"When You Pray..."

Tomorrow, Christians from all over the country, will gather for the National Day of Prayer; many of us, even,will be out at the courthouse lawn, at the gazebo to pray together.

President Abraham Lincoln called for a day of fasting and prayer. His declaration for a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer begins with this thought. “And in so much as we know that, by his divine law, nations, like individuals, are subject to the punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be, but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People?” He went on to say. “We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God made us It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for the clemency and forgiveness.” He then set aside April 30, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer, and asked people in our nation to abstain on that day from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite at their places of public worship and their respective homes in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of their religious duties, proper to that solemn occasion. You see prayer can give you the power to change things than ordinarily can’t be changed. I’m sure, Abraham Lincoln would turn over in his grave today if he could see how far our United States has moved from God.

I just read in the news this morning President Trump reportedly will sign a controversial religious liberty executive order Thursday, just before he and conservative leaders celebrate the National Day of Prayer. The draft seeks to provide exemptions for religious people and organizations who object to same-sex marriage, premarital sex, abortion, contraception and trans identity. "The language is very, very strong," one conservative source reported. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is already revving up for a court battle. The ACLU said if Trump signs an executive order "that attempts to provide a license to discriminate against women or LGBT people, we will see him in court."

The ACLU said if Trump signs an executive order "that attempts to provide a license to discriminate against women or LGBT people, we will see him in court."

At the close of tonight, we are going to pray for our President and all of the men and women that surround him and that he and they are listening for and hearing and moving on the will of almighty God for this great nation!

You know, from the beginning of the Word of God and all throughout, we see the design and will of our Creator displayed within the pages of the Bible. By this, I simply mean, what I have stood up here and said numerous times before; God created mankind for a very specific purpose.

From Genesis and the Garden of Eden account and moving forward, we see God reaching out to His creation, mankind, and looking for communion and fellowship with them.

Communion and fellowship, a deep intimacy with God was to have been the great blessing of our existence, for all times!

And as we all know, the emergence of sin, caused enmity and separation between us and our Creator and this intimacy instantly developed limitations; mainly because, sin cannot and will not exist in the presence of Jehovah. HE IS PERFECT AND ANY SPACE OR PLACE THAT HE OCCUPIES IS PERFECT ALSO!

Deuteronomy 32:3–4 ESV

For I will proclaim the name of the Lord; ascribe greatness to our God! “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.

And so, throughout the ages, we see God still desiring fellowship with those whom He so loved; US!

He made a way in the OT to have close fellowship with His people, through means of the tabernacle and the temple, until a more permanent means was established.

And in the NT, we see this means accomplished, through that of a carpenter’s son who built the perfect doorway out of two beams of wood to allow entrance into the Kingdom of God, for all who would go through it in faith and belief in He and His Father.

And yet, because of the barrier of sin, mankind would draw close to God out of fear or necessity and then pull away again. (This pattern has never changed, throughout the ages. Just look at our country right after 9/11; people were flocking into churches and coming together to seek God and looking for help and answers. Then, as soon as the comfort came back into their lives, out the door they walked and on with their lives they went!

We move close to Him on behalf of fear and change in our lives and then, just as a selfish child would do, we pull back away so that we can do as we want and when we want.

We shift and change like the wind, but the thing is; HE DOESN’T CHANGE, NEITHER DOES HIS WILL!

He desired then, as He does today, fellowship with us! And this fellowship comes through our prayer time with Him!

Throughout the OT there are verses with great and powerful prayers offered up to Him from faithful men and women who knew and believed in Him and desired a relationship with Him. They knew that He was the only true source of strength and power.

And tomorrow being a day set aside to pray to God on behalf of this country, will no doubt, feed into the skepticism and pessimism of so many.

I say this simply because there are so many who, if or when they do pray, do so with little to no belief that anything is going to happen. ( says, “let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”) And sadly enough, there will be people from all over tomorrow gather and say a public prayer to look good and appear religious and then, just as in the 9/11 account; walk away and back to their own lives with little to no regard for what they just did!

The problem with the perspective of so many Christians and their prayers, is simply this; WE DO NOT, NOR CAN WE SEE THE BIG PICTURE!

We tend to get frustrated when we pray because we do not see something happen. However, only God sees everything that is happening, up front, in the middle and behind the scenes. (Only He is omniscient; all knowing!)

It is like you hold one piece in your hand to a 1 trillion piece jigsaw puzzle (which you do not know what it is supposed to look like) and you are trying to make sense of life based upon that one piece! You pray about that one piece, but because you don’t see anything change, you get more and more frustrated.

However, what you and I do not realize, is that our one piece may align with someone else’s piece on the other side of the globe. And so, when we pray, we are impacting them and their piece of the puzzle and may never know of it, or see it happen, until we get into heaven!

Meanwhile, the Lord is looking from above and watching the puzzle come together, per His will. He knows what the picture looks like, once the puzzle is completed; because He designed it. IT IS IN HIS WILL AND SO IT WILL HAPPEN THAT WAY! (His sovereign will never changes; even if you and I stop using our piece of the puzzle, the He will use someone else to complete His will!)

I wish tomorrow, all over this country, as men and women and children are gathered and praying, that it would be as it was in with Elisha and the servant who was fearful of the impending war.

2 Kings 6:17 ESV

Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

If the Lord would give all of His saints, at one glorious moment, a glimpse of the warring angels and ultimately, His divine power and glory, that surrounds our atmosphere, what a difference it would make on our daily lives, but more importantly on our prayer lives (our intimacy) with Him!

So, tonight, I want to start talking with you about one of the greatest aspects of your walk in the Christian life, and that is, your prayer life!

There are those that will say, “No, no, no, reading the Word is what builds your faith! That is more important!”

Well, faith without works is a dead faith. And so, if you read a passage or a chapter or two from the word, but never talk with the G-d (THE AUTHOR mind you) of the Bible, then your faith is truly useless!

The spoken word of Jehovah is a powerful and sharp double edged sword for the those who know Him and know what He wants done with it and to accomplish through them with it.

If you’re not pursuing a relationship with Him in prayer and constant communication, then just reading the Word, is not going to do you much good. It is only truly imparted to you as faith when it is paired up with the God who inspired it!

If this is not the case, then everything that you need for your specific walk would be written right there. Jesus said Himself, that He only did what the Father told Him. He said that we were to ask the Father for whatever we needed. If you lack wisdom, you are to ask Him for it. And so on and so on.

The point is, all of these things do no come from just reading the Word, but through talking to our heavenly Father. You MUST PRAY AND COMMUNICATE WITH HIM! THIS WAS AND STILL IS HIS WILL FOR YOU AND I!!!

The Word itself tells us that we must call upon Him and communicate with Him:

Psalm 50:15 ESV

and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

Psalm 91:14–15 ESV

“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.

Psalm 145:18 ESV

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

Please, do not get me wrong, I am not downplaying the imperative significance of getting into and reading the Word of God; it is absolutely necessary that you read and feed from the word, for you spiritual life, as God speaks through that word to the believer. Reading of the word is part of the way that He communicates to us; it is half of the communication process between us and the Father.

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2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

That you and I may be “complete”, as the passage just said. The breathed word of God is vital in making us complete!

The thing is, sometimes people say a prayer, or do all of the talking and never hear what God is wanting to say to them. The Word is necessary so that we hear God speaking to us.

In terms of two way communication, I agree with what D.L. Moody said, “In prayer we talk to G-d. In Bible study, G-d talks to us, and we had better let G-d do most of the talking.”

We are going to turn our attention to a very, very well recognized passage within the Bible that we have been taught and even used in liturgy for centuries. Would you please turn with me to and we will begin there.

reads,

Matthew 6:5–7 ESV

“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. 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. “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.

In the days when Jesus walked this earth, the rabbis of old had set patterns and precepts about man’s dealings with the Lord. The Lord was way, way off and separate from mankind. There was much more emphasis placed upon rituals and practices, as opposed to individual and private times praying to the Lord.

Ancient Hebrew prayer had much emphasis placed upon cleansing and continual repentance, (as the law reminded constantly of their sin), such as in ,

Psalm 24:3–4 ESV

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.

The religious hypocrites made it a practice to pray openly before everyone to observe, so as to draw accolades and build up their image as holy and godly! They made others feel em-burdened and guilty and less than worthy because of the weight and guilt of sin.

Jesus made it very well known that we were to go to the Father in prayer and not, as a spectacle and in open view for man’s approval or accolades. But rather, we are to go to the Father in private and pray and talk to Him. For it is there that the true reward is given; (HE LISTENS TO A GENUINE PRAYER), vs someone praying for the world to witness!

Jesus’ disciples were always observing Him praying and they must have heard His deep and immersive talks with His father countless times and because of this, one of them asked Him to teach them how to pray, which we read in Luke’s gospel, chapter 11:1 , where it is says, “Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

You see, it was known even among the religious leaders that John had taught his disciples to pray and fast, as they made mention of in and so, Jesus’ disciples wanted to be taught how to pray.

In light of this, I can not tell you how many times I have stood somewhere with people and someone is asked to pray and they say, “I’m not good at praying”, or “I don’t know how to pray.”

This is completely understandable with someone who is a new Christian. But there are many people who refuse to pray in front of others simply because they are unsure of what to say or how to say it.

Hence the NEED for DISCIPLESHIP! AMEN?!

As the Bible is clear on the fact that we are to diligently STUDY the word of God (not just read, but study):

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. “

“It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

“With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

“devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.”

So also, is it clear that we are to devote ourselves to times of praying to G-d:

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

“Pray without ceasing,”

“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,”

“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”

This is the balance of our relationship with the Lord, as it should be with any healthy relationship; we talk and listen and He talks and listens.

It is not one sided! (It’s not like the wife that said to her husband, “Look, we are going to talk this out right now. I am going to talk and you are going to listen and then you are going to listen and I am going to talk!”)

One other thing about the initial instruction that Jesus gave in the , is the issue about repetition, as He said, “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.”

Pagan religions use mantras and repetitious phrases in their praying that truly have no intent or meaning, but are done out of religious ceremony and custom!

Very similar to the prayer life that many Christians have adopted and use.

We teach little prayers to children to get them used to praying and when we hear them saying them, we think to ourselves that it is so cute, but it is not so cute when that relationship with the Lord is never developed and you end up with a 35 year old man who is asked to bless the food at his fiances house and he breaks out one of maybe two prayers that he was taught, “G-d is good, G-d is great. Let us thank Him for our food, By His hands we are fed; give us Lord our daily bread. AMEN!”

As Christians, we use so many catch phrases and terms and lingo that we have observed other people use in prayer.

Tim Hawkins mentioned “The hedge of protection”

We use the phrase, “Lord bless this food and use it for the nourishment and strength of our bodies” (as we are getting ready to shove down a super sized Big Mac lunch combo!)

Actually in light of that, I like what one minster said one time, in regard to our prayer life, he said, “ The problem with the church as a whole is we have too many at the supper room and no one in the upper room...”

As you remember that says,

Acts 1:14 ESV

All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

We are going to read the Lord’s Prayer together right now and then starting next week, we are going to begin looking at prayer as Jesus instructed us and developing a lifestyle centered around prayer and using this guideline for the reason that He gave it to us!

Matthew 6:9–13 KJV 1900

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Psalm 23 ESV

A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.