Sermon Tone Analysis

Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones, a well know 20th Century Welsh Protestant Preacher wrote: “There is no grosser or greater misrepresentation of the Christian message than that which depicts it as offering a life of ease with not battle and struggle at all… sooner or later every believer discovers that the Christian life is a battleground, not a playground.”

Our World is in a Battle.

One that we cannot see and at times seems impossible to be victorious in.

It is a battle for the soul of each and every person.

God has a plan and made it clear to us what it is through prophets and the scriptures (Bible).

His plan included the sacrifice of Jesus who willing gave his life for us, a sinful people, that our sins might be forgiven and our souls saved for eternity.

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Satan is the Enemy… He is in the business of trying to destroy our walk with God and the way God has planned for all people to know peace in their lives.

We talked about some of his schemes last week… deception (lying is his native language), division (A house divided cannot stand), derision (putting you down or you putting others down), and distractions (things that keep us away from focusing on what really matters - Eternity).

This week we are going to talk about the “First and Last Rule of Engagement” - Prayer - that which takes place behind the scene of the battle.

One of my go to passages in scripture when it come to spiritual warfare is found in the book of

The King of Aram was at war with the King of Israel.

Every plan the King of Aram made against Israel, the prophet Elisha would warn the King of Israel, which would lead to his safety.

The King of Aram became infuriated when he found out that Elisha was able to thwart all his plans, so he sent a group of soldiers to capture him.

When they arrived the servant of Elisha saw them and became fearful wondering how he and Elisha could stand against them.

Elisha prayed…

Then Elishas prayed that the Lord would strike the enemy with blindness, which he did.

Elisha sent them down the road in their blindness to Samaria.

After they entered the city, Elisha prayed for the Lord to open their eyes so they could see where they were.

The Prayer of the Prophet was first to open the eyes of his servant.

What did he see?

A vast army of God’s angels all around them to protect them.

Pray… God open our eyes that we may see you; know you.

Open our ears that we may hear you and know your ways.

Help is to genuinely be resolved to make you Lord of our lives and to fight the battle against Satan in your power and might; by your Holy Spirit.

In we read

The Power is God.

Last week we talked about verse 10 “Be strong in the Lord and the Power of His might.”

That power is not based one what we can do, but what God has done and will do in your life as you put your faith in Him.

When we stand in Christ; He is us, then we are prepared to put on the Armor of God… (verse 14-17)

After that he says in

Prayer is not the last thing we need to do in Spiritual Warfare, but it is the first and last rule of Engagement.

Paul says “Pray in the Spirit on ‘All’ occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”

What is prayer?

Let’s begin by defining prayer.

• The dictionary defines prayer as “a request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God.”

• The word used here speaks of “general requests made to God.”

• So, if we take that definition, and I think they are pretty good, prayer is simply “talking to God.”

Another way of looking at prayer is “the breath of a redeemed soul, exhaling its needs and its worship toward God.”

This idea of prayer being the breath of the soul was in Martin Luther’s mind when he said, “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”

Mahatma Gandhi, who was not a Christian, but a Hindu who prayer to his gods, said this about prayer, “Prayer is not asking.

It is a longing of the soul.

It is daily admission of one's weakness.

It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”

While Gandhi was wrong about the gods he worshiped, he was right about prayer.

We can pray anywhere, at anytime, about anything, and in any posture.

That is what prayer is.

This passage also tells us when we should pray.

Paul says, “praying always”.

The word “always” carries the idea of “at all times, in all seasons, at every opportunity”.

That is what prayer is.

This passage also tells us when we should pray.

Paul says, “praying always”.

The word “always” carries the idea of “at all times, in all seasons, at every opportunity”.

To pray “always” means that we live in a constant awareness of God and His presence.

• To pray “always” means that the soul is ever reaching up toward God.

• To pray “always” means that we see everything and every experience as a kind of prayer to God.

• When we are tempted we call on Him, asking for hIs help.

• When we see sin and wickedness, we call on Him to work in the situation to make it right and to work it out for His glory.

• When we see something beautiful, we give thanks to God for that.

• When we enter a time of trouble, we look to God for help and deliverance.

• When we weep, we lean on God for support.

• When we are happy, we lift our hearts to God in thanksgiving.

• When we meet a lost sinner, we ask the Lord to convict them and save them.

We also ask for His help to witness to them.

When life is lived in this way, it becomes an ever-ascending prayer to the Lord.

There will be times when we get alone with God to pray.

Most of the time, however, our lives should be a continual exhalation of  the soul breathing out its love for, and its dependence upon, God.

The Content of our Prayer…

Let me briefly talk about the Position in prayer...

The Bible speaks of people raising their hands to God in prayer; crying out in a loud voice to God; Kneeling before God; people fell prostrate before God - flat on their face.

People Singing praise to God.

The simple point is, the position of the Body doesn’t matter; it is the position of the heart!

Prayer is only lovely and weighty as the heart is in it, and no otherwise.

It is not the lifting up of the voice, nor the wringing of the hands, nor the beating of the breasts, nor an affected tone, nor studied motions, nor seraphical expressions, but the stirrings of the heart that God looks at in prayer.

God hears no more than the heart speaks.

If the heart be dumb, God will certainly be deaf.

No prayer takes with God, but that which is the travail of the heart.

THOMAS BROOKS

‘All Kinds of Prayers’

There are times when we pray for people not knowing exactly what they might need.

(i.e.

Missionaries - Kenny Danielson in Warroad)

The Lord may bring someone to mind… you may have no idea what is happening in their life, but you pray for them.

Then you call them and find out that there was an illness or an accident or the loss of a loved one.

That leads us to praying more specifically which becomes a request!

Then there are times when we know exactly what they need (Specifics - Requests)

On our prayer sheet we share requests that people make.

We pray, trusting in God to meet those needs.

That is why we ask specifically.

If there is an illness we can pray specifically - then let each other know!

If there is a financial need we can pray specifically - don’t be afraid to ask for help - on the flip side, remember that God knows our needs and get to praying about it.

If there is burden we can pray specifically...

All prayers are to made to God in faith believing in Him, trusting in His ways, and leaving the results in His hands.

Pauls says to pray for ‘All the Saints’

One of my greatest challenges in prayer is ‘Consistency’ I know what I should do, but I do not always do it.

A few weeks ago, Dennis Rude taught our SS class and spoke on prayer… he gave some ideas as to how and what to pray for...

Work at finding what works for you!

Is it praying through the Church directory? is it keeping a prayer journal?

I bought this little prayer journal.

I will open it at my desk at home or in the office and look at requests i’ve made and answers God has given.