A Pattern For Prayer (Part 4)
Notes
Transcript
Good morning Church!
Announcements:
Voting on constitution at our next business meeting. Meeting will be held on September, 11th.
Our Youth Trip to Standing Stone will be the last weekend in August. We will be leaving Friday afternoon and returning Sunday around lunch.
There will be a meeting today, immediately following the service concerning the details of the trip.
Bro. David Revelle will be here this coming Sunday night August, 14th to preach for you guys. I hope everyone will be respectful, and come and support this church next Sunday night.
There is business meeting tonight for all of those who are involved and want to join. It will take place after tonight’s service.
We will be having left-over burgers and dogs from our family fun day yesterday and we are going to take down VBS decorations after the business meeting.
Women’s fellowship dinner Tuesday evening @ 5:30 @ Twisted Oaks.
August 21st, is our next pool party for the kids at Tracy & Leslie’s house.
Praise Reports:
Prayer Requests:
Tithes
Children’s Church
Doxology:
This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart that I might not sin against God! Amen!!!
Open Bibles To: Philippians 4:6 / Luke 11:9-10
Context
Context
We are continuing our study on prayer. We are currently walking through a series of “A Pattern For Prayer”! We are using the acronym ACTS for our guide, and we have already covered the first three letters.
Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication
6 do not be anxious about anything, 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 understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
We have finally made it to the last aspect of our pattern for prayer, but though it is the last, it is probably the most utilized. I would dare say that we spend much more time in our prayers asking God for things than we do giving Him adoration, confessing our sins, or giving Him thanks.
But, I do not say that because there is anything wrong with bringing our requests before God. God actually tells us in this verse, as well as in many others, that He wants us to bring our requests before Him.
As we dive into this, we must remember that we cannot skip the process. There is something special about acknowledging the greatness of God, confessing our sins before Him, and giving Him thanks. All of these things prepare our hearts to be open and honest before a righteous, Holy God.
Content
Content
Intro
Intro
Supplication: A supplication is a humble request for help or mercy from someone in authority.
In the case of prayer, it means that we are bringing our requests before the one of ultimate authority over all things, which is God, our Heavenly Father.
Can we stop and take a second to just let that sink in.....God, the creator of the universe and sustainer of all things, says that He wants us to bring our every need before Him. WOW!!!!! What a mighty God we serve!!!
God is so big, yet we are so small. God is so mighty while we are so weak. God is perfect, while we are anything but. We need a person like that in our lives. We need someone big, strong, and perfect in our lives. We need someone positive in our lives. We need someone who is able to do the things that we are not. We need God!!!
The Hindrances To Prayer
The Hindrances To Prayer
If we know this, why do we struggle so much to actively pursue the only one that can ultimately fulfill us?
I have had several people ask me directly, or indirectly, what the secret to living a spiritual life was. I can remember several times during my preaching years, to where I would title a message along the lines of “The Secret to a Spiritual Life”, or “The Secret of a Healthy Heart”, and I could see the excitement of so many in the crowd.
You announce the title of a message like that, and you can see people perk up, be attentive, and listen intently to what comes next. Unfortunately, it is always short lived. Once the message begins, and you begin to explain the necessary things in one’s life to become spiritually fruitful and spiritually healthy, they lose interest.
It is almost as if they thought you were going to give them some kind of golden nugget, or super thought on drawing near to God. The reality of that situation is that there is no super-natural, amazing nugget that bypasses the process of growing in Christ. It is perseverance and faith that brings one close to God. It is the repetitive study of God’s Word, as well as the obedience of it, that brings one close to God. It is sacrificing time and energy in prayer that brings one close to God. It is the continual practice of the simple truths that are plainly revealed in God’s Word that brings one close to God.
It is no different with prayer. Many people want some golden nugget to becoming a prayer warrior overnight. Listen to me: It does not exist.
A prayer warrior is:
One who fights life’s battles on their knees.
One who turns to God, rather than the world, in a time of need.
One who prays very specific prayers, not weak safe prayers.
One who brings heaven to earth through a channel of spiritual connection with God.
You do not become that over night. You do not pray like that instantly. To become a prayer warrior, it takes time. It takes time to see the benefit of prayer. It takes time to see God move. It takes time to learn how to pray in the will of God.
The struggle comes when we read verses like Luke 11:9-10.
9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
We read verses like this and think that if we just pray a certain way, ask a certain way, knock a certain way that our prayers will be answered. So we bring God our needs, and then they are not met in a way we feel necessary, so we often times feel that it is simply not the will of God. When we fail to see God’s hand in the midst of our lives, we then retire to our own strengths and abilities and stop asking God.
There are several hindrances to prayer, but I want to share just a few with you:
We ask amiss
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
We are living in sin
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
We have idols in our lives
3 “Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them?
A Haughty Spirit
13 Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.
We refuse to forgive
25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
Ungodly Marriages
7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
Lack of wisdom
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
All of these things will hinder the prayer life of a Christian and keep them from coming to the throne room of God. If we are going to become the prayer warriors that God wants us to be, we must learn what biblical prayer
Most people spend their entire lives searching for something that many never find: Peace.
Kids
Knowledge
Fun
Teenagers/Young Adults
Popularity
Freedom
Adults
Materialism (they realize the chaos)
Money
Stuff
Time
Time Itself
Retirement
Wisdom
Paul tells us in this verse that there is only one thing that can bring peace into your life, and that is God. It is when we come into relationship with Him, that true peace comes over us.
The Habits of Prayer
The Habits of Prayer
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
A Promise To Claim
A Promise To Claim
You can find a substitute for almost anything in life, but there is no substitute for prayer. I believe the greatest unused and untapped resource in the world is prayer.
Why the poverty of so many Christians? Why the powerlessness of so many Christians? There is one answer - and it is prayerlessness. There is not a failure in my life that could not have been avoided by prayer. There is not a sin in my life that can not be overcome through prayer. There is not a need in my life that can not be met by prayer. What fools we are, if we don’t pray!
When we pray, we do not pray to inform God: God already knows. We don’t pray to instruct God: God has a will. We do not pray to inform God or to instruct God, but to invite God. When we pray, we are inviting God into our lives.
The Fellowship Factor
7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
God wants us to abide in Him. God can do it without you, but you cannot do it without God. BUT, God will not do it without you, because He wants you to have that fellowship with Him.
Illustration of flying a plane with the pilot next to you.
1 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
The Developmental Factor
There is nothing that will grow you as a Christian more than prayer. As you abide in Jesus, and He abides in you, you are growing as you pray. Have you ever wondered why God doesn’t answer your prayer immediately? Because He wants you to grow some more.
Illustration of boy asking girl out on a date. Friend gives him suggestions, until she says yes.
The Dependency Factor
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
If God were to answer our prayers just automatically, then there would be no growth. But if we never had to pray, there would be no dependency. Prayer is God’s way of bonding us to Him.
A Process To Follow
A Process To Follow
Not only is there a promise to claim, but there is a process to follow. Have you ever thought on these verbs: “Ask, seek, knock”. That is an intensification. It grows more intense from one verb to the next. You ask, then you seek, and then you knock.
Asking (A Desire Expressed)
Asking (A Desire Expressed)
That is, you express your desire. There is something you want, so you come to God and you ask Him for it.
Do you know the greatest problem in prayer is not in unanswered prayer; it is unasked prayer.
Many times, we do not even get to the asking part.
2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.
God says it is even sinful not to pray:
23 Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:
Over and over again, the Bible not only invites us to pray; the Bible commands us to pray.
1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Every time you sin, it is because you have failed to pray as you ought.
The reason you’re so full of worry right now, is you’ve not truly learned to pray. In everything, by prayer and supplication, you are to ask God for everything that you need.
Do you want to know what a good test of anything you desire is, whether you should have it or not: can you ask God for it? If you do not feel that you can ask God for it, you really don’t have any business with it.
You see, we are to pray about anything. If it’s wrong to ask God for it, it’s wrong for you to have it or do it.
Do not try and divide you life into the secular and the sacred. Don’t say, “Well, there are certain things I will pray to God about, and then there are other things I will obtain on my own.” To a Christian, all things are sacred, and every object is a proper object of prayer. Pray about everything!
One might say, “Well, I am just going to pray about the big things. I don’t need to pray about the little things.” Can you imagine a single thing in your life that would be considered a “Big Thing” to God? God is that BIG!!!
On the flip side of that, there is not one thing in your life that would be considered a little thing to God. God loves us that much!
“Well, what if what I want is wrong. Should I pray to God about that too?” Yes, you should. God already knows you want that wrong thing. Tell Him you want that wrong thing. Tell Him it is wrong that you want that wrong thing. Then ask Him to fix your wanter.
Seeking (A Discovery Experience)
Seeking (A Discovery Experience)
First, we must ask. Asking is expressing our desires unto God. But then we must Seek.
Asking is a desire expressed, and seeking is a discovery experience.
See, many times we ask for the wrong thing.
Many times, we don’t even know what to ask for.
Many times, we are not in a asking position.
Many times there are things that are lost or unknown unto us.
True prayer, true asking, is linked with seeking.
In order to pray prevailing prayers, we must seek the will of God.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
Sometimes, we need to seek the presence of God. God wants to do something in us before He can do something through us.
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Maybe it is the power of God that we need to seek.
16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive B. “Seek”: A Discovery Experienced
One day a lady called me, and she said, “Pastor, I need you to come over to my house. I’ve got a prayer burden, and I want you to pray with me.” I said, “I’ll be there.” I went to her house. I said, “What is the prayer burden?” She said, “Pastor, it is my son. He is a drunkard. I want you to pray with me for my son.” And then she said, “And his wife has just been diagnosed with cancer. My son is a drunkard. My daughter-in-law has been diagnosed with cancer. And I want you, my pastor, please, to pray with me.” I said, “I will.” She said, “I’ve asked my son to come over.” I said, “Wonderful.”
So the three of us were there. The drunkard son, the mother and grandmother, who was concerned, and the pastor. And we got down on our knees and began to pray. And she prayed, and I prayed. And then she prayed. And then I prayed again. And that boy, that man, I say, he was, oh, maybe thirty-five. He looked at me, and said, “Pray, preacher. You ain’t praying.” I thought I was praying. I thought I was doing a good job. But he said to me, “Preacher, pray! You ain’t praying.” Well, I think I got a little louder and faster. I thought maybe it had something to do with the tone or the rhythm, or maybe I needed to groan a little more, do something. I’ve never had anybody challenge me like that. He said, “You ain’t praying, preacher.”
So I prayed a little more. And then I looked up, and she was gone. The grandmother was gone. She wasn’t in the room. I thought, “Just me and this boy here, and he doesn’t think I’m praying.” And then I heard another sound in another room. And so I just stopped, since I wasn’t praying anyway, and got up and looked in that other room. And there she was, spread eagle on the carpet, her face down in the carpet. And I just paused to listen to her praying.
I heard her, I listened to her, I saw her, as she went up through the skies, pushed open the gates, walked down those golden streets, right to the throne room, right past the torn veil. I heard her walk right in and get hold of the altar. And I listened to her pray. And I heard the anguish of her heart. I heard her prayer. I heard her faith. I heard her do warfare with Satan. I heard her remind God of His promises. I heard her pour out her heart, her life, almost to death for that boy. I heard her pray. And I think maybe, perhaps sometime in the past, that boy had heard his mama pray, and that’s the reason he was saying to me, “Preacher, you ain’t praying.”
Knocking (A Determination Expressed)
Knocking (A Determination Expressed)
Not only are we to ask - that is a Desire Expressed. Not only are we to seek - that is a Discovery Experience. But we are to knock, and that is a Determination Expressed.
To knock means that we will not stop until we know that we have the thing that we have asked of God, or God tells us no.
5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves,
6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’;
7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’?
8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.
Now look at vs. 9:
9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
Now you have to understand something about Bible times. In Bible times, it was absolutely, totally, unthinkable that a friend would come to you, and you would not give him lodging, and you would not give him food.
Hospitality was of the highest premium.
Go through the story.....
Many of the houses of that day were built with stables underneath. The animals came in at night and stayed in the house, and the body heat of those animals helped to heat the whole house.
They did not have big houses. Everyone slept in one room. If you woke up one person, you woke up everyone.
To get up in the middle of the night, meant you had to wake up everyone in the room, work your way downstairs, wake up the animals, and then finally get to the person. It was complicated.
“Look, don’t bother me. The children are asleep. Now, you wake the baby, you are going to pay.” “Hey, I need some bread.” “Fine, give me a minute. Here take this and go.”
He did not get up because he was a friend. He got up because of his persistence. He would not take no for an answer.
That is what Jesus is saying. We should be persistent in our prayer. All of the verbs are in present tense. “Ask, seek, and knock.”
The woman and the unjust judge.
The Syrophoenician woman and Jesus.
We must learn to pray persistently. We must learn to pray through.
A Provision To Enjoy
A Provision To Enjoy
9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Not only is there a Promise to Claim and A Process to Follow, but there is a Provision To Enjoy.
How do I know - how do I really know - that God’s going to answer my prayer?
Let’s be reasonable for a moment. If an unrighteous man is asked by his child for food, would he not give it to him if he could?
Jesus said, “If you, being evil, - If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give good things to them that ask?”
Why will your prayer be answered? Because God is good. Do you have that in your heart and in your mind? God is good. God wants to answer your prayer. God takes joy in answering your prayers. God is good.
And not only because God is good, but because God is wise. If you ask for bread, He is not going to give you a stone. He knows what we need, even if we ask for the wrong thing.
God is also able. Whatever we need, He can do it.
I have a earthly father. I love my dad. He’s a great guy, and he would do anything for me that he could. But he’s limited. He’s simply limited. All human beings are limited.
My Heavenly Father is not limited. You see, in God, we have the sympathy of a Father and the sovereignty of a king. I have a Father who can hear me and a King who can answer me.
And to that I say Hallelujah! What a mighty God we serve!
Commitment
Commitment
We are fools, if we don’t learn how to pray. It is Jesus who said, “Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened unto you.” The wisest and best thing that we can do, is learn how to pray.
That brings me to this - and I’m finished. Is He your Heavenly Father? Jesus is not talking to lost people here. He is talking to saved people. Is He your Heavenly Father?