A Model Of Praying Part 2 (Romans 1:11-13)

A Model Of Praying

Romans 1:8-13

GBCCR 11/29/25

Introduction

Catch- Have you ever sat with a friend or family member praying and it was like a really awkward prayer because it was about you

I’ll put this on me because it would never be true of my wife… saying, God, please help my wife to recognize the amount of money she is spending…

Or a girlfriend praying that her boyfriend would propose already

Or, lord God, please let my friend be teachable for what I am about to say

Awkard and a bit selfish… don’t pray like that

But what if the prayer before someone else was actually humble…

A child praying before an elderly parent saying, “Lord, we don’t know how to help mom right now… her health problems are huge, the finances are not there, and most importantly, she needs to believe that she is a sinner or only believing in Jesus Christ can save her.

Yes, that may be awkward a little bit, but sometimes it is selfless prayer that God wants us to give in front of others

And Paul is doing that now, he’s letting us in on a prayer that was about the people he’s writing to

Review

His focus from the beginning was on Jesus and what Jesus did for sinners in the gospel

So, yeah, this book will be a lot about Jesus and the gospel

Last week we started our focus on:

Learn to PRAY beyond your need list

Praise God for others’ obvious faith (v8)

We saw how Paul really got excited about seeing people’s faith strengthened and encourage others

So we too want people to be thanking God for our faith

Repeat your request over and over (v9-10)

And we saw how Paul kept praying over and over for this opportunity, even though he kept not being able to

Which reminded us that we should keep praying

Trans: but today we see

Ask God in your planning (v11-12)

Explanation

Paul keeps praying because he longs to see them

The word long means wanting something strongly or persistently

He really wants to be in their presence in a way that paper and pen could not satisfy

Think about that… here he is writing the very word of God to them

It will last millennia

And yet, without the in person contact, it is not enough

There is a priority of being in person

Within their first hour in Rwanda, the local team said, "Ninety percent of your job is done. You're here, your presence speaks volumes."

One of the team members told me she thought, "Well, I don't think so. That's gracious of you, but we're here to work hard."

The presence and chance for relationship together seemed to be the most pressing need for the Rwandan church'

He needs to be in person to give them this spiritual gift

It is almost always used in the New Testament to designate a gift that has been freely bestowed by God

In 2 Corinthians 1:11 Paul refers to his physical deliverance as a grace gift.

1 Corinthians 12:7- But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

As we saw with Grace and Apostleship

God gives gifts that are responsibilities to bless others

And Paul wants to give this gift to them for their strengthening

We need each other to be solid or strong

As Jesus put this weight on Peter after his trial

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

Or Paul sent Timothy

1 Thessalonians 3:2- and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith,

Paul doesn’t believe all we need is the Holy Spirit and our bible… he says we need each other in person to help one another

And Paul himself needed help in verse 12

“That is” provides a clarifying statement to make sure there is no confusion

He doesn’t just want to give to them, but to be blessed by them too

Paul may be an Apostle who saw the risen Jesus… but he still was weak saying

2 Corinthians 1:8–9- For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;

He was one who admitted his weakness and also his need for others saying:

2 Corinthians 1:10–11- … He will yet deliver us, you also joining in helping us through your prayers

Faith needs the prayers and the help of others

There is a wrong view that if God is in control, why plan?

If God wants others to help me.. won’t we just run into each other?DO I need to

DO I need to make a plan to get help? Yes!

The bible says God’s control over all things

For example

Proverbs 16:9- The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.

But also Proverbs 10:5- He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely, But he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully.

Paul was a planner and you should be as well

As an apostle Paul had received special guidance where he was supposed to go

For exampleActs 16:9–10- A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them

Acts 16:9–10- A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them

But does he talk about his vision or clear direction to go to Rome here? No

So Paul makes plans based on his goals

goals= ideas about how we want to achieve something that we are going about to do

Paul's goals were

To provide spiritual ministry to the Roman believers

To further establish and encourage the church in

To receive encouragement from them in Rome (1:11-12).

To win unbelievers to Christ (1:13-15).

But these goals meant Paul was not going to Rome yet because they were not his top priority

it was only in chapter 15:23-29 that Paul's full intentions were revealed,

His first priority was to finish task of evangelizing Greece.

Second priority was taking the financial gift being sent from the churches of Asia Minor to the beleaguered saints in Judea

This was important for him to get to people in need

Then Paul was going to head to Rome

But Rome was only a pitstop for him

He wanted to go to Spain where the gospel had not yet been preached

It seemed wise to be encouraged by the Romans on the way to Spain

Rome was maybe 4th on Paul’s list of considering others

But they made sense based on his priorities

Illustration point-We need to ask God in our planning

Because, yes God is in control of all circumstances

But we cannot expect circumstances to give us guidance

Could you imagine Paul and David having a conversation in heaven…

Wow Paul, God was really trying to keep you away from Rome… you were going to die there but you just kept on wanting to go

And hey, David, why didn’t you just kill Saul already when God gave you two opportunities to kill him

But neither would have been correct to do so, they would have ignored God’s commands

As G. C. Berkouwer correctly writes: “Where fragments of history are not interpreted by God Himself, we are not permitted to explain them out of their context as though their meaning were clear.

Instead, what should we do

Ask God in our planning

Application

We need to learn from the bible how to make decisions

We are told to make our decisions based on the principles and priorities God gives us

We are pray for wisdom

And then you are to do

Again, this blows apart too much of people’ s wrong view of looking for God’s plan for their lives

If you had asked Paul why he was planning a trip to Rome, he would have answered, “I want to see them and minister to them” (Romans 1:10).

Paul didn’t try and “spiritualize” the decision by claiming, “I feel the Lord is leading me. . . ,” or, “I think the Lord is telling me to . . . ,”

I put out a fleece and it went straight to rome

Instead, Paul had many things get in his way and yet he still prayed that he could go to Rome

He wanted to love others and He knew

Romans 13:9- For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

He wanted to love his neighbor by bring them the gospel

Part of your decision making should be that you need to use your gifts for others and you need their gifts

It is so easy to think I just need to have this, or I like my own land with my own life

Instead, the bible teaches us that our gifts are for others

1 Corinthians 12:7- But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

We develop our gifts by benefiting from the ministry of others.

never ending cycle—gifted people ministering to others who are thereby built up and who in turn minister to others who are then built up to minister to others,

So, may I encourage you to pray when you make decisions

Paul and Nehemiah prayed as they prepared

Nehemiah prayed right in the middle of explaining his plan to the king

And pray afterwards in thanksgiving

As John MacArthur helpful states, “God’s will is that you be saved, Spirit-filled, sanctified, submissive, and suffering”). Once you have determined that you are in God’s will in those areas, when you are faced with a decision, “Do whatever you want! If those five elements are operating in your life, who is running your wants? God is!”

Once you have determined that you are in God’s will in those areas, when you are faced with a decision, “Do whatever you want! If those five elements are operating in your life, who is running your wants? God is!”

So you can pray for God’s what you want

So, turning this around from your decision to a friend’s decision

Could you imagine someone saying I am praying that I can move to Hamtramck, Michigan,

This is the place November 2021, the Midwestern city of 28,000 has reached a milestone. Hamtramck has elected an all-Muslim City Council and a Muslim mayor, becoming the first in the US to have a Muslim-American government.

They have the muslim call to worship ring out on loud speakers

So your friend asks for prayer saying, “We’re super conservative, we’re really modest in our clothing, and love being in homes rather than out in public.

We think we could be a really good fit to live among muslims for the sake of preaching the gospel to them.

Would you be hurt that your friend is considering leaving you?

Or would you consider that a wise move based on our priorities to be ambassadors for christ?

Friends, we do not need a voice from heaven calling us to a certain people

But wisdom tells us its really hard to reach a culture as ingrained as the isalmaic one unless you live with the people, work with the people… so you do so

So some people might be called to Michagan, or Abu Dubi because the mission is there

Trans: but like Paul, when you pray for what you want, you will have it with an open hand as you

Yield your desires to His will (v13)

Explanation

Paul has been busy

This is the end of his 3rd missionary journey

Acts 19:21- Now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”

He is probably writing from Corinth in AD 57

The work there has taken long

So he addresses his brothers in Christ now, reminding them of his plans and God’s providence

Paul’s purpose had been to come and was to come in the future

But things have gotten in the way like in

1 Thessalonians 2:18- For we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, more than once—and yet Satan hindered us.

Here Satan uses his power to prevent Paul

The verb here translated "stopped" means literally "to cut into” it has the idea is that of cutting apart a road to make it impassable

We are not told what Satan did exactly,

We know that Paul is able to sent Timothy in 3:2,

So it had something to do with paul himself

But Paul knows it is Satan

Let’s realize it is not always Satan who prevents travel

We want can’t blame him for every hiccup in our travel plans

For example, the Holy spirit kept Paul from going

Acts 16:6- And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

Not every problem is Satan

He cannot stop God’s planand we know that

and we know that whatever happens is God’s plan

Paul wants a really good thing… to obtain fruit among the gentiles of Rome

But he has been hindered so far and may be in the future

Paul one day will end up in Rome, but not the way he planned

You will remember that after going to Jerusalem Paul ends in imprisoned for 2 years in Caesrea where Felix is waiting for a bribe

Then when Paul makes his case before the successor, Festus and ends up saying

Acts 25:11–12- “If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.” Then when Festus had conferred with his council, he answered, “You have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go.”

He goes in chains through waters, shipwrecks, dangers until

Acts 28:14- There we found some brethren, and were invited to stay with them for seven days; and thus we came to Rome.

And he gets straight to his work of preaching, as he planned

Acts 28:30–31- And he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered.

As far as we know, Paul never made it to Spain,

but his goal of evangelism was completed

Even if it was different than he thought it would be.

Illustration point- You must yield your desires to God’s plan too

And that means trusting the process

One of the most annoying moment for pilots came after the creation of the iphone

It wasn’t just the iphone itself, but the commericals that showed people what they could do with the iphone

The commercial wanted to show you all that the iphone could do

A man is stuck in an airplane on the runaway as some bad weather is coming through

There was an app to check the weather

There was an app to check where planes were

So in the commercial the iphone owner dings the flght attendant and says, can you let the pilot know that we should be good to go now that the weather has cleared

Supposedly one day a pilot said… now before you go checking your iphone to see if we’re clear to go, I want you to check if there is an app to get permission from the tower to take off too.

It is utterly ridiculous to tell the pilot he’s not moving according to our schedule and plan. Instead we need to trust he’ll get us where he said he would

And so we need to yield our plans to God.

Application

There is something so wonderful in our prayers of giving our reasons for praying

When we speak them outloud, we tend to see what our goals really are

The Puritans used to speak rather grandly about using argument in prayer ,telling God why what we have asked for seems to us to be for the best, in light of what we know God's own goals to be

We are not to be like Martha, commanding Jesus to make someone change what they’re doing

But like Moses, we lay out our reasons to God for our requests that align with His Glory and what He tells us to do

Exodus 32:11–14- “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? “Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.

Prayer works

But also remember we have a savior whose received a big no for the good that we receive

Matthew 26:39- And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”

Things may not go the way you plan in prayer, but God does not punish us for praying the wrong thing

Sometimes you may be careful or god may give you want you ask for

If you keep saying god grow me than we will need to go be a missionary in Africa?

Would Paul have not ended up in chains in Rome if he had stopped praying to go to rome!

NO way!

Paul did not pray a selfish prayer, but one only focused on loving others

So, if anything test your prayers by how you want to spend it on

James warns us

James 4:3- You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.

Explain how you want to be spent for God’s glory and others good in your prayers

And trust that God will get you there one way or another

Since we have seen from Paul’s example prayer part 1

We praise God for the faith we see in onthers

We should repeat our requests over and over

Ask God in your planning (v11-12)

Yield your desires to His will (v13)

We know we must (Resolution)- PRAY

So when you Pray, what do you pray?

Ask yourself, “Am I just praying a wish list to God?

If so, may I encourage you to practice different aspects of prayer

Beware the idea that you have to recite the Lord’s prayer every time, as Jesus said Pray in this way…

The bible doesn’t lay out one particular pattern of prayer, such as you have to say thank you first

But notice that prayer always has many routes

Like driving to Sacramento

Some of you live right next to 49 to 80, so you take that, others of you will use 174 here, or Penn Valley people might use 65

None of you stay on 80 then, you might get on business 80 and then 50, so go to I5, or maybe just a cross street to get to your destination

But no matter what you path you choose, you wil take multiple connections

May our prayer life be half as varied at our driving life

Can I encourage you, do not fixate on the proper order

But try to spend some time in each. Here is one for the kids

Adoration- I love you prayers say what is awesome about God

Confession- I am sorry prayers say I didn’t do

Thanksgiving- Thank you for what you’ve given me, prayers

Supplications- Please prayers that says what I need