Spiritual Disciplines

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.”

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

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 letting you all see what Pam and I do by way of Physical Disciplines for the purpose of staying fit and maintaining our physical health and well being. A few years ago we purchased several different aerobic exercise DVD’s that we....well mostly Pam…work out to. Let me play part of one this morning and then I will tie this together as a lead in to the Spiritual Disciplines.

Have a TV and DVD set up with the unplugged cords clearly visible on the floor below. Try to turn on the TV and DVD with the remote-checking the batteries when it doesn’t work, then by pushing a button on the TV and DVD. Set it up for someone to quietly walk up and plug the TV and DVD in, take the remote and turn it on then go back and sit down.

For far too many of us, we attempt to live out our Spiritual lives in the same way I attempted my workout 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.

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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, Slide 6 because Prayer is the conduit to God’s Power.

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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.

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.

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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” ().

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.Slide 10 He will hear every prayer of His children, even when our prayers are weaker than a snowflake.

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.

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 79). NavPress. Kindle Edition.

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (pp. 79-80). NavPress. Kindle Edition.

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 Slide 11&12

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.

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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

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Jesus Expects Us to Pray

Prayer is Expected:Jesus Expects Us to Pray

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 and let’s look at the 2nd part of the Sermon on the Mount

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Matthew 6:5 ESV

5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

Matthew 6:

Prayer is Expected: “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: Next slide

Luke 11:9 ESV

9 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.

Luke 11:9

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

Then later in we read: Next slide

Luke 18:1 ESV

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

Luke 18:1

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: Next slide

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God’s Word Makes It Clear

Prayer is Expected: God’s Word Makes It Clear

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Colossians 4:2 ESV

2 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.

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1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV

17 pray without ceasing,

1 Thessalonians

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” ().

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” (). Jesus said, “When two of you get together on anything and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action” ().”

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 church?

PRAYER IS LEARNED

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

Luke 5:16 ESV

16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

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Luke 5:16

Luke 5:16 ESV

16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

Luke

So, knowing that prayer is expected by God, expected by Jesus, established as a priority in Scripture, patterned by Jesus, Himself, Next slide why is it that so many followers of Christ readily confess that they are really lacking in this area?

Luke 5:16 ESV

16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

Luke 5:16

Now perhaps you’re thinking, Jim, I’d like to be that kind of a person, 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

Luke 5:16 ESV

16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

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.

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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.

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

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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.

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

Not yet;

Yes

You know what else I have learned from experience?

Not yet

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

No

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

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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.

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 grown stronger.

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 85). NavPress. Kindle Edition.

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 Myrna 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.”

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

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 85). NavPress. Kindle Edition. ”

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By Praying

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

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.

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By Meditating on Scripture “The process works like this: After the input of a passage of Scripture, meditation allows us to take what God has said and think deeply on it, digest it, and then speak to God about it in meaningful prayer.”

“The process works like this: After the input of a passage of Scripture, meditation allows us to take what God has said and think deeply on it, digest it, and then speak to God about it in meaningful prayer.”

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By Praying with Others

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 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month. There is a group of us that meet here at 7pm to pray together.

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

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By Reading about Prayer

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PRAYER IS ANSWERED

MORE APPLICATION

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

Because prayer is expected, will you pray? “I challenge you with this directly because I think we need to make some conscious decisions about our prayer lives. It’s time for general intentions about prayer to become specific plans.”

Since prayer is learned, will you learn to pray?

Since prayer is answered, will you persistently pray? “Remember that the words ask, seek, and knock in in the original Greek language of the text are in the present, continuous tense. That means we often must pray persistently before the answers come.... Faith would never grow if all prayers were answered immediately.”

“Ultimately, though, this appeal to discipline ourselves to pray is “for the purpose of godliness.” Where there is prayerfulness there is godliness.”

“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, , 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!

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Plug in to the Power Source

Prayer is the conduit to God’s Power

Prayer is Expected

Jesus Expects Us to Pray

Prayer is Expected:Jesus Expects Us to Pray

Jesus Expects Us to Pray

Prayer is Expected: “And when you pray...”

6:6 “But when you pray...”

6:7 “And when you pray..”

6:9 “Pray then like this...”

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

Prayer is Expected: God’s Word Makes It Clear

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

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

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

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

Not yet;

Yes

Not yet

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

No

PRAYER IS LEARNED

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

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Prayer is Learned: By Praying with Others

By Reading about Prayer

PRAYER IS ANSWERED