1. The Practice of Prayer
Notes
Transcript
Welcome to Iowa City Church and the start of a new series focused on Prayer & Fasting. There is a resource that I’m encouraging you to pick up. I’m going to be referring to it throughout the series and it will be a practical guide to help you moving forward. It’s called Prayer & Fasting: Moving with the Spirit to renew our minds, bodies and churches. You can pick it up on your own if you services like Amazon. If you would like me to pick up a copy for you, sign up at the Welcome Table. The cost will be $7.
In John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Jesus says that he came to bring life…life to the full. Not a future event, but a current event. Jesus came to bring life. Unfortunately, many Christians, maybe even you have viewed Jesus as a simple transaction. You put your faith in Jesus, and in return you don’t go to Hell. That’s what we call a transactional gospel. That sure doesn’t sound like what Jesus is talking about though.
Here is where we enter into the struggle of what life following Jesus is all about. Is it me trying to get my act together or is it a matter of discovering the life that Jesus offers. For me personally, I can say with confidence that much of my life has been driven and accomplished by my own ability and strength. I’ll figure it out. I’ll do it. I’ll do better. I’ll get my act together. Here’s the problem: I’m not good enough!
Now, do you want to know something crazy? Jesus never meant for us to do this life on our own. He never intended us to power our lives. The truth is God gave us his Holy Spirit to power our lives and do the work of the Kingdom in whatever arena we find ourselves. So, here I am, working like a dog trying to do everything on my own, when my Heavenly Father has provided for me everything I need to accomplish the work he has given me. My failure is simply this: I didn’t ask.
Let me give you a visual example of what I’m talking about. We are all familiar with sail boats. Why are they called sailboats? I know, it’s a complicated question! They raise these massive pieces of fabric to connected to masts so that they can capture the wind and push the ship in forward. A sail boat is wind powered! If there is no wind, what needs to happen? They either just sit their and wait or they pull out the paddles and everyone gets to work paddling.
As a follower of Jesus, we are each given the Holy Spirit to power our lives. Whether it’s directing us through out day, convicting us of wrong turns or leading us in the direction we need to go…or sometimes just flat out giving us the power we need to get through a moment. One of the descriptions of the Holy Spirit is like wind. In fact Jesus riffs on this description often. So here’s the deal. When we pray, we are literally tapping into the power of the Holy Spirit.
So back to the sailboat example. Prayer is like raising the sails of our lives to catch the power of the Holy Spirit. Here’s the truth about my life as a Christian. I intuitively know about prayer. But I never really connected how the Holy Spirit can literally power our everyday lives. Instead, I would rely on my own strength and ability to navigate life as a follower of Jesus. What that meant was I would paddle my life around. It would become frustrating, and a lot of work and failure…and often times I would give up. All the while, my Heavenly Father has this gift of power…right there available for me to use…if I would just pray and raise the sails of my life.
When we pray, we are raising the sails of our lives to catch the power of the Holy Spirit.
What we are going to do in this series is figure out how to raise our sails. Today we are going to look at what Jesus teaches on prayer in The Sermon on the Mount, and understand why prayer is so important, as well as look at some of the obstacles to prayer. Then next Sunday, we will take a look at how to put prayer into practice in your everyday life. The last two parts of this series we will unpack fasting…once you’ve had your fill of turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie.
If you have a Bible or device, I want you to find Matthew chapter 6. If you are using the YouVersion Bible app, look for Events. You should discover Iowa City Church. All of the Scriptures and Sermon Notes will be available on your device.
As followers of King Jesus, we want to pay close attention to what he says and teaches on everything. Not surprising he has a lot to say about prayer in The Sermon on the Mount. Let’s take a look at what he teaches about the practice of prayer.
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Jesus Calls Us to Pray
Notice the first words out of Jesus’ mouth as he teaches on prayer. “And when you pray.” What does that assume? It assumes that a disciple of Jesus is going to pray, that prayer is going to be a part of the regular rhythm of a disciple.
Why do you think that it is? The truth is, no relationship on earth can be sustained without communication. Communication is the lifeblood of all relationships. You see this throughout Scripture, whether it was Adam and Eve walking with God in the cool of the evening or a verse like Proverbs 15:8
Proverbs 15:8 (NIV)
The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked,
but the prayer of the upright pleases him.
Our prayers to God literally please him. Our Heavenly Father wants to hear from us. Think of it as a parent child relationship. Jesus sure does. Look at a few verses later in chapter 7.
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Jesus knows that human parents are far from perfect, yet we get this concept…we want what is best for our kids. How much more does our Heavenly Father want to be involved in the lives of his kids…if they would just ask.
This last week, my son Alex called me with an adulting problem. He knew that all he had to do was call his mom or dad and we could help figure out the problem. I stopped what I was doing, made a few phone calls and we got it figured out. He knew where to call for answers. For me, it wasn’t a problem helping one my kids…in fact it is an honor.
Jesus tells us to pray because it builds and nurtures our relationship with our Heavenly Father. This is why Jesus tells us to be careful about our motivation. We don’t pray to show off. We don’t pray to earn God’s love or approval. This is why Jesus says we should go into a room and close the door to break away from outside motivations and outside distractions.
What this means is that yes, we can pray anytime and anywhere. However, in developing our relationship with God, we do need to make sure we are establishing a time or private reflection and conversation with God. The reason this matter is it’s not even about what you need, it’s the fact that you knew where your help comes from.
Let’s keep reading.
Matthew 6:9–15 (NIV)
“This, then, is how you should pray:
“ ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
2. Jesus Gives Us an Example to Follow
Do you know the question Jesus’ disciples asked the most? It was this: teach us to pray. It wasn’t because they didn’t know how to pray, they did…and they did pray. It’s just that there was something about how Jesus prayed. That’s why the opening line, verse nine is so profound: This then is how you should pray. Jesus gave his disciples…that’s us, a model prayer. Jesus knew this was so important that he gave us a model.
We are not going to work though the model today, I’m going to save that for next week when we focus on developing a prayer life.
This model prayer is significant because Jesus wants to provide us an example and a model on how to pray.
As his followers, his disciples, we should pay attention to the life Jesus modeled for us. Prayer defined every aspect of his ministry. Author, pastor and apologist, Timothy Keller describes Jesus’ prayer life this way:
Jesus Christ taught his disciples to pray, healed people with prayers, denounced the corruption of the temple worship (which, he said, should be a ‘house of prayer’), and insisted that some demons could be cast out only through prayer. He prayed often and regularly with fervent cries and tears, and sometimes all night. The Holy Spirit came upon him and anointed him as he was praying, and he was transfigured with the divine glory as he prayed. When he face his greatest crisis, he did so with prayer. We hear him praying for his disciples and the church on the night before he died and then petitioning God in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. Finally, he died praying.” ~ Timothy Keller; Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God.
Jesus clearly models the great importance of maintaining and nurturing this connecting link. Because it was a major priority for Him, He worked at making time. What a dramatic lesson for us who live pressured lifestyles today! If Jesus modeled this with such emphasis, we must understand how important prayer should be in our lives as we follow His sacred example.
Here’s what Jesus teaches us on prayer:
When we prioritize prayer like Jesus did, we are personally inviting our Heavenly Father to power our lives.
With the time we have left, I want to address a few of the biggest hindrances to prayer. We all have them, let’s get them out and talk about them…because you’re not the only one!
Hindrances to Prayer:
Spiritual Attacks. Satan will do whatever it takes to disrupt your connection with God. It’s one of the reasons why in the model pray that Jesus says that we are to pray, “Deliver us from the evil one.” If you make any plans to adjust your life to follow Jesus more closely, without a doubt you will experience spiritual opposition. I can speak from experience that when you make a commitment to pray on a more regular rhythm you will most certainly face temptations, failure, doubts, lies and fears. For those of you who want to downplay and kind of poo, poo spiritual attacks there might have been a season when I would have agreed with you. However, after experiencing these last 18 plus months, and seeing division, and confusion raging in our culture and even in churches, there is something very sinister going on behind the scenes. Satan will always a hindrance to pray…that is why you need to pray.
Disobedience and Sin. When we give into sin or fail, our immediate response is that God wants nothing to do with us or our prayers. We are allowing shame to keep us from our faith. 1 John 1:5-10 reminds us that God is always willing to forgive us. Listen, if several days have passed since prayer and guilt is holding you back, crash through the wall in your spirit and mind! Your Heavenly Father is waiting to hear from you!
Interruptions and Distractions. Interruptions and distractions tend to happen on a regular basis when we attempt prayer. Have you noticed how you first settle into a prayer routine, and you’re already and focused to pray and then the dog needs to go out. Or you get an urgent text. You say to yourself, “Get back to it later” or “Now my prayer time is ruined, I can’t talk with God!” Determination and focus are going to be a key in breaking through obstacles that keep us from praying.
Out-of-Control Schedules. This one goes without saying. We are too busy. Do you want to pray more consistently? Don’t use social media until after you have prayed. It’s really that simple.
Wandering Thoughts. If you struggle with a wandering mind during prayer, know this: It happens to all of us! First, know this, the Lord knows our struggle. He knows that our minds wander. Here’s what we need to understand. Our Heavenly Father would rather have a sincere prayer from our hearts, broken up occasionally by an unplanned mental focus lapse, than have no prayer at all. Here’s the theme: Don’t give up, keep working at it.
Apathy. Or emotional hesitancy, is simply this: you don’t feel like praying. For whatever reason this hits all of us. There are a lot of reasons why apathy happens, but it’s a struggle even with people we would consider spiritual giants.
The hindrances are real. But instead of looking at them as a wall that is keeping us from prayer, we need to approach them as obstacles that require commitment and determination to overcome.
One of the ways to do this is for you to form an I will statement. With this information from Jesus about prayer, “I will...”
I want you to form your sentence right now. I will do what with this information? I will buy the book on Prayer and Fasting and begin to study. I will pray once a day for the next week. I will pray every night before going to sleep. What will you do with this information?
Why is making an “I will statement” so important? Well, you can keep trying to paddle your own boat…or you can raise the sails of prayer and catch the power of God’s Spirit.