Untitled Sermon

Opening

Tonight...

Will forever change your life if you can focus.

Our key word is discipline - a word you will have a love-hate relationship with (you will start with hate and learn to love it.)

Some of you will grow and others will fail - it will depend on your Spiritual discipline.

Real Questions

We are going to learn the discipline of prayer. Let me start by asking you a few questions.

Do you have a set time for prayer (other than meals and falling asleep)

Are you focused during prayer time?

Are all your devices turned off during prayer time?

Are you alone during your prayer time?

Are your prayers passionate pleas for others during your prayer time?

If God would answer your last 5 prayers would He (or you) be glorified?

What are the last five prayers God has answered?

What are five prayers He still has not answered?

When were the last five times you prayed (other than meals and falling asleep)?

Do you “talk a good prayer game” but don’t actually pray?

Prayer is a discipline.

It takes focus, hard work, and determination. There have been times in my life I have told myself, “Kenny, you must act as if your bottom is glued to your chair and you must keep saying - I will not get up until I am finished praying!”

If you don’t have a set time for prayer - you are like the man who says, “I am going to be able to benchpress 300 lbs, and deadlift more weights than anyone at my school.” However, this person does not create a schedule, a meal plan, or crave out the time to put in the hard work. On the days he does show up his mind is flouting and not focused. Sadly that is how many of your prayer lives are.

Before we even get to the Bible and learn how to pray, and pray effectively - you must actually learn to pray.

What is the main issue?

Many have no discipline when it comes to prayer.

In fact, many teens do not have discipline in many areas of life.

You want to be a good musician

You must have discipline and practice boring chords and scales

You want to be an artist

You must have discipline and work countless hours on your craft

You want to be an athlete

You must have discipline. You must be the first guy in the gym (or on the field) and the last to leave

You want to be a man or woman of God

You must have discipline by having a focused and dedicated time for prayer

Illustration of Prayer from Dr. J. Sidlow Baxter

After Dr. Baxter realized the horrible reality that he was putting his work for church above prayer - he came to a crossroad. Here is what he wrote in his own words.

“That morning Sidlow Baxter took a good look into his heart, and found there was a part of him which did not want to pray and a part which did. The part which did not was his emotions; the part which did was his intellect and will. This analysis paved the way to victory. In Dr. Baxter’s own inimitable words:

As never before, my will and I stood face to face. I asked my will the straight question, “Will, are you ready for an hour of prayer?” Will answered, “Here I am, and I’m quite ready, if you are.” So Will and I linked arms and turned to go for our time of prayer. At once all the emotions began pulling the other way and protesting, “We are not coming.” I saw Will stagger just a bit, so I asked, “Can you stick it out, Will?” and Will replied, “Yes, if you can.” So Will went, and we got down to prayer, dragging those wriggling, obstreperous emotions with us. It was a struggle all the way through. At one point, when Will and I were in the middle of an earnest intercession, I suddenly found one of those traitorous emotions had snared my imagination and had run off to the golf course; and it was all I could do to drag the wicked rascal back. A bit later I found another of the emotions had sneaked away with some off-guard thoughts and was in the pulpit, two days ahead of schedule, preaching a sermon that I had not yet finished preparing!

At the end of that hour, if you had asked me, “Have you had a ‘good time’?” I would have had to reply, “No, it has been a wearying wrestle with contrary emotions and a truant imagination from beginning to end.” What is more, that battle with the emotions continued for between two and three weeks, and if you had asked me at the end of that period, “Have you had a ‘good time’ in your daily praying?” I would have had to confess, “No, at times it has seemed as though the heavens were brass, and God too distant to hear, and the Lord Jesus strangely aloof, and prayer accomplished nothing.”

Yet something was happening. For one thing, Will and I really taught the emotions that we were completely independent of them. Also, one morning, about two weeks after the contest began, just when Will and I were going for another time of prayer, I overheard one of the emotions whisper to the other, “Come on, you guys, it is no use wasting any more time resisting: they’ll go just the same.” That morning, for the first time, even though the emotions were still suddenly uncooperative, they were at least quiescent, which allowed Will and me to get on with prayer undistractedly.

Then, another couple of weeks later, what do you think happened? During one of our prayer times, when Will and I were no more thinking of the emotions than of the man in the moon, one of the most vigorous of the emotions unexpectedly sprang up and shouted, “Hallelujah!” at which all the other emotions exclaimed, “Amen!” And for the first time the whole of my being — intellect, will, and emotions — was united in one coordinated prayer-operation.”

Hughes, R. K. (2001). Disciplines of a godly man (10th anniversary ed.; rev. ed., pp. 105–106). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

Will Vs. Emotions

Have you mastered your will or do your emotions control you?

Tonight

We are going to look at 6 disciplines that will help you when you pray

You will have a full week to practice these disciplines and we will begin to look at prayers from the Bible

This week I also give you a few prayers from the Bible to read over and meditate on

The Practice of Petitionary Prayer

Prayer list

Quiet Place

Time

Posture

Preparation

Length

1 The Prayer List

Pastor Hughes gives a good illustration on the need for a prayer list. He writes,

Essential to our effective petitionary prayer is a prayer list. I say this first because of my own repeated experiences. For example, I may be praying for my mother, and as I pray for her I see our old family home at 747 Edmaru Avenue. In front is parked my gray-primered 1941 Ford. It has racing slicks on the back, a hopped-up ’48 Merc engine, and on the side, custom pin-striping which reads “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” Suddenly I am seventeen, wearing my blue suede leather jacket, sitting behind my gold steering wheel, and heading down Beach Boulevard to Huntington Beach. I can smell the ocean and cocoa butter. So much for my “prayers for Mother”!

This is why I need a prayer list. To be sure, even using a list, my mind still wanders. But when it does, I always have my list to bring me back. And when I am especially prone to distraction I can place my index finger on her name and pray with my eyes wide open — moving from name to name in this way.

Hughes, R. K. (2001). Disciplines of a godly man (10th anniversary ed.; rev. ed., pp. 101–102). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

The Prayer list are important because they keep your mind focused and on point. What should you include on your main list?

1. The Need For A Prayer List

What should you include on your main list?

Family

Those who are sick

Those who are hurting

Important events

Problems I am facing

Ministries inside/ outside my church

My Pastors and spiritual leaders

My Church family

New believers (both newly saved and those you want to witness to)

You can take this list and write it in a document on your computer / phone / paper / sticky notes

1. Start a list tonight

Don’t wait till tomorrow - start a simple list tonight. It could be two or three names under each category and that is fine - it is just important for you to start.

Many discipline Christians have multiple list and each day they will pray though an additional list with a different focus. Here is an example.

Monday: My daily list + Prayer list for each missionary

Tuesday: My daily list + Prayer List for your government and teachers / professors / bosses

Wednesday: My daily list + Prayer List for yourself (increasing in wisdom, love, witnessing etc.)

Etc....

Side note - don’t be a liar - if you tell someone you will pray for them: pray for them. You can even keep a list for all those you told you would pray for!

2. Quiet Place

Find an atmosphere you can concentrate in. Don’t be foolish and pick a place with a TV on and distractions. Find a place where you can quiet yourself and think. Here are some examples.

In your room (if you share a room - work it out so your sibling will leave you alone and leave the room for a set time.)

An empty guest room in your house / apartment

It could be in a parked car

In your closet

In your back yard (watch the sunrise as you pray)

If your parents are Christians or respect your faith - work with them and ask them not to disturb you during your prayer time.

I recommend doing your prayers early in the morning before most people rise.

Simply find a place that is peaceful and quiet enough that you can focus on your prayer list

3. Time

We find throughout the Gospels that Jesus rose early and prayed (Mark 1:35.) We will see in our upcoming studies all the times He prayed in the Gospels - but for now understand that He prayed often and alone. Hughes writes,

I also try to give my best time to prayer — which for me is never the time just before going to bed. One’s last waking moments should never be given to powerful intercessory prayer (except, perhaps, for students who have a final exam in the morning).

Hughes, R. K. (2001). Disciplines of a godly man (10th anniversary ed.; rev. ed., p. 103). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

Most teens do not pray in the morning because they lack the discipline to wake up early. They look at the clock which says 5:00am but their lack of discipline (by staying up late) causes them to sleep in and not have prayer time.

Pick a time and pray - it’s not an emotional choice - it is bending your will to imitate Jesus… All it requires is discipline.

4. Posture

The jokes is told about a man who did not know what posture to assume as he prayed.

He tried praying on his knees, but that was not comfortable; besides, it wrinkled his slacks. He tried praying standing, but soon his legs got tired. He tried praying seated, but that did not seem reverent. Then one day as he was walking through a field, he fell headfirst into an open well. And did he ever pray!

Hughes, R. K. (2001). Disciplines of a godly man (10th anniversary ed.; rev. ed., p. 103). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

The Bible gives many examples of prayer-postures in the Bible, yet none of them outrank another.

Standing with head down – Luke 18:13

Kneeling – Acts 9:40

Bowing with hands raised – Nehemiah 8:6

Looking at Heaven John 17:1

Hands in the air – I Timothy 2:8

It seems like there are many ways to pray and there is no correct way to posture yourself in prayer. Find a way that works for you and keeps you focused.

Here is a tip. I rarely close my eyes because it causes me to lose focus and even fall asleep.

5. Preparation

Hughes writes,

As to preparation for prayer, honest practicality is of greatest importance. Sometimes a man needs a shower and a shave. If you are into coffee like I am, a good cup of coffee is a divine cordial. Again, it is not the physical details that are of prime importance but the condition and stance of the heart. Whatever helps you focus on the Lord, use it.

Hughes, R. K. (2001). Disciplines of a godly man (10th anniversary ed.; rev. ed., p. 104). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

6. Length

There are many ideas and philosophies about how long or short a prayer should be. The longest prayer in the Bible is found in Nehemiah 9:5-38. This prayer has 1,213 words and 5,571 characters. One of the shortest prayers is by Moses in Num. 12:13 in which he simply prays, “My God, please, heal her!.”

Martin Luther wrote,

“Look to it that you do not try to do all of it, do not try to do too much, lest your spirit grow weary. Besides, a good prayer mustn’t be too long. Do not draw it out. Prayer ought to be frequent and fervent.”

Hughes, R. K. (2001). Disciplines of a godly man (10th anniversary ed.; rev. ed., p. 104). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.