WATERED BY PRAYER

Introduction

-Last week I started a short series on Spiritual Disciplines, calling the series GROW In to GROW Out, meaning that if we as a church are going to go out and make an impact in the community for the gospel, we as individuals need to grow spiritually toward maturity inside ourselves.

-Last week I began by talking about being seeded by the Word of God in our hearts—that is, Scripture being implanted within us so that it directs us and guides our thoughts and attitudes and actions

-Staying with the picture of growth, a seed that is planted in the ground needs water in order to sprout and grow into something that becomes fruitful—it is the same with the Word of God in our hearts; it needs to be watered

-And how we water the Word within us so that we grow to bear fruit is watering it through prayer—this is probably the most challenging discipline that there is

-Prayer goes contrary to the natural man and takes a lot of faith since it is highly unlikely that you immediately see the results of prayer—thus prayer is the most neglected of the spiritual disciplines, and yet it is just as vital as Bible reading, and is definitely needed in our day

-But as F.B. Meyer noted:

The great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.

-Christians are missing out on so much because we do not pray—we do not see it as a necessity, and yet we will not grow without it

~If we saw how necessary it was to our well-being, we probably wouldn’t put it off like we do

-Think about this:

~We find that breathing is a necessity for our life and growth, right? So, we do it quite often…

~We find that eating is a necessity for our life and growth, so we do it quite often

-That which is necessary for our life and growth and health we make sure we take the time and energy to do it

~Prayer is necessary for our spiritual life and growth and health—if we neglect it we become spiritually anemic

-And what is true of the individual is also true of the church body—a church body needs to come together and pray for the good of the church

~And yet the Wednesday night prayer meeting is the most neglected meeting of the church—why? Because all you do is have a Bible study and pray? Or, I get nothing out of it! You get nothing out of it because you put nothing into it!

~It’s easy to sit in a pew on a Sunday morning or Sunday evening and be a consumer, but it’s a whole other thing to actually take the time and energy to do something beneficial for you and for the church

-You as an individual will not grow without being watered by prayer—and we as a church will not grow unless we come together and water the spirit of this church in prayer—so let’s learn about prayer

Colossians 4:2–4 ESV

2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

-I want to answer the question: What kind of prayer contributes to our spiritual growth?

~Let’s talk about 4 attributes of prayer that nourishes our spiritual growth and our ministry in the world

I) Prayer that is persistent

-In the ESV translation Paul says to CONTINUE STEADFASTLY in prayer—some other translations say to DEVOTE yourself to prayer

~The word used there means to persist and busy yourself in something—it means to give constant attention to something and to do that thing with intense effort

-Paul does not say that when you feel like it, or if you have the time, or if you have an inkling, to give yourself over to prayer—Paul says that if prayer is going to do something in our lives, we need to give attention to it and put some intense effort into it

-In our modern age, we are so used to getting things quickly and easily that we (in many respects) have become lazy

~I’m there too—if I’m given a choice between having to put in the effort of cooking dinner or going out or ordering out or just popping something in the microwave, I’ll be microwaving dinner or going online to order pizza

-That’s how we tackle life, we want it fast and easy, and we want our spirituality to be that way too—but I’m here to tell you, you can’t microwave yourself into spiritual growth

~We can’t order spiritual maturity online or go through a drive-thru to get it

-Spiritual growth and maturity and the empowerment to do ministry come from an intense effort in the spiritual disciplines

-So, Paul tells us to continue steadfastly in prayer—put some effort into it, and be persistent in it

~Another side effect of our culture of laziness is that if something doesn’t come easy to us, we just give up

~And since prayer doesn’t come easy to us, we just give up on it

-But Paul says continue steadfastly in prayer—put effort in it and continue in it even if you don’t see results immediately

~I’ve read numerous stories of Christians praying for the salvation of a loved one, and they pray decades and decades before that loved one comes to Christ—they knew the importance prayer played and so they persisted in it

-And you just need to think of the example of our Lord Jesus Christ—the gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus would often withdraw to desolate places to pray

-Jesus put effort in it and persisted in it—and if Jesus needed to do that, how much more do we need to do the same

-but not only do we nee prayer that is persistent:

II) Prayer that is purposeful

-in v. 2 Paul says that we are to be WATCHFUL in our prayers—it literally means to be alert and vigilant

~it’s the same word that Jesus used in the Garden of Gethsemane when He kept finding His disciples falling asleep—He told them to be watchful, be alert, be vigilant

-The word, though, has two connotations that we need to know to help us in our prayers

~First, it means to not be seized by things of lesser value—don’t let your focus get off of what is important

~So, it means to be watchful on the things that need to be watched—if you’re in a battle, don’t look at your cell-phone, keep your eye on the enemy; if you are playing baseball, don’t have your head in the clouds, keep focused on the game

-But then secondly it means to be alert for specific needs rather than that which is vague and unfocused

~Trish gets so annoyed when she asks me what I want for birthday or Christmas because my answer is usually I DON’T KNOW, or I just say: GET ME WHATEVER

~ “Whatever” isn’t very specific, nor is it helpful

-So, imagine coming to God in prayer and saying something to the effect of: GOD DO SOMETHING FOR SOMEONE AT SOME POINT, SO THEY CAN DO WHATEVER

-When Paul says to be watchful in our prayers he is saying to be purposeful in our prayers—see where an important spiritual need is, and pray specifically for that need

-The whole prayer: GOD BLESS SALLY AND GOD BLESS BOBBY AND GOD BLESS… is not being watchful

~First, it means that you really don’t know what is going on in that person’s life to pray for them

~Secondly, you need to answer the question: bless them how?

~Bless them with peace? Bless them with understanding? What is it that they need?

-Or even when praying for yourself, what is it you actually need to grow and glorify God?

~Instead of saying: GOD BLESS ME, pray that the Lord gives you insight into Scripture so you can share it with others; or pray that God would make your heart more sensitive to your spouse’s needs so you can serve them better

-Prayer that is going to water you for growth is prayer that is persistent and purposeful:

III) Prayer that is praise-filled

-In v. 2 Paul says that prayer is to be offered with thanksgiving—this is a common theme of Paul’s that whenever prayer is to be given, it includes a recognition of who God is and what He has done for us

-This means that in prayer, our focus isn’t always on us—first, and foremost, our focus is on God

-How often our prayers consist of our Christmas lists of what we want for ourselves

~GOD, I NEED THIS AND THIS AND THIS AND THIS AND THIS…

-This type of prayer is self-focused, self-motivated, self-centered, and really will not go beyond the self

-Yes, God wants us to come to Him with all of our needs and wants and concerns—but if that is where we are stuck, we will not grow

-And so, we praise God for who He is, and we thank Him for what He has done

-One pastor/theologian pointed out how prayer with thanksgiving accomplishes several things:

1) It articulates dependence—it says you know who God is, you know who you are, and you are aware of how desperate you would be were it not for His providence and presence

2) It generates humility—it reminds us of how truly helpless we are without God—we are not as strong or smart as we really think we are; we need God desperately

3) It demonstrates relationship—It expresses our acknowledgement that God is our Father and we are His children, and we know that He loves us, and that He has and will provide for us out of that love

-Our God is good, Amen?

~Our God has given us tremendously out of His bounty, Amen?

~A well-rounded prayer—a prayer that will water us and grow us—will recognize that

IV) Prayer that is practical

-In vv. 3-4 Paul gives a specific prayer request for ministry work—he asks that they pray that God would open up a door for him to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and that God would make it clear to him exactly how he ought to share it

-I find that fascinating—first, because Paul’s main concern was about the gospel and not about himself; but then, also, because he recognizes that not all people hear the gospel the same way

-The message stays the same, but how the message is conveyed is tailored to how someone will hear it best and open their heart to its truth

-The message will always include the fact that mankind is sinful and rebellious against God, and because of this God will punish the sinner

~But it also includes that God’s demonstration of love for mankind was sending the Son, Jesus Christ, as a man who died on the cross to take God’s wrath for sin upon Himself and then rose again the third day showing that sin and death and hell and the devil have all been defeated

-That’s the gospel—that is what you need to place your trust in to get to God, to get to heaven, and to get your prayers heard—and Paul says that he wants prayers that God will show him how to convey that to his listeners

-This is a very practical prayer: LORD, MAKE IT CLEAR HOW THIS PERSON WILL HEAR AND BELIEVE IN THE GOOD NEWS

-His prayer is ministry based—while we’re off praying that it doesn’t rain during a baseball game or that we get a new car, Paul is off praying how he can be more effective in ministering the gospel of Jesus Christ

-And so we need to make our prayers more practical—that is, prayers that will advance the gospel of Jesus Christ

~Pray for ourselves that we use the gifts God has given us to make the gospel clear

~Pray for other church members that God will open up opportunities for ministry and a gospel-witness

~Pray for our church that we will be a gospel-light in the community, and that we are involved in ministering to the needs of our community

-Those are practical prayers—prayers whose focus gets off of us and onto the ministry we do outside these walls

Conclusion

-These prayers will grow us inwardly so that we are able to go outside this building and grow outwardly—prayers that are persistent, purposeful, praise-filled, and practical

-I’ll close with this Charles Spurgeon quote:

If the spirit of prayer is not with the people, the minister may preach like an angel but cannot expect success. There may be in that church wealth, talent, labor and many outreach efforts, but the Lord is not there. Prayer is as sure evidence of the presence of God as the rising of the thermometer is evidence of an increase in temperature. If God is near a church, it must pray. If He is not, one of the obvious signs of His absence will be lethargy in prayer.

-Maybe you have never trusted in Christ—come during the invitation and pray to believe and receive Him

-But church members: first, I want your commitment to be here during prayer meetings

~Secondly, I want you to commit yourself to prayer every day from now on, be it for five minutes or five hours