For The Lord's Sake, Pray Church!

For The Lord’s Sake, Pray Church!

Daniel 9:17

(Key ideas from C.H. Spurgeon & Brian Bill)

April 2, 2006 Chester FBC, Chester, IL Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker

Introduction:

A A man went to his neighbor’s house to borrow a horse. (The neighbor was a pastor.)

1 The pastor gave the man specific instructions on how to ride the horse.

a The pastor gave a mini-sermon on prayer to the man. He said, "We begin our prayers with thanksgiving to God for his blessings and we conclude our prayers with agreement."

a "Thank God" makes the horse go and "Amen" causes the horse to stop.

b "No, problem" the borrowing man replied.

2 The man took off with a hearty "Thank God."

a The horse trotted faster & faster and they quickly approached a cliff.

b He forgot how to stop the horse, "Stop, Retreat, Whoa" finally, he shouted, "AMEN!!!!" and the horse stopped just inches away from a 150 foot drop-off.

c Wiping his forehead the man said, . . ."Thank God."

B We are talking about prayer this morning (again.) For The Lord’s Sake, Pray Church!

1 (READ Daniel 9:1,2) I picture a nearly 90 year-old Daniel, holding the book of Jeremiah in his lap.

a He’d served nearly 70 years in the Babylonian empire, under 3 kings as their Prime Minister.

b He reads Jeremiah 29:10-12 (READ)

c He knew from scripture that his people were only 3 years away from going back to Jerusalem. (Taken captive in 605 BC, and that it was now 538 BC)

aa He also knew his people weren’t spiritually ready.

bb He was on his knees praying for his people, his church.

2 17 "So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary. Dan 9:17 (NASB)

a (ETS) Daniel asked God to do something that only God could do for His people.

b (ESS) Only God can bring His glory to His Church.

3 I hope you’ll use the insights from this message to be better equipped to pray for your church. (Objective)

a How can you use these insights to pray with mover precision for your church? (Probing Question)

b (Trans. Sent.) Let’s look at two insights that can make us all better equipped to pray for our church.

I The first insight that can make us all better equipped to pray for our church is . . .

ALWAYS REMEMBER WHOSE SANCTUARY YOU WORSHIP IN.

A Daniel placed a tremendous amount of importance on the place of worship in his prayer.

1 The temple had been built with great labor and expense.

a 46 years (Jn. 2.20) to built at a cost of 3,775 tons of Gold & 37,750 tons of Silver, more than that in bronze & iron (1 Chron. 22:14-16.)

*>$70 billion Building!!! To get our minds around that number, it is estimated that is going to cost between $9 & $16 billion to rebuild the Mississippi Gulf Coast after Katrina. (Everybody @ worship today gets $350 million today!)

b Daniel knew that God’s name was on the title of that spiritual house.

c "Thy sanctuary", not ours or Israel’s, but "Thy."

2 The temple sanctuary was from were; God’s Word was spoken, God ruled His people, and God defeated His enemies.

B When we pray for our spiritual house with Daniels heart, we will immediately recognize that this is not our house.

1 As expensive and labor intensive as it was to build the sanctuary Daniel was praying for, God spent much more on the sanctuary that He is inviting us to meet with Him in today.

a It is not our tithes and offerings that bought and paid for this Church.

b It took 8 hours on an old rugged Cross and at the expense and cost of God’s only begotten Son!

b It was the blood of Christ that paid the cost for this Church to be built.

2 The church is were His Word is still spoken, people are feed, and the enemies of God are still defeated.

a The Congress, House, and Senate are not the establishments that will change our nation.

b The Church House is how God will change our nation and the world.

aa Kings & kingdoms will pass away, nations & governments will fall.

bb The Church of Jesus Christ will stay until the bridegroom comes for His Bride.

C We seldom will slow down to stop from criticizing a church, will we?

a How many of us would attend a wedding and afterwards go through the receiving line and go to the groom and say, "Dad-gum, man, your bride is ugly. She’s short, homely, can’t cook, and stupid."