The Discipline of Prayer

Intro

1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Prayer, Confident Access In

Prayer, Confident Access in

In Saudi Arabia, according to Arab custom, reinforced by a 1952 decree of King Abdul Aziz, every subject has the right of access to his ruler—whether the ruler is a tribal sheik, a governor, or the monarch himself—to present petitions of complaint or pleas for help. Even the poorest Saudi can approach his sovereign to plead a cause. Crown Prince Fahd, speaking about this custom said, “Anyone, anyone can come here. That gives them confidence in their government.… They know they may look to us for help.”

Every Christian has the right to approach an even greater monarch, the King of kings.1022

Many of us live beneath our privilege because we don’t realize who we are and who we have access to. We are a royal priesthood! We have access to the father through Jesus Christ!

1 Peter 2:9 NRSV

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

How Often Do You Pray?

Daily

Weekly

Mealtime

Throughout the day

James 4:3 NRSV

3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.

As we spoke about on last week you don’t have to be a spiritual giant to pray, but you do need to pray. Prayer is a powerful tool that teaches us how to pray according to the will of God.

Learning to Pray

Luke 11:1 NRSV

1 He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

“They had prayed all their lives, and yet something about the quality and quantity of Jesus’ praying caused them to see how little they knew about prayer.”

“Real prayer is something we learn.”

Prayer involves a learning process. “I was set free to question, to experiment, even to fail, for I knew I was learning.”

Praying for Others

“Perhaps the most astonishing characteristic of Jesus’ praying is that when he prayed for others he never concluded by saying “If it be they will.” Nor did the apostles or prophets when they were praying for others.” ~Richard J. Foster

Why do you believe they prayed in this manner?

They believed they knew what the will of God was… It often took the form of a direct command.

Matthew 7:7–9 NRSV

7 “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone?

John 17:1 NRSV

1 After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you,

Luke 7:14 NRSV

14 Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!”

“If it be they will” Prayers

Prayer of Guidance

“…it is the great yearning of our hearts to know the will of God.”

What is your will?

What would please you?

What would advance your kingdom upon the earth?

These are searching prayers that should cover our entire existence.

Prayer of Relinquisment

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition) Relinquish

re•lin•quish \ri-ˈliŋ-kwish, -ˈlin-\ verb transitive

[Middle English relinquisshen, from Anglo-French relinquiss-, stem of relinquir, from Latin relinquere to leave behind, from re- + linquere to leave—more at LOAN] 15th century

1: to withdraw or retreat from: leave behind

2: GIVE UP 〈relinquish a title〉

3 a: to stop holding physically: RELEASE 〈slowly relinquished his grip on the bar〉

b: to give over possession or control of: YIELD 〈few leaders willingly relinquish power〉—re•lin•quish•ment \-mənt\ noun

What does the word relinquish mean?

“…the prayer of relinquishment, we are committed to letting go of our will whenever it conflicts wit the will and way of God.”

Luke 22:42 NRSV

42 “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.”

Seek out others who have been consistent and persistent in prayer! Think of Moses, Elijah, Hannah, and Daniel! What about those brothers and sisters who you know are consistent and persistent in prayer? What are their thoughts and habits that you should emulate?

Praying with Expectation

John 15:7 NRSV

7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

What are some “impossible” things that you have prayed for and yet God has made it happen?

What are some “impossible” things that you have prayed for and God did not make it happen?

Example taken from book about TV sets with antennas and changed to cell phones since not many people deal with antennas any longer.

If we turn on our cell phones to make a call and it does not work, we do not declare that there is no such thing as cellular networks that exist all around us. We assume something is wrong, something we can find and correct. We check to see how many bars we have, we hold it up in the air, and we even restart the phone. We know the problem has been fixed by being able to connect or watch cat videos again. It is the same with prayer. We can determine if we are praying correctly if the requests come to pass. If not, we look for the “block”; perhaps we are praying wrongly, perhaps something within us needs changing, perhaps there are new principles of prayer to be learned, perhaps patience and persistence are needed. We listen, make necessary adjustments, and try again. We can know that our prayers are being answered as surely as we can know that the cell phone is working.

We must also get in contact with God when we pray. Often we assume that we are in contact when we are not.

As we are here in this room many cellular signals are flowing throughout. You have Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile. But if you have a T-Mobile phone with a T-Mobile sim card it will not work if you have a Verizon sim card. You must be tuned in to the verizon network. Failure to be tuned in will cause you to not be connected. Even if you have all the faith in the world, if you are not tuned in and focused on God you will not make a connection. We must first quiet our fleshly activities and listen to the “silent thunder of the Lord of hosts”. Don’t let your prayers be empty.

Matthew 6:7 NRSV

7 “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words.

“We must hear, know, and obey the will of God before we pray it into the lives of others.”

The Foothills of Prayer

“We should never make prayer too complicated”

Jesus teaches us to approach prayer as a child would their father. There are three things that show that type of communication.

Openness

Honesty

Trust

Praying for Daily Bread

“Have you ever noticed that children ask for lunch in utter confidence that it will be provided.”

“As far as they are concerned, there is an endless supply of sandwiches.”

Children do not find it difficult or complicated to talk to their parents nor do they feel embarrassed to bring simple needs to their attention. We should not either when it comes to bringing simple request to God.

Imagination

“Imagination often opens the door to faith. If God shows us a shattered marriage whole or a sick person well, it helps us to believe that it will be so.”

A Bad Marriage: You may know of a marriage in deep trouble and needs your help. Perhaps a spouse is having an affair. Consider praying once a day for thirty days for the marriage. Picture the spouse meeting another and feeling dismayed and shocked that they had ever thought of getting involved with another. Watch the very though of an illicit affair become distasteful to them. Imagine them walking into their home and seeing their spouse and being overwhelmed with a sense of love for them. Envision them taking walks together and falling in love with each other as they did years ago. See them increasingly able to open up and talk and care. Ask God to build a large brick wall between the spouse and the other person outside of their marriage. Construct a home for the the marriage, not of brick and mortar, but of love and consideration. Fill it with the peace of Christ.

Someone With Sexual Problems: Either someone is engaging in sex outside of marriage or attracted to someone of the same sex. Sex is like a river- it is good a good and wonderful blessing when kept within its proper channel. A river that overflows its banks is a dangerous thing, and so are perverted sexual drives. What are the God-created banks for sex? One man with one woman in marriage for life. When praying for persons with sexual problems, it is a joy to picture a river that has overflowed its banks and invite the Lord to bring it back into its natural channel.

Your Children: Your children should be changed through your prayers. Pray for them in the daytime with their participation; pray for them at night when they are asleep. One delightful approach is to go into the bedroom and lightly place your hands on the sleeping child. Ask Christ to flow through your hands healing ever emotional trauma and hurt feeling your child experience that day. Fill him or her with the peace and joy of the Lord.

Flash Prayers: These are an idea developed by Frank Laubach in his many books on prayer. His desire was “to see anybody will be to pray!”. Flashing hard and straight prayers at people is a great thrill and can bring interesting results. This can be so by asking inwardly that the joy of the Lord and a deeper awareness of his presence to rise up within every person you meet. Or in a bus or plane we can invite Jesus to walk down the aisles, touching people on the shoulder and saying, “I love you. My greatest delight would be to forgive you and give you good things. You have beautiful qualities still in the bud that I would unfold if only you will say yes. I’d love to rule your life if you’ll let me.”

Praying Against Evil

1 Peter 5:8 NRSV

8 Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.

We must learn to pray against evil. We must wage spiritual warfare against “the world, the flesh, and the devil.”.

“We must never wait until we feel like praying before we pray for others. Prayer is like any other work; we may not feel like working, but once we have been at it for a bit, we begin to feel like working.

Conclusion

1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Prayer, Importance Of

Prayer, Importance of

D. E. Host, the man who took over for Hudson Taylor, wrote a book titled Behind the Ranges. He was trying to analyze a problem he had seen while working in two different villages in China. The people with whom he lived and worked were not doing very well. But the people in the other village across the ranges were doing great! He visited them only now and then, but they were always doing fine, so he began to ask the Lord what was going on. How could those across the ranges be doing better than those with whom he lived and worked? The Lord showed Host the answer. Although he was spending much time counseling, preaching, and teaching with those with whom he lived, he spent much more time in prayer for those across the ranges. He concluded that there were four basic elements in making disciples: (1) prayer, (2) prayer, (3) prayer, (4) the Word—in that order and in about that proportion.1028

“I have so much to do that I must spend the first three hours of each day in prayer” (Martin Luther).1029

“The church has many organizers, but few agonizers; many who pay, but few who pray; many resters, but few wrestlers; many who are enterprising, but few who are interceding. People who are not praying and praying. The secret of praying is praying in secret. A worldly Christian will stop praying and a praying Christian will stop worldliness. Tithes may build a church, but tears will give it life. That is the difference between the modern church and the early church. In the matter of effective praying, never have so many left so much to so few. Brethren, let us pray” (Leonard Ravenhill).1030