Dr. Bradford Reaves
Crossway Christian Fellowship
Hagerstown, MD
www.mycrossway.org
This morning we’re continuing our study of the Sermon on the Mount. From the beginning of this study, I’ve shared with you and pointed out to you how Jesus was calling for the life of the believer to be rooted in the life of Christ. Believers are significantly different from that of the world. Our whole outlook on things is the counterpoint to how the world views things. How we view the family, marriage, morality, relationships with each other, and our relationship with God.
We have been reborn, renewed, and redeemed. We look forward with Hope, but not the same kind of Hope the world possesses. Our hope is rooted in the essence of God and the promises he made to those who will put their faith in Him. We look at life differently, how we grieve is even different, and even how we view money is different.
But perhaps there is no more significant difference in our lives than the way we commune with God. And there is no more excellent means to commune with God than through prayer. Now any time you get into a discussion about prayer, you find yourself in contention about the sovereignty of God. The Calvinist will say that God is sovereign, and so God will do whatever He’s going to do whether you pray or don’t pray. Prayer isn’t really that essential in determining God’s actions. On the other hand, you have the Armenian who says that God moves only when His people commit to prayer on something.
And some people believe then that prayer simply is a way of communing with God about what He’s already going to do anyhow, and others feel that prayer is beseeching God to do what He otherwise would never do. And it’s challenging sometimes to deal with what is the truth. Because there are times when we see in the Scripture that men pray, and it says God, as it were, changed His mind or His direction and did something that it appeared He wouldn’t do. There are other times when God says, "I’m going to do what I’m going to do anyway." (MacArthur)
So inevitably, someone will ask me which is correct, and my answer is always the same, “Yes.” I don’t think prayer is an issue of us somehow persuading God to act in a certain way, but instead that it is putting us into His perfect will to act and live in the manner of His will. Conversely, I think God looks to His people to be committed to prayer to Him for His will to be done and answers prayer in His people doing so. The most important aspect of prayer I want you to understand is that prayer is essential to your spiritual life. It is vital to your spiritual health, and it is a paramount aspect of the Church’s worship. So with that in mind, I am going to spend the next several weeks coving the topic of prayer as presented by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, starting with today’s topic of prayer in worship and then continuing on with a study of the Lord’s prayer.
A couple of weeks ago, we looked at the first of 3 topics of worship Jesus uses in the aspects of hypocritical worship: Giving, Praying, and Fasting. Jesus is stripping the Jews naked of their self-righteousness and hypocrisy related to their worship. Jesus uses a Greek word that describes them as a stage actor when it comes to their worship, and he does the same for the way they pray:
5 “And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6 “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. 7 “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. 8 “Therefore, do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. (Matthew 6:5–8)
14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their evil ways, then I will listen from heaven, I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land. (?2 Chronicles 7:14)
I wonder how many times we’ve heard that Scripture? Most of us hold onto this for reason of national purposes. We say, we’ll pray and God will heal the brokenness in America. God will help end racism. God will tear down walls of poverty, kill injustice, restore the meaning of marriage, and so on. But that’s too easy because we get to deflect God’s call from ourselves onto something external. Meanwhile, how are things in your land? How are things progressing in the brokenness in your home? How is God healing the racism in your heart? How is He doing as the Lord or your finances? How’s your marriage? Are you humbling yourself, seeking God’s face, praying, and letting him heal your land?
In prayer we seek to silence men's voices and turn our attention away from the things around us to the Holy God who sits in heaven. When you are in the middle of a storm, you do not set your course by the waves or by things on the waves but by the shore. In battle, it is important to listen to someone above the field of conflict – one who sees the overall picture. The same is true in life. In prayer, we turn our attention to the Rock of Ages who can never be shaken. (Sermon Central: Steven Shane)
5 “And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. (Matthew 6:5)
The first thing Jesus does is what prayer should not be. It is not a show. It is not for the appearances of piety. It is not to impress everyone around you. It is for the believer to be in communion with God. Prayer is worship.
Worship Yahweh in the splendor of holiness; Tremble before Him, all the earth. (Psalm 96:9)
“Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of the conscience by His holiness (not mine); It is the nourishment of the mind with His truth (not mine); It is the purifying of the imagination by His beauty (not mine); It is the opening of the heart to his Love (not mine); It is the surrender of the will to His purpose (not mine)” All of these things are predicated on us being people of prayer. In other words, if we are going to be a church of worship, we must FIRST be a church of prayer!
1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—living, holy, and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may approve what the will of God is, that which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:1–2)
The success of churches in South Korea and the victory there blows people away. It doesn’t take long to realize the reason is 6:30 AM prayer meetings, weekly prayer groups and constant meditation on God. Lisa’s miracle blew people away. I knew a miracle was coming because God’s people decided to pray - not me - you did, and look what God did that night. I hear quite a bit of talk about the desire for this kind of thing but minimal action.
1 Give ear to my words, O Yahweh, Consider my meditation. 2 Give heed to the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, For to You I pray. 3 O Yahweh, in the morning, You will hear my voice; In the morning, I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch. (Psalm 5:1–3)
I want to talk to the group of you that will not settle for the average. You know God’s doing something here; you’ve told me you feel like God is doing something here, and you're on the edge of your seat. You’re a competitive group. The group that likes winning and hates losing. The group that’s hard-working and not afraid to sweat. Who loves the challenge of working their way to the top? Who doesn’t settle for minimum wage? Who has a drive in them to be the best they can be?
My job is to EMPOWER you to be a soul-winner. A constant example of consistency to everyone around us. God never called anyone to mediocrity. He has not called us to be wishy-washy- having a form of godliness - He’s called you to be a warrior. A person who refuses to allow the enemy to have his way among God’s people and in God’s house.
There is a remnant of believers today who are hungry for God’s will to be done in this world. Who isn’t asking for permission or waiting for permission, but leading the way because they’re tired of marriages failing, they’re tired of defeated lives; they’re tired of a cancer diagnosis. Where in the Bible does it tell us to give up and accept the effects of sin? Nowhere!
I scoured the New Testament trying to find where in ministry God exclude prayer. Do you know what I found? Nothing. Everything God does in the work of ministry, He does through prayer:
Prayer is the Power in Ministry
Prayer is the way you defeat the devil (Luke 22:23, James 4:7)
Prayer is the way you get the lost saved (Luke 18:13)
Prayer is the way you acquire wisdom (James 1:5)
Prayer is the way the person who fell away comes home again (James 5:16-20)
Prayer is how the believers get strong (Jude 20; Matthew 26:41)
Prayer is the way we find laborers for the mission field here at GCC and across the sea (Matthew 9:38)
Prayer is how we cure the sick (James 5:13-15)
Prayer is how we accomplish the impossible (Mark 11:23-24)
(Dave Early, Prayer: The Timeless Secret of High-Impact Leaders, 2008)
Everything God wants to do in our lives, God has subjugated onto one thing: Prayer
6 “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:6 (LSB)
Martin Lloyd Jones has well stated it this way. “We tend to think of sin as we see it in rags and in the gutters of life. We look at a drunkard, poor fellow, and we say there is sin. That is sin. But that is not the essence of sin. To have a real picture and a true understanding of sin, you must look at some great saint, some unusually devout and devoted man. Look at him there on his knees in the very presence of God. Even their self is intruding itself and the temptation is for him to think about himself. To think pleasantly and pleasurably about himself. And to really be worshiping himself rather than God."
“That, not the other, is the true picture of sin. The other is sin, of course, but there you do not see it at its acme. You do not see it in its essence. Or to put it in another form, if you really want to understand something about the nature of Satan and his activities, the thing to do is not to go to the dregs or the gutters of life. If you really want to know something about Satan, go away to that wilderness where our Lord spent 40 days and 40 nights. That’s the true picture of Satan where you see him tempting the very Son of God.” And I might add while He is communing with the Father.
There’s no sacred ground for Satan. He invades it all. It is therefore imperative that you be a person of prayer.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 15 and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE. 16 In addition to all, having taken up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, 17 also receive THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, (Ephesians 6:10–17)
The Apostle Paul gives us extraordinary insight into the workings and effectiveness of the saints when engaged in spiritual warfare. I want you to see that we are given incredible power from Heaven as Christ’s ambassadors to overcome the enemy. The armor of God protects us and strengthens us when Satan comes after us. However, there is a discipline that is essential for the armor of God to be effective. Prayer.
18 praying at all times with all prayer and petition in the Spirit, and to this end, being on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 19 as well as on my behalf, that words may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel— 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains—so that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. (Ephesians 6:18–20)
Prayer is far more than asking God for things. Intercessory prayer is a means to release God’s power into people and situations to thwart the enemies efforts to overturn God’s efforts. When you pray you should search for ways to pray outside of your sphere of influence. Pray for your pastor, pray for your neighbors, your community, your city. Pray for the work of the gospel and for laborers in the gospel. Pray hard, pray often, pray earnestly.
If you don’t know what to pray for, pray for God to show you how to pray. 26 And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; 27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:26–28)
Jesus told his disciples in Luke 18:1 to pray always and not to lose heart. We have to understand, pastors, teachers, ministry leaders, worship leaders, that your job is too big for you to handle. We need God’s power to enable use to lead the work of the ministry in the church. We are fighting a losing battle when we engage in ministry without prayer. Paul knew this even from a jail cell, that he could not even effectively be in prison for Christ without the interceding prayers of the saints.
1 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. 3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters. (Psalm 29:1–3 ESV)
1 Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil. (Ecclesiastes 5:1 LSB)
So here’s my challenge to you today, church. I am going to challenge you to pray for just 4 minutes each day for the next 40 days. We publish prayer needs for the church. I want you to intercede for our church and our community.
Take it to the Cross
