Prayer Partners

this is my Bible.

This morning is the last message in our series, “40 Days of Prayer.” In the last forty days we have learned about prayer. We discovered how to pray through the day, how to accelerate our prayers and how to pray in five magnitudes.

We renewed our commitment to prayer last week by looking at the the titles of God.

As our church prepares for the transition into the Global Methodist Church, we need prayer. We need lots of prayer. We need prayers for the leadership of the church, we need prayers for the pastor of the church, we need prayer for the process we about to enter into. In short we need you to become prayer partners with us. Partners who promise to hold us up in prayer.

We need you to partner with us to pray for three imperatives.

The first imperative is to Pray for Wisdom

James 1:5–6 NIV

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

James 1:5–6 The Message

If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves.

We all need wisdom.

Dr. John MacArthur said in his sermon, Wisdom in Action.

And wisdom, remind yourself, does not mean knowledge. It does not mean information. It means the application of knowledge with divine power to the reshaping of life, transforming attitudes, transforming behavior into righteousness. Wisdom then is not what I know, wisdom is how I live. And so how I live according to the wisdom of God is a barometer on my spiritual condition.

Wisdom then in biblical terms equals life style. It equals life style, behavior. True wisdom is knowing God in a life changing relationship, okay? True wisdom is the outworking of a life changing knowledge of God.

James 3:13–18 NIV

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

James 3:13 The Message

Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts.

The first imperative is to pray for Wisdom.

The Second imperative is to Pray for Love

1 Peter 4:8 NIV

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

I read something recently about Mother Teresa that I did not know. Activist Shane Claiborne, who worked with Mother Teresa, tells about it in his book The Irresistible Revolution. He writes, “People often ask me what Mother Teresa was like. Sometimes it’s like they wonder if she glowed in the dark or had a halo. She was short, wrinkled, and precious, maybe even a little ornery--like a beautiful, wise old granny. But there is one thing I will never forget--her feet. Her feet,” says Shane Claiborne, “were deformed. Each morning in Mass, I would stare at them. I wondered if she had contracted leprosy. But I wasn’t going to ask, of course. ‘Hey Mother, what’s wrong with your feet?’ One day a sister said to us, ‘Have you noticed her feet?’ We nodded, curious. She said: ‘Her feet are deformed because we get just enough donated shoes for everyone, and Mother does not want anyone to get stuck with the worst pair, so she digs through and finds them. And years of doing that have deformed her feet.’ [Think of that!]Years of loving her neighbor as herself deformed her feet.” (1)

This morning we discussed two imperatives, First Prayer for Wisdom. Second, Prayer for Love. But Wisdom and love without the last imperative is, well, useless.

The third imperative is to Pray for Humility

Philippians 2:3 NIV

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,

What is humility? the quality of humility—‘humble attitude, humility, without arrogance

Lexham Theological Wordbook ταπεινοφροσύνη

This term expresses humility as a quality that stands in contrast to pride or arrogance. Christians serve the Lord with all humility (Acts 20:19). They are to act with humility to imitate the humility demonstrated by Christ

Philippians 2:3 The Message

Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead.

Philippians 2:3 The Living Bible

Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself.

Charles Stanley in his book, Developing a Servant’s Heart, said,

Developing a Servant’s Heart The Quality of Humility

Humility is at the foundation of submissiveness. It is the complement character trait to wisdom—it is what keeps the wise from becoming arrogant. Humility is a sign of being filled with the Holy Spirit; it is a hallmark among those who have good reputations. Humility says “not my will, but Your will”; it is the trait that opens one’s eyes to the broader vision that God has for a human life.

Humility will cause a person to see every task as a “job” to be done for God, rather than as a “position” to be filled to win the approval of men.

He went on to say:

Developing a Servant’s Heart The Quality of Humility

Humility calls us to see the person who needs our help, not the crowd who might shower adoration upon us.

Pride and service are incompatible. Pride is self–seeking. Service seeks out the best for others.

Pride insists on having its own way. Service makes a way for others.

Pride demands recognition. Service works for results.

Pride fills us up with self–importance. Service empties us of self.

If we are willing to bow our knees before God, we must also be willing to get down on our knees to help others. Humility before God must extend to our having a humble spirit before men.

I want you to take a moment and think about this.

Will you be a Wesley Prayer Partner?