Intercede in Prayer

Bottom line

This summer, if we want to grow in our faith so that we are ready for a new ministry season this fall, it is going to require building better habits. The most important of these habits is a daily habit of prayer.

Opening Line

When you think of the word ‘devoted', is there any one person that comes to mind?

Introduction

When I think of devotion, or dedication, the first person that comes to mind for me is Kobe Bryant. Kobe was famous for what was called the Mamba Mentality. For Kobe, it wasn’t about outworking everyone; it was about maximizing his time on the court and recovery. The rationale was clear. He determined that most players, even the very best in the world, started their day at 11 am and could fit in 2 workouts a day. If he started his day at 5:00, he could get in four workouts a day. This meant he was up at 3:30 or 4 every morning in order to get ready for the day. He had everything timed perfectly so that he could be done by 6pm and home with his family every night. He did this 6 days a week.

On top of that, Kobe was also known by his trainers for doing blackout workouts, and it is exactly what it sounds like. He would push himself to the point his muscles would simply stop. It was even noted that when he played for the USA along side some of the greatest players in the world, he would often arrive at the gym soaking in sweat by the time the rest of the team were waking up for the day.

Main Point

I don’t know about anyone else, but I would say that is the picture of devotion or dedication. The intentionality, the focus. Kobe was also infamous for being uncompromising on this routine. He was committed to it so that he could the best he could be.

I bring this up because over the last four sermons, the word that has come up a lot is devotion.

Acts 2:42 NLT

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

The believers were devoted to these four things, and one of the goals or encouragements I have for you this summer is to share in the devotion. Remain devoted to each other by being intentional about spending time with one another and finding reasons to share meals together. Remain devoted to God by prioritizing reading God’s word, filling your mind with good Biblical teaching, and this morning we are going to dive into being devoted to prayer. This morning I want to suggest to you that prayer is the most important of the four to be devoted to.

Why it matters

Why? Because prayer not only deepens your fellowship with God, but it also deepens the fellowship with one another. The Baker Encyclopedia of Psychology and Counselling writes that when someone is prayed for, it helps them feel secure, valued, and part of caring community. It is how we bear one another’s burdens and form bonds of empathy and identification. Jesus even taught us to pray for our enemies because it helps develop positive feelings toward the person and can lead to forgiveness and caring. Pray enhances the a sense of community within the church.

So this morning, I want to look to the Old Testament to help us see devotion to prayer in action. I could have picked from any number of people, but the one that jumps out at me is Daniel. The prophet Daniel shows a deep commitment to prayer, and I hope that diving into his story helps you see what a deep commitment to prayer should like.

Scripture

So a little context into Daniel. The nation of Judah had been taken into by the Babylonians. King Nebuchadnezzar brought in a bunch of young men to serve in his courts, and Daniel, along with three of his buddies, were included in this group. Daniel quickly establishes himself as a top ranking wise in both the Babylonian and Persia empires. He served under multiple kings, and in his life saw multiple visions of what the future, many of which we still refer to as prophecies of the end times. In the scheme of Scripture, Daniel is considered one of the four major prophets along with Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Of the four, Daniel is my favorite.

The first story from Daniel. In chapter 2 of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream that deeply troubles him, and he wants the wise men of the kingdom to interpret it for him. However, he won’t tell them what the dream is. He is convinced that he tells them the dream, they may manipulate him and tell him what he wants to hear. He wants to test where these wise men are as connected to their gods as they claim to be. It gets to the point that the king declared that if none of his wise men can give an interpretation, they will all be killed. No pressure.

So Daniel goes to his friends, and this is what it says.

Daniel 2:17–19 NLT

Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. He urged them to ask the God of heaven to show them his mercy by telling them the secret, so they would not be executed along with the other wise men of Babylon. That night the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven.

What was Daniel’s response? Not just go to prayer, but to go to his trusted friends who loved God along with him, and pray for wisdom and revelation of the dream.

Find people you can pray with

I can attest to the importance of this point. Over the last couple of years, I’ve been really encouraged to find people who can be praying for me and the with me, and I am fortunate enough to have three groups that fit that bill. I have a group of people that I email almost every week with different prayer requests for myself or the church. Then, every Wednesday at noon, we have the hour of prayer. It is by no coincidence that since both of these groups have started that the church has consistently started to grow. I also have a group of pastors that I am being mentored with, and I know that if something big comes up, I can go to them and they will pray along side with us.

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I honestly don’t know where I would be without these three groups. They have been my sounding board, my confidants, and they do the spiritual work of prayer. And so, from personal experience and from we see in Daniel’s story, you need a group like this. It doesn’t have to be big, it doesn’t have to be a regular thing, it just needs to be a group of people that you know when things get tough or you need a little extra boost in your life, you can go to these people and ask them to pray for you and with you. Find people you can pray with and will pray for you.

Now the next story is probably the most infamous about Daniel, but I want to point out some major details that shouldn’t be missed. We are fast forwarding to Daniel 6. The Babylonians have fallen to the Medes and Persians, and now Daniel is serving under King Darius of the Medes.

Daniel 6:1–5 NLT

Darius the Mede decided to divide the kingdom into 120 provinces, and he appointed a high officer to rule over each province. The king also chose Daniel and two others as administrators to supervise the high officers and protect the king’s interests. Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel’s great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire. Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy. So they concluded, “Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion.”

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Do you see what they said about Daniel? They wanted to bring a charge against him, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, responsible, and completely trustworthy. The apostle Peter actually encourages the church to do the same.

1 Peter 2:11–12 NLT

Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

1 Peter 3:16 NLT

But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.

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Don’t miss the significance of what is being said here. As a follower of Jesus Christ, there should be a noticeable difference between you and the unbelievers around you. You should stand out for all the right reasons. When Peter says you live a good life, he’s not saying the good life like, “Blessed.” He means a life that seeks to do good for those around you. He means a holy life, set apart to serve God and bring glory and honor to his name. As life that is untainted by the desires of the world.

How do you do that? I believe that Daniel’s devotion to prayer is what enabled him to do it. Why? Because when you pray regularly, you become mindful of the fact that God is all knowing and all seeing. You become mindful that the life you live as a believer reflects back on the God that you serve and so you want to live in such a way that brings honor to him. Most importantly, he is you heavenly Father, and you don’t want to bring disrepute to your father. The two things are very much connected, and it is the very reason that it is prayer that the administrators come after it.

The high officers go to King Darius and ask him to make a law, that for the next 30 days the people of the empire are only allowed to pray to the king. If anyone prays to anyone else, he is to be thrown into the lions’ dens. The king sees no issue and signs off on it.

So what does Daniel do? Daniel 6:10-11

Daniel 6:10–11 NLT

But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God. Then the officials went together to Daniel’s house and found him praying and asking for God’s help.

Do you see the significance of what is happening here? Daniel hears about the law is signed, and he still goes and prays anyways. It must have been well known that this was Daniel’s practice because the high officers knew when to go to the house and catch him in the act.

Pray, even when it hurts

I’m sure many of you know how the story goes, but if you don’t, let me tell you. Daniel is brought before the king because he has disobeyed the law. Darius is deeply troubled by the news and tries to find a way to get Daniel out of the jam. He can’t and so Daniel is thrown into the lions’ den. The king returns in the morning, only to find that Daniel is alive. God sent a angel to close the lions’ mouth, and so he is pulled out of the den unharmed. Darius then rounds up the administrators who had tricked him and schemed against Daniel. They are thrown into the lions’ den and the didn’t get the angel treatment.

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This is really significant. Daniel could have changed something. Maybe he moved spots, or maybe he finds somewhere else to pray, and something. Change something and the administrators never would’ve caught him. But he didn’t; he stayed the course. Why? Because he feared God more than man; he knew that no matter what the people did to him, his God was still bigger, and everything would work out. Even if he would’ve been eaten that day, God is still good. Do you know that?

What does that look like for you? What does it look like to have an uncompromising prayer life?

I have one more story from the life of Daniel. Daniel 10:1-3

Daniel 10:1–3 NLT

In the third year of the reign of King Cyrus of Persia, Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar) had another vision. He understood that the vision concerned events certain to happen in the future—times of war and great hardship. When this vision came to me, I, Daniel, had been in mourning for three whole weeks. All that time I had eaten no rich food. No meat or wine crossed my lips, and I used no fragrant lotions until those three weeks had passed.

So what’s happening here is Daniel receives a vision, and it troubles him. He is so deeply bothered by it that he takes a posture of mourning. Instead of eating or caring for himself, he has prioritized prayer, seeking an answer from the LORD about what it means. For three weeks, Daniel has been in this posture of prayer, longing for an answer.

Daniel 10:4–7 NLT

On April 23, as I was standing on the bank of the great Tigris River, I looked up and saw a man dressed in linen clothing, with a belt of pure gold around his waist. His body looked like a precious gem. His face flashed like lightning, and his eyes flamed like torches. His arms and feet shone like polished bronze, and his voice roared like a vast multitude of people. Only I, Daniel, saw this vision. The men with me saw nothing, but they were suddenly terrified and ran away to hide.

The answer comes, and it comes in the form of an angel. But look at what the angel says to Daniel.

Daniel 10:12–14 NLT

Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come.”

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The angel says that when you received the vision and started praying for understanding, God sent me with the answer. However, the spirit prince of Persia held me up for twenty one days, and it was only when the archangel Michael came that I was able to come and give you an answer. Now I’m not going to get into the whole Prince of Persia and what is all going on here. That is a discussion for another time. The only thing I will point out is what Paul says in Ephesians 6:10-12

Ephesians 6:10–12 NLT

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

So Paul reminds us that our fight is not against people, but evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world. There are things happening, battles being fought in the heavenly realm that you and I have no knowledge of. Don’t underestimate the impact that heavenly forces can have on your life.

Don’t give up praying

But the point I want to make is Daniel’s persistence. He knew that God would give him an answer, he knew that God was the source of all revelation, but he didn’t know why the answer was taking so long. But, instead of giving up and letting it go, Daniel prayed all the more earnestly, even to the point of not eating because he was committed to getting an answer.

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I’ve said it before and I will definitely say it again. No matter what you are praying for, and no matter how long you’ve been praying for it, don’t stop. You never know what shifts are being made or what details God is working out that you have no knowledge. Pray, commit to praying until something happens.

Transition to Application

Daniel is the picture of what it means to pray, even when it hurts. He risked his life to pray, and he even put his health on the line, trusting that God would come through for him. And what you are going to see as we go through Acts is that the early church does the same. When things get tough, and when their lives are at risk, they go to God in prayer, knowing that no matter what happens, he is still good and he will comes through in a way only he can. And no matter what comes, they are going to go through it together.

Main To Do

So this summer, I want to challenge you to develop some better habits.

H - Hear God’s Word Daily

A - Assemble in Fellowship

B- Break Bread Together

I- Intercede in Prayer Daily

T- Together Often

This summer is going to be all about fellowship, both with God and each other. This summer I want to challenge you to devote yourself to these four things like the early church did.

Hear God’s Word Daily. Make sure you are reading it every day, and if you’ve been a part of the reading challenge, you already are. Get it into your mind as much as possible.

Assemble in Fellowship. We may not have games nights or any of those things happening over summer, but you can still get together. Find reasons to be together. Invite someone to the golf course or go swing a hammer over at Blair and Brenda’s. Find reasons to get together!

Break Bread. A couple weeks ago I challenged you that no one eats alone. Make an effort, either after church or throughout the week, to get together with another family or couple and share a meal. Really get to know each other.

Intercede in Prayer daily. This is something that you need to do both individually, as a family, and as a church. Find people you can pray with, or join us on Wednesdays over the lunch hour. The more connected you are to God through prayer, the deeper connection you will feel with the rest of the church.

Why it matters

The reason I want you to devote yourself to these things is because summer is a great time to try new things and really grow in your faith. When fall comes, I want you to be a church that is ready to serve and jump in wherever necessary. I want you to be the church that asks to get involved, not waiting to be asked. I believe that if you, as a church, can develop these habits, the church will grow in ways that you don’t expect, and you will continue to have an impact on our region.

Closing Line

Discussion Questions

What stood out from the message?

How can we practically incorporate a daily habit of prayer in our busy lives?

In what ways can the example of Daniel inspire us to be more devoted in our prayer life?

Why do you think community prayer is emphasized as vital for deepening our fellowship with one another?

How can we support each other in building better prayer habits this summer?

What challenges do you face when trying to pray daily, and how can you overcome them?

How can you make prayer more of a group activity with your friends?

What are some creative ways you can incorporate prayer into your daily routine?