A Perspective On Prayer
Sermon Review
16 July 2000
Reading - Lk 9:28-32
Receiving mail is great, but some mail we would prefer not to get. Sometimes we prefer to not get God’s mail to us.
I recently spoke on being ‘Apprentice Prayers’. That continuing to develop our prayer life was a part of Christian discipleship. Time, practise, understanding, and even mistakes preceded mastery and skill. I also said that for a church to progress it must do so on its knees. This is a message that we must take to heart as it is part of God’s mail for us.
Too often we tend to think that if God knows everything before hand and has promised to provide all that we need, why pray? Or, that God understands that life is just too busy to fit in much prayer, if any at all. Therefore, He will make up for any short fall.
Firstly, much of what God promises is contingent upon us asking eg. Jas 4:2; even the Lord’s prayer indicates that we are supposed to ask for our daily provision and protections!
Why?
- At a most basic level it builds relationship, which is fundamental to what God desires John.17:3; Jer.9:23-24
- Incredibly, it also provides both responsibility and opportunity to actually influence people and circumstances beyond what we are capable of doing ie. To have some say in what God does in this world!
Secondly, there are no such escape clauses in the Scriptures. In fact, the opposite is true. Prayer is presented in both example and teaching to be essential requirements for Christian life and ministry. For example…
- Jesus spent large amounts of time praying eg. Lk.4:42, 5:12, 9:18, 11:1 etc.
- One author has calculated that there are 94 references which associate Jesus with prayer – Stuart Robinson
- Paul: ‘pray without ceasing’ 1Thess.5:16
- Peter: ‘be clear minded & alert so that you can pray’ 1Pet.4:7
- James: ‘fervent prayer accomplishes much’ Jas.5:16
We miss out working cooperatively working with God and impacting this world, and also pay the price in our lives and ministry if we neglect prayer – no matter what the excuse! Apart from Scriptural precedents for prayer and teaching and commands to pray, let us consider three good reasons we should pray…
Situations & People Change When We Pray For Them!
This is God’s intention: cf. John.17:15 ‘keep from the evil one’; Peter’s reinstatement because Jesus prayed for him before hand Lk.22:32. The Scriptures carry the expectation that prayer produces change! Cf. Acts.12:15-19; 1Tim.2:2. Consider also why would Paul bother spending so much time in prayer for others if he though otherwise? Eg. Col. 1:9-12; Phil.1:4-6 etc.
- Prayer changes things because it bears upon the ear of God. It is effective because God acts in response to it.
- People are dependent upon your prayers, for through them, things & people change!
- The changes may not always be obvious or as we wish them to be, but our prayers will be played out through God’s wisdom and discretion.
We Or Our Circumstances Change When Others Pray For Us!
As our prayers move God to bring changes in and around others, so too their prayers effect changes in and around us – changes that we can’t produce ourselves. Eg. Peter in prison Acts.12:15-19; healing Jas.5:14 etc.
If Paul didn’t believe this, why did he often ask for prayer for himself? eg. Rom.15:31-32; Eph.6:19,20; Col.4:2-4; Phil.1:18,19
Obviously, this should encourage us to be more open about our own needs, and to seek prayerful help. The truth is that we are far more dependent upon other’s prayers for our own growth and development and circumstantial provision than we probably like to admit! I wonder how often you have risen above seasons of difficulty because others have prayed for you?
When We Pray For Others, We Change (cf. Evelyn Christenson ‘Lord Change Me’)
As we pray for others we learn to pray for things that count, and in the process reshape our own values; we learn to accept God’s timing and therefore patience in our own circumstances. As we pray for others we come head to head with our own jealousies, resentments, and prejudices. We also learn more about God’s love, patience, His will and not our own; it gets our problems into perspective, and teaches us to love others, as it is difficult to criticise those we are earnestly praying for. It also teaches us awe!
As Bill Hybels says in his book, ‘Too busy not to pray’ – Our most intimate experiences of God come through prayer eg. Jesus’ transfiguration. And that power comes through prayer eg. "in the form of wisdom, an idea you desperately need and can’t come up with yourself, or courage, confidence, perseverance, a changed attitude towards a spouse, child, parent, changed circumstances – even outright miracles." The truth is that time spent in prayer changes us for the better and others notice it! Eg. Acts.4:13.
Conclusion:
How casual or serious is your relationship with God? The regularity, quantity, and quality of your prayer life will reveal this far more than your words!
Most of our reasons for not praying are not acceptable to God. Much of what God promises is contingent on us praying. Our prayers produce changes in us and others, and their prayers for us produce changes in both them and us. Incredibly, God has provided Christians and the Church with both a heavy responsibility and a heady opportunity to make an impact in this world. It is to the detriment to this world and our own lives if we avoid engaging in continual efforts to develop our prayer knowledge and skill.
God sent personal mail to the churches in Revelation. Current church mail includes the need to improve our praying. Don’t miss His mail! Prayer services, corporate prayer times, personal devotions, prayer calendar, prayer whenever you get together with other christians – all of these must become high order priorities! To do otherwise is not only disobedience, but demonstrates how little we understand the cooperative partnership that God brings us into when we place our faith in Christ!
Blessings