PRAYER THE DARK SIDE
Jesus was a man of prayer. We know very little of his boyhood days, but a boy who at the age of 12 said, "I must be about my Father’s business" surely must have spent much time alone in communion with his Heavenly Father.
After he was baptized by John the Baptist at the age of thirty He was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness. There he spent 40 days and nights fasting and praying. A hard and busy life lay ahead of him, and he prayed for strength to meet the test of these years.
Now watch his prayer life during his public ministry. When the crowds pressed around and sought to make him king, He slipped away to the secret place of prayer.
Before he chose his disciples, he spent the night in prayer. Often in the early morning when the disciples were still asleep he would go to the mountain side and spend an hour in communion with God.
Before any great undertaking, he prayed. When he went to raise Lazarus from the dead, he prayed. In the Garden of Gethsemane, he prayed so earnestly that his sweat was as great drops of blood.
Finally, as he hung upon the cross, he stopped long enough to pray for his enemies, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do."
Jesus was a man of prayer!! And he wants us to also be known as people of prayer.
At the men’s prayer breakfast we talked about and then spent time in prayer. But I feel that God is showing me that we need to examine this matter of prayer from all sides.
We hear much about prayer, even though we don’t practice it a whole lot. We have all heard of the benefits and the power of prayer...and I rejoice in the fact that we can come to God with our petitions and needs.
But this morning I want to show you the other side of prayer...the dark side...the abominable side...the sinful side. We must have a full understanding on this subject.
READ Psalm 17:1 3
David is crying out to God...with a sincere heart he is praying...
READ Psalm 109:6 7
In KJV it says, "Let him be condemned and let his prayer become sin! Is that in your Bible?
READ Isaiah 1:12 16
READ Proverbs 28:9
detestable...an abomination!!!
Today we hear a constant urge to pray for so many things...ex. our nation...Many use II Chron. 7:14 the problem is we seem to forget the part about confessing and forsaking our sins.
I can’t think of anything that we need more in the church today than to fall on our faces before God in prayer. But it’s a serious thing to call a carousing, compromising congregation to prayer...
This will cause a sin in their life greater than all their other sins combined...worse than drug addiction...alcoholism...pornography, etc.
Back in the days that followed the Exodus from Egypt, the Israelites worshiped in a portable tabernacle. It was designed by God with very exacting dimensions and form. Everything had a place and special significance and purpose.
The outer court was a common place where anyone could come to bring their sacrifices and offerings. Beyond this area only the priests could go.
But these priests, after serving at the brazen altar, could not enter the holy place of God’s manifested presence, till hands and feet were cleansed in the laver. This laver is a type of Christ cleansing the believer from defilement of sin.
For them to go to the altar in the holy place before the laver was to degrade holiness and righteousness.
Are you with me so far?
READ Psalm 141:2
prayer and incense...
READ Revelation 5:8
Incense the prayers of the saints...Can you see that?
Have you ever prayed and it felt like your prayers just bounce of the ceiling? Well I want to tell you that every prayer gets through...but what effect does it have upon God?
Every prayer that a holy person prays is a sweet smelling savor to God But to offer a holy God a corrupt prayer is one of the greatest abominations.
We’re told to come into His presence with...Clean hands & a pure heart
...the laver then the altar.
This morning I want to show you How seriously God takes this matter of coming into His courts...to come in to a service like this...to sing and pray and worship...with sin in your hearts.
Something hidden down inside...you can be living in sin like pride, rebellion, bitterness, jealousy...all kinds of hidden things...and yet we’re encouraged to praise and worship the Lord.
But when we do this with sin in our life...it’s absolutely dangerous.
Some of you may say, I have no sin in my heart...Well, what about rebellion?
Many of you have already made up your mind that you aren’t going to church tonight...or Wednesday night. What does the Bible say such as in Hebrews 10:25?
I think (just my personal opinion) that we have a separation of the sheep and the goats every Sunday. Right after Church (S.S.) we have that mass exodus out the doors.
Many are more committed to the T.V. than they are to God, yet they offer up their prayers to God and expect Him to move all heaven and earth to answer them.
READ Exodus 30:6 9
Vs. 9 in KJV says Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon.
What is he saying? You shall not pray with unclean hands and impure hearts.
Let me say something very clearly...God hears the cry of the person who repents and asks for mercy...He quickly hears and answers that.
But I’m talking about that which is covered over by layer after layer of rejection. Time after time He’s told you to lay that sin down...the Holy Spirit has dealt with you...
He’s saying...How long will you come and mock my holy name? This is very serious. My prayer is that you will never again think of prayer as just coming flippantly into His presence...
Turn to LEV. 10:1 2
Remember this? The two priests are being dragged out, Aaron is trembling. All Israel stands in terror; God sends Moses to Aaron...vs. 3
I said before that their lifestyles had caused them to become strangers to God...and God said enough.
You see there is the grace of God...but also the government of God. God is merciful but he is also just.
READ Lev. 16:12 13
He went into the Holy of Holies, and offered up this incense. What did we see the incense represents...prayers! The incense covered the mercy seat.
This was a shield...our prayers are a shield for us when they are offered up in accordance with the guidelines set by God. The incense had to be mixed correctly...it had to be pure.
Ecclesiastes 10:1 talks about the fly in the oil (or the ointment). It reminds me of the third floor of my mother’s house. Now my mother is one who worked most all her life outside the home yet kept her house disgusting clean.
Several times during the winter she’ll clean the window sills in the unoccupied rooms up there and always finds dead flies. It seems like they come from nowhere...we never see them until they end up on the window sill.
My mom was convinced the house was never clean as long as those stupid flies were finding their way to those window sills. It’s just like those "hidden sins." The evidence that they’re around always seems to show up, and our "house" is never really clean till they’re gone.
I’m not talking about perfection. I’m talking about coming to the Lord honestly...with a pure heart...willing to give our all for Him.
