Three Prayers Christians Should Pray
Notes
Transcript
Read: Psalm 54:1-3
Read: Psalm 54:1-3
1 Save me, O God, by thy name, And judge me by thy strength. 2 Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth. 3 For strangers are risen up against me, And oppressors seek after my soul: They have not set God before them. Selah.
TEXT: Psalm 54:2 Hear my prayer, O God;
Prayer is something I have talked about many times, but I think it is extremely important not only to our Christian Walk, but also to events and circumstances around us.
It is said that John Wesley not only preached but prayed extemporaneously. Meaning that he preached and prayed with out notes or a book. While I know that he did read prayers at times, he did preach and pray extemporaneously often.
On one occasion a gentleman he was visiting was horror-struck by the idea that someone would dare to pray without a book. The gentleman exhorted Wesley not to pray extemporaneously as it is no prayer at all. He went on to say he could prove this. He argued, “You cannot do two things at once, thinking how to pray and praying being two things: you cannot think and pray at once.”
Wesley who was always ready for a good debate immediately turned the tables and said, “may it not be proved that reading or a form is no prayer at all. You cannot do two things at once. You cannot read and pray at the same time. Arminian Magazine Spring 2013 p.5
While I am not sure how that debate ended, of one thing I am sure - Mr. Wesley prayed.
Many things are accomplished through the aid and avenue of prayer.
Wesley Duewel defined prevailing prayer as, “Prayer that obtains the answer sought. It overcomes delay, opposition, and unfavorable circumstances.”
I believe that today even in 2020 getting closer all the time to 2021 that Christians can still prevail in prayer.
But so little is said about the preparatory work to prayer:
A. W. Tozer admonishes us that to have an answer to prayer two elements must be present:
A clear-cut request made to God for a specific favor
2. A clear-cut granting of that favor by God in answer to the request.
He goes on and says to recieve and answer to prayer two conditions must be met:
We must pray in the will of God
We must be on “praying ground” that is, living lives pleasing to God.
When this is the case there is no prayer to big or to small for God:
I remember hearing it said of a godly man, "Mr. So and-so is a gracious man, but he is very strange; for the other day he prayed to God about a key he had lost." The person who told it to me regarded with astonishment the idea of praying to God about a lost key; and he seemed altogether surprised when I assured him that I prayed in like manner. What! pray about a key? Yes. Please tell me how big a thing must be before you can pray about it? If a certain size is appointed, we should like to have it marked down in the Bible, that we might learn the mathematics of prayer. Would you have it recorded that, if a thing is so many inches long, we may pray about it; but if it happens to be a quarter of an inch too short, we must let it alone? If we might not pray about little things, it would be a fearful calamity; for little things cause us great worry, and they are harder to deal with than great things. If we might not pray about minor matters, it would be a terrible loss of comfort.
--Rev. C. H. Spurgeon.
Montgomery says:
Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear,
The upward glancing of an eye
When none but God is near.
Vance Havner a Baptist minister from several years ago wrote about three prayers that Christians should pray. I thought of these in connection to our text
2 Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth.
Havner's Threefold Prayer
We settle for molehills when we could have mountains. Some years ago, I felt led to make a threefold prayer:
Like Hezekiah, I asked for an extension of time (see 2 Kings 20:1-6);
Like Jabez, I asked for an enlargement of coast (see 1 Chron. 4:10); and,
Like Elisha, I asked for an enduement of power (see 2 Kings 2:9).
That is a big order, but God likes to show us great and mighty things which we know not.
Decision, p. 44
Vance Havner, Sermon Sparklers: Outlines and Quotes, comp. Dennis Hester, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1989), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "44 Havner's Threefold Prayer".
How about you, I would encourage all of you to pray these prayers this week. I would be glad to even text you the references if you wish just let me know.