“Perspectives on Prayer 1”
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In one area of Africa where Christianity began to spread, converts were zealous about daily devotions. They would find their own spot within the wild thickets and pour their hearts out to God. After some time the spots became well-worn, and paths were created. Soon, one's prayer life was made public. If someone began to neglect his or her devotional life, it would soon be noticed by others. Believers would then gently and lovingly remind those in neglect, "The grass grows on your path."
Is grass growing on our path today? Many evangelicals today will admit that their prayer life is either bankrupt or dead formality. If there is prayer at all, many times three minutes in, our minds are wandering off to the business of the day. If there is prayer at all, many times three minutes in, we have made all of our requests and there is nothing left to pray for. If there is prayer at all, it is done with no real belief that it will matter at all. And if it would we don’t have time to wait for it. Many times the reason for this is a misunderstanding the nature of prayer. We pray ignorant. When it comes to prayer, it’s not caught, it’s taught. The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. So lets take time today for us to learn to pray.
Pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need,
and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.
The grass withers the flower fade but the word of our God stands forever
What It Is
Who It Is
Why It Isn’t
Why It Is
The first thing we will look at today is a simple definition of this grand subject of prayer. Second we will explore who it is that we pray to. Third we should spend a moment to see why some of our prayer isn’t really prayer. Finally we will look at how our Lord taught us to pray and how his word and work continues to sustain and benefit our spirits to the hope and glory of God in our salvation.
Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world cause us to lose hope in prayer causing us to neglect this wonderful grace of God, it is our Lord Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit that will cause us to see what it truly is, how we should pray, and witness the wonderful blessings and benefits we receive from His grace upon grace.
I. What It Is
- What is prayer?
A. “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.” – Martin Lloyd-Jones
B. The best way to begin a section on prayer is to spend a bit of time defining what it is. I find that much dissatisfaction with prayer ultimately comes not because of the answer or lack of answer but a failure to know what prayer really is. The best definition is in the 1813 Charleston Association Baptist Catechism question 105.
Q. What is prayer?
A. Prayer is an offering up our desires to God (), by the assistance of the Holy Spirit (), for things agreeable to his will (; ), in the name of Christ (), believing (; ), with confession of our sins (, ; ), and thankful acknowledgments of his mercies (Ph. 4:6).
C. Offering up our desires assisted by the Spirit for things according to His will. We do it in the name of Christ. Believing. Confessing our sins. Thanksgiving.
I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem
and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer.
I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices,
because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.
D. We get a clear picture of the zeal of Christ for prayer in this instance. He quotes this Scripture as He reprimanded, drove people out and knocked over tables, demanding that the house of God would be one of prayer (). As you can see, Jesus is zealous about prayer in His Temple (His church, you and me).
O my people, trust in him at all times.
Pour out your heart to him,
for God is our refuge.
Interlude
E. In , the Psalmist encourages us to pour out our hearts and our desires to the Lord because he wants us to know that God does, indeed, care about our communicating to Him what is deep within our hearts.
- Matthew Henry nicely expresses, “We must lay our grievances before him, offer up our desires to him with all humble freedom, and then entirely refer ourselves to his disposal, patiently submitting our wills to his: this is pouring out our hearts.”
F. Now if we believe that the Lord is the provider of all things good, all we need, and asks us to ask Him, why would we not ask Him? Consequently, we should consider ourselves foolish, for we all know that there are tremendous blessings in prayer.
G. One difficulty of prayer is that, for some, it seems needless. We think that since God knows everything, anyway, and knows what we need and want before we even ask for it, why bother? Well, the reason we firmly establish the importance of prayer is because prayer is a means of grace for our spiritual growth rather than a means to inform the Lord of our personal wants and needs. Here are a few points to consider that we find patterned all over the Psalms:
[1] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 831.
H. Prayer is necessary so that we come to realize that God is the source of all we need and that it will become habitual for us to seek Him first and foremost rather than our last hope. It’s a grace that brings us more faith in the sufficiency of the Lord.
I. We pray to honestly open our hearts to Him and experience this revealing exposure of our souls in an intimate and emotional way. When we pray, we make ourselves vulnerable to the Lord in true humility, supplication, and repentance in our time of need. It is a grace that brings us vulnerability and humility before the Lord to be lifted up ().
J. Prayer prepares our hearts to be ready to receive and quick to be thankful. Moreover, with open hearts, we magnify and glorify Him, giving Him all that He deserves as we lift up our voices to Him in prayer truly satisfied because He is all the more glorified. It is a grace that brings us an expectant confidence in the Lord and a grateful heart.
K. Prayer is a simple conversation with God. Understand that we are talking about a conversation with the Almighty and Living Lord to whom we can approach His throne of grace confidently, knowing He hears our every word (, ). It is a grace that brings us closer intimacy with our Lord.
L. So as you can see, prayer is more about what it does to us than what it does for us.
II. Who It Is
-Who is it that is involved in prayer? The Trinity.
A. Yes the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In other words, we pray to the Father, in the name of the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
B. Jesus teaches us to pray to the Father. Our Father. Yes and it is also important to see how the Spirit helps us in our prayer.
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
C. The Holy Spirit will come alongside of us as we pray and assist us in our weakness and ignorance interceding in accordance to the will of God. (And He knows the will of God.) This is important to know especially when we are concerned that we don’t know what to pray or may not be approaching the Lord in the right way.
D. In our weakness, we are in need of a teacher to instruct in what is right, and the Holy Spirit will not leave us in our ignorance. Therefore, as we go to the Lord in prayer, in faith in the promise (), we remember that when we need help in prayer the Spirit of God comes along side, helping us to insure that we pray according to the will of God. So we see that praying in accordance to the will of God is vital to our prayer.
E. Furthermore, not withstanding the help of the Spirit, our awareness to pray in accordance to the will of God forces us to have a good handle of the Scriptures. It is the Scriptures that enlighten us to what is in accordance to the will of God. Moreover, the Scriptures are foundational to our prayer in faith, for faith comes by hearing the Word (). And it is by faith that we pray in order to be in accordance to the will of God, believing in His power as the Mighty God and His desire as the Good God to answer.
F. Prayer is surrender--surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out a boathook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God.
[1] The passage makes clear that our weakness is more than just not knowing the will of God.
G. In addition, when we pray, it is important to remember that we are to pray in the name of Christ for Christ is our Mediator and our Intercessor.
You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.
H. In this regard, when we invoke the name of Christ, we should be confident in our Lord to provide aid, believing it to be true and assured that the Lord will answer our prayers.
III. Why It Isn’t
- How do we deal with disappointment with prayer?
A. But the answer may not come in the way we might think and we might be wondering why it isn’t helping. Yes, how do we deal with disappointment? In light of Scripture, the Lord makes it rather glaring in that He will not fulfill the desires of those who do not fear Him.
He grants the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cries for help and rescues them.
Psalm 145:
B. Simple logic: Modus Ponens
If A then B
A
Therefore B
If you fear God then He grants your desires
You fear God
Therefore He grants your desires
Simple logic: Modus Tollens
If A then B
Not B
Therefore Not A
If you fear God then He grants your desires
You do not have your desires granted
Therefore you do not fear God
B. Hopefully, this creates a different way to think about what we would call “unanswered prayer.” It shows us that we might need to search our hearts and think deeply about whether we really do fear our Lord because the fear of the Lord will indeed influence our desires for what it is that we ask for. When the fear of the Lord is realized, we may find we shouldn’t have asked for what we asked for. Our motives were out of place and our sinful desires got the better of us. This is a crucial piece in disappointment.
You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
D. Norman Vincent Peale. When Peale was a boy, he found a big, black cigar, slipped into an alley, and lit up. It didn't taste good, but it made him feel very grown up. . . until he saw his father coming. Quickly he put the cigar behind his back and tried to be casual. Desperate to divert his father's attention, Norman pointed to a billboard advertising the circus.
When Peale was a boy, he found a big, black cigar, slipped into an alley, and lit up. It didn't taste good, but it made him feel very grown up. . . until he saw his father coming. Quickly he put the cigar behind his back and tried to be casual. Desperate to divert his father's attention, Norman pointed to a billboard advertising the circus.
"Can I go, Dad? Please, let's go when it comes to town."
His father's reply taught Norman a lesson he never forgot. "Son, he answered quietly but firmly, "never make a petition while at the same time trying to hide a smoldering disobedience."
E. Again, what should we be asking for? The Lord to fulfill His promises. His promises are His will and to pray in accordance with His will, we should pray back His promises. This is what David did in his awe inspiring prayer in . Get to know the promises of the Lord in His word and we will find out how to pray in accordance to His will and not in accordance to pleasure.
“And now, O Lord God, I am your servant; do as you have promised concerning me and my family. Confirm it as a promise that will last forever. And may your name be honored forever so that everyone will say, ‘The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is God over Israel!’ And may the house of your servant David continue before you forever.
“O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, God of Israel, I have been bold enough to pray this prayer to you because you have revealed all this to your servant, saying, ‘I will build a house for you—a dynasty of kings!’ For you are God, O Sovereign Lord. Your words are truth, and you have promised these good things to your servant. And now, may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you have spoken, and when you grant a blessing to your servant, O Sovereign Lord, it is an eternal blessing!”
F. We also need to persevere in prayer. We are to pray and we must not give up. Jesus tells us that sometimes prayer will demand perseverance and long-suffering. He is telling us that when we are praying we are not to become discouraged if it is not answered for ourselves or for others right away. Jesus is telling us that we need to persistently pray knowing ahead of time that it may not be answered right away.
One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.
Luke 18:1
G. He is essentially telling us, in a manner of speaking, to harass the Lord with our requests. Hang in there.
Get to know the promises of the Lord in His word and we will find out how to pray in accordance to His will and not in accordance to pleasure.
IV. Why It Is
[1] One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’” ()
- Prayer is a means of grace. That is why it is important.
A. And that is why we need to be thankful. We should recognize that thanksgiving is a vital part of prayer.
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
B. The response of thanksgiving comes then from the realization of His loving kindness and that all that is good and given is from the hand of Christ alone. Even before we ask the Lord anything, there is much to be thankful for, and in this attitude we make our requests known, thanking Him for all He alone has done. Consequently, there was nothing we could do, and so our arrogance is yet again reduced, and our only response, with fear in our hearts, is thanksgiving. Therefore, no matter the outcome of our prayer, He should always be shown our deepest gratitude in everything, even when we may think it is nothing because the grace He gives is everything.
C. Let me also encourage you to spend some time learning how to pray. I will quickly summarize .
Pray like this:
Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.
1. We go to the Lord in reverence and confidence as a child to a Father which art in Heaven.
2. We pray that the Lord will make us and others to glorify Him in all things; that we Hallow (honor) His name.
3. We pray for His kingdom to come. We pray that the kingdoms of darkness will fall and the Kingdom of Heaven will advance all over the earth.
4. We pray that His will be done. We pray that the Lord will make us able and willing to submit to His will; here as the angels do in heaven.
5. We pray that the Lord will give us our daily bread which is all the good things in life and all the blessings we receive along with them.
6. We pray that the Lord will forgive our sins and give us the grace to forgive others with our whole heart.
7. We pray that the Lord will keep us from being tempted or give us the support and deliver us when we are tempted.
D. But man all of this sounds great, but I dunno if its gonna help. The the problem with sin and the pattern of this world. In our culture, we are conditioned more and more to see patience as an inconvenience to progress. We do not like to wait. Remember when 56K was the bomb speed. What if I tell you that prayer is not 1GB it is 56K?Even if it produces results its not to the degree we want and not in a timely fashion. It just does not fit our progressive society.
E. But sin causes us to pray with wrong motives, it is our nature to desire fulfilment of things that brings us pleasure. We naturally don’t like praying God’s will, we like praying our will, or we like praying what we think should be God’s will. That is the reality of sin and the pattern of this world. But we have hope in Christ always.
F. We will overcome sin and the world because Christ has overcome the world and overcome sin and death. This is the beauty of prayer. It causes us to put our hope in Christ because that is where is should only be. In Christ and in Christ alone.