Prayer Sermon
On Thursday, I attended a funeral for an eight-day old child. When the preacher eulogized the child, He began by quoting Romans 1:16-17,
16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
He went on to list events in which both parents exhibited great faith. Then he gave several references to people of great faith in the Bible. He told the story of the Shunamite woman who had befriended Elijah and built a room for him on the roof of her house. You know the story, her son becomes ill and she goes to get the prophet, who comes back to her house lies on the boy and raises him from the dead. Another time, the prophet Elijah sees a funeral and stops the caravan to raise the boy from the dead.
He also referenced the Roman officer Jairus whose little girl was sick. Jesus goes with him to his home after being told that the girl had died. Jesus tells them that the girl is not dead but sleeping, and to have faith. Jesus raises this girl from the dead.
As I was trying to figure out where the pastor was going in his message. He brought up the topic of living by faith again. He said that God had not taken this child's life. That the enemy had done that - after all, it was his job to kill steal and destroy. The preacher went on to tell the story of Lazarus, whom Jesus raised after four days in the tomb even after his body had begun to decay.
Then he went back to the faith topic, how circumstances in our life were stepping stones to growing our faith. He talked about how we were coming into the end times, and how the power to raise the dead would become natural to us. I expected him to go over to the coffin, lay hands on it, and called the child back to life. He didn't.
I remember when my father died; my son's reaction was to tell me that he and his father were going to Madison, WI to raise grandpa from the dead. My response was that Grandpa was fine where he was.
Did that mean that I had weak faith?
Did the preacher at the funeral I attended have weak faith?
Or are we as a church in such a place that some of our prayers are unanswerable?
You know that I am an avid reader; I am often reading two or three books at a time. In addition to textbooks and research materials I read mysteries, legal thrillers, and church history. I noticed something recently that both caught my attention and humbled me spiritually in three separate pieces of fiction. Each story contained a character who was a Muslim. Each in his own way was carrying out jihad against the hero of the story. What caught my attention was the fact that every time the Muslim characters mentioned the name of Mohammed, they added the tagline "blessed be his holy name". Before the Muslims took any action, they get out their prayer mats and prayed.
We in the Christian church are quick to point out that the Quran is not true and that Mohammed is not God. We summarily dismiss Islam is a cult. We are not going to discuss an Islamist morning. I merely wanted to pint out the devotion and intensity of respect Muslim’s exhibit when they pray. To me, their outward expressions would lead the observer to believe that they walk out their faith.
I got to thinking that it's time we in the church ramp up our faith. It's time we start living our faith. It's time we started demonstrating our Christianity outside the church.
So where do we start?
What is the one thing that makes the born-again Christian, different from any other form of religion?
Answer, his personal relationship with God.
We all know that you cannot have relationship with our open communication. I believe the key to building faith is that relationship building open communication.
This morning I want to talk about your communication time with God. We in the church call communication with God prayer.
Prayer is one of the key disciplines in the Christian life.
You know the disciplines: prayer, Bible study, meditation, fasting, and worship. Those things pastor encourages us to do all the time. But have you ever thought of them as disciplines? Things that train you spiritually?
You can take a spiritual thermometer reading of a believer by looking at the way he handles circumstances. That's why pastor encourages us to spend more time in the disciplines.
I don't have to teach you how to pray this morning. We've all been doing that for a long time. My intent this morning is to look at the way we pray and at the end of this lesson, to examine whether our practice of the discipline is truly building relationship with God.
It is said that
“Prayer is beyond any question the highest activity of the human soul. Man is at his greatest and highest when upon his knees he comes face to face with God”
- Martyn Lloyd-Jones
That's the picture of prayer I had as child growing up in the Catholic Church. I needed to be on my knees begging and pleading with God.
When I got saved, I was told the essence of prayer is simply talking to God as you would to a friend. God was not some ruler, I needed to approach a fearfully. He was a friend who I could sit down with a cup of coffee and chat. After reading about the way Muslims practice their religion, I began to wonder if born again Christians hadn't taken the practice of prayer to a place of flippancy?
We all know that communication with God is vital. Scripture tells us that the effect that
The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16
Clearly, it is God's plan for the Christian to pray.
What I believe, many Christians fail to recognize is that when we don't pray, or pray with the wrong attitude, we are fulfilling the enemy's plan to keep us a more intimate relationship with God.
Let's examine some attitudes about prayer.
· For some prayer is a routine: now I lay me down to sleep…
Or, God is great; God is good, let us thank him for our food…
· For others - prayer something you do in crisis. When things are good, you don't need to pray.
· For others - they just don't have time to pray they're too busy.
· Some people actually believe that prayer is the time when you bring your laundry list of needs before God and demand that he fulfill them.
What is the one thing, all of those attitudes have in common? There is no respect or sense of awe being associated with the presence of God.
Prayer should be like breathing pure oxygen. It rejuvenates the body, the spirit, the soul. It brings you into the presence of God. And only in the presence of God is there wholeness, peace, joy.
Imagine yourself being thrown into a pool with heavyweights run your ankles. Initially, you have enough strength to come up for a gulp of air. But the more you struggle against the weight, the harder it is to come up for air. When you failed to pray, it's like holding your spiritual breath. Living a hit or miss prayer life deprives your spirit and soul of what they need to prosper. Too many believers become satisfied with physical blessings that they have little desire for spiritual blessings. Don’t deprive your spirits; feed them, in the presence of God.
So how do we keep that flow of divine oxygen supplied to our spirits?
Let’s look at Jesus.
· How much time did he spend in prayer?
· We know he got up early, often before daybreak to commune with his father.
· In the evenings he would go to the Mount of Olives or some other quiet place to pray - usually alone.
He told his disciples to do the same thing. Luke 21:36 says,
“Keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place”
On the day before Pentecost 120 disciples were gathered in the upper room, doing what? (Acts 1:14)
“with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer”
St. Paul tells us in 1 Thess 5:17 “to pray without ceasing”.
Just how do you we do that?
Are we to walk around with hands folded, heads bowed, and eyes closed, bumping into everything? Of course not.
What about reciting a formalized prayer over and over again? Some religions do that.
How about only praying in tongues? Never in English or your native language? You see everything can be taken to an extreme.
Charles Spurgeon said it this way,
Like the old knights, always in warfare, not always on their steeds dashing forward with their lances in rest to unhorse an adversary, but always wearing their weapons where they could readily reach them, and always ready to encounter wounds or death for the sake of the cause which they championed. Those grim warriors often slept in their armour; so even when we sleep, we are still to be in the spirit of prayer, so that if perchance we wake in the night we may still be with God.
Praying at all times is to live continually in God consciousness.
· When we experience something good and beautiful, we should immediately thank the Lord for it.
· When we see evil around us, we should ask God to make it right and if it is according to His will, to allow us to help accomplish that
· When we meet someone who does not know Christ, we should pray for God to bring that person to Himself and to use us to be a faithful witness
· When we encounter trouble, we should automatically turn to God to deliver us.
Our fellowship with God is not meant to wait until we are in heaven. God’s greatest desire, and our greatest need, is to be in constant fellowship with Him now.
Remember this study is not about how to pray, but rather the way we pray. Let's look at what the Bible says about the way believers prayed.
When do/should people pray?
- in the morning
- people praying three times a day (Dan. 6:10)
- in the evening (1 Kings 18:36)
- before meals (Matt. 14:19)
- after meals (Deut. 8:10)
- at the ninth hour (3 P.M.; Acts 3:1)
- at bedtime (Ps. 4:4)
- at midnight (Acts 16:25)
- day and night (Luke 2:37; 18:7)
- often (Luke 5:33)
- when they’re young (Jer. 3:4)
- when they’re old (Dan. 9:2–19)
- when they’re in trouble (2 Kings 19:3–4)
- every day (Ps. 86:3)
- always (Luke 18:1; 1 Thes. 5:17).
Where do/should people pray?
- in battle (2 Chron. 13:14–15)
- in a cave (1 Kings 19:9–10)
- in a closet (Matt. 6:6)
- in a garden (Matt. 26:36–44)
- on a mountainside (Luke 6:12)
- by a river (Acts 16:13)
- by the sea (Acts 21:5–6)
- in the street (Matt. 6:5)
- in the temple (1 Kings 8:22–53)
- in bed (Ps. 4:3–4)
- in a home (Acts 9:39–40)
- in the stomach of a fish (Jonah 2:1–10)
- on a housetop (Acts 10:9)
- in a prison (Acts 16:23–26)
- in the wilderness (Luke 5:16)
- on a cross (Luke 23:33–34, 46).
In what position do/should people pray?
- prayed standing (Gen. 24:12–14)
- lifting up their hands (1 Tim. 2:8)
- sitting (Jud. 20:26)
- kneeling (Mark 1:40)
- looking upward (John 17:1)
- bowing down (Ex. 34:8)
- placing their heads between their knees (1 Kings 18:42)
- pounding on their breasts (Luke 18:13)
- facing the temple (Dan. 6:10).
In what circumstances do/should people pray?
- wearing sackcloth (Ps. 35:13)
- sitting in ashes (Job 1:20–21; 2:8)
- crying tears (Ps. 6:6)
- throwing dust on their heads (Josh. 7:6)
- tearing garments (1 Kings 21:27)
- fasting (Deut. 9:18)
- sighing (Ezra 9:4–15)
- groaning (Ps. 6:4–6)
- crying out loud (Heb. 5:7)
- sweating blood (Luke 22:44)
- agonizing with broken hearts (Ps. 34:18)
- making a vow (Acts 18:18)
- making sacrifices (Ps. 20:1–3)
- singing songs (Acts 16:25).
The point I’m trying to make here is that you can pray any time, in any posture, in any place, and under any circumstance. For the believer to be in continual communion with God, prayer has got to become a way of life.
I have already stated that just praying, just practicing the discipline is enough to have continual communion with God.
So what is missing?
Passion
Col 4:2 says, “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it”.
Make a commitment to pray and then do it whole heartedly.
Turn to Matt 26
36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
It should go without saying that it is impossible to pray while sleeping - you must be awake and alert to talk to God. And yet I bet we’re all guilty of lying in bed with good intentions of praying only to fall asleep.
Beside physical alertness: Believers should also be specific in what they are praying about. Christians sometimes pray vague, general prayers without asking for anything specific. Now I can understand not wanting to air my dirty laundry in front of a room full of strangers and we’ve all been in churches where someone will have an “unspoken request” and then ask you to agree with them. I can’t do that. For me to be sincere in my prayers I have to know that what I am praying for is A) scriptural and B) isn’t witchcraft or forcing one person’s will on another.
And let me say another thing about non-specific prayer. God is into details. If He know how many hairs are or aren’t on top of your head, why wouldn’t he want to know the specifics of your prayer requests?
Think of it this way, you come to prayer on Wednesday night and ask the group to stand in agreement with you stand in for a new job. What you don't share with the group, is that you are a highly trained website developer. You're the person who designs websites for professional organizations. On the way home, someone in the group stops at Dunkin' Donuts and sees a sign in the window that says they are hiring donut makers. They talk to the manager and he is willing to hire you on their recommendation. The job pays minimum wage and requires you to work from 3 to 9 a.m. was your prayer answered? Absolutely, you got a job. Is it the job you wanted? Probably not, and the reason? It’s because you weren't specific in your prayer request.
Another aspect of devoting yourself to prayer is perseverance. It's sad but true that most believers never get serious about prayer until a problem occurs in their lives were in the life of someone they love. God doesn't care how many words you say. He doesn't care how eloquently you say it. What he cares about is the sincerity in your heart. How committed are you to praying for that cause? Too many people give up right before their answer or their blessing is about to manifest. What does our pastor always say? “It's a pressing way.” You have to press in, and continually press in.
Let’s look at 2 small passages that sum up the pressing way.
Luke 11:5-10
5 Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’
7 “Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’
8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness [another translation for boldness is persistence] he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
Did the neighbor press? Did the man get what he needed?
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Now flip over to Luke 18 1:
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
Read that again
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.
What did the judge say?
5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice,
7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.
So you see, the way we pray is as important as what we pray. Pastor always tells us to look at the natural to understand a spiritual concept. It a small child comes up to you and says, “gimme that”, or “can I have that?” What is our response? “Say please.” We are instructing the child in the way to ask.
It is the same thing with prayer. In order to have relationship building communion with our heavenly Father. We need to make prayer a lifestyle.
· Pray continually, in every situation, in different postures, places, and times
We need to pray
· With the right attitude, approaching the throne of grace with reverence and respect
· With passion, devoting ourselves to the discipline.
· Being alert – paying attention, offering specific prayers
· Being persistent – not giving up, pressing through.