Better Prayer

Demanding Duties and Parting Words

:17-25

As all good things must come to an end we are in our last week of the Better Than series which as been so good for us as we have unpacked just how important and how amazing Jesus was and still is and that no matter what you have been trusting in, Jesus is better than that, whatever it is.

So on this last week, we will continue to talk about the duties of the follower of Christ. What are they supposed to do with their time? In what areas are they to perform?

Because living the life of a Christian is a demanding life. It can be a challenge. Everything that is a challenge for us drives us further along.

I remember when I was in college looking at all the work that I would have to do for a semester and staring at the syllabus was really daunting! I couldn’t figure out how I was going to keep up. I wondered how in the world I was going to read all those books and write all those papers and finish all those projects.

Especially with a family and my son on the way, and working. It was going to be difficult but its funny. I was able to do it. Barely, but I was able to do it.

It was really demanding but God gave me the strength to pull it off.

Getting back to the tall order for our lives; because our lives are hectic and even though they are hectic, God still requires the same for all of us. The Christian has some demands that are placed on them. And the duties that this last chapter of Hebrews talks about are not requested, they are required.

And even though they may seem daunting, they may seem difficult, God will give you the strength to continue on. God helps us when we are week.

Let’s go ahead and read our text today:

Hebrews 13:1

Hebrews 13:17–25 ESV

17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. 18 Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. 19 I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner. 20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. 22 I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. 23 You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. 24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings. 25 Grace be with all of you.

Hebrews 13:17–19 ESV

17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. 18 Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. 19 I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.

He

It is scary to be a leader in the church. Not just the Pastor, but anyone who God calls to be a leader.

Remember last week we said that leaders don’t have to just be born leaders. Leaders are made, leaders are cultivated, leaders can be grown. People really can become leaders.

But it can be scary because leaders have a greater responsibility in the eyes of God. The one who calls himself or herself a leader needs to be very aware of what they do and what they say and what they teach because leaders will be judged with stricter standards.

James 3:1 ESV

1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

So there are strict standards for teachers who are usually also leaders. And the verses say there that you are to pray for them. Pray for them.

Pray for your leaders. The context here is that we pray for leaders within the church. Yes, we are to pray for our governmental leaders and our bosses and things like that but the context here is that you should pray for your leaders in the church.

Because we are

The Message of Hebrews a. Their Prayers for Him (13:18–19)

Conscious of the fact that no-one can work effectively for Christ unaided and unsupported, he asks them to continue to pray on his behalf.

No one can work for Christ alone. They need prayer.

Pray for me. I mean it. I need your prayers. I specifically need your prayers. Because I depend on the Holy Spirit to speak to me and to guide me and to help me interpret the Scriptures.

I rely on God to guide this church and it cannot be about me or my wants or my needs but it has to be about what God wants for us, and where God wants us to go with this gathering of people.

Please pray for me, every day I ask. That may sound a little bit selfish but I am telling you, I need it. Pray for me, pray for my wife, because she as the wife of a pastor deals with different things than other people do.

Pray for me I need your prayers. I specifically need your prayers.

The enemy is looking to destroy the church and one of the ways that he wants to do that is through destroying the family. So pray for Rachel, pray for the kids that they will be kept safe and that they will thrive in the Lord.

We need your prayers. We really do. You may say, My family needs prayer too. It is good that you recognize that because we need to be praying for each other. Please don’t just dismiss that. Pray for one another. Things really happen when you pray.

We need to be praying for each other. Please don’t just dismiss that. Pray for one another. Things really happen when you pray.

1 Timothy 4:12 ESV

12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

James 5:16 ESV

16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

We follow the example of Jesus when we pray.

James We follow the example of Jesus when we pray.

Here is what we are called to do. Confess our sins. Yeah, that may be embarrassing. What better way to prevent someone from sinning then knowing that they will have to confess that sin to someone else?

If you make it a habit to confess your sins then maybe you will stop doing the things you aren’t supposed to do.

And look at the last part of that verse. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

I really hope you understand that this morning. What prayer actually is. Prayer is us bowing down to God. Recognizing His Greatness, understanding our position to Him.

When you are in regular prayer you understand better and better the position we hold before our Father. We understand that He is loving and He is approachable and that he loves you.

Sometimes I think that we forget just how much that God loves us.

Many times we focus on the negative notions that we have about God (which are usually wrong) and we forget His love for us. We forget the lengths that He went to by sending His Son to be a sacrifice for us. He loves you so much.

And our answer is to go into prayer and to bring ourselves before Him.

And God wants you to be in prayer with Him. God wants you to know Him personally. When we look at prayer we look at Jesus who is our example when it comes to prayer. How did Jesus pray? He prayed all the time. He made prayer a priority. Before He did anything else, He prayed.

Jesus went out in the early mornings before it was light to a quiet and lonely place so that he would

Not have any distractions.

Distractions are probably the number one reason that people don’t pray, or if they start to pray that they are unsuccessful. Distractions kill prayer.

I have to tell you that this is one of the most difficult things in the world that we experience today. Try and find a moment in your life where there are no distractions.

Now you know that I am going to start talking about how all of our devices are evil and are of the devil, but they aren’t. I love my iphone, my smartphone. I love my laptop computer. I love the fact that I am connected at all times and can even work while standing in line somewhere.

One time a thought occured to me while I was in Costco. I was able to actually start typing on my phone and edit my sermon because of this wonderful age that we live in.

I read my bible (for the most part electronically). Not saying that technology is bad at all.

But here is what i will say. We need to have regular times when we make ourselves available only to God. We need to consciously unplug and have times when we are completely quiet before the Lord.

Now this is hard. Especially when you have a google watch or an apple watch or a fit bit. It makes it hard when you work during the day. It’s really hard when you have kids or pets or friends or social media who get your attention 24-7.

And even just our minds. My mind races and it makes it really hard to concentrate, makes it really hard to listen.

But Jesus knew what to do. Understand that Jesus was a pretty popular and sought after person. Once He started walking around during the day activity usually followed him. Jesus knew the importance and the priority of prayer and so he made sure that he built it into His day.

The example of Jesus is that he did it before He even started His day. Maybe because he wanted to give God the first part of His day.

Maybe because he knew that once the day started there would never be a moment to be in God’s presence in such a close way.

Maybe because He depended on the power of the Holy Spirit during the time that he prayed that set his day up the way God wanted it set up.

How can we do that? Last week I asked you to begin that sacrifice of praise. How did that go? Did you do it? I would love to hear your stories about that.

But prayer is the lifeblood of our relationship with Jesus. Prayer really does change things.

And if you aren’t spending time in prayer then you are missing out on your relationship with your heavenly Father.

And if your prayers are just memorized and if you are just trying to race through them then you may want to rethink those things. God is great God is good, let us thank him for our food.

I want to tread lightly here because sometimes our prayers are basic and they are memorized and you can get a lot of meaning out of them.

Sometimes I pray the Lords prayer that Jesus taught His disciples to pray and it can be a very meaningful experience when you slow down and think about what you are saying.

But we want to make sure that when we are praying that our thoughts are engaged. We want to look at our prayers for what they are; a conversation with a real and mighty God.

Even when you think that your prayers are getting no further than the ceiling, they really are.

Your prayer life speaks about you and you r relationship with God.

Jesus’ prayer life spoke about Him. And the disciples recognized that and how important prayer was to Jesus and so they thought that maybe there was something to this prayer. They recognized how important it was.

So they approached Jesus one day and asked Him for some advice. What kind of advice would we get from Jesus? Usually, for me it would be way to narrow of a question. What do I do about this situation or that situation.

The disciples had a clue about what the smart question would be.

They didn’t ask him how to preach, they didn’t ask him how to heal, they didn’t ask him how to come up with outlines or illustrations or parables. They asked Him how to pray.

Luke 11:1 ESV

1 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.”

The disciples watched the life of Jesus and understood that there are something about this prayer thing.

He received His power from the regular time spent with God without distractions and without agenda’s.

The disciples

We can access the same closeness to God by following the example of Jesus.

Practically what does this mean? Because that is why we are here. What can I do to change this part of my life?

So take a few minutes a day to learn to be fully present to God in prayer. Turn off the phone for a few minutes. If you have families tell them that you are busy for the next few minutes and not to disturb you.

As you pray, do it with the understanding that you are in the presence of the God of the universe, the creator, the savior. You are in the Throne Room of God. Understand that, visualize that, whatever you need to do, understand that when you are in prayer you are with God.

Watch how God will begin to work in your life. Even if it means that you just have more of an awareness of what He is doing in your life.

Even if it is just you being aware of being in the presence of God. We are called to pray, We follow the example of Jesus when we pray.

And I love that when Jesus does teach His disciples to pray he includes them in the family of God.

He says when you pray say, “Our Father”.

He is telling them that God is your father too. You are part of this family and you need to talk to your daddy.

Look, when we look at our relationship with God we understand that this relationship is active. Spend some time with Him. You can’t do this stuff on your own.

And when you spend your regular time He promises to change you into more of the character of His son.

Do you know that I pray for you? I do. Every week I pray for you. I actually will pray for you guys by name. We are at a place in our church where I actually have the ability to pray for you by name. And I will do that.

Sometimes God will put someone in particular in this congregation on my heart to pray for. Some of you have told me that you need prayer and others of you haven’t but the HS has and I will pray for you.

So we pray for those who are over us in leadership. Pray for this church so that we will glorify God in our existence.

Pray for each other. Pray for me, your Pastor that I will hear the voice of God and communicate that with you here.

Our author moves into verse 20 and talks about peace. The God of Peace.

Peace here doesn’t mean without conflict. No, the God of Peace here means that even in the worst of times, even in the most distressing situations God can bring peace to your soul.

We lose peace when we lose contact with God. That is why prayer is so important and what we were talking about earlier. God is our lifeline and only when we are connected to Him through prayer and fellowship can we experience His peace.

We give God control of our lives and when we do that we have a peace that talks about.

Philippians 4:6–7 ESV

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Proverbs 3:5–6 ESV

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Philippians 4:7 ESV

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

You know you can be in the middle of the worst possible situation and still experience peace in your heart.

We experience peace not because of our circumstances, because for most of us our circumstances don’t really warrant peace. We have peace because we have God.

Many times people seek peace through other channels and it never leads to real peace. Because God is the God of Peace and only through Him will we have true Peace that exists even when our lives are in turmoil.

The peace is so much deeper and so much more genuine than the peace that exists only in our circumstances.

And if you aren’t experiencing the peace you think you should then maybe you could spend some time with God today.

Today is Sunday. There are no football games on. I checked. Spend some time in the Scriptures today. Sit in a chair, in a quiet room with your Bible open with no distractions. And after you wake up you can start reading something.

Maybe read a couple of times. That’s right. It isn’t about how much you read but it is more about your interaction with the text. Read it two three times.

Read it every day this week as your time with the Lord. When you come to a verse that encourages you. Stop and pray, thank you God for that encouraging word. Thanks for loving me this way.

If you come to a verse that challenges you say, “God, help me to believe this more, help me to live this out even though it is challenging to me”.

If you come to a verse that doesn’t make sense you can pray, “God help me understand this, I don’t get it”.

You can’t go wrong. Spend some time today. Peace will flood your soul. The God of Peace is true to His word.

And then the writer ends with what is called a benediction. Which is basically a blessing to those who are reading or listening. They are Parting words.

Expository Outlines on Hebrews 20. The Christian’s Duties (Hebrews 13:1–25)

Demanding Duties (vv. 17–25)

A. Prayer (v. 17). Obey those who rule over you. Be an example to non-Christian leaders (see 1 Tim. 4:12).

B. Prayer (vv. 18, 19). Pray for Paul. Pray he would be able to return soon. Note the power of prayer (James 5:16).

C. Peace (vv. 20, 21). He rose from the dead. His blood brought salvation and peace. This peace makes you perfect, able to find God’s will (Ps. 143:10; Rom. 12:1, 2).

D. Parting (vv. 22–25). Obey the words of this Epistle.

These Christian duties are not requested—they are required. The Christian life should produce fruit. List the nine fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22, 23). Jesus spoke of producing fruit in John 15:1–7. The person who has the fruits of the Spirit will perform his Christian duties faithfully.

Hebrews 13:20–21 ESV

20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 13:20 ESV

20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,

The God who raised Jesus from the dead will certainly be able to equip you to be able to do His will.

v20 I

No excuses! God equips us.

Maybe we aren’t equipped the way we want to be equipped. But God equips us the way that He desires to in order for us to be who He calls us to be.

The last couple of verses are very personal.

Hebrews 13:22–25 ESV

22 I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. 23 You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. 24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings. 25 Grace be with all of you.

Looking at these words reminds us that a real person wrote this. A pastor who cared about the people. Whoever wrote this letter cared personally for this church. He knew them, they knew him. He cared for them, he longed for them.

In the end, as we talk about this book, this letter to the Hebrews if we could sum it all up we would say that he wants us to know that Jesus is Better Than