Sermon Tone Analysis

Putti Sok told her Christian college friends, "Leave me alone and quit praying for me."

Putti described herself as a "Cambodian Buddhist girl," even though she was born in Long Beach, California and grew up in Dallas.

"I figured I was Buddhist because my parents told me I was Buddhist," she said.

"I thought Christianity was just a religion for Americans."

Eventually Putti came to consider herself "an evangelistic atheist," challenging others to prove that God exists.

When Putti started her college education at the University of Texas in 2008, one of her goals was to build deep relationships.

She succeeded in that, but some of her new friends were Christians who were active in a student ministry.

During her sophomore year, Putti "hit a wall."

"I began to see that everything I was doing was becoming meaningless," she said.

"If what I was doing didn't have eternal meaning, then it was all in vain."

She began to think, "If God is real, he should be able to hear my prayers."

Each night she began to pray that he would help her understand what she had been hearing from her friends because it seemed like foolishness to her.

Then one day Putti entered a closet in the student ministry building that had been turned into a prayer room.

Inside she found a bowl filled with pieces of paper with the names of students' friends.

One after another she looked at the slips of paper and found her own name written on the slips.

She knew how strongly she had urged her friends not to pray for her and yet they had faithfully loved her and prayed for her anyway.

She burst into tears that day in the tiny prayer room.

"God was softening my heart then," she said.

The next night she felt that God was asking her for a specific response, so she finally prayed to receive Christ.

"All of a sudden, I had a desire to go and share with people," she said.

"God is real, and he has changed my heart."

Putti is currently studying in preparation for full time ministry.

A very important aspect of our prayer lives is praying for other people.

Now this is and has been a very very difficult aspect of prayer, especially recently.

One person after church was asked if he liked the church he just attended and the response was.

I like the church it is a cool place except for one thing: people.

If only we could enjoy church without people.

If only I could worship God without people.

Now of course he did not mean all people, but the point was clear.

The disdain for people is a reality in the body of Christ today.

It is not just unfortunate, but it is unbecoming of what it is to be a Christian.

Another interesting development that I have witnessed over the years, where there is more care for animals than there are for people.

I was watching a movie with a group of people.

We watched a man kill a dragon who was evil and killing people.

When the dragon died she said “I know that the dragon was evil, but I am still said it died.”

Then and interesting twist…the dragon turned into a person.

I asked do you still feel sad… “She said…nope.”

We all laughed, but it all ended with silence.

The reality is this… we cannot have church without people… because the church is people.

This why I continue to advise against those who do not come to church and say that they have church by themselves at their house away from other Christians.

We need to understand that the people of Christ as seen as so much Christ himself that Christ identifies the church as himself.

Let us never forget the summary of the law...

Let us also not forget ...

1 John 4:

One of the most extraordinary principles that we come to find when we study the prayer life of the Apostle Paul, is his constant praying for others.

It is not wrong to pray for oneself, look at the psalms, but are spending enough time praying for other people, especially those whom you might not want to pray for.

Just look at the the scriptures, there are many instances of thanksgiving and prayer for others by the Apostle Paul...

1 Timothy 1

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.

What We Pray for Them

Do We Pray for Them

Christ Prayed for Us

The first thing we will explore is how the Bible must be our standard for what it is we pray, when we pray for others.

Second, we need to spend some time looking deep inside as to why we might not pray for others like we should.

Finally, we will see how Christ made sure to keep us in the Father’s mind as He prays for us.

Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world cause us to lose heart in other people for various reasons, it is the intersession of our Lord Jesus at the right hand throne of the Father that will cause us to see the importance of the body of Christ and seize every opportunity to pray for others in accordance to the will of God.

I. What We Pray for Them

- Seek what is best for the people of God.

A. Hopefully by now we are all convinced that we should be praying for other people.

Our prayer life will never be more than a simple retreat house if all we do is seek to find strength for ourselves.

We we desire our prayer life to be like Christ or the Apostle Paul, we will pray for others.

But it is also important to note what it is that Paul inspired by God prays for.

What is best for the people of God?

B. How doe we find out what is best?

The Scriptures.

And let me say it this way… It is important to submit to God’s definition for what is best for His people.

Not what I think, what we think, what society thinks, what dr.

Phil thinks.

C.

So think about it… How else are we supposed to know what is best if we do not know the prayers of the scriptures?

The scriptures shape the way we are to view God, how we are to treat others, shape our fundamental beliefs in Christ, why not how we should pray.

How bout an exercise this week?

Lets look at what it is that Paul prays for when it comes to others and compare it to what it is that we normally ask for.

Examples...

Ephesians 3:14-

Ephesians 1

2 Thessalonians 1:

D. Lets think about it this next week.

In the fall of 2005, my 9-year-old son, Austin, had his tonsils removed.

Before the surgery, an anesthesiologist came in to start an IV.

He was wearing a cool surgical cap covered in colorful frogs.

Austin loved that "frog hat."

When the doctor started to leave, Austin called out, "Hey, wait."

The doctor turned.

"Yeah, buddy, what do you need?"

"Do you go to church?"

"No," the doctor admitted.

"I know I probably should, but I don't."

Austin then asked, "Well, are you saved?"

Chuckling nervously, the doctor said: "Nope.

But after talking to you, maybe it's something I should consider."

Pleased with his response, Austin answered, "Well you should, 'cause Jesus is great!"

"I'm sure he is, little guy," the doctor said, and quickly made his exit.

When Austin's surgery was finished, the anesthesiologist came into the waiting room to talk to me.

He told me the surgery went well, then said, "Mrs.

Blessit, I don't usually come down and talk to the parents after a surgery, but I just had to tell you what your son did."

Oh boy, I thought.

What did that little rascal do now?

The doctor explained that he'd just put the mask on Austin when my son signaled that he needed to say something.

When the doctor removed the mask, Austin blurted, "Wait a minute, we have to pray!"