THE URGENCY OF PRAYER

Please take your Bible and turn to . This morning we are going to look at the urgency of prayer, especially as it relates to corporate prayer — that is the prayer of the assembled church.

Our church has three specific services a week: Sunday School at 9:45 on Sunday mornings; Worship Service at 10:45 Sunday mornings; and Prayer Meeting at 6:30 Wednesday evenings.

When I first came to this assembly as your Pastor, we did not have a Wednesday Evening Prayer meeting. But since I believe that corporate prayer is so vital to the life of the church I approached the deacons about starting up a prayer meeting. My reasoning for all of this is found in

Acts 2:42 NASB95PARA

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

John MacArthur states that:

The church must commit itself to prayer because that's how we acknowledge our total dependence on God.

But the sad truth is that it is the most neglected of all church services — not just here, but nationwide if not worldwide!

Warren Wiersbe wrote:

The Church’s authority comes from the ascended Christ. The Church’s ministry comes from the ascended Christ. Therefore, the church’s activity ought to be praying to the ascended …

There are all sorts of things that we should be praying for. If you were to look at our prayer sheet you would notice that most of our prayer requests have to do with health and medical needs. But the most important thing that we should be praying for is the salvation of the lost.

Our text for this morning makes this abundantly clear. I encourage you to have the bulletin insert handy as we go through our passage this morning — even if you are not a note taker. As we go through this passage we will look at the priority of, variety of, objects of, reasons (for), basis of, and attitude of prayer. I will acknowledge that I have shamelessly taken this outline from Warren Wiersbe, and mixed it with my own outline (I kind of like his better!).

Let’s read our passage together.

The Priority of Prayer

We should pray

Warren Wiersbe stated that “when a local church ceases to depend on prayer, God ceases to bless its ministry.”

The Variety of Prayer

On Behalf of All People

We should pray using various forms of prayer

Entreaties or Supplications — offering a request for a felt need

Prayers — emphasizes the sacredness of prayer

Petitions or Intercessions — suggest that we enjoy fellowship with God so that we have confidence in Him as we pray

Thanksgivings — we not only give thanks for answers to prayer, but for who God is and what He does for us in His grace

The Objects of Prayer

We should pray using various forms of prayer on behalf of all people

All people without distinction of race, gender, etc

Emphasis is on praying for the salvation of our political leaders

This may lead to a tranquil and quiet life

On the back side of your handout is a list of some of the government officials that we should be praying for. This list is by no means exhaustive. I did not include the Judicial Branches of government because it is just too long of a list!

The Reasons for Prayer

We should pray using various forms of prayer on behalf of all people for this is what God desires

“Good” — emphasizes the idea of something being intrinsically good, not just good in its effects

God desires the salvation of all — this does not mean all people without exception, for certainly the whole world is not going to be saved. It means all people without distinction — Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, religious and pagan

Salvation comes from the knowledge of the truth

Wiersbe wrote:

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Two: Service—Or Circus? (1 Timothy 2)

We cannot explain the mystery of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility (see John 6:37), but realize that both are taught in the Bible and are harmonized in God’s great plan of salvation. We do know that prayer is an important part of God’s program for reaching a lost world. We have the responsibility of praying for lost souls (Rom. 10:1) and making ourselves available to share the Gospel with others.

The Basis of Prayer

We should pray using various forms of prayer on behalf of all people for this is what God desires, since there is one God, and one mediator between God and men

Job wished for one to mediate between he and God.

Job 9:33 NKJV

Nor is there any mediator between us, Who may lay his hand on us both.

Only Jesus is qualified to do so — One who is fully God, and yet fully man.

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Two: Service—Or Circus? (1 Timothy 2)

If the basis for prayer is the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ on the cross, then prayer is a most important activity in a church.

The Attitude of Prayer

We should pray using various forms of prayer on behalf of all people for this is what God desires, since there is one God, and one mediator between God and men. Therefore we should pray with an attitude of humbleness and purity

This is Good and Acceptable to God

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Two: Service—Or Circus? (1 Timothy 2)

If the basis for prayer is the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ on the cross, then prayer is a most important activity in a church.

There is One God, and One Mediator Between God and Men