Certain Hope for Uncertain Times
12/02/2001 - Behind the Ministery: Powerful Prayers
Ever since the tragic events of September 11 we've seen a resurgence of prayer in this country. People are talking more about prayer than they have in a long time. And some people are even praying more than they have in a long time. Prayer vigils, memorial services, moments of silence at school functions and sporting events have become commonplace in our country over the last few months. But what is prayer? And what does prayer accomplish really? I mean if God knows everything anyway, why do we need to pray to him? What good does it do?
Our four year-old daughter, Avery, is learning how to pray right now. And the prayer she loves to pray at the kitchen table goes like this. "Roll them roll them, give a little clap. Roll them roll them, fold them in your lap. Thank you God, as we pray, for this food we have today. Help us do the things we should and to others be kind and good." That's Avery's prayer right now. That's what prayer means to a four year-old, kind of like a cute nursery rhyme.
What does prayer mean to you? For some people prayer is like a celestial slot machine. You know you put your coins in and pull down the handle and then hope for the best. Most of the time nothing comes out. But maybe someday you'll hit the jackpot and your prayer will work. But you never know, it's always a gamble.
For some people prayer is like a visit to the dentist's office. Prayer is like hygiene. It's something we know we should do, it's something we know is good for us, but we put off as long as we can until we're finally in so much pain that we can't stand it anymore and we just have to go. Then we gotta' be there, but otherwise we just don't make time for it. That's what some people think about prayer. They pray as a last resort.
But that's not how the Bible describes prayer. The Bible tells us that prayer is talking to God. Prayer is a child conversing with their heavenly Father. Just like communication builds relationships between people, communication builds our relationship with God. Prayer is talking to God. And like any good conversation, sometimes that means talking and sometimes that means listening, being quiet and hearing what God has to say to us. Have you ever heard God speak to you? I'm not saying audibly necessarily, but through a prompting or an impression that he's given you? The Bible calls it "a still, small voice."
I think I heard God's voice when he said to me, "Bruce, stop! I know your little schedule says to teach on 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 this Sunday, but I want you to go back and teach on prayer. If you're going to talk about what goes on behind the ministry, you've got to talk about prayer. Because a lot of powerful praying goes on behind the ministry here at Valley View."
Our last message was called Behind the Ministry: The Five Emotions of Ministry and it took us through chapter 3 which ended with a compelling prayer by the apostle Paul. We read the prayer and that's all I was going to do with it. Just read it. But then I felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to stop and go back to that prayer and remind us all of the importance and power of prayer. So today's teaching is called Behind the Ministry: Powerful Prayers.
This morning we continue our series through 1 Thessalonians called Certain Hope for Uncertain Times. If you have your Bible meet me at 1 Thessalonians 3:10. In chapter 3, Paul has just unzipped his soul and exposed his intense longings for these people, his fears, his stress, his encouragement, and his joy. Those are the emotions behind the ministry. And now he tells us about the prayer that's behind the ministry he had to the Thessalonians.
Look at verse 10, Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. Paul prayed for these people night and day. In the Greek language, that phrase literally means night and day. Paul prayed a lot for these brand new believers in Christ! And he didn't think it was a waste of time. Instead, he knew prayer was powerful enough to produce change, change in circumstances that would allow him to see them again and change in the character of those he was praying for.
Do you believe prayer is powerful? Do you really believe prayer works? Nicky Gumbel, the teacher of the Alpha Course says, "Prayer is the most important activity of our lives. People often confuse answered prayer with mere coincidence. But I've discovered the more I pray the more coincidence happens." Do you agree with that? Prayer is the most important activity of our lives, because prayer is the main way we develop our relationship with God.
And this morning I want to make three observations from this prayer of the apostle Paul that will help each of us take a necessary next step in developing our prayer lives. I know my prayer life needs to be developed. It has a long way to go. The first observation is to pray frequently.
Paul says in verse 10, Night and day we pray for you. Does that mean that Paul didn't do anything but pray night and day? Hardly, the apostle Paul was one of the most productive, task-driven individuals who ever lived. He was always doing something for God and accomplished a lot. No, what that means is that Paul had a running conversation with God. He prayed frequently all throughout the day.
In 5:17 he says, pray continually or pray without ceasing or some translations read never stop praying . The Greek word "continually" there is the same word that's used to describe a hacking cough that you carry around with you all day long. All throughout the day we can be hacking up prayers to the God of the universe.
Paul had the kind of ongoing conversation with God that you have with a good friend. You know how you can be on the phone talking to a friend and then you look at the clock and say, "Whoa. I just saw what time it is. I gotta' go. I'll call you back later." Or you're on the phone with a friend and one the kids call your name, you know how they always call your name when you're on the phone. I think it's just a natural born instinct. Daddy's on the phone, Mommy's on the phone, that means it time to make noise, fight, cry, kick the dog, tear the house apart. So again you say, "I gotta' go. We'll talk more later."
Praying frequently means that you have this ongoing dialogue with God. And when you start seeing prayer as an ongoing conversation with a real good friend, it'll take your prayer life to a whole new level. Now I know what some of you maybe thinking, "Wait a minute! Pray all throughout the day. You got to be kidding. Cough throughout the day. I can do that. But pray? No way." I understand where you're coming from. I go through times when prayer is the last thing on my mind. I can handle life by myself, just fine, thank you. Just work a little harder, try a little more.
Let me make a suggestion that might help you to start praying more frequently. Pray the first two minutes. The first two minutes before you get out of bed in the morning. "Good morning, Lord. Thank you for watching over me throughout the night. Thank you for this brand new day." The first two minutes in the shower. "Lord, help me with the meeting that I have today. Lord, remind me of the things I've studied for the test that I'm taking this afternoon. Lord, give me insight in my preparation for the teaching this Sunday." The first two minutes of your commute to work. Pray the first two minutes of anything you do. Short bursts of prayer, hacking cough kinds of prayers, and before long you know what? You'll be praying continually, enjoying this ongoing dialogue with God.
Oswald Chambers said this about praying at the beginning of the day, "If in the first waking moment of the day you learn to fling the door back and let God in, every public thing will be stamped with the presence of God."
C. S. Lewis, the brilliant author of the 20thcentury, said this about beginning the day in prayer. "The moment you wake up each morning all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists of shoving it all back and listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting the other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in."
I'm embarrassed to say how many days I get up and don't take those first two minutes to be with God. I get run over by the wild animals and the rpm's start racing and before long I'm in the flow of my day without ever checking in with God. But you know what I've discovered? When I do check in, I'm much more sensitive to the fact that he's with me. And I don't have to face my day alone. And the more I pray, the more I want to pray. Pray frequently.
Second, pray earnestly. Paul says, Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again.
The word earnestly is a huge word in the Greek language. It literally means we pray "exceedingly abundantly for you." Paul uses that same word in Ephesians 3:20 where he says, Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. That verse meant so much to Jennifer and me when were dating that we had in inscribed in our wedding bands. Not the whole verse, but the reference Ephesians 3:20-21, because we had seen God answer prayer and do exceedingly abundantly for us.
Paul prays exceedingly abundantly for these people. That means he prays with all his heart. His prayers are passionate and come right from his gut. No clichés, no rote, memorized prayers, just honest, authentic communication with God. When you pray, pray with all your heart. It's so easy to slip into routine, cliché, nursery rhyme prayers. I do it all the time. That may be okay when you're a 4 year-old, but God wants us to grow up and go deeper in our conversations with him. Don't be afraid. You're not going to say anything that's going to shock him, or make him love you any less. You're perfectly safe with God.
I read about a little boy this week who was learning to pray. And his mom heard him yelling, "Please, God, I pray that Grand pop would buy me a brand new bike for my birthday. God please!" And he was yelling. And so his mother said, "What are you doing? You don't have to shout. God isn't deaf." The little boy said, "I know he's not deaf, but Grand pop is and he's in the next room!" That's an earnest prayer.
John Bunyan the author of Pilgrims Progress said, "When you pray rather let your heart be without words than your words without heart."
Let me give you two suggestions that may help you pray more earnestly. First, when you can, pray out loud. Now I know we can't always pray out loud and we don't have to pray out loud for God to our prayers. But what I've noticed about my own prayer life is that when I do pray out loud I pray much more passionately. That's why I enjoy praying with other people, like we do every Tuesday morning, or when I pray Jennifer or other people. A lot of passion comes out when you pray out loud.
When I just think my prayers, like pray by telepathy, I usually don't do it with all my heart. My mind wanders and I get distracted and I fall into a rut and find myself praying the same thing over and over again. But when I pray out loud there's energy and focus behind it. When you can, pray out loud.
Second, learn to pray earnestly by reading the Psalms. The Psalms are prayers. And most of the Psalms were written by King David, one of the most passionate men who ever lived, a man after God's own heart. And many of his prayers are so passionate, they're just downright raw. David prayed with an attitude at times. Often he starts out angry by praying that God would trample his enemies, scatter them, crush their heads, break their teeth, bathe their feet in the blood of their children. Now I'm not suggesting that you pray that for your boss or your ex-husband, but learn to be honest with God in your prayers. David laid it out there. But what's so cool, is that usually by the end of the Psalm he's worked through his anger and God has softened his heart. Some of us get stuck in our bitterness for years, because we never vent it to God. We get stuck at verse one and never come to the end of the Psalm where we can praise the Lord. Learn to pray earnestly.
And third, pray specifically. God wants us to pray for specific things. But sometimes we're afraid to do that because we don't want to tell God what to do. Or we're afraid, because if God doesn't answer our prayer the way we want we could get real disappointed. And then we might think that something was wrong with our prayer or that something's wrong with us. And I understand that. Those fears can keep me from praying specific prayers sometimes. But listen folks, God always reserves the right to say "no." Just like any good parent needs to say "no" often to their children. And it doesn't mean that their request was bad or that they were wrong for asking. And it certainly doesn't mean they're not loved. It usually means it's just not the right time yet.
We need boldness in our prayer lives. And that doesn't mean ordering God around. It means inviting God to act. Jesus taught us to pray, Give us this day our daily bread. Ask and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Actually, those words in the Greek language are even stronger, better translated keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking.
So what are we to ask God for? Let me suggest two things. First, we're to pray for our circumstances. Paul prayed for his circumstances to change. He wanted to see these people again and Satan, he said, had blocked his way. Look at verses 10-11, Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you.
Did God answer Paul's prayer? Did he clear the way? Yes he did. Not right away. But eventually we read in Acts 20:1 that Paul set out again for Macedonia. On his third missionary journey, about three years later, Paul returned to Thessalonica. It took a while, but God finally said, "Yes! Now's the time." Maybe it took that long for things to cool down in that city so that it was now safe for Paul to return. We don't know. But it took a few years for that prayer to be answered.
What circumstances in your life do you want to see changed? Prayer changes things. Do you want to see a change in your job, or in your housing situation, or in your marriage, or in your health? Bring it to God in prayer. Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. Someone has said, "Prayer is the means God uses to give us what HE wants." Not necessarily what we want all the time, but what he wants for us. And that's always better.
And one big reason that God doesn't always give us what we want, when we want it, is because God wants to change us. God doesn't only want to change our circumstances and make our lives comfortable and easy, he wants to change our character. So let's team up with him and pray specifically for our character.
That's what Paul prays for these people. Look at verses 12-13, May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
Paul, why are you praying that? You should be praying that the persecution ends, that these Christians don't suffer anymore, that life gets easier for them, and that things get back to normal. But Paul doesn't pray that. Instead, he prays that their character would grow and their love would abound and that they would persevere and stay at it and live lives that aren't just a little better than they used to live before they knew Christ, but lives that are blameless and holy in God's presence until Jesus comes. Blameless by the way, doesn't mean perfect, it means living our lives in such a way that when we screw up we own it, we confess it, and we make it right.
When was the last time you prayed a prayer like that? For somebody else or for yourself? This passage hit me right between the eyes, because I'm so guilty of praying so many circumstantial prayers, God do this, God do that, God help this person, God fix that situation, and so few character prayers.
But that's what we all really want, isn't it? We all want to be better lovers, lovers of God, and of our husbands and wives, ours kids, ours friends, those in our church community and those outside our church. "God please help my love to abound more and more. I want your love to just well up in me and overflow onto all those around me." That's a character prayer.
Here's another character prayer. "Lord, I'm going through a tough time right now. I feel surrounded by enemies. And I'm so tempted to lash out and fight back. But I want to be holy and blameless. I want to a good representative for you. So please strengthen my heart and get me through this."
God's want us to pray specifically. But not just for things to change. He wants us to pray that we'll change too. He wants to grow our character and make us more like his Son, Jesus Christ. Behind the ministry is a lot of powerful praying. Pray frequently. Pray earnestly. And pray specifically.
When we were down in Georgia over Thanksgiving our four year-old daughter, Avery, had the chance to see Santa Claus. And so we got in a long line with a crowd of other impatient parents and their screaming kids. And we waited for a long time so Avery could sit for two minutes on Santa's lap. He heard her requests, patted her on the head, and gave her a candy cane. I took one too. And then it was on to the next child. And I thought how different it is with the God of the universe. We don't need to wait in some long line to talk to him. He's available 24/7. We don't get only two minutes on his lap. We could spend all day with him if we wanted too. He would love it. And he has the power to really do something about our requests. Prayer is a wonderful thing. Let's all take a next step this morning and ask God to grow our prayer lives.