Prayer for New Year

Introduction

As we enter into a new year together, we find ourselves living in unprecedented times in many respects. The last few years have been strange. We see division on the rise. We see political polarization, gender confusion, economic instability, and so many other issues to our left and right both literally and figuratively. In such a season of division and polarization, we as the church need to come together and keep our eyes on the most important thing. If you were able to make it last Wednesday night we spent some time talking about the Gospel and how the Gospel changes everything. The Gospel changes us, the Gospel changes our relationships, the Gospel changes our allegiances and priorities, and the Gospel changes the entire world. What is the Gospel, though? Literally the Greek word means “good news” and by that definition many different things could be considered rightly gospel. Say that you got a good grade on a test, you could come home and tell your mom that the gospel is that you got a 98% on your math test. You’re not being sac-religious in doing that either, that’s literally true. As Christians, though, whenever we talk about the Gospel what do we mean? We mean the good news about Jesus Christ. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are called the Gospels for a reason as they tell us what Jesus Christ did. Paul gives us a 1 sentence summary of the Gospel in 1 Corinthians 15 as he says

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 CSB

3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

The Gospel is Jesus coming, dying, being buried, and raising from the dead. The Gospel is Jesus saving sinners from our sin! How does that news change our lives? How does Jesus’ death 2000 years ago good news for us today?

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is good news because it changes our standing with God. As we talked about this morning, our sin makes us enemies of God and deserving of eternal separation from God. Because of what Jesus did, though, we can be reconciled to God. We’re no longer enemies, we’re adopted sons and daughters. We’re no longer facing condemnation, we’re rendered righteous and we receive an eternal inheritance. The Gospel also changes our relationship with other people as God adopts us into a forever family and gives us relationships and unity that wouldn’t have formed otherwise. The Holy Spirit creates deep unity within the Church and this unity is founded in the person and work of Jesus Christ! The Gospel also changes our priorities. As you grow in your knowledge of God and His Word, your cares for this world tend to get smaller and smaller. This doesn’t mean you don’t care about this world - far from it - but you care about the things of eternity significantly more and you keep your eyes fixed on King Jesus. The Gospel also changes the entire world as God is building His Church and Kingdom here. The people walking in darkness, as Isaiah shares, saw a great light and the light of Jesus Christ changes everything it touches. The Gospel is good news for all who hear it as there is eternal hope found in Jesus.

Because of the Gospel and its life changing power, we need to come together and make the Gospel the most important thing in our lives as individuals and in the life of First Baptist Church. As we rally behind and proclaim the truth of the Gospel, we are more and more united through Jesus than we could ever be otherwise. As we serve Jesus and tell others about His work on the cross, we have a message of life that must be shared far and wide.

Before we can fulfill our job of taking the Gospel to the ends of the world and making disciples, we have to be ready for the task at hand. My father used to be my youth pastor when I was in high school and he used this illustration several times. Suppose that you were a high school football player and you told your coach that you loved playing on Friday nights but you really weren’t a fan of practicing throughout the week and that you would show up on Friday night ready to play but you wouldn’t be attending practice anymore. What would the coach tell you? He’d probably tell you to take a walk and leave your pads in the locker room because that’s not going to happen. At best you’d be sitting on the bench or the starting water boy - not the starting quarterback. Why? Because your commitment level wasn’t where it needed to be. You can’t be ready for game day if you don’t put in the work behind the scenes the rest of the week. Likewise, you and I can’t think that we’ll be ready to be used by God when the opportunity presents itself if we aren’t devoting ourselves to abide in His Word and worshipping with our brothers and sisters consistently and spending time in prayer with Him.

In the book of Acts we see the people come together to pray for God to move and for the lost to be found. In the Gospels we see Jesus pray to the Father. In the epistles, we see Paul pray for his brothers and sisters to grow in their walk with the Lord and to remain strong in their faith. In Revelation we see a great celebration as Christians from every nation, tribe, and tongue gather to worship. Prayer is powerful and prayer matters! Prayer is a spiritual discipline that we are called to make use of each and every day - after all, as Don Whitney shares: Jesus expects us to pray! Prayer is a crucial part of the New Testament worship service and tonight we’re going to have a time specifically devoted to prayer.

As we pray, we must remember why we pray. As Christians we know that prayer isn’t simply wishful thinking… We pray to an all-powerful God who loves us and hears us whenever we come before Him. We pray to our King who has a perfect plan. We pray to our Lord who holds today and tomorrow. We pray with hopeful expectation that God will not only answer us but that He will answer our prayer in the best possible way. He knows best. While He sometimes answers no to our requests, we have to come to realize that in prayer God is at work in our lives and in our hearts as He conforms us to His will.

Tonight you’ll see some Scripture on the screen as well as some specific things to pray for on your outline. I encourage you all to pray individually and, if you are able, to take some time to pray with someone near you regarding these things and more! A simple acronym that has helped me in my prayer life over the years is this:

P - Praise

R - Repent

A - Ask

Y - Yield

Begin tonight by giving God praise, repent of any sin in your life or any wrong standing in your way, bring your request before God and ask Him to answer, and finally yield to His good and perfect will in all things. Let’s pray!

1. Pray for our Church

2. Pray for our Community

3. Pray for our Country

4. Pray for the Cosmos (world)

As we enter into 2022, pray for boldness to stay true to God’s Word in an ever changing world. Pray for discernment as we witness to those around us. Pray for opportunities to proclaim the Gospel. Pray for humility and renewed passion to wait on the Lord and seek His face in all things. Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you and each member of FBC Salem to live a life that brings glory to our God. Pray for the lost in our community that they might become found. Pray for our fellow Christians in our community to be united in the essentials of our faith and that we would come together to do Kingdom work. Pray that we would seek first God’s will and plan and that we would be moldable along the way.