 |
 |
|
 |
||
 |
||
|
“THE PRAYER RULE!” TEXT: Matt. 7:7-11; 6:5-8; Luke 18:1-7 INTRO: Sometimes prayer is ignored or misused ... like the little boy who was told by his mother to say prayers before bedtime. The little boy didn't want to pray, but his mother encouraged him to pray and to ask God for something he really wanted. So, he prayed very loudly, "Lord bless mommy and daddy, and (shouting) GOD, GIVE ME A NEW BICYCLE!!!" His mother protested, "God's not deaf son, you don't have to shout!" The son responded, "I know, Mom, but Grandma is in the next room and she's hard of hearing!" The boy’s idea of prayer needed some serious teaching! Prayer is one of the most important disciplines that we can develop as a Christian. Jesus had much to say about this subject, an area in which He was much disciplined. What does prayer mean to us? Prayer is a rare gift, not a ready gift. The product of faith of a truly spiritual character. When people do not mind what God speaks to them in His Word, God doth as little mind what they say to Him in prayer. Least important of all the forms of worship Public prayer lasting over a minute Prayer for Lord's supper Must be short and get it over with Blessing runs out and have to bless again that night? Closing prayer let's get out of here Prayer is surrender--surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out a boathook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God. PROP.SENT: The Bible teaches us that prayer is to be an important part of our walk with God and that spiritual health is dependant upon it. I. PERSONAL MATT. 7:7-11 A. Requests Matt. 7:7-8 1. There can be little doubt that Jesus' teaching on prayer here clearly shows the personal nature of it. a. The text begins with an invitation to come in prayer, "asking, seeking, and knocking." b. This must be connected however to 6:33 ... "seek first the kingdom of God." c. It is not an invitation to simply ask for anything! d. The idea is that we come and ask, seek, and knock for the right things! 2. It is important also that we recognize the character of God when we come in prayer ... and not just think of Him as "Santa Claus"... too often we ignore the great opportunities in prayer and settle for trivial requests. ILLUS: The brother of a Seminary student one day visited him on campus. Traveling on campus he found himself lost. Along came an elderly gentleman he stopped and asked directions from him. Later as he described to his brother this older man he discovered that this was one of the most brilliant theologians of this century. The brother couldn't believe it! He had the opportunity to ask any question, and he asked only how to find a simple building! He missed a great opportunity to receive because he failed to recognize who he was speaking with ... how like this we are with God sometimes! 3. The implied confidence of receiving therefore is in accord with proper asking! a. This is where we sometimes fail in our prayer life; we need to evaluate both what we ask for and why we ask for it. b. It is also quite possible that God's "failure" to answer may be THE answer! c. Certainly the force of these early verses shows the personal nature of prayer! B. Reasonable Matt. 7:9-11 1. When we pray what can we expect from God? This is a good question! a. Too often we have a strange concept of prayer … A friend of mine took his small son with him to town one day to run some errands. When lunch time arrived, the two of them went to a familiar diner for a sandwich. The father sat down on one of the stools at the counter and lifted the boy up to the seat beside him. They ordered lunch, and when the waiter brought the food, the father said, "Son, we'll just have a silent prayer." Dad got through praying first and waited for the boy to finish his prayer, but he just sat with his head bowed for an unusually long time. When he finally looked up, his father asked him, "What in the world were you praying about all that time?" With the innocence and honesty of a child, he replied, "How do I know? It was a silent prayer." we think if we beg or cry hard enough will we get God's attention! b. Or, we may think that if we can present our case well enough, with enough logic and convincing arguments that perhaps God will respond! c. Or, we try and persuade God by buying Him off ... promising all kinds of things and making vows as gimmicks to get our way. 2. Yet, God doesn't respond at attempts of manipulation, no matter what type we use. God answers our prayers simply based on relationship! a. We are sons and daughters of God, as such He is our Father who loves us and will always seek our good! b. However, what is good for us is not always what we ask for! c. Many times when God answers our prayers we may fail to see it as an answer! d. The point of these verses (9-11) is the APPROPRIATENESS OF GOD'S ANSWERS ... which can be very different sometimes from what we asked for, but is always better for us. I asked for strength that I might achieve; He made me weak that I might obey I asked for health that I might do great things; He gave me grace that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy; He gave me poverty that I might be wise. I asked for power that I might have the praise of men; He gave me weakness that I might feel a need of God. I asked for all things that I might enjoy life; He gave me life that I might enjoy all things. I received nothing I had asked for; He gave me all that I had hoped for!" 3. The phrase translated, "how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask" in Luke’s passage (11:13) is translated "how much more will your heavenly Father give the "HOLY SPIRIT" to those who ask." This means that the GOOD THINGS spoken of here are not necessarily material things as much as they are meant to be spiritual things! a. This removes the "Santa Claus" dynamic to this passage; where we sometimes see this verse as an invitation to ask for lots of material wants. b. The point is that God will NEVER WITHHOLD ANYTHING REASONABLE FROM US! 4. God is very personal ... this is why prayer is so wonderful; it allows us a very personal relationship with Almighty God! II. PRIVATE MATT. 6:5-8 A. Rewarding Matt. 6:5-6 1. Christians have traditionally put great emphasis on public prayer, we have even fought battles over it, attempting to keep it in our public schools etc. 2. Much of our history reveals the importance we have placed on public prayer at special gatherings, even our Senate opens each session by prayer. 3. Yet, Jesus put little emphasis on public prayer, most of the passages in the Bible stresses the importance of private prayer! a. Those that fight to keep prayer in our public schools had better have consistent prayer lives first in their homes and private lives! b. It is the private prayer life that reveals the true nature of spirituality! 4. It is not that public prayer is unimportant, but it is only as important as our private prayer life really is! a. The Pharisees particularly loved to make a scene with their public prayer life ... they attempted to appear very spiritual and very loud ... also to look very worn out by the intensity of their prayers to God! Preacher I knew who would get up on his chair in a restaurant to pray before eating, loud enough EVERYONE could hear, whether they wanted to or not b. Jesus says for them they already have earned their reward, the “praise of men.” c. However, if it is the praise of God you seek, then this comes from a private relationship with God, the “private prayer closet!” ILLUS: Our prayer life should be like an iceberg ... 10% above the surface is seen, while 90% of it is below the surface. This was discovered by a unique way. It was noticed many years ago by the early ships that sailed near the arctic that these "SMALL" junks of ice floating in the water seemed to defy the rules of nature ... they floated many times against the strong winds that blew! Sailors couldn't figure out how these "ice cubes" could do that when even large ships were blown along in the wind. Finally it was realized that the only way this was possible was if a huge mass of ice was below the surface and so was more influenced by water currents than wind currents. This truth works on prayer too ... if all we have is a public prayer life, we may not be able to withstand the winds of this world and we will find ourselves blown along by the "winds" of the world ... but if below the surface there is a significant prayer life we can resist the winds. – Source Unknown 5. This was Jesus' point about these Pharisees, they had majored on public prayer when they should have been majoring on “Private Prayer 101!” B. Rambling Matt. 6:7-8 1. Jesus' point here is not teaching against repetitive prayers, but against ritualistic ramblings. Empty repetitions! a. This is the meaning of "VAIN REPETITIONS" (KJV) or babbling, NIV b. The intent of the repetition is simply to be heard by men, or to make you feel spiritual without really being spiritual! Sometimes the shortest prayers are the most effective Attending church in Kentucky, we watched an especially verbal and boisterous child being hurried out, slung under his irate father's arm. No one in the congregation so much as raised an eyebrow -- until the child captured everyone's attention by crying out in a charming Southern accent, "Ya'll pray for me now!" c. There is nothing wrong with repeating prayers as will be seen by the next text we look at in Luke 18:1-7 where the woman persists in the same prayer over and over. 2. We are encouraged to take advantage of the personal relationship we have with God in a personal prayer life. In Saudi Arabia, according to Arab custom and officially reinforced in 1952 by a decree of King Abdul Aziz, every subject has the right of access to his ruler, whether the rule is a tribal sheik, a governor, or the Monarch himself ... subjects can come with any cause and be assured an audience. Crown Prince Fahd recently explained the purpose of this, "Anyone, anyone can come here. That gives them confidence in their government ... they know they may look to us for help." And so it is with prayer for the Christian, we have a guaranteed audience with God, there is no need for rambling prayers, we can really share with Him! 3. God desires fellowship with us ... this includes communication! 4. The example Jesus gives for praying is commonly called the “Lord's Prayer” but the point is to show how much content is included when we pray instead of the ramblings of the pagans which was done as mere ritual. 5. Praying is not a RITUAL for believers, it is a RELATIONSHIP! III. PERSISTENT LK. 18:1-7 A. Resolute Lk. 18:1-5 1. Here Jesus encourages persistent prayer! The story (parable) is about a woman who will not quit praying for justice. a. It is important to recognize that her request was genuine and correct. It wasn't a matter of just persisting for anything, but for the right thing. b. Her persistence finally pays off ... she is rewarded with the justice she sought. 2. Why does God sometimes require this persistence in prayer before answering a good request? a. Perhaps the judge in this case needed to know that the woman's cause was genuine and not frivolous, perhaps he wanted her to know the difference! b. The waiting period would cause her to realize what is truly significant in life ... and not take for granted justice in the future. c. Certainly the process she went through would make her sensitive to helping someone else who might in the future face the same dilemma. d. This process too encourages us to be fighters and not quitters; perhaps this is what Jesus meant by the last comment on this passage where He asks, "However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" e. Jesus might have been asking ... "Will people be persistent followers?" 3. Prayer makes us resolute ... it gives us drive and sticking power! KEEP SEEKING AND DON'T QUIT UNTIL GOD HAS ANSWERED ... ONE WAY OR ANOTHER! a. Rather than discouraging repeating prayers, Jesus actually encourages persistence in prayer, especially when we are praying for the right things! b. How long does it take to be persistent? Until the answer comes! B. Responsive! Lk. 18:6-7 1. Jesus secondly makes the point that God IS responsive to us when we persist in prayer! Sometimes it is true that "we have not, because we ask not." Among those in the court of Alexander the Great was a philosopher of outstanding ability but little money. He asked Alexander for financial help and was told to draw whatever he needed from the imperial treasury. But when the man requested an amount equal to $50,000, he was refused--the treasurer needing to verify that such a large sum was authorized. When he asked Alexander, the ruler replied, "Pay the money at once. The philosopher has done me a singular honor. By the largeness of his request he shows that he has understood both my wealth and generosity." a. Sometimes we pray as though we really don't believe our prayers will be answered! Remember the story of the church praying for rain and no umbrellas b. Prayer is a very powerful dynamic that should be nurtured in us; we are the biggest losers when we fail to pray. 2. We need to realize that God has ordained Himself that prayer should be the vehicle through which He often works in our life ... that miracles are framed in prayer. 3. How many times have we suffered because we have failed to pray? a. God answers prayers, but they need to be prayed! b. God is a responsive God and He never gives less than the best! (1. Will He give a stone when we ask for bread? NO! (2. Will He ignore a need or miss a deadline? NO! May not come when we want him, be He's always right on time! 6. In fact, if God hasn't answered yet, it is because He is doing something we might not yet fully realize ... He doesn't with-hold without purpose! a. No earthly father would do this to the children he loved, how much less unkind our heavenly Father is. He would never do evil! b. God will not ignore us or our true needs,… He will always do good! CONCLUSION: An important rule for the Redeemed is the prayer rule! Prayer is what makes our union with God deeply personal on a day by day basis. Your relationship with God can only be as warm as your prayer life. Pray
on, when rough and dark your pathway, And you cannot see the light; |