Prayer

21 Days of Prayer

Schedule on our website and digital worship program. It will also be sent in an email.

I want to end the year and lead us to kick off new year with a message about prayer. Prayer isn’t just the secret sauce to our Christian life, it’s the entire meal.

At the end of time, history will culminate in a great banquet (Rev 19:9), but, as we have seen, we can eat with Jesus now. How?

Revelation 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

Through prayer. Commentators understand that Jesus’ invitation to “hear his voice” and “open the door” so he can “come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Rev 3:20) is an invitation to fellowship and communion with him through prayer. Prayer—though it is often draining, even an agony—is in the long term the greatest source of power that is possible.

John 16:23-25 “In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father.”

Acts 2:42 “And they continued steadfastly (to attend constantly) in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

“No man is greater than his prayer life”- Leonard Ravenhill

1. The Necessity of Prayer

Tim Keller says rightly, “Prayer is how God gives us so many of the unimaginable things he has for us. Indeed, prayer makes it safe for God to give us many of the things we most desire. It is the way we know God, the way we finally treat God as God. Prayer is simply the key to everything we need to do and be in life.

Example: Imagine you had a disease and needed to take a pill.

Prayer will take discipline

Prayer must be THE priority of the Christian. It is the most important thing a believer can do is develop a consistent prayer life. There will always be something else to do.

Prayer must be priority and we must wrap our lives around prayer.

Why?

We walk by faith and not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Jonathan Edwards (One of the leaders of America’s First Great Awakening) says that prayer is only the voice of faith. Anyone with real faith will desire to pray because through the Spirit, prayer is faith become audible.

Prayer is not optional.

A strong prayer life is commanded. To not pray is sin.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Romans 12:11-12: “Not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer.”

Put on the whole armor of God to stand against the strategies of the devil. Ephesians 6:17-18: “Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication for all the saints.”

A strong prayer life is

a sin killer

a power bringer

a victory enforcer

anxiety helper

stress reliever

and ultimately and most importantly - conforms you to the image you are praying to and trusting in - God.

2. The Supremacy of Prayer

1 Kings 8:42. Solomon’s highest prayer was for the gift of prayer itself and hoped that those from other nations would “hear of your great name and pray toward this temple.

Based on that, we see that prayer is simply a recognition of the greatness of God.

Genesis 4 - They began to call upon the name of the Lord but it was only after God had first called out to him.

All prayer is responding to God. In all cases God is the initiator - “hearing” always precedes asking.

Do what you promised. Call out to the Lord for Him to do what He promised He would do.

Prayer is a response to who God is / who He reveals Himself to be.

The clearer our understanding of who God is, the better our prayers. Prayer isn’t just an emergency flare towards “God” but a personal conversation in reply to God’s specific, verbal revelation.

For Example - Job, the more true his knowledge of God, the more fruitful his prayers became.

This should help us then:

The power of our prayers or effectiveness of our prayers then is not primarily in our effort or in any technique but rather in our knowledge of God.

And....

There is not more comprehensive, personal, and beautiful communication of God than Jesus - He is the radiance of God’s glory and nature.

There is nothing more foundational to our Christian mission than “To Know Him”

Paul prays in Ephesians 1 that would be granted a spirit of wisdom and knowledge to know God better.

Prayer is not just the sharing of ideas but also the sharing of ourselves - knowing and being known.

Prayer is of supreme importance because:

“Prayer is continuing a conversation that God has started through his Word and His grace, which eventually becomes a full encounter with him.

3. How to Pray

Remember, we pray as sons and daughters

Prayer is your “doctrine of God” in practice.

What you believe about God will form your prayers or lack of.

Prayer is remembering who we are dependent on.

We are not independent creatures, we are completely dependent on the creator, our wise maker, who loves us so!

Prayer is an expression of sincere desire.

Prayer is not a means through which we get things to make us happy, for he is our happiness. Prayer is our way of entering into the happiness of God himself.

We pray not to procure things but to know him better.

The validity of prayer is not affected by length nor repetitiveness

Prayer is to be expressed by persistence, simplicity, humility, and tenacity.

We must remember and be easier on ourselves and each other by remembering we were taught how to speak/communicate by people. We didn’t initiate the conversation… Someone else gave you the vocabulary and language to communicate. And so it is with prayer, we need to immerse ourselves in God’s Word.

His Word provides us with the language, priorities, the hows, the whys that are necessary to grow in prayer. His Word teaches us the language of faith.

Our experiences and circumstances may provoke prayers but may they never condition the prayers.

And what I mean by that is:

The centrality of our prayers shall not be our kingdom but His.

The condition of our prayers shall not be my will but His.

The content of my prayers shall not be my idea but His.

Edmund P. Clowney wrote, “The Bible does not present an art of prayer; it presents the God of prayer.” We should not decide how to pray based on the experiences and feelings we want. Instead, we should do everything possible to behold our God as he is, and prayer will follow. The more clearly we grasp who God is, the more our prayer is shaped and determined accordingly.

For the Apostle Paul, the most prominent Christian prayer needs are: (these should be at the top of every Christian’s prayer life and the order of importance not changed based on your circumstances… In other words what is important in prayer will be important in good times and in bad times. My circumstances don’t change that)

Deepening faith in Christ, a growing appreciation of God’s love, and love for God and others.

And Finally in remembering how to pray:

We pray in the name of Jesus

His name gives us access. Ephesians 2:18. No one could simply walk into the court of a king (muche less a God) unless granted access - His name provides that access.

And in His Name: Much of Scripture and the Lord’s teaching that anything prayed for will, without restriction, be granted. But such teaching has to be understood in light of Christ’s overall teaching about prayer.

Matthew 6:5-13 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

10 Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors.

13 And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer as a model

Praise & Adoration before requests.

Praise involves the recognition of who God is and what he does. It is “giving God the glory,” not in the sense of adding to his glory, which would be impossible, but of willingly (and where appropriate, publicly) recognizing God as God.

His Greatness, power, holiness leads to and motivate the other kinds of prayer.

It leads to His Kingdom coming (nothing more important)

His will being done here and now

and then I realize I am such a dependent creature, I need Him to provide, lead, guide, instruct, help, etc.

And oh, your so good to me, you have forgiven me, set me free, rescued me, I need to forgive others.

And may I led by you to not sin against you but deliver me.

Back to yours is the kingdom

All of this flows from a place of praise and adoration of who God is. This is glorifying God.

The opposite of this is the essence of sin -

Romans 1:18-21: “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God (The Health of Praise)

If God is the great object of admiration behind all other beauties and magnificence, then to praise and admire him would be “simply to be awake, to have entered the real world,” while not doing so would be to become far more profoundly crippled than those who are blind, deaf, and bedridden

4. Encountering God

Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God Keeping Truth and Experience Together

If doctrinal soundness is not accompanied by heart experience, it will lead eventually to nominal Christianity—that is, in name only—and eventually to nonbelief. The irony is that many conservative Christians, most concerned about conserving true and sound doctrine, neglect the importance of prayer and make no effort to experience God, and this can lead to the eventual loss of sound doctrine. Owen believes that Christianity without real experience of God will eventually be no Christianity at all.

We become what we praise, adore, love, and worship.

Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God (The Alpha Prayer)

In Jesus’ instruction on prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, praise comes first. In what ways is praise primary? Praise motivates the other kinds of prayer. The more we attend to God’s perfect holiness and justice, the more readily we will see our own flaws and confess them. Seeing God’s greatness also leads to supplication. The more we sense his majesty and the more we realize our dependence on him, the more readily we will go to him for every need. We could say that awe-filled adoration of God corrects the other forms of prayer.

Usually we only pray to get things from God. So when life is going smoothly - we don’t need to pray. Some do it only when circumstances force us. Why? We know God is there, but we tend to see him as a means through which we get things to make us happy. For most of us, he has not become our happiness. Let’s pray not to procure things but to know Him better.

Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God The Cost of Prayer

Conversation with God leads to an encounter with God. Prayer is not only the way we learn what Jesus has done for us but also is the way we “daily receive God’s benefits.” Prayer turns theology into experience. Through it we sense his presence and receive his joy, his love, his peace and confidence, and thereby we are changed in attitude, behavior, and character.

Seek His face. Psalm 27:8. To lose a sense of God’s presence is to lose God’s face, and to seek his face is to seek communion with him, a real interaction with God, sharing thoughts and love.

Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God The Omega Prayer

The Scotch catechism says: “a man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” But we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.