A CHRISTIAN FRIEND'S GREATEST GIFT

A CHRISTIAN FRIEND'S GREATEST GIFT Ephesians 6:18, Philippians 1:3-11 With grateful acknowledgement of these sources of direction and inspiration: the Holy Spirit; the Word of God; Intercession, Thrilling and Fulfilling by Joy Dawson; Prayer by Richard Foster; Too Busy Not To Pray by Bill Hybels January 4, 2004 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introductory A woman came home to find her husband in the kitchen shaking frantically, in a frenzy, with some kind of wire running from his waist towards the electric kettle. Intending to jolt him away from the deadly current, she whacked him with a handy plank of wood, breaking his arm in two places. Up to that moment, her husband had been happily dancing to the music while he listened to his Walkman. A Peculiar Command As I was preaching last week's message, I was captivated by one of the verses we read concerning prayer. It was while I was explaining how our prayers are important because God thinks our prayers are important. We looked at a few passages of scripture, one of which was Ephesians 6:18, "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." The final eight words of that verse arrested my attention at the very moment I read them, and they held my thoughts captive all day last Sunday. I just kept mulling over in my mind those eight words: "…always keep on praying for all the saints." Here we have the apostle Paul urging the saints to pray for the other saints-in fact, all the other saints. (It wouldn't hurt to pause here long enough for a quick reminder that the New Testament writers referred to common, everyday believers as saints. For them such a title was not reserved only for a special group of historical Christians who had worked qualifying miracles and been voted in by a congress of cardinals. That was a man-made ecclesiastical idea cooked up in the fourth century AD. But the Bible, God's Book, inspired by His Spirit, uses the term "saints" to refer to….you! If you're a Christian-one who trusts in Christ for your salvation-you're a saint.) Apparently it is a priority for God that His people pray for each other. You would think that praying for others who are not yet believers would be the number one priority, but there is actually precious little in the New Testament on praying for the unsaved. Certainly it IS God's will that we pray for the unsaved world around us. But the Word stresses that praying for the believers is the priority. Interestingly, the priority of taking care of one another in the Body of Christ is important to God in many other respects besides prayer. In John 13 we find the strongest of many exhortations for Christians to love one another. Jesus said, "A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." (John 13:34) No mention here of loving others who are outside the faith (although we obviously are called to love them as well, but we are to prioritize loving each other). Why? Verse 35 explains, "By this will all men know that you are my disciples if you love one another." Loving fellow Christians is a priority to God because it is a strong witness and glorifies Him in the eyes of a watching world. Likewise we are repeatedly exhorted to honor one another, forgive one another, serve one another and share with one another. Over in Galatians, we are instructed: "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." (Galatians 6:10) At first blush, that's a shocking prioritization, isn't it? When you think of how we are to serve people in Jesus' name, it seems almost scandalous for the Christian community to minister with such a "me first" attitude. God says, "Take care of your fellow Christians before you take care of unbelievers' needs." Why? Can we make sense out of this seemingly selfish precedence of Christians over pagans? Yes, we can. Jesus invested Himself heavily in twelve men. The hundreds of hours He spent with them He could have been out working miracles of healing and deliverance among thousands of people. But He didn't. He knew that these twelve would be sent out in three short years to minister across the empire. Jesus knew that He had to care for his own first, so they would be able to care for others. Once I was called out to this building when the alarm had sounded and the police came to investigate. The canine officer was here with his dog. When I opened the door the officer yelled into the building at the top of his voice that anyone inside needed to come out NOW, because he was going to release the dog (who was barking fiercely). It turned out to be a false alarm, but the police officer whom I knew from our Police Officers' luncheons asked if he could "practice" with his dog. I told him "Sure." Another officer donned the thick arm protector and hid. They went through the warning routine and released RinTinTin, who found the masquerading culprit in 12 seconds flat. After each session, the canine officer got down on one knee and looked that dog in the eye and said, "Good boy, Good boy, Good boy!" He gave the dog snack biscuits and kept showing the dog affection. When I asked about it he said, "I take care of my dog, so when I need him, he'll take care of me." So the church is called to care for her own, nurture and help one another, love one another and pray for one another as a matter of highest priority. Why? So we will know we are "taken care of" by God's people. In short, Ephesians 6:18 tells us plainly that one of our godly priorities must be to pray for one another. As a Christian friend, the greatest gift you can give to your brothers and sisters in Christ is to pray for them regularly and faithfully. Paul said, Always keep on praying for all the saints. One of my most cherished moments was when I was at a friend's house and we were looking at his computer. I asked him what one peculiar looking icon on his screen represented, and he said, "That's my daily prayer list." I asked if he would please open the file and he reluctantly did. There I saw my name near the top of a neatly organized list of names. I knew I was important to that friend. I remember when a person I trust very much as a faithful intercessor moved from the area and told me at our last meeting, "Rich, I will always pray for you." That is a friend. Once when I was quite sick and miserable, I got a call from an old friend who lived out of state. He said, "I just called to tell you that I am praying for you." One of the best things a Christian friend can do is to bring faithful prayer before the Father on behalf of those he loves. A Positive Example The apostle Paul not only preached this principle of praying for Christian friends, he practiced it as well. I like for us to turn to one of the most personal of all passages in the New Testament. Philippians 1:3-11 "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that you love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and my be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God." There is a letter I would like to read to you this morning. It is from Billy Graham. Dear friends at Metro-East Christian Fellowship. Pastor Rich, I want to thank you personally for the work you are doing to help carry on the kingdom work there in the St. Louis area. I hope to come by sometime when I'm in the area and visit you. I hear Kid City is going well under Cheryl's leadership. I know you are proud of Brent and Connie, and anxiously praying for them as they plan for Brazil. Say hello to your wives from Ruth. She says to tell Connie she's praying for her physical healing. I hear such good things about your teens. Tell them hi for me. I'm encouraged to hear of Ed  leadership in your Church Council and Marge's superb work with the puppet team. Your cell leaders are doing well, too, I understand. Be sure to greet Billy & Cheryl, Bruce & Elaine, Buck & Krista, Sonny & Joanne as well as Chris. Tell Lori we enjoy reading the Witness each month. We are praying for you. Keep us in your prayers, too, please. God is good. Love in Christ, Billy and Ruth. Wouldn't that be encouraging? To think that such a leader would take the time, not only to pray, but also to send us a note to tell us? It's not likely we're going to get such a letter--because Billy Graham is too busy. But, do you know whose prayers for the people in this church are even more important than Billy Graham's? Yours. Do you know whose little notes of encouragement and prayer reminders are of even greater consequence in edifying this body of Christians? Yours. What is it worth to you to edify the body of Christ around you? Is it worth the 6-7 minutes a day it will take you to reflect over the names and faces of those fellow believers with whom God has stationed you in this outpost of the Kingdom we call MECF and to pray for them? What is it worth to you to see those who stand by you in ministry made stronger and readier for the day ahead of them when they will fight the Tempter, evangelize the lost and serve the Lord of the universe? Would it be worth the ten minutes it will take to write a short note (notice these prayer notes are small by design) to bless them? Would it be worth a 37-cent stamp and a walk to the mailbox for you? How about a cyber-blessing?--just a quick note via e-mail that says "Hey, just a reminder that I thank God for you and I am praying for you regularly"? Or, if a scripture comes to mind as you pray for someone, jot it down, along with a short word about how you are remembering so-and-so? What is it worth to us, church, to be healthy? The greatest thing you can do for your Christian friends is PRAY FOR THEM. Practical Exhortation - Philippians 1:9-11 • Pray for Growth in love (verse 9) When we pray for one another to grow, we are praying precisely in the middle of God's will. It is always His will that His kids grow into the image of Christ. Each of us is, in fact, predestined to be conformed to His image (Romans 8:29). When a Christian friend comes to mind, pause a moment and pray for that person • To continue to live in Christ, rooted and grounded in love (Ephesians 3:17) • To grasp the full dimensions of Christ's love (Ephesians 3:18) • To know intimately the love of God that surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3:19) • To be filled with "a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline" (2 Tim. 1:7) Paul prayed "that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight." (verse 9). We know that love is the chief virtue, the first in the list of the fruit of the Spirit and "…love is the fulfillment of the law…" (Romans 13:10). You can pray and help increase your Christian friend's understanding and experience of the love of God and then to grow in their ability to express godly love to others! Pray for your friends-it's the best thing you can do for them. And never say when they thank you for praying, "It's the least I can do…" It's not the least you can do for them; it's the most you can do for them! • Pray for Discernment (verse 10a) Next, the apostle prayed for his friends to be able to "discern what is best." Life has a way of bringing us to a new fork in the road frequently-places where we have important decisions to make. We need godly wisdom. The Bible says, in James 1 that if we would ask Him in faith for wisdom, we can have it. Too often we think it is better to just ask the advice of others-and there is a place for that-but God invites us to come to His throne and ask for His wisdom. Better yet, put the two together, and ask your Christian friends to pray for you to get godly wisdom. Be ready also, when your Christian friends come to you, to pray with them and for them to receive and exercise godly wisdom. Refrain from telling advice-seekers what to do. Promise you will pray for God to reveal His perfect way to them, then pray expectantly and watch how smart God makes them! • Pray for Purity (verse 10b) The third thing Paul prayed for in the lives of the believers in Philippi is that they would be "pure and blameless until the day of Christ." What he asked God in behalf of his friends was that they remain true to their Christian calling, and not be ensnared by the temptations of this world. You know, there is an awful lot in this world that grabs our attention away from the things of God. Sexually explicit and materialistic advertising is huge. Influences around us can have an eroding effect on our Christian ethic. The behavior and language of people around us has an effect on us. It can make us angry or it can wear us down until we actually adapt to it and begin to look and sound more like the world than like Christ. May I suggest your greatest help in your struggle to remain true to Christ is a Christian friend interceding for you? One of the hardest things we do is to pen our lives to one another and admit we are vulnerable to temptation and sin in one or more areas of our lives. But when and if we do, we can begin to enlist powerful spiritual help through the prayers of our Christian friends. • Pray for Fruitfulness (verse 11) There is no greater thrill for the born again person than feeling like he has in some way been fruitful in the service of Christ. Whether it is helping to lead another person to Christ, doing some act of kindness in the Lord's name, or simply discovering a new level of growth in his life. Praying for a brother or sister is in itself a rewarding experience. Jesus said, "This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." (John 15:8) If it pleases the Lord, and if it is such a blessing to us when we are fruitful in the kingdom, we should pray for one another's fruitfulness. Imagine a cell group in which everyone is continually praying for one another that each would grow in divine love, discernment, purity and fruitfulness. What could God do with such a group? What could God do with the fortunate few who belong to such a group? Conclusion It has been suggested by one author that "our bitterest regret will come when we are in heaven and we see for the first time the real power and privilege of prayer. Our spirits will cry out, saying, 'If I had only known, how I would have prayed!'" Charles Plum flew 75 missions over Viet Nam. He was finally shot down, parachuted, was captured and spent the next six years as a prisoner of war. Now he makes his rounds on the lecture circuit as a motivational speaker. One day he was eating at a restaurant when a man walked up and said, "You're Plum, aren't you? U.S. Navy?" "Yes, how did you know?" The man answered, "Because I'm the guy who packed your parachute. I guess it worked, didn't it?" Plum said he had probably passed that man a hundred times on board the aircraft carrier and "since I was a pilot and he was just a lowly sailor, I had never spoken to him. But if he hadn't been down in the belly of that ship doing his job I wouldn't be alive." Here's a question for you: Are you packing anybody's parachute? Pray, pray, pray for your Christian friends.   [Back to Top]