Paul , Prayer

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Great Prayers of the Bible

(The Prayers of Paul – Part 1)

A Bible Message by Bayless Conley

The Apostle Paul, was a world changer, and if you think about it, he really had a whole lot to do with shaping the world as we know it today. He was a follower of Jesus Christ, an apostle, a teacher, and at one time a

persecuter of the church. He wrote many of the letters of the New Testement. The book ok of Acts is dedicated to the working of the Lord through this man who we know as the Apostle Paul. He traveled the known world several times, establishing churches and then revisiting them and strengthening them. What the Lord did through this one life is absolutely staggering. His was a life completely yielded to Jesus Christ.

One of the reasons God could use him in such a way and do so much through him was because he was a man of prayer. Paul prayed. He prayed, and he taught on prayer .

IT IS HARD TO RESIST THE AUTHORITY OF GOD

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He seemed to have an obsession with anger against Christians. Saul held the garments of the Jewish leaders when they were stoning Stephen, who just a few moments before, his face shining like an angel, brought testimony before them. When they killed Stephen, the Bible says they laid their garments at the feet of one Saul of Tarsus . It was as if Paul said, “Here lads, take your coats off. I do not want anything to restrict your throw while you kill this man.” Saul witnessed Stephen being stoned to death and heard him say Lord, do not lay this sin to their charge. They do not know what they are doing. Did this event work its way into Paul’s mind. Yet, even after seeing Stephen stoned to death while praying that prayer, Paul was still persecuting the church. In Acts, Chapter 9, he is on his way to Damascus with letters from the chief priests in Jerusalem. He was going to have Christians arrested, dragged away into prison, and put to death. Acts 9:1,

On the road to Damascus the Lord said to Paul, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what

you must do.”

“It is hard for you to kick against the goads,” is actually a proverb for the day. A goad talks

about a cattle goad. It was a long stick, usually it had a sharp piece of iron at the end, and they

would use it to prod the cattle or to prod an ox to get him to go where you wanted him to go. The

proverb was that if the oxen kicked against the goad, he could injure himself. Jesus had been maneuvering Saul to go towards salvation. I think the experience of Stephen’s death stuck with Saul. His continued fury against the Christians was kicking against the goads. The worst persecutors may be people who are running from God. Their conscience is bothering them. Their response is to lash out at you, because you represent Jesus Christ to them.

If you have been kicking against the goads, just give it up. Give your life to God. You are going to be miserable until you do.

“WHO ARE YOU LORD?”

Prayer. It is communicating with God. It is talking to God and listening for His answers. Here we find Saul on the Road to Damascus talking to Jesus and listening for His answers. He asked two questions: “Who are You, Lord?” and “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Good questions. That is a great prayer to pray for Jesus will begin to reveal Himself to you.

‘WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME TO DO?”

What is Your plan for my life?” Now, at conversion, It is a good thing to pray the same thing: “Lord, I want to know You, and I want to know what You want me to do with my life.”

It was a process, which unfolded for Saul as God gave him direction. First, he needed to find out what Christianity was all about. He spent certain days with the disciples. And then there was a whole season where God began to teach him before He ever released him into the fullness of public ministry. I mean, when he said, “Lord, what do you want me to do?” Jesus did not say, “Well, Saul, I want you to start writing the Bible.” No. All of that was something that unfolded. It was layered. There was a process. There were stages to it. You will find that, with God, you do not get to Stage 2 until you complete Stage 1. It is dark outside? You turn your ignition on, flip the headlight switch. They come on, how many of you will stay in the parking lot refusing to move until your headlights shine all the way home? “Well, I am not moving. They just have to shine all the way home. I have to see the end of my destination, or I am not going.” No, they give you 50 feet of light, don’t they? You drive that 50 feet and you get 50 more feet of light; you drive that 50 feet, and you get 50 more feet of light. Walk in the light that God gives you: “Lord, what do you want me to do?” He shows you as much as you need to know. You walk in that light, and you get more light. Right down to the last chapter, he is praying for people, laying hands on them, and they are being healed. Though the specific prayers are not articulated to us it is obvious that he prayed often for he is the one who told us to pray without ceasing.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO FIND OUT GOD’S WILL BEFORE YOU ACT

Look at some specific prayers of Paul. In Romans 1:9, we find that he really adopted, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” as a rule of life. Romans 1:9,9. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers (now he says one of the things he prayed for). Making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you.

For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established-- that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

It was not, “Hey, I am coming!” Again, it is right back to, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”

With some people, if I say, “You need to get the mind of God and pray,” They go to the market, and they pray, “God, just lead me. Should I get Green Giant green beans or the store brand of green beans? Oh, Holy Spirit, just lead me. Just lead me.” Just get some green beans, okay?

Yet there are a lot of issues in life that people just make decisions, when they should pray and wait on God. Paul was praying about God’s will regarding that trip to Rome, which was a pretty big deal for him. Somebody might say, “But, my motives are right.” His motives were right. He said, “I want to come so that I can impart some spiritual gift to you so that you can be established.” His motives were pure, but he was still waiting on God for direction.

Turn to James 4:13, Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; Now there is nothing wrong with that. That is great! You have plans, you have thought it out, you know when you are going to go. you have a timeline on it. That is wonderful, but look what he says in verse 14, whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It

is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” In other words, get the mind of God first. How do you feel inside when you lay your plans out before God? Do you have peace to follow through with it, or do you just have a dead weight

sense on the inside? It is like you are washing your feet with your socks on. You have not worked out what is wrong, but it just does not feel right inside. It is important that we pray about such matters. The Apostle Paul did so.

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PAUL’S PRAYER THAT ISRAEL BE SAVED

Turn back to Romans, Chapter 10. Paul is talking about a particular thing that he was burdened with that he prayed over quite often. We move on to another aspect of his prayer life. Romans 10:1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.

Now he had a particular burden for his people, the Jews. In fact, just look back quickly at chapter 9:1 to get an idea of how much this weighed on his heart. Romans 9:1, I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, I say that is a pretty serious prayer burden. He was burdened for the nation from which he sprang. Sometimes you may have particular burden in prayer for the salvation of people in your native land. Maybe you are burdened for folks with the same background as you. Maybe you have come out of a biker background, and you just really have a burden for people who come out of that lifestyle. Maybe your burden is for those in entertainment or athletics or whatever it might be.

God eventually answered his prayers Peter to be the apostle to the Jews, and Paul became an apostle to the Gentiles. Sometimes God’s plans work out in interesting ways.

Now I want you to think about that for a minute. Israel is about to break free, once and for all, from this evil Assyrian bondage led by

Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, but Sennacherib is resisting them. Hezekiah realized the

nation was about to come forth, but more prayer was needed. So he sent these men to get

Isaiah to pray, as well. The question is: Will we pray?

We are in a generation right now that is struggling to be born, but there are tremendous spiritual forces trying to hold them back. There is a Sennacherib called the devil. He and his forces would like to keep the people around us… in our schools and in our jobs and in our communities and in our nation and across the globe… in spiritual blindness and in spiritual chains. The

PAUL’S PRAYER FOR SPIRITUAL MATURITY

Look in the Book of Colossians, chapter 1. I want to move on to another prayer here. As we

were reading there in Galatians 4:19, Paul said, “My little children, for whom I labor in birth

again until Christ is formed in you.” This means that once a person is saved, prayer is not over.

Paul had to labor in birth again that they would mature; and, in their case, get out of the error

into which they had been led. As we look at this prayer from Colossians, chapter 1, it is a

different type of prayer. It is a prayer that Paul prayed for an entire church. It is a prayer he

prayed for believers, and it is a Scriptural prayer that we can pray today. We can just insert our

name, if we want, or insert the name of someone else. First of all, let us look at verse 3 of

Colossians, chapter 1.He said, We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying

always for you,

4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints;

Interesting. He said, “We prayed since we heard of your faith in Christ and of your love for all

the saints.” He was saying that he had not stopped praying for them since they heard. That is

when most people quit praying. “Oh, they are saved? They are walking in love? Great! We are

not going to pray for them, anymore.” Yet that is when Paul emphasized prayer all the more.

Prayer does not cease for folks once they follow Jesus. As we saw with the Galatians. In fact,

prayer has to be increased, as newborn babes are quite vulnerable, and they need our covering

and protection. The Bible says in Hebrews 10:32, “But recall the former days in which after you

were illuminated you endured a great struggle.” Babes in Christ especially need our prayers. So

Paul said, “Hey, we are praying for you constantly… praying always for you.” Come to verse 9.

Now he tells us some of the things that he prayed for them. Colossians 1:9,

9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for

you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom

and spiritual understanding;

10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every

good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience

and longsuffering with joy;

Right there is a good prayer to pray for people. That is a Holy Spirit inspired prayer. You cannot

go wrong praying this prayer for the church and praying this prayer for individuals in the church.

I want to take a look at it one verse at a time.

Pray that people will be filled with the knowledge of God’s will.

First of all, in verse 9, he prayed that they would be filled with the knowledge of His will.

Basically, that is God’s plan and how you fit into it. “I pray that you understand God’s plan and

how you fit into His plan.” Now there is a huge difference between praying for understanding of

God’s plan and you thinking, “God, here is my plan. Please fit into it.” No, God has a plan. He

has gifted you, and He has put things inside of you, and He has called you. Those things He

has put within you and the way He has wired you up, that will somehow fit you into His great

plan. Our life should be woven into the tapestry of God’s master plan.

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Turn to the Book of Ephesians, chapter 5. Look what Paul said to the Ephesians. Ephesians

5:17,

17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

You can understand God’s will for your life. He wants you to understand His will for your life. He

does not want you to be unwise; He wants you to understand His will. Your life is not without

rhyme or reason; you are not without purpose; you are meant to be living by design, by God’s

design. In fact, look in Ephesians 2:10,

10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which

God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

God had stuff worked out for you before you were ever born. He figured out how you fit into His

plan before you were ever born. You are His workmanship. He has good works for you to walk

in. The Amplified Bible says, “For we are God’s own handiwork (his workmanship) recreated in

Christ Jesus (born anew) that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned

beforehand) for us (taking paths which He prepared ahead of time) that we should walk in them

(living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live).” God has a good life

prearranged and ready for you to live. He has a plan, and you fit into it.

Pray that people will not only know God’s will, but will also be filled with the wisdom on

how to apply it.

Now Paul was praying for the Colossians, first, that they would be filled with the knowledge of

His will. Colossians 1:9 says, “…that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all

wisdom…” In other words, that you would not just know His plan, but that you would know how

to apply it; that you would understand His plan and know what you are supposed to do with it.

Let’s assume you have some clear insight into God’s plan for your life. It has to do with saving

the lost, bringing them to the knowledge of the truth, and you realize God has called you to be a

preacher. Now you can be called to be a businessperson, you can be called to be an educator,

you can be called to be an entertainer, an artist… God gifts us all in different things. You can be

just as called to do something like sculpting as you can be called to preach.

Let’s just say God gives you some very clear insights that you are called to preach, what do you

do? Go out and rent a hall and spend your life savings on advertisement? Well, maybe if God

led you to do that. More likely that God’s wisdom would say, “Hey, get involved in the church,

and start a Life Group and start using your gifts there under the tutelage of someone; and get

some education that will help you. Go to the School of Ministry and get involved there.”

A young couple asked T. L. Osborn, “Mr. Osborn, we have a tremendous burden for the

Vietnamese people. My wife and I are just serious. Should we sell everything we have and go to

Vietnam?” I so appreciated his answer to them. He said, “Well, I am not saying don’t do that. I

mean, if God led you to do it, that is what you need to do.” He said, “But, we have a very large

Vietnamese population right in our own city.” He said, “I would suggest that you get busy trying

to reach them.” In fact, he offered them Vietnamese materials and films in Vietnamese. He said,

“I will give you the materials. Why don’t you get to work on your neighbors, the ones who live on

the other side of the fence before you go all the way to the other side of the world to do

something.” To me, that was God’s wisdom speaking.

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Paul is praying for the Colossians, “Hey, may you understand God’s plan, how you fit into it, but

may you be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom so you know how to apply it.” He

said, “Be filled with all knowledge and spiritual understanding (with all wisdom and spiritual

understanding).” It is the next thing he said in verse 9, because both the plan of God and the

wisdom to walk out that plan are spiritually discerned. Pray that we be filled with the

knowledge of His will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

First Corinthians 2:14, it says, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of

God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually

discerned.” The things of God cannot be received or discerned by the natural man. They

are spiritually discerned. In other words, they are received and understood by the spirit of man,

not through man’s feelings, not through human reasoning, but through your spirit.

Proverbs 20:27, “The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD…” When God illuminates you and

enlightens you, He does it through your spirit.

Psalm 51:6, the psalmist said, “…in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.” What is

the hidden part? First Peter 3:4 talks about the hidden person of the heart. Friend, when God

leads you, when He reveals His plan for you, He will do it from the inside out. To try and work

out God’s plan through your feelings or merely through your intellect would be like trying to

catch a football with your face. Your hands were created to receive and to catch, not your face.

You cannot just work it out through human intellect. Now, certainly, the wisdom does get into

your intellect at one point, but God does it from the inside. You know in your knower. It is

spiritually received. It is spiritually understood. It is spiritually caught, if you would, through that

inward witness, through peace concerning what direction you need to take.

Pray that people will walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him.

Look at Colossians 1:10. The next thing he prayed was that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him. In order to walk worthy and be fully pleasing, you need to be about His plans and His purposes. Again, it goes right back to Paul’s prayer at the beginning, “Lord, what would You have me to do?” If we are going to please God, we need to do His will for our lives. Here is a thought worth pondering: It will take faith to do God’s will. If we are going to walk worthy of Him and fully please Him, we are going to have to walk by faith because Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith, it is impossible to please Him.” So you are going to have to trust Him.

Some people do not like that, but there are times that you are going to be stepping out with an

aching voice, saying, “God, I know You are directing me to do this. I do not know where I am

going to land; but if You say so, I will.”

Years ago, Harrison and I were hiking back in the San Gabriel mountains. He might have been

ten. We had hiked back a few miles off the road, and we were fly-fishing in the San Gabriel

river. There was a little feeder creek. So we went up this feeder creek and came to this huge

pool that was there. We wanted to go up above it because there are trout in these little pools,

but there was this huge granite face there that was very, very smooth. I could not find a way

around it. I tried to go up on the left. I crossed the creek and went up over there, could not get

up on the right. I figured if I did, I would have to go a long, long way around and did not want to

leave Harrison there; and it was a pretty arduous hike. Then I noticed if you climbed about half

way up, about maybe 12 or 15 feet above this pool, and you got out on this little ledge, there

was a piece of rope hanging down from above. I thought, “All right, somebody has been here

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before. They went around the mountain and put a rope down there.” So I got up on the little

ledge and grabbed the rope and gave it a few tugs, and it felt like it would hold me. So I swung

out around, boom! Hit the edge of the thing and climbed up. I thought, “Great.” I said, “Harrison!”

“Yeah, Dad!”

“Get on the ledge, Son!”

“Okay, Dad!”

I got him to get out on the ledge, I said, “Grab the rope.” I said, “Now…” I am so glad his mother

was not there. I said, “Now swing out.”

He says, “Dad, I can’!” He was not strong enough to pull himself up at the time.

I said, “Don’t worry. I will pull you up.”

So because Daddy said so, this little ten-year-old boy pushes himself out and goes swinging

around with nothing under his feet, and boom! He hits the side of the thing, and he is hanging

there; and I just began to pull him up. Then we hiked about another mile or so up above there.

Sometimes you are going to feel like that with your heavenly father. Somebody might say, “No

wonder your children are strange, Pastor.” Sometimes you will feel like that with your Father in

heaven. You will be walking with Him along the pathway that He has for you, and He says, “All

right, time for a little faith move. Just grab on, and there is going to be nothing under your feet.”

You are going to say, “Well, God, I like to have earth under my feet. I want to know what…”

God will say, “No, you need to just trust Me.”

And everyone of us, as we pursue God’s plan for our life, whether you are a preacher, an artist,

a coach, a computer programmer or a restaurant owner… whatever it is that you do and

whatever sphere God has called you to bring the influence of the kingdom into, there are going

to be times when you will have to step out by faith, knowing that God is leading you, just

stepping out in obedience. That is the only way to walk and please God as, again, it talks about

in these verses.

Pray that people will be fruitful, and will increase in the knowledge of God.

The next thing in verse 10, he said, “Being fruitful.” God is into fruit. He is into results, which

spring from obedience. Then he said, “Increasing in the knowledge of God.” I want you to think

about that. In verse 9 he prayed that they would be filled with the knowledge of God, and then

verse 10 he prayed they would increase in the knowledge of God. Well, if you have been filled

with His knowledge, how is there any more room to increase? The answer is because God’s

plan for our lives comes in parts. It comes in layers. It comes in stages. When you finish one,

God gives you the next. He will fill you with the knowledge of His will in Step A. You do that, and

then it is time to increase, and God will fill you with the knowledge of His will for Step B. Then

God fills you with the knowledge of His will for Step C. That word “increasing” also lets us

know God never wants us to stop. If you are breathing, God’s not done with you.

When I was in Bible school, there was an 80-year-old student in school. He was a retired Baptist

pastor. He had been retired for a number of years, and he told the story in front of the student

body. He said, “I was literally sitting in my rocking chair in my living room, rocking back and

forth, and the Holy Spirit said to me, ‘Grandpa, get out of that chair!’” He said, “Lord, what do

You want me to do?”

He said, “I want you to go to Bible school. I am going to teach you something, and then I am

putting you back into the ministry.”

Now he went to Bible school, the same school where I met Janet, and then went out and

planted a church at eighty years of age. If you are breathing, God is not through with you, friend.

In fact, listen to me: The older you are, the more you have to give, even in terms of just

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natural savvy and wisdom. You know a lot of things because of the mistakes you have made.

You can help somebody else along the way. I know sometimes it is very unfortunate that people

get up in age, and they feel like they are not needed or their usefulness has ended. We need

you more than ever! More than any other time in your life, when you are up in years is when you

are needed the most of all.

I reckon there are three stages to life. The first stage is where you are learning everything you

can, say the first 30 years of your life. That is where you are growing and learning. The second

30 years of your life is where you are using the things you have learned. The last 30 years of

your life, is where you give away the things that you have learned and the things that you have

used and the experiences that you have had. If you are in that last stage, listen, we need you.

Someone needs you and the horse sense that you have, if you have learned anything.

Pray people will be strengthened with all might, according to God’s glorious power.

In verse 11, Paul prayed, “Strengthened with all might.” Why? Because you will face obstacles

that will be beyond your ability and beyond your strength, as you pursue God’s will for your life.

You will find that in your weakness, His strength is made perfect. So he prayed,

“Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power.” Wonderful! Then he says, “For

all patience and longsuffering with joy.” I am not sure I like that part. I like getting strengthened

with might and glorious power, but what is this business about longsuffering and patience? Well,

we need longsuffering and patience along with that glorious power. The Greek word for

“patience” here, most specifically, is related to the circumstances of life. “Patience” is the

quality that will not succumb nor give up under pressure of circumstances. The Greek

word for “longsuffering” has to do with patience with people. It comes from being long bothered.

“Longsuffering” is the quality which enables you to bear foolish, unpleasant, or

malicious people without blowing your cool or becoming bitter or unforgiving.

If the enemy cannot overcome your faith with circumstances, he will try to undermine

your faith with people.

When God wants to bless you, he sends a person into your life. When the devil wants to mess you up, he sends a person into your life. People can be ugly, unreasonable, and unteachable, and the devil would just love to pull you down and get you walking out of love, because faith works by love. He would love to

angry and bitter. He will try to wear you down with circumstances and then bring someone along to say something hurtful. Paul here prays for the patience which no situation can defeat, and the longsuffering which no person can defeat. A characteristic of both patience and longsuffering is joyfulness. He ended his prayer, “For all patience and longsuffering with joy.” Regardless of what is happening, God wants us to have an enthusiastic outlook on life. Yes, we will have trials, but we can have joy in the midst of those trials.

The secret of curing sea sickness is to lie flat on you back and look up to the heavens. The same

thing is true in life. When you are tossed to and fro by the waves of life, just look up. You

to Jesus you will be all right! It depends on where your focus is. You can have joy even when you are in the

midst of the trials of life.

You will finish your race with joy, and you will receive that reward, and be glad that you did it.

Now this is a prayer Paul prayed for believers, and we ought to be praying it to.