INTRO.- Prayer is the one of the great privileges that we have as Christians. People outside of Christ can only meditate, but we can talk to God, knowing He is there, listening, loving, etc.
ILL.- A group of bats, hanging from the ceiling of a cave, discover a single bat STANDING upright below them on the floor of the cave. Surprised by this unusual behavior, they ask, "What’s wrong with you? What are you doing down there?" The standing bat answers, "Yoga!"
What’s the big deal about meditation that Yoga instructors preach? Thinking is not bad, but what are people thinking or meditating about?
ILL.- Two men meet on the street.
One asks the other: "Hi, how are you?"
The other one replies: "I’m fine, thanks."
"And how’s your son? Is he still unemployed?"
"Yes, he is. But he is meditating now."
"Meditating? What’s that?"
"I don’t know. But it’s better than sitting around and doing nothing!"
I contend that praying to God is better than meditating on nothing! And to me, that’s exactly what Yoga meditation is. Any time our thoughts are merely focused on self or nothing, we will get no where and certainly not be pleasing to God.
ILL.- A woman in Tallahassee, Florida, was in the grips of severe depression. For weeks she wept and felt helpless. She was barely able to get through each day. She was afraid to be left alone for fear that she would kill herself. When she went to bed, she often hoped that she would never wake up. SOUNDS BAD. What did she do?
Then her Sunday School class entered into what they called “The Brave Christian’s Experiment.” In desperation the woman decided to try this simple plan which basically provides some simple steps for letting God be the center of one’s life.
The plan proposed five steps—
(1) Spend a half hour each morning in prayer and meditation (on scripture)
(2) Give God one-tenth of your earnings.
(3) Give God two hours of your time each week.
(4) Meet once a week to pray with others who are trying to do the same thing.
(5) Witness to others about your experiences.
It worked. She got better. She overcame her depression.
Any time we focus on the Lord, His Word, and spend time talking to Him and serving others, life will get better! It’s God plan and it works. But any time we focus on self or the things of this world we are headed for disaster.
Psalm 1:1-2 "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night."
Job 33:26 "He prays to God and finds favor with him, he sees God’s face and shouts for joy; he is restored by God to his righteous state." That sounds very good to me!
I think that scripture and prayer are our two best defenses in life. They provide spiritual strength for the battles of this life and keep us in line with God and on good ground with Him. it’s called HOLY GROUND. We need that holy ground every day.
PROP.- In our text, Paul said, "pray for us." What are we to pray about?
1- Pray for the spreading of the message
2- Pray for the deliverance from evil people
3- Pray for the strengthening of God’s Spirit
I. PRAY FOR THE SPREADING OF THE MESSAGE
1Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you.
ILL.- Preacher Leighton Ford said, " I was speaking at an open-air crusade in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Billy Graham was to speak the next night and had arrived a day early. He came incognito and sat on the grass at the rear of the crowd. Because he was wearing a hat and dark glasses, no one recognized him.
"Directly in front of him sat an elderly gentleman who seemed to be listening intently to my presentation. When I invited people to come forward as an open sign of commitment, Billy decided to do a little personal evangelism. He tapped the man on the shoulder and asked, ’Would you like to accept Christ? I’ll be glad to walk down with you if you want to.’
"The old man looked him up and down, thought it over for a moment, and then said, ’Naw, I think I’ll just wait till the big gun comes tomorrow night.’" Big Guns meaning Billy Graham.
There is no doubt that Billy Graham has done his share of leading people to faith in Christ, but big shot or little shot, we all need to do our part in leading people to faith in Christ so they can be saved.
ILL.- A minister was discussing electricity with an electrician. “Is it true,” asked the minister, “that electricity cannot get into you unless it can get out of you?” “That’s absolutely right,” answered the electrician.
I wonder if this isn’t also true in regard to the gospel of Christ. Since we have believed and accepted Christ we must also allow Him to get out of us and share Him with others. And perhaps if He isn’t getting out of us there may be something wrong.
ILL.- As a group of college students toured the slums of a city, one of the girls, seeing a little girl playing in the dirt, asked a guide, “Why doesn’t her mother clean her up?”
“Madam,” he replied, “that girl’s mother probably loves her, but she doesn’t hate dirt. You hate dirt, but you don’t love her enough to go down there and clean her up. Until hate for dirt and love for that child are in the same person, that little girl is likely to remain as she is.”
True for a mother and true for us in Christ. We must hate the dirt of sin in people’s lives as well as love them in order to have a heart for sharing the gospel with them. Hate sin and love the sinner.
The message of the gospel of Christ needs to be spread everywhere in this world, Jonesboro, and all around the world. How will we get the job done? We do it personally, through the church, and through worldwide missions. And we do it through prayer. We should literally pray that the message of Christ will spread through us and others. We believe in asking God for good.
Matthew 9:35-38 "Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
Jesus said to pray or ask the Lord to send forth laborers, workers, preachers, evangelists, missionaries, soul winners, etc. And the strange is this: those who did the praying were the very ones He sent. SO DON’T PRAY IF YOU DON’T INTEND FOR THE LORD TO SEND YOU TO WITNESS TO SOMEONE!
No, please do pray and keep on praying. The more we pray for workers, the more likely we’ll be interested in witnessing. Everybody needs Jesus so let’s keep on praying! Let’s pray for the message to spread and let’s pray for people to come to Christ and be saved. DO YOU HAVE ANYBODY ON YOUR LIST?
II. PRAY FOR THE DELIVERANCE FROM EVIL PEOPLE
2And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith.
ILL.- "Cash, check or charge?" the cashier asked, after folding items the woman wished to purchase. As she fumbled for her wallet the cashier noticed a remote control for a television set in her purse. "So, do you always carry your TV remote?" she asked.
"No," she replied, "but my husband refused to come shopping with me, so I figured this was the most legal evil thing I could do to him."
There are many evil people in this world. Hopefully, however, they are not our family members. And there is far worse than stealing someone’s TV remote.
We often think of Adolf Hitler, Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. And there are plenty of others;terrorists, rapists, etc.
ILL.- Most recently we heard about the terrorists that hit Mumbai, India. Commandos who stormed the Mumbai headquarters of an ultra-orthodox Jewish group found the bodies of five hostages inside. More than 175 people have been killed and 295 injured since gunmen attacked 10 sites across India’s financial capital starting that Wednesday night, including 22 foreigners — two of them Americans, officials said.
Now why did those terrorists kill those people? Probably several reasons but basically, because they are evil! Please remember that the word "evil" is just one letter short of "devil" and the devil is an evil murderer.
John 8:44 "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
ILL.- And what about that guy that beat that Little Rock TV Anchor, Anne Pressly, to the point where she died about 5 days later. Why did he do that? HE WAS EVIL!
And here’s another that was/is horrifyingly evil.
ILL.- LONDON — A father who repeatedly raped his two daughters for nearly 30 years told the children the abuse would never stop. They finally broke the silence this year, but only after he had fathered nine of their children. After nearly three decades of abuse, the 56-year-old father was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison with the possibility of parole in about 20 years after pleading guilty last month to rape and assault.
Judge Alan Goldsack said in his ruling at Sheffield Crown Court in northern England, "In nearly 40 years of dealing with criminal cases ... (this) is the worst I have come across."
The case carries echoes of the case of Josef Fritzl — an Austrian man who confessed to imprisoning his daughter in a cellar for 24 years and fathering her seven children.
Brothers and sisters, it’s hard for us imagine such evil taking place. What should we do? What must we do?
We can pray for the victims of such evil crimes and we can pray for our own protection and deliverance from such evil! How do you pray for the victims? We pray that God will have mercy on them. And that perhaps He might take vengeance on those who did the evil. He will eventually, whether in this world or the next. And the next will be the worst.
2And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith.
We need to pray for one another about this matter and especially, those missionaries who are serving on foreign fields where there is much danger. Even here in America we must pray for protection and deliverance.
III. PRAY FOR THE STRENGTHENING OF GOD’S SPIRIT
2And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith. 3But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 4We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. 5May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.
ILL.- A Judge Shepherd, circuit court judge of Nashville, Tennessee, was a deacon in his church. It was his unwavering custom to attend the services of his church on the Lord’s Day.
One Sunday, his preacher, Dr. Norman W. Cox, noticed that the judge was not sitting in his accustomed place. Inquiry was made. “Where is Judge Shepherd today?" Later Dr. Cox said, “Suddenly I became worried. When there was no answer to the phone call at his home where he lived alone, I went there and found the house locked. I convinced the police that it was unlike the judge not to be at church, and he must be at his home.”
The officers forced the door open. They found him unconscious from gas fumes caused by a faulty heater. Another half hour might have been too late. The judge’s fixed custom to go to the God’s house on the Lord’s day saved his life.
That’s what I call faithfulness. And God needs more faithful attenders in the Church and more faithful workers in the church.
God is faithful, in fact, He is more faithful to us than we are to Him. How do we know this? Because we wouldn’t be here if He were not faithful! What? I’m saying that we’ve all sinned to the point where we really don’t deserve to live but because God is faithful and gracious, we’re still here. WE’RE ONLY HERE BY THE GRACE OF GOD!
Don’t forget it: God is more faithful to us than we are to Him. He is so faithful that He will strengthen you and protect you. Sometimes He gives us strength for life’s difficulties and we don’t even ask for it. Sometimes we ask and sometimes we don’t.
ILL.- Josiah Perkins was celebrating his one-hundredth birthday when a reported called and interviewed him. “Do you think you’ll live another hundred years?” the reported asked. “Don’t see why I shouldn’t,” Josiah replied. “I’m a heap stronger than I was a hundred years ago today.”
Many times in life we just go about our business, never thinking to ask God to give us life and strength for our daily chores or work. BUT HE DOES! He gives us grace each day and we don’t even ask.
Then there are other times when we need to ask for His strength through the person of His Spirit. When is that? Whenever we feel like we’re faced with something greater than ourselves. When we’re sick or lose loved ones or have some big task that we’ve got to tackle. Or when we’re faced with some great evil or some temptation to do evil. That’s when we need to pray for the Lord to strengthen us.
ILL.- In Colorado a girl was released from jail, and emerged with the explanation: “Fine—just as I expected. I am cured—no wedding bells for me!”
She had had herself sent to jail to keep from getting married. At the holiday season Margaret Caro, seventeen years old, appeared in a juvenile court and asked the judge to put her in until after January 20. That she explained, was the day set for her wedding.
She related that she was engaged to be married to a man much older than herself. She didn’t want to marry him, but she just couldn’t help it, just couldn’t resist him when she was in his presence. He had some sort of fatal charm. So she asked the judge to put her in a cell and keep her there, so she could be away from him and thus break the spell.
That’s the way it all turned out. The judge sent Margaret to jail and she was released—cured. At least, she said so.
Better than going to jail to escape some powerful temptation is to just spend time with the Lord. The more time you spend time with the Lord, the less you’ll want to do evil and the more the Lord will protect you.
3But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
CONCLUSION----------------------------
Pray for us. Pray, pray, pray. I personally think we who are in Christ should pray constantly as the scripture tells us in I Thess. 5:17. The more we pray, the more we’ll serve, preach, teach, and be protected from evil.
