The Hardest Prayers I've Ever Prayed - Sermon 1

THE HARDEST PRAYERS I’VE EVER PRAYED

SERMON 1

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

INTRODUCTION:

SHOW WAR ROOM VIDEO…

HISTORY TELLS US THAT THE LAST GREAT SPIRITUAL RENEWAL, WHICH ENDED IN 1858, WAS A RESULT OF A LAYMAN’S PRAYER MEETING WHICH HAD BEGUN IN NEW YORK CITY, OF ALL PLACES…

PRAYER…INSTITUTED BY LAYPERSONS…RESULTING IN REVIVAL THAT SAW ROUGHLY ONE MILLION PEOPLE COME TO FAITH IN CHRIST…

SO MISS CLARA’S REQUEST FOR GOD TO CALL OUT PRAYER WARRIORS, WELL, IT MAY BE BASED ON THE KNOWLEDGE THAT PRAYER IS THE VEHICLE ON WHICH SPIRITUAL AWAKENING AND REVIVAL TRAVELS…

PRAYER PRECEDES REVIVAL…AND WE ARE TAKING SERIOUSLY WHAT WE BELIEVE IS A CALLING FROM GOD TO PRAY…

IT’S NOT SOME NEW CALLING, BUT IT IS A RECOGNITION OF CONSISTENT CALL THAT IS ISSUED TO BELIEVERS…

AND TO THAT END, WE WILL, IN TWO WEEKS, HAVE A SERVICE THAT WILL CONSIST ENTIRELY OF WORSHIP AND PRAYER…AND IT WILL INCLUDE A CALL TO THE CHURCH TO COMMIT TO PRAYER…

AND THE REASON FOR THIS IS BECAUSE WE, THE STAFF AND LEADERSHIP OF THE CHURCH, RECOGNIZE THE GREAT NEED THAT EXISTS, NOT JUST FOR A PRAYER MINISTRY HERE, BUT FOE PRAYER TO BE A PRACTICE HERE…

AND SO TODAY, I WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT SOMETHING I AM FULLY AWARE OF, AND I’M SURE THAT YOU ARE TOO…

THAT IS THAT SOMETIMES, PRAYER IS HARD…

AND SPECIFICALLY, SOME TYPES OF PRAYER ARE ESPECIALLY HARD…

I DID A POLL TO DETERMINE WHAT KINDS OF PRAYERS ARE THE MOST COMMON AMONG THE PEOPLE I ASSOCIATE WITH…

THE PRAYERS THAT SEEM TO BE THE EASIEST FOR US TO PRAY…

AND ACCORDING TO THE POLL, WE USUALLY SPEND THE MAJORITY OF OUR PRAYER TIME PRAYING FOR OUR CHILDREN OR FAMILIES, AND PRAYING FOR SICKNESSES THAT WE ARE AWARE OF…

AND I MUST ADMIT, I SPEND A GREAT DEAL OF MY TIME PRAYING FOR THESE SAME ISSUES, BUT THERE ARE OTHER THINGS THAT WE OFTEN DON’T PRAY ABOUT, OR WE PRAY LITTLE ABOUT, THAT I THINK ARE THE HARDEST PRAYERS I’VE EVER PRAYED…

HERE ARE SOME THAT I WON’T BE ABLE TO COVER BEFORE OUR PRAYER SERVICE, BUT I THINK YOU WOULD AGREE ARE VERY HARD TO PRAY…

- PRAYERS FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS HURT US…SOMEONE WE WOULD CONSIDER AN ENEMY…

- PRAYERS THANKING GOD FOR THE WEAKNESSES WE HAVE IN OUR LIVES…

- PRAYERS FOR THE RETURN OF THE LORD…

THESE ARE VERY HARD PRAYERS TO PRAY, BUT THIS MORNING, I WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT ANOTHER HARD PRAYER…

ONE THAT I BELIEVE MOST OF US STRUGGLE WITH…

AND WE FIND AN EXAMPLE OF THIS PRAYER IN …

IT’S A PRAYER OF CONFESSION, OR ADMISSION OF GUILT…

TURN WITH ME TO AND IF YOU ARE ABLE, LET’S STAND TOGETHER AS WE READ THIS ENTIRE PRAYER…

STAND – READ - PRAY

SO LET’S TAKE JUST A FEW MINUTES AND UNPACK THIS PSALM AND LET’S DO THIS…LET’S ALL ASK GOD TO SPEAK TO US THROUGH HIS WORD AND THROUGH THE PREACHING OF HIS WORD THIS MORNING…

SO HERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT MAKE PRAYERS OF CONFESSION, PRAYERS WHERE WE ADMIT OUR GUILT, SO HARD TO PRAY…

1. WE DON’T LIKE TO ADMIT WE ARE WRONG…

a. THE TENDENCY FOR ALL OF US IS TO SAY THAT WE MIS-SPOKE, OR YOU MISUNDERSTOOD, OR THAT WE MISUNDERSTOOD…

b. BUT DAVID SHOWS US THE WAY OUR HEARTS SHOULD BEND BEFORE THE LORD…

c. LOOK AT WHAT HE SAYS…

d. - 3 FOR I KNOW MY TRANSGRESSIONS, AND MY SIN IS EVER BEFORE ME. 4 AGAINST YOU, YOU ONLY, HAVE I SINNED AND DONE WHAT IS EVIL IN YOUR SIGHT, SO THAT YOU MAY BE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS AND BLAMELESS IN YOUR JUDGMENT. 5 BEHOLD, I WAS BROUGHT FORTH IN INIQUITY, AND IN SIN DID MY MOTHER CONCEIVE ME. 6 BEHOLD, YOU DELIGHT IN TRUTH IN THE INWARD BEING, AND YOU TEACH ME WISDOM IN THE SECRET HEART.

i. I KNOW MY TRANSGRESSIONS…

ii. I RECOGNIZE MY SINS…

iii. I KNOW THAT I HAVE SINNED AGAINST YOU…

iv. YOU ARE NOT WRONG…

2. WE ARE NOT NATURALLY HUMBLE…

a. - 7 PURGE ME WITH HYSSOP, AND I SHALL BE CLEAN; WASH ME, AND I SHALL BE WHITER THAN SNOW. 8 LET ME HEAR JOY AND GLADNESS; LET THE BONES THAT YOU HAVE BROKEN REJOICE. 9 HIDE YOUR FACE FROM MY SINS, AND BLOT OUT ALL MY INIQUITIES. 10 CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART, O GOD, AND RENEW A RIGHT SPIRIT WITHIN ME. 11 CAST ME NOT AWAY FROM YOUR PRESENCE, AND TAKE NOT YOUR HOLY SPIRIT FROM ME. 12 RESTORE TO ME THE JOY OF YOUR SALVATION, AND UPHOLD ME WITH A WILLING SPIRIT.

b. PUT UP PICTURE OF HYSSOP PLANT…

i. I WANT TO SHOW YOU THIS PICTURE OF THE HYSSOP PLANT…

ii. AND I KNOW THAT THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE WATCHING ON FACEBOOK CAN’T SEE THIS, BUT I WANT TO ENCOURAGE YOU TO GOOGLE A PICTURE OF THE HYSSOP PLANT…

iii. BECAUSE DAVID’S MENTION OF HYSSOP HERE IS VERY IMPORTANT…

iv. WHEN I WAS IN ISRAEL, JUST A COUPLE WEEKS AGO…WE WERE WALKING THROUGHA RECREATION OF A 1ST CENTURY VILLAGE IN NAZARETH, AND OUR GUIDE POINTED OUT A HYSSOP SHRUB TO US..

v. I ASKED HIM TO EXPLAIN THE SIGNIFICANCE OF HYSSOP…

vi. HE EXPLAINED TO US THAT HYSSOP WAS USED IN MUCH OF THE CEREMONIAL WORSHIP OF THE TEMPLE, TO SPRINKLE THE BLOOD OF THE SACRIFICE IN PURIFICATION RITUALS…

vii. IT WAS ALSO USED TO APPLY THE BLOOD OF THE PASSOVER LAMB TO THE LENTILS OF THE DOORS IN THE FAMILIAR PASSOVER ACCOUNT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT…

viii. BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT REALLY STUCK WITH ME WAS THAT HYSSOP WAS ALSO SYMBOLIC OF HUMILITY…

ix. HYSSOP IS VERY AROMATIC, SO IT WAS SOMETIMES USED AS A SPICE OR FOR PERFUME OR FRAGRANCE…

x. AND BECAUSE IT ONLY GROWS ABOUT ONE AND A HALF TO THREE FEET TALL, IT WOULD BE NECESSARY FOR THE PERSON HARVESTING THE HYSSOP TO BEND DOWN, AND POSSIBLY FALL UPON THEIR KNEES TO HARVEST IT…

xi. SO WHEN DAVID SPEAKS OF PURGING HIM WITH HYSSOP, HE IS SPEAKING OF THE CLEANSING THAT HE NEEDS BECAUSE OF HIS SIN, BUT HE IS ALSO PICTURING THE HUMILITY WITH WHICH WE NEED TO COME BEFORE THE LORD…

c. PURGE ME…

d. WASH ME…

e. CREATE IN ME A NEW HEART…

f. RENEW A RIGHT SPIRIT WITHIN ME…

g. RESTORE TO ME THE JOY OF YOUR SALVATION…

h. OUR PROBLEM IS THAT WE DON’T DO HUMILITY WELL…

i. IT’S SOMETHING THAT WE REALLY HAVE TO WORK HARD TO ACHIEVE…

i. BUT IT’S SOMETHING THAT WE REALLY NEED TO WORK HARD AT…

j. AND BECAUSE WE ARE NOT NATURALLY HUMBLE, PRAYERS OF CONFESSION ARE HARD…

k. BUT THEY’RE ALSO HARD FOR ONE FINAL REASON…

3. WE STRUGGLE WITH CONSISTENCY…

a. LISTEN TO VERSES 13 THROUGH 17…

b. - 13 THEN I WILL TEACH TRANSGRESSORS YOUR WAYS, AND SINNERS WILL RETURN TO YOU. 14 DELIVER ME FROM BLOODGUILTINESS, O GOD, O GOD OF MY SALVATION, AND MY TONGUE WILL SING ALOUD OF YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 15 O LORD, OPEN MY LIPS, AND MY MOUTH WILL DECLARE YOUR PRAISE. 16 FOR YOU WILL NOT DELIGHT IN SACRIFICE, OR I WOULD GIVE IT; YOU WILL NOT BE PLEASED WITH A BURNT OFFERING. 17 THE SACRIFICES OF GOD ARE A BROKEN SPIRIT; A BROKEN AND CONTRITE HEART, O GOD, YOU WILL NOT DESPISE.

c. ONE OF THE REASONS DAVID SAID “THEN…I WILL TEACH…THEN…SINNERS WILL RETURN…” IS BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF CONSISTENCY THAT CHARACTERIZES THE LIVES OF MANY PEOPLE…

d. DAVID STRUGGLED WITH CONSISTENCY JUST LIKE WE DO…

e. AND WHEN HE WAS INCONSISTENT, HE FOUND HIMSELF IN TROUBLE…

i. HE FELL INTO AN ADULTEROUS AFFAIR WITH BATHSHEBA “AT THE TIME WHEN KINGS GO OUT TO WAR…”

ii. HE WAS INCONSISTENT…

iii. AND HE HAD TO DEAL WITH THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS INCONSISTENCY…

iv. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER FOR HIM, AND IT WILL BE BETTER FOR US, TO LIVE LIVES OF CONSISTENT FAITH BEFORE THE LORD…

v. BECAUSE INCONSISTENCY IN OUR WALK WITH HIM LEADS TO DIFFICULTY, NOT ONLY IN OUR LIVES, BUT IN OUR PRAYER LIVES…

f. PRAYERS OF CONFESSION, PRAYERS WHERE WE ADMIT OUR GUILT, ARE MADE ALL THE MORE DIFFICULT BECAUSE WE ARE INCONSISTENT IN OUR WALK WITH GOD…

CONCLUSION:

SO WHAT ARE WE TO DO?

WHAT IS THE APPLICATION OF THIS PSALM/PRAYER?

WELL, THE APPLICATION IS GIVEN TO US IN THE DIFFICULITES WE IDENTIFY IN THE PRAYER…

WHAT ARE WE TO DO?

- WE ARE TO AGREE WITH GOD AND ADMIT THE SERIOUSNESS OF OUR SINS…

- WE ARE TO HUMBLE OURSELVES BEFORE HIM AND ALLOW HIM TO CLEANSE US…

- AND WE ARE TO COMMIT TO LIVING LIVES OF CONSISTENT FAITH, BECAUSE OF THE GREAT GIFT THAT HAS BEEN GIVEN TO US ON THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST…

HEY JESUS…IT’S JIMMY…