Prayer is the Primary Work
Notes
Transcript
Introduction - Prayer - Talking to God. Just like going out for a cup of Joe - or coffee.
There are different ways to talk to God -
At least nine: let’s see how many you know -
Supplication, Intercession, Faith, Corporate, Thanksgiving, Confession and Repentance, In the Spirit & Tongues, Dedication and Consecration, and Imprecation.
With all of these ways of talking to God how do we know we are using the right kind of prayer. Well there is no right prayer. The big idea with prayer is to do it. All the time. That’s why the second core value is Prayer is the Primary work of God’s people.
We have this core value because the Alliance family believes that nothing of lasting value can be done unless it is bathed in prayer. His passionate belief that prayer undergirds all ministry compelled Alliance founder A B. Simpson to create a prayer league that would focus on the world’s evangelization. He believed that this Prayer Alliance would prove to be the “mightiest force in the spread of missions.” That force still drives The Alliance today.
The scripture that was selected to illustrate this core value was Philippians 4:6-7
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
These two verses by themselves do a good job of describing prayer and the power it can have in our lives. But I am going to talk about these two verses in the context of how they are used. So I am going to back up to verse 2.
2 I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord.
3 Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!
5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Now if we look at Philippians 4:2
2 I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord.
we will see that Paul is calling out two of the women in the church. He wants them to live in harmony in the Lord. So, if he is asking for harmony there must be some tension or discord between them. The reason is not mentioned. But in using my imagination and transposing current church issues into the story I came up with some possibilities. The best one simply has to do with preferences. We all have them - we all want things to be the way we want things to be. This conflict of preferences has to do with worship. Euodia loves the organ and hymns; but Syntyche loves the new contemporary music with the praise band - especially the beat of the drums - because she plays them. So we have disharmony. Other possibilities have to do with the building they gather in to worship and to learn about God. One wants to change - the other doesn’t. What to do - what to do?
The answer comes in Philippians 4:3
3 Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Paul calls on a “true companion” to help these women. This companion is a neutral party in this conflict. The worship style of the church body is not causing issues with this person. So, Paul is asking this individual to be a peacemaker. For those of you who do not know what a peacemaker is: A peacemaker is a person who brings about peace, especially by reconciling adversaries
The peacemaker needs to bring the two together and work out their differences. The awesome thing about being a peacemaker is mentioned in the Beatitudes of Mat 5:9
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
This verse also says that Clement and the rest of Paul’s fellow workers should do the same. Those whose names are in the book of life should live in peace with one another and even give preference to their spiritually weaker so as not to place a road block in there path for their spiritual growth.
And then - Paul says to rejoice. Phil 4:4 says:
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!
So, no matter what is going on around us we should rejoice. There is a storm between these tow ladies but they should still be rejoicing in the Lord - put him first. Let your praise be known before all men.
While we are rejoicing we should let our gentle spirit be seen by all men - don’t be fighting and squabbling over the issue at hand in front of others. A gentle spirit is a peaceful spirit and Matt 5:5 says:
5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
So what is it that will help bring peace during times of distress? What can we do that will help us accept the things in our lives that we are unable to do anything about?
Pray! Bath the situation in prayer. Phil 4:6 says:
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
This is where the rubber meets the road. Be anxious for nothing -
Anxious - experiencing worry, unease, or nervousness, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome
In other words don’t worry about anything going on in your life. How many of you find that hard to do? How many of you can keep from worrying about something? It’s hard. We worry about money, children, our jobs, health and just about everything else that is going on in our lives.
So what do we do about our worries? We pray! In everything by prayer - in other words we talk to God. Give it all to Him.
Supplication - the action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humbly
Thanksgiving - the expression of gratitude, especially to God
Requests - an act of asking politely or formally for something
What if anything should you expect to have happen? Well verse 7 says:
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Expect the peace of God! Why is that important? Well God doesn’t worry about anything. He knows what will happen in each circumstance in our lives. We simply need to learn to trust Him. After all John 14:27 says:
27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
Jesus doesn’t give us stuff like the world does - His peace isn’t tangible. It is inside us. It comes from the Holy Spirit that He has given us. He has already given us the peace that we need to be anxious for nothing. We need to accept that peace and believe that we have it - so stop worrying!
But what is so great about this peace that God will give us? Well… It surpasses all comprehension. The things we can comprehend are the things we know - or think we know. The things we can understand because God has provided the information to humans throughout history. But this peace that God can provide will surpass - or go way beyond what we know. This peace will keep us from worrying because we know that God has the issue well in hand.
It’s not that this peace will keep us from worrying, which is great, but it will also guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Worry and fear create a great deal of mess with our spiritual life and our physical life. With our spiritual life because it draws us away from Christ; with our physical life because worry and fear cause all kinds of physical issues in our bodies that don’t need to be there.
And remember 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says:
16 Rejoice always;
17 pray without ceasing;
18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
To pray is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus - He wants us to talk to Him all the time. If we are doing it all the time then everything is acceptable for discussion. And I mean everything. There is no reason to hold back, except our own made up worries. Oh, there’s that worry issue coming up again, I guess I better start praying.
So what’s the take away with this. PRAY! Pray about every thing. All of your worries and fears, intercede for family and friends and all of God’s children, give thanks in all things, pray with others, confess your sins and repent and most of all do it with faith. Do it with the full conviction that your prayer will be answered. And when you look up here and see a drum set and hear me talking about “change” then be at peace and don’t worry because God’s got this. Some of the things that you can pray for with what is going on is: Pray that God’s will will be done. Pray that the leadership of the church is making the right decision, pray that the decisions will workout well. Most of all pray that your own heart will be changed to accept, no not to accept but to embrace the change. If the worship style is changing then change with it - sing with gusto and rejoice. Raise your hands and let your body do some praising - not just your lips. If the look of the building is changing, help make it change. Be a part of the crew to do the work - and look forward to what will become of it and how God will use it for His glory. Most of all bath it all in prayer because Prayer is the Primary work of God’s people.
Just remember - Christ Jesus has already given us the peace that surpasses all comprehension. We don’t need to go looking for it or asking for it. Just accept that you all ready have it.
Pray with me:
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Amen.
reinhold niebuhr (1892-1971)