Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Good morning.....

It was wonderful to be with everyone.

Today we begin our series on prayer....looking at what the Bible specifically says about it…and it has quite a bit to say on the topic.

We will take a couple week break as we observe Palm Sunday and Easter.

As we begin I want us to look at some quick facts regarding prayer-

There are 650 Prayers listed in the pages of Scripture.

There are approx.

450 answered prayers in Scripture.

It’s first mentioned in Genesis 4:26.

We see 25 specific moments of Jesus praying.

Coming off the book of Colossians where we saw him reference prayer several times....throughout Paul’s letters, prayer is mentioned roughly 41 times.

We commonly look at prayer as just sitting, folding our hands, but Scripture paints a much different look at prayer and posture.

Scripture lists five specific postures-

Sitting(2 Sam.

7:18)

Kneeling(Luke 22:41, Eph.

3:14)

Face down to the ground( Mark 14:35)

Lifted hands ( 1 Tim.

2:8)

Standing (Mark 11:25)

Amen, which means to so be it or let it be out of trust appears for the first time in Numbers 5:22.

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Prayer is obviously important to God as our main communication with Him.

And Scripture certainly has much to say in how we pray, why we pray, our types of prayer, where scripture falls into our prayers, and what we will be talking about today…our motives when we pray.

Our time covering this topic will not be exhaustive but I think it will give us great insight into God’s plan for prayer.

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Prayer has to start with our hearts in the right place.

As we become new creations....all the things Jesus taught…Paul taught…have to start taking root because if they don’t our prayer motives are misplaced.

And the beginning point for this is......

We must approach prayer with a spirit of humility.

Pride is a terrible thing that can absolutely ruin us.

Here is what the Word of God says about Pride from the book of Proverbs-

It should be clear to us what Pride can do.

Pride gets in the way of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

It condemns us in such a way that it makes us unforgiving, arrogant, blinded to our own sin, without fault in our own eyes, and a people who rely on our own strength, not crying out to a Holy God to sustain us, but looking inward at ourselves, saying “ I can do it on my own.”

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But what we see in scripture time and time again that God is calling us to is the opposite of pride.....Humility.

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In Philippians chapter 2, we see Paul calling the people to humble themselves, telling them to find their complete joy in Christ, to do nothing out of selfish ambition, to elevate others above themselves, looking out for the best interest of those around them.

He goes on to put the full highlight on Jesus, exalting Him and showing us this perfect example of humility......and then, after ALL that he is giving us, he gives us these instructions-

Have we been a reflection of the charge Paul puts before us?

Without grumbling, arguing, Be blameless, pure.

Shining like stars as a beacon for the only Hope their is.

Jesus..

And that all begins by humbling ourselves before the Lord as we cry out to Him in prayer with the intentions that the Lord Himself has laid out for us.

Stand...

Prayer

Fighting, Quarreling or Arguing does not reflect who God wants us to be as it comes from our own Pride and Selfishness.

It’s by no coincidence that the sections preceding this one are about watching what we say and understanding where wisdom and ambition should come from.

So, James immediately comes out in verse one to pose a question.

What is the source of wars and fights among you?

Your translation may say “What causes fights and quarrels among you?”

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I don’t know about you but I love movies that have epic battles in them.....

Lord of the Rings

Here’s the thing, James isn’t talking about epic, seige the stronghold battles here.

Though, it has the potential to blossom into an all out war...... he’s referring to our personal relationships.......and ultimately the battle we have with ourselves.

Humility vs. Pride…God’s desire vs. our wants..

It should be our goal, objective and mission to avoid conflict at all costs.

That is not to say that we are to avoid it or hide from it or run from it when it happens but we are to face it and deal with it according to the plan God has laid out.

It is difficult for those who do not believe to see our love for one another and ultimately for Christ, if we are always at odds and fighting amongst ourselves.

Our personal pride can result in us holding our ground just so we are right and others are wrong, even if we are wrong.

This will surely cause strife within the church.

Christ’s purpose for His church is for it to be unified, not in disarray.

And when we do find ourselves in a moment of fighting or arguing, we must take a step back, HUMBLE OURSELVES, seek the Lord in prayer ASKING for His Spirit to move within us to offer forgiveness or accept forgiveness, breaking us of the pride in our lives that causes us to sin, repent of that sin, restore the bonds of fellowship and continue on in the mission of the church.

The great reality for us is this.....WE MUST BE BROKEN.

Why?

Because when we are broken, we realize we have a need for something more than us....and we need to be restored.

The relation here is this....Our humility has to make us realize, this is bigger than us and our egos .

It’s always about Jesus.

And in the end…it doesn’t matter if we are right or wrong....when we place winning above unity, peace, love, forgiveness, chasing after Christ....we have already lost.

And the only losing we are to do is lose OUR life, for the sake of Christ, because when we know Him, it’s His life now, not my own.

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We only function as the church when we are humbled before God, keeping the bond of peace and loving one another.

Verse 2-3

God does not honor the prayers of those who are out for selfish gain or focused on earthly desires.

Throughout the book of James, James continues to point his readers towards this one basic truth: Ask God.

But yet, we continually struggle with it.

We ask for things selfishly, in a state of pride or earthly pleasures that don’t benefit us or the kingdom.

The thing is our prayers must be focused on God’s will.

We must ask God because true wisdom only comes from God.

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We see in chapter three that James was dealing with individuals who sought positions of prestige within the church but yet lacked the ability to ask God.

In chapter 1 in verse 5, James tells us:

We are being told here to seek wisdom by going to God in prayer and asking for it, swallowing any pride we have may have and humbling ourselves.

So when we see the context of James 4 that is dealing with our immense pride, it suggests that, if we are not actively seeking humility, it should not be a shock that our prayers and petitions are laced with prideful requests........ Or we aren’t even asking at all.

Too often we pray selfishly, outside the will of God and expect answers that will not come because God does not honor those prayers.

He in turn honors the prayers of the righteous.

Verse 3- Spend

Greek Alert

δαπανάω (Dop-a-now) - the Greek word to spend, use up or squander.

(verse 3-so that you may spend it)

We see this word used by Jesus when he’s talking about the

parable of the prodigal son and how he wasted his inheritance in Luke.

Now if you are not familiar with this story, there is a great lesson in that parable for us.

The man gives his two sons their respective portions of the inheritance.

One stays and works, the other leaves and wastes all his money on useless things.

Here’s even more of a lesson for us.

It’s found at the end after he had returned, his father welcomes him with open arms but his brother questioned this decision and here is what the father says:

“We had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”

This is the same for us.

We are never out of the reach of the father.

Our pride may be immense, but all we need do is go to Him, repent of our sinful pride, ask forgiveness of all the prayers we have prayed in vain and he is always there to welcome back in with His forgiving, open arms because of His immense grace.

Be honest with yourself:

Is your prayer life laced with prideful, selfish prayers?

wrong motives...

Or do you chase after the will of God? Asking for his blessings on things with a heart that is completely sold out for Him?

Do you pray for God to fix other people but never ask for Him to fix you?