Spiritual Disciplines

Let’s begin this morning with a word of prayer.

Heavenly Father….

Spiritual Disciplines:Prayer For The Purpose Of Godliness-Part 1

As we begin this morning, go ahead and turn in your copies of God’s Word to Matthew 6:9-13. We will be reading these verses together shortly, so please have them marked and ready for that time.

In last weeks I stated that “I believe that;

“The Spiritual Discipline of our time in God’s Word, is the key that unlocks all of the other disciplines.”

Would you please stand, in honor of the reading of God’s Word, and let’s read this together this morning;

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 6

“Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father who is in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

10 ‘Your kingdom come.

Your will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

11 ‘Give us this day our daily bread.

12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from bevil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]

May the Lord add His blessing to the reading of His Word, please be seated.

Since we are looking at the Spiritual Disciplines and how important they are to our spiritual health and well being, I wanted to start of this morning giving you kind of a picture of how you might set up a daily quiet time, a picture of what it may look like.

Set up TV tray, chair and CLEARLY UNPLUGGED LAMP. To illustrate the importance of being plugged in to the power source through prayer.

For far too many of us, we attempt to live out our Spiritual lives in the same way I attempted to do my devotions this morning. We have absolutely everything we need at our disposal to live a growing, passionate relationship to Jesus Christ, but we neglect to Plug in to the Power Source.

Plug in to the Power Source

This morning we move from the Spiritual Discipline of our Time in God’s Word, to what I believe is the 2nd most important Spiritual Discipline the Discipline of Prayer. It is through our time in prayer that we Plug in to the Power Source, because:

Prayer is the conduit to God’s Power

How many of you have been to New Mexico?

Donald Whitney, in his book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life writes;

“The largest radio receiver on earth is in New Mexico. Pilots call it “the mushroom patch.” Its real name is the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array.

The “VLA” is a series of twenty-seven huge satellite disks on thirty-eight miles of railways. Together the dishes mimic a single telescope the size of Washington, DC. Astronomers come from all over the world to analyze the optical images of the heavens composed by the VLA from the radio signals it receives from space. Why is such a giant apparatus needed? Because the radio waves, often emitted from sources millions of light-years away, are very faint. The total energy of all radio waves ever recorded barely equals the force of a single snowflake hitting the ground.

What great lengths people will go to in search of a faint message from space even as God has spoken so clearly through His Son and His Word! Straining through the eyes of telescopes and the electronic ears of the VLA, they search the infinite darkness for a possible word from somewhere in the universe. And all the while, “we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19).

But God not only has spoken clearly and powerfully to us through Christ and the Scriptures, He also has a Very Large Ear continuously open to us.

He will hear every prayer of His children, even when our prayers are weaker than a snowflake.

That’s why, of all the Spiritual Disciplines, prayer is second only to the intake of God’s Word in importance.” Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (pp. 79-80). NavPress. Kindle Edition.

Despite the incredible importance of prayer, the vast majority of professing Christians spend very little time in sustained prayer. Oh we may offer a quick sentence prayer a few times throughout the day, thank the Lord for the food, pray for the light to turn green because we are running late, but we rarely spend more than a few minutes—if that—alone in conversation with God.

The next couple weeks we are going to look at the Spiritual Discipline of Prayer more closely that most of you have had the opportunity to in the past. I believe that two of the things that keep believers from prayer is an insufficient understanding of what prayer is as well as not fully knowing how to pray. Hopefully we can really address those things in the next couple weeks.

To start with we need to Understand that

Prayer is Expected

I wonder if there aren’t times we either forget, or just don’t think about that truth? When we put our faith and trust in Jesus as our Savior, we enter into a relationship, and just like all the other relationships we have in life, we cultivate those relationships through time with each other, through conversations. The fact of the matter is, prayer is our time of conversation with God.

Pam lived in the country of Chile for close to 5 months in 1993. While she was there I was back in Nebraska working as a Youth Pastor. Our relationship was so important to us that we talked on the phone almost every day for that entire 5 months. Our average phone bill was between $500-$600 per month. But we both understood the incredible importance of daily conversations, I gotta tell you, it was worth every penny.

Is our relationship with the Creator of the Universe any less important than our relationships with those whom He created?

So let’s not forget that Prayer is expected.

The next thing we need to understand is that

Prayer is Expected:Jesus Expects Us to Pray

As a part of that relationship we are now experiencing as followers of Christ, Jesus Himself expects us to pray. Turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 6 and let’s look at the 2nd part of the Sermon on the Mount

Prayer is Expected: Matthew 6:5 “And when you pray...”

6:6 “But when you pray...”

6:7 “And when you pray..”

6:9 “Pray then like this...”

Jesus continues His expectation of our commitment to prayer in Luke where He says:

Luke 11:9 ESV

And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Prayer is Expected: Luke 11:9 “And I tell you, ask…; seek…; knock....”

Then later in Luke 18 we read:

Luke 18:1 ESV

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

In all of these passages Jesus never uses the word “if” when speaking about prayer, His message is very clear, His followers are expected to pray.

In addition to Jesus expectation that we pray, it is clear throughout the rest of the New Testament that we are expected to pray:

Prayer is Expected: God’s Word Makes It Clear

Colossians 4:2 ESV

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

The Greek word Paul uses for “Continue steadfastly” means

“to persevere in some activity or cause to the point of devotion, to persist obstinately in, to hold fast to, endure in, stand perpetually ready, persevere in”.

The Greek word for “being watchful” means to

“be on the alert, be awake, be vigilant”

The picture here is of an individual with an unswerving devotion, one that will not be swayed and that devotion is to prayer. Prayer for them is a priority that they hold fast to.

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul continues that thought in another of his letters.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV

…pray without ceasing,

When addressing this verse, Max Lucado states;

“Did God call us to preach without ceasing? Or teach without ceasing? Or have committee meetings without ceasing? Or sing without ceasing? No, but he did call us to “pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:17).

Did Jesus declare…my house shall be called a house of study? Fellowship? Music? A house of activities? No, but he did say “My house will be called a house of prayer” (Mark 11:17).  Jesus said, “When two of you get together on anything and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action” (Matthew 18:19).”

and

Donald Whitney writes; “Prayer is in one sense an expression of a Christian’s unbroken relationship with the Father.”

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 81). NavPress. Kindle Edition.

This verse doesn’t mean that we are to do nothing but pray, but it does mean that prayer is to be a part of all we do in life.

Change slides to phone slide

Phone

Think of it like this, let’s say your on the phone with a close friend when you get another call from a different close friend. You tell the one friend, “Hey, John is on the other line, do mind if I put you on hold for a minute while I take his call?” Once he says yes, you put him on hold and take John’s call. You don’t hang up and you don’t forget your friend on the other line, especially if your using a phone like this one on the slide, because you constantly see the blinking light as a reminder. The point is, your conversation with God is always open, you can go back to it at a moments notice. While your conversations with God may not always be at the forefront of your mind, it should always be just off to the side ready to take place at any time.

Let’s say you are driving down the road and you get passed by an ambulance with the siren blaring, someone who takes seriously the challenge to pray without ceasing will generally pray for the first responders as well as the individual they are heading to assist.

They pray after emails or text messages, after phone calls, they pray for the weary waitress serving them when they find out this is her 2nd job that she has to work in order to feed and clothe her kids. These moment by moment prayers become a part of who they are. they become what they are known for.

This is something Pam and I have sought to do for years, and while we are far from perfect in this area, while we’re still fleshing out this pray without ceasing thing, we have become known by many as a couple devoted to prayer. We get calls, text messages or emails out of the blue from friends in need asking us to pray for them.

Can you imagine the impact we would have as a church if we became known as a 1 Thessalonians 5:17 church?

By the way, prayer is also something patterned for us by Jesus. We read multiple times passages like

Luke 5:16 ESV

But He would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

So, knowing that prayer is expected by God, expected by Jesus, established as a priority in Scripture, patterned by Jesus, Himself,

Prayer is Expected: Why is it that so many followers of Christ readily confess that they are really lacking in this area?

One of the reasons is that just like our personal time in God’s Word, we don’t make it a part of our schedule.

Prayer is Expected: We don’t make it a part of our schedule.

If we don’t make it a part of our schedule, a set part of our daily routine, it get’s crowded out by other things.

Another reason we don’t pray is…well it’s one we don’t quickly admit, but it’s because we aren’t certain anything actually happens if we pray.

Prayer is Expected: We aren’t certain anything actually happens if we pray.

Two things Donald Whitney writes on this are spot on; “Of course, we don’t admit this publicly. But if we felt certain of visible results within sixty seconds of every prayer, there would be holes in the knees of every pair of Christian-owned pants in the world. Obviously the Bible never promises this, even though God does promise to answer prayer. Since prayer involves communication in the spiritual realm, many prayers are answered in ways that cannot be seen in the material realm.”

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 83). NavPress. Kindle Edition.

The fact of the matter is, no prayer goes unanswered. From my personal experience, I believe our prayers are answered in 1 of 3 ways.

Prayer is Expected: Our prayers are answered in 1 of 3 ways:Yes; Not yet; No

You know what else I have learned from experience?

Prayer is Expected: God’s “No’s” to our prayers are never just “No”. They are always “No, because I have a better plan!”

When Pam and I lost our baby, I’ve got to be honest, we struggled mightily with God’s No to our pleading prayers. But many years later when reflecting on our loss, I recorded the following in my Quiet Time Journal;

“When you are in the middle of tragedies strong grip, you can't fathom victory. I myself have uttered the words, ‘I can't possibly see how God can bring about victory through this tragedy.’ Then, I have watched as His hand has reached down and woven a beautiful quilt of victory from the threads of defeat.”

Now perhaps you’re thinking, Jim, I’d like to be the kind of a person that is known as a prayer warrior, but I’m not quite sure how to do it.

I know exactly what you’re talking about. This isn’t something that most of us come by naturally. The fact of the matter is

PRAYER IS LEARNED

"If you are discouraged by the command to pray because you feel like you don’t know how to pray well, the fact that prayer is learned should give you hope.” Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 85). NavPress. Kindle Edition.

No matter how weak or strong your prayer life may be right now, in time and with persistent practice, it will grow stronger.

The very best way to learn how to pray is to pray.

Prayer is Learned: By Praying You Learn Better How to Pray

Sometimes I think we get the impression that prayer should be automatic for the believer. Like the moment we put our faith and trust in Christ, we become automatic prayer warriors. I mean think about it, we’ve listened to countless prayers over the years, heard multiple sermons on it. We should be able pray with the best of them. Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen that way.

When I am studying and preparing for Sunday messages during the week, I regularly listen to classical piano music. I have listened to hundreds of hours of classical piano music. I should be able to sit on the piano bench over there and play so well Charlotte goes home jealous today. However, if I went over there and started playing, this place would empty out faster than a stadium after the home team got blown out!

Andrew Murray writes in his classic book on prayer titled With Christ in the School of Prayer “You get nothing without exercise, without practice. I might listen for a year to a professor of music playing the most beautiful music, but that won’t teach me to play an instrument.”

While the best way to learn how to pray is by praying, there are other ways we can learn as well. We will dive more into some of the ways next week, but I do want to give you one other key way this morning.

Prayer is Learned: By Praying with Others

One of the best and most natural ways to learn how to pray is by praying with others. Now I’m not talking about memorizing the phrases they may use, their lingo and things like that. I have heard people pray who I am pretty sure have never prayed an original prayer in their life. The things they say in their prayers are nothing more than repeated phrases they have heard others pray.

What I am talking about learning from their passion, their fervency, their confidence that not only is God listening, God is going to answer their prayers.

Praying with others is absolutely one of the best ways to learn how to pray.

And by the way, you can do just that every Wednesday evening. Every Wednesday even ing there is a Bible study and prayer time at 7PM.

The last thing I want to talk about this morning is something I brought up briefly already, and that is the fact that

PRAYER IS ANSWERED

God truly does answer prayers and I want to close with a beautiful story of God’s answering a very specific prayer.

“It was always evident how much Billy Graham loved and respected his father, Frank (William Franklin Graham Sr.). He was a Charlotte, North Carolina, dairy farmer who almost lost everything in the Great Depression but managed to slowly recover and leave a legacy of faith, hard work and determination.

In May 1934, Billy Graham was just a lanky, mischievous teenager when his father and a group of local men gathered under a grove of shade trees at the edge of a pasture on the Grahams’ dairy farm. They had met several times before—always outdoors—at different locations around Charlotte to pray for God to send revival to their city, their state and beyond.

But this particular May prayer gathering is still being talked about almost 85 years later. That’s because at this meeting, as Frank Graham recalled later, a paper salesman named Vernon Patterson suggested a bold new prayer: that God would raise up someone from Charlotte, North Carolina, who would take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

At that time, in 1934, it certainly wasn’t obvious that that someone might be me,” Billy Graham wrote later. The day his father joined the others in their bold new prayer, Billy was in the barn doing his afternoon chores, and the Gospel was likely the farthest thing from his mind.

That changed just six months later when a traveling evangelist, Dr. Mordecai Ham, caught the gangly, blue-eyed teenager’s attention.

It wasn’t easy to get young Billy Graham to set foot inside the tent where Dr. Ham was preaching night after night (why Billy finally went is another story), but he eventually decided to see what all the fuss was about.

It was at that tent meeting on Nov. 1, 1934—just six days before Billy Graham’s 16th birthday—that the future “Evangelist to the World” and “Pastor to Presidents” asked Jesus Christ to come into his heart and be his Savior and Lord.

One of the Bible verses Dr. Ham quoted, Romans 5:8, stuck with the young new believer. The verse says, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

It was the knowledge of God’s love that changed Billy Graham’s heart, and he spent more than 70 years passionately telling anyone who would listen, “God loves you!”

Before he went to be with Jesus on Feb. 21, 2018, Billy Graham preached the Gospel to more people in live audiences than anyone else in history—nearly 215 million people in more than 185 countries and territories. Hundreds of millions more have been reached through TV and radio broadcasts, newspaper columns, evangelistic films and the internet.”

Billy Graham’s Father and the Prayer Heard Around the World

By BGEA   •   May 29, 2018

Yes, God really does answer prayers, and sometimes in the most incredible ways!