A Praying Knight”
September 7, 2008
"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. But 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. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
"This, then, is how you should pray:
" ’Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”
Matthew 6:5-13
Last week I shared with you about becoming a praying knight. We saw that Jesus was a praying Knight. We saw Paul was a praying Knight. And we saw how important a team of prayer warriors was to success against the enemy forces.
I feel led to share on this very common, but neglected topic – because none of us are the prayer warriors we need to be. We all probably pray a little. We all probably pray a little each day. But for real victory; to really succeed; to move the awesome hand of God; we need to wrestle in prayer.
Real prayer is a struggle, isn’t it? We decide we are going to do better at prayer. We are going to get up early and pray for an hour or so. Then we sleep in or something breaks, or some emergency happens, the baby cries, work calls. Do you think that’s an accident? Paul said,
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12 KJV
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Ephesians 6:12 NIV
One book that may not be too far from fact, is the fiction book, “This Present Darkness”, by Frank E. Peretti. In this book he shows how angels, demons, prayer, and spiritual warfare work, as demons and angels interact and struggle for control of people’s lives. I especially like how he shows the power of prayer. When people pray - they unleash the angels of God to work. When people don’t pray, the angels are bound by our free will. They are just waiting to help. They long to come to our aid – but can’t until we ask in prayer. I think it would be a good book for everyone to read.
Last week, as we studied Jesus’ teaching on prayer, we talked about, first, how NOT to pray. We aren’t to pray for show and we aren’t to use vain repetition and we must not have rebellion in our heart, and our relationships on earth must be right. Jesus said,
"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5:23-24
“Husbands… be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” 1 Peter 3:7
Prayer is simply communication between us and God, and it can only be effective with the right relationship. Communication is a lot more effective between two people who love each other, than it is between two people opposing each other, isn’t it? It’s true at home; at work; in the church; and between us and God. To be effective we need to be right. The relationship must be right. Our actions need to be right. The bible says,
“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” James 5:16
“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” Psalm 66:18
So in teaching us how to pray, Jesus first teaches us how NOT to pray. Apparently there was a lot of ineffective prayer going on. And the sad thing about it was that it was the religious people who were most guilty. You would think they would have been the best at praying. But prayer is a matter of the heart. Everything starts from the heart. And if the heart isn’t right – nothing else will be either.
So Jesus, in teaching us how to pray, First, starts with the heart. He says,
“when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father”
Do you see that He is talking about attitude of the heart here? Our best communication is one on one. Sometimes I share with Julie in a sermon. She listens and I talk. Sometimes we communicate with others around. But our best communication is one on one. Usually it is in the morning just after our devotional time and we sit back over a cup of coffee and just share whatever’s on our hearts. Those are the best times.
When I communicate with God it may be something like “GOD HELP ME!” (WOW! That was a close one! I’m a very religious driver – people who never pray start praying when they ride with me!)
When I pray in church during the Pastorial Prayer time, I pray one way and my relationship with God is one of intervening for my people. I pray through out the day – just talking to God. Praying for things that come to mind. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will impress on me to pray for one of you right NOW! And I stop and pray. I don’t know what the problem is – but I have learned that you may be under attack and need prayer support. We need to do that for each other. But my most effective prayer is when I go to my prayer closet, one on one, and talk with my Savior and King. I sit at Jesus’ feet and just empty my soul. I find new power; new strength; new cleansing; new determination; new life.
Jesus tells us that we need to have a time and place of prayer. Your prayer closet may be a little room, a spare bed room, or spot in the garden or forest; or your easy chair in your empty living room. The place isn’t so important as that you have a place and a time of regular, habitual prayer.
Jesus said if we do that we would be rewarded. I think He was saying that God would hear our prayers and would bless us by answering them.
Then, as we begin to pray, secondly, we need to have the right relationship with the Father. Jesus says we begin by addressing God, as ‘our Heavenly Father. I talked about this last week, but let me say it again. In the Hebrew culture, the father was the boss. He was the leader. It was a death sentence to rebel against the father. So I think effective prayer begins with the right relationship with God. We are acknowledging Him as our Leader; as our Creator; as our Guide; that we are in submission to Him. If you aren’t in the right relationship with Him – your prayers will be hindered.
In Jesus’ day, addressing God as “Father” was unusual. It denotes a familiarity, as intimacy, a love, that the religious people of Jesus’ day didn’t have. But you and I can have it. When we come to God we need to know that He loves us. He is for us – not against us. He longs for a right relationship with us. He is quick to forgive. He is quick to heal and help. He is quick embrace us in our needs. He is our Creator. He is our Father. He loves us more than we can imagine.
Thirdly, notice that Jesus teaches us to begin our prayer with worship of our Father. He says, “Hallowed be Your name.” Hallowed means ‘holy’ or ‘pure’. But I think this worship is more than words or addressing the Father like you address a pastor as ‘Reverend’. It is true worship. It is to be in awe of our Father. I begin my prayer sometimes by singing or reciting a Scripture like:
“I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” Deuteronomy 32:3-4
I think what we are to do is THINK about God’s goodness and how great He is. I like to look up at the stars and the night sky and praise God. I like to look off over a mountain view and be awed by God’s power and beauty. I like to look off into the infinity of the ocean and be overwhelmed by the awesome of it. To think how much water is in it. To think of all the strange creatures that God created living in it. To think that it’s merely a drop to God. How AWESOME!
It’s not that God needs to hear our praise or worship – but WE need to see it and DO it. We need to come into His presence with the right attitude and relationship.
Fourth, we are to be on God’s side. That’s part of the right relationship, but there’s more. Jesus teaches us to pray,
“Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
It’s one thing to be FOR someone and supporting someone – and actively working to accomplish their goals. I think Jesus is teaching that we need to have the right relationship with the Father and have the right attitude – but we also need to be working to accomplishing His will on earth. It begins with prayer. We need to pray that Jesus would reign on earth. That He would be King right now. Now there isn’t much we can do about the world or anyone else. But we can do something about us. We need to allow Jesus to be King and ruler of our lives. We need to be first. His Kingdom coming begins with us and in our heart. His will being accomplished on earth as it is in heaven begins in our heart and life. IS His will being done in your life? If not - we need to pray that it is. If not – we need to surrender to His will.
And if His will is to be done on earth – who’s going to do it? The angels? Maybe they have a small part here – but their job is heaven. Who is to do His will on earth? You and me. God wants to work through you and me to accomplish His will on earth. Every day I pray, “Use me today, Lord. Use my hands, my heart, my voice – today. I choose to die to self daily and daily surrender my life to Jesus to use.
Someone might ask, “Well – what does He want to do through me?” What can I do to accomplish His will?” I don’t know. You will have to ask Him. He wants me to be a pastor. He wants me to preach and teach. He wants me to use every day to minister to someone. I don’t know what He wants YOU to do. You will have to seek His will for your life. You will have to see how He wants to use you to accomplish His will on earth.
Well, that’s only a part of what we are to pray for. Jesus also taught us to pray,
“Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
I don’t have time to go into each of those things. But notice we are to pray for daily needs, daily forgiveness, grace to forgive those who owe us – or offended us. We are to pray for protection from temptation and the evil one. There IS an evil one out there – wanting to destroy you and defeat you. I am afraid NOT to pray for protection each and every day. And I also pray for you and your protection.
Folks, let’s become ‘Prayer Warriors”. Let’s ‘contend’ in prayer. Let’s wrestle in prayer. Let’s put on the armor of God and take the offensive to the enemy. Victory is assured! We are MORE than conquers! We are ‘overcomers!’ But it is through the power of prayer the battle is won. Let’s make it happen.
Become a prayer warrior today.
