A mother and her children were taking a tour of New York City and were in awe of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The children were especially curious about the votive candles at the front of the cathedral, so the mother invited each of them to light one. She explained it was customary to say a prayer of petition or thanks as the candles were being lit. “These are not birthday candles,” she said. “You’re not making a wish but asking for God’s blessings.
After the family bowed for a prayer, they began to walk away. The mother asked the kids if they had any questions about what they had just experienced. “No,” said the five-year old, “but if there’s a pony outside, it’s mine!”
Surveys have found that most Americans understand or believe there is value in prayer. Gallup says 9 out of 10 American’s pray. Andy Greeley surveyed atheists and agnostics and found 1 in 5 pray regularly. That seems like a contradiction doesn’t it? But life is tough and at some time all of us feel a need to pray.
Here at Central Christian Church we want to be devoted to prayer. Our goal is to be a 2:42 Church based on Acts 2:42, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
As Jesus conducted His earthly ministry, He expected that His disciples would naturally pray. Jesus said in Matthew 6, “5And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.”
“When you pray," "When you pray", "When you pray…” You can search the New Testament and you will find not one example of anyone trying to persuade Christians that they should pray. Prayer is so vital, so essential; that it’s simply assumed those who worship God will pray.
The idea that someone would consider themselves a follower of Christ, and yet altogether neglect the practice of prayer, is completely foreign to the New Testament. The Bible has no category for a "prayerless Christian.”
"Prayerless Christian" is a nonsense phrase, a contradiction in terms, like "freezing hot" or “jumbo shrimp” or “congressional intelligence committee.” It’s a mythical beast. No such creature exists, or ever has existed.
But I found that as I was trying to work on this sermon, it was very difficult for me to write about prayer. The reason is because I struggle with my prayer life. I do pray every day, but I know that I am weak in the area of prayer.
A comfort to me this week has been studying the fact that prayer is something we can learn. “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” (Luke 11:1) Of all the things the disciples could have asked Jesus, they ask Him to teach them to pray.
This morning I want us to very simply consider a few reasons as to the “why” of prayer. Hopefully, after this sermon, we will all have a stronger desire to pray.
The first reason why we should pray is…
PRAYER IS HOW WE COMMUNICATE WITH GOD
I have wondered why God desires our prayers. HE already knows what we need. If He wants to bless us, He can certainly do it. Why go through this seeming charade of prayer? But as we read through the Bible we see that our God is a personal God. HE desires a relationship with His children.
Prayer is vitally important, because it goes to the heart of the Christian faith. Christianity is about a relationship; a love relationship between us and God through His Son Jesus Christ. And prayer is the means by which we maintain and deepen that relationship. Prayer puts us in communication with God. If there’s no prayer, then there is very likely no relationship. If there is very little prayer, then at best there is very little relationship.
We don’t pray because we love prayer. We pray because we love God.
I love my wife Stephanie, so I want to spend time with her. But what if you eaves dropped on a conversation she and I were having and you heard me say, “Fairest Stephanie, I beseech you today to wash my clothes, to make my bed, to pack my lunch, to do the dishes, to vacuum the carpets, to buy the groceries, to sweep out the garage, and to have a big dinner waiting for me when I come home. Oh, great and wonderful Stephanie, it was nice to have this time talking with you today. I’ll be back for our regular time tomorrow. Good bye.”
If you were listening to that you’d probably think, “Wow! Wade sure loves his wife.” Isn’t that what we think of prayer?
Prayer is how we communicate to God. It’s your heart communicating to God’s heart. Prayer doesn’t depend on the volume, method or style; it’s the heart. We are to pray out of a heart that is filled with love for God.
The example of Jesus shows how important prayer is. Mark 1:35 tells us, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Luke 5:16 says, “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Before choosing the 12 apostles Luke 6:12 tells us, “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.” Jesus is our example, our Lord and Master. HE constantly sought to be in communication with God. If Jesus needed to pray, how much more do I need to be in prayer!
But Jesus’ prayer life was not dictated by duty or responsibility. Jesus was motivated by His relationship with God. Jesus desired to stay in communication with His Heavenly Father. Why prayer? Prayer keeps us in communication with God.
We also want to pray because…
PRAYER CHANGES THINGS
One lady prayed, “Lord, if I can’t be skinny, let all my friends be fat.” She may be a little off on the point of prayer. But I believe prayer really does change things.
A church in a small Kentucky town was located next to a bar. The members of the church were concerned because they thought the bar was hurting their community. To make matters worse, the owner of the bar was an outspoken atheist who would taunt people from that church about their belief in God.
The church decided to hold a prayer meeting on Saturday night to ask God to intervene and settle the matter once and for all. The church met and began to pray for God to close the bar down.
During the prayer meeting a horrible thunderstorm went through the town. To the delight of the church members, lightning struck the bar and burned it to the ground! The next morning in church the preacher preached on the power of prayer.
Insurance adjusters promptly notified the bar owner that they wouldn’t pay for the damages. The fire was caused by an “act of God,” and that was an exclusion in their policy. The bar owner was furious. He decided to sue the church, claiming they had conspired with God to destroy his building and business. The church denied they had anything to do with the cause of the fire.
The judge in the case opened the trial with these words: “I find one thing in this case most perplexing. We have a situation where the plaintiff, an atheist, is professing his belief in the power of prayer, and the defendants, all faithful church members, are denying that very same power!”
Scientific studies have shown that prayer changes circumstances. One study from the Columbia University School of Medicine showed that people undergoing risky cardiovascular surgery had fewer complications when they were the focus of prayer groups.
Maybe at this point you are thinking of prayers that God hasn’t answered. What about the person who did pass away because of sickness or complications? What about the mother who has prayed for a child, but he turned against the Lord? The list of our unanswered prayers can be endless.
I confess I do not know why God answers some prayers positively and others not according to our desires. But this is where faith must come in. I love this quote from Soren Kierkegaard, “God answers every prayer, for either He gives what we pray for, or something far better.”
1 John 5:14 - 15 says, “14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”
What could be and should be, won’t be if we don’t pray. Prayer changes things.
Yet, prayer is not magic, it comes out of relationship. Some people almost see prayer as a Genie in the bottle. But prayer is really not about you or me, prayer is about God. Prayer is not about manipulating God to see our will accomplished, but it is about joining with God to see that His will is done.
Ultimately, we pray because…
PRAYER CHANGES ME
God’s desire is that we change. Romans 8:29 tells us, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.”
You become like the people you spend time with. That’s why 1 Corinthians 15:33 says, “Bad company corrupts good character.” You become like the people you spend time with. Therefore, the more time you spend with God in prayer and in His Word, the more you become like Him. Prayer changes me.
I have noticed that as I mature in my faith I am praying fewer “give me” prayers and more “make me” prayers. Instead of asking God to give me a better marriage, I pray that God would make me a better husband. These “make me” prayers are something all of us should learn.
Instead of praying for God to give me a better job, pray God make me a better employee. Instead of praying for better children, start praying for God to make me a better parent. Instead of praying for better parents, pray for God to make me a better child. Instead of praying for a better church, pray for God to make me a better Christian. Instead of praying for a better preacher, pray for God to make Wade’s sermons shorter.
A little boy tried this but he missed the point. He prayed, "Lord, if You can’t make me a better boy, don’t worry about it. I’m having a real good time like I am!"
Let’s never be content with where we are in our relationship with God. We all need to grow and change and become more like Christ.
I had an experience a couple years ago that has made an impact on me. I hesitate sharing this with you because I don’t want anyone to misunderstand what I’m saying.
There was another church about 10 miles from the church in Ohio where I was serving as Youth Minister. The new minister of that other congregation was someone I had known since I was in 6th Grade. He was several years older than me, but I had first met him when I was in elementary school. His name was Dan James.
Dan and his wife Lisa moved to Ohio with their 2 teenage sons. One day Dan called me at the office and we were chatting and I asked how the search for a house was going. Dan said they hadn’t had anything work out, but they were hoping God would take care of them. Then I did something that I’ve never done before in my life, and haven’t done ever again. Right there on the phone I told Dan, “I’m going to pray for you guys to find a house,” which wasn’t the strange part. But what happened next is still a mystery to me. I said, “I’m going to pray for you to find a house, and I expect to hear something by Friday.” It was Tuesday.
As I said the words, it was almost like I couldn’t believe I said them. Dan told me thank you for the prayers. That Friday I get a call. You’ll never guess who it was from. Dan James. Dan said, “Wade, I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t lived it, but we have a house today!” It was perfect for their family.
But then a few months later, Dan started feeling really ill. He went to the doctor, and just to make a long story short, Dan had cancer.
We prayed and prayed. Dan’s church prayed, our church prayed, several churches around the county prayed. A lot of prayer was lifted up on Dan’s behalf.
I went and visited with Dan at the hospital several times. One time I was there and 3 other ministers happened to show up as well. Dan asked me to pray.
Finally Dan was put in a hospice room. I went down there and it was just Dan and his wife Lisa. We talked for awhile and finally I brought up the subject of prayer. I said, “Dan, I don’t understand. How come I can pray for a house, but I can’t get prayers for your recovery answered.”
Dan looked at me and said, “Wade, I would love to be here for my family. I would love to preach more. I pray every day that God would heal me. Maybe He will, maybe He won’t. But no matter what, I still believe God is in control.”
All I could think about was “here I am supposed to be ministering to Dan and Lisa, yet they are the ones ministering to me.” Dan wanted to keep preaching, but the greatest sermon he ever preached was from that hospital bed.
I left that afternoon and drove home. As I was driving, I prayed. I prayed for Dan. I prayed for Lisa. I prayed for the boys. And then I prayed, “God, never let me take for granted the opportunities I have to preach.”
Prayer changes me.
