed your body and shed your blood for my sins. That through the sacrifice of your life and the spilling of your blood for me. That is what communion represents. I believe that Jesus you love me and I love you and that my life will be changed. I would like to invite you to take communion with us. If you became a brand new follower or a renewed believer in Jesus today please come see Pastor Matt for a free gift . Let us take communion together. If you need gluten free wafers. Please see the ushers at the back.

Jesus took the bread and said take this my body broken for you do this in memory of me. let us take the bread together. This cup represents the blood of Jesus poured out for your sin. lets take the cup.

I know today that, I am where I am, because of prayer. My challenge isn’t to be fearful of getting prayer wrong but in not praying. For myself or for others. So my hope that this challenges us to stop letting fear keep us from praying. Through us God will reach us and others because of prayer. Prayer is communication with God and others with Jesus’ heart. Prayer changed my life and hope it changes your life but that change can only happen if we actually pray. We will make mistakes as we start to pray but the only unrepairable mistake is not to pray. Don’t let Satan use fear to stop us from praying. He knows that the prayful are changed and help change others. How can I stop doing something that others did for me that changed my life. Just remember we were all getting prayer wrong at one time or another. We have had so much teaching all ready in just a few months in this year of prayer. We will see God’s work in us and others.

Can you imagine the whole church praying for others. The power that we have experienced in the past with prayer multiplied by so many times. Without fear amazing. I said at the start of this morning that I have felt change in us. That there is no specific Data to point to. I know that with prayer, without fear, there will be undeniable proof of change. There will be a over whelming presence of God in our lives and in others coming to know God, through prayer without fear of getting it wrong. I know this because I know what my prayers and the prayer of others in my own life.

Lets pray.

Mark 16:15–16 “Then he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”