Power of Prayer: #4 - BREATH
I Thessalonians 5:17
CHCC: June 28, 2009
(from Discover the Power of Prayer by Max Lucado)
(Ronnie Morgan preached #3)
INTRODUCTION:
This summer, we’ve been talking about PRAYER. We talked about how we have unlimited ACCESS to God … with the username of Jesus and the password of Abba Father. We talked about the POWER available through prayer and the STRENGTH God gives us in prayer.
So, after all this emphasis on prayer, I wonder: Are we praying enough? And anyway, how much praying is enough? The Muslims pray 5 times a day. The Buddhists use a prayer wheel, and every time it turns is a prayer. In the Old Testament Daniel prayed at his window morning, noon, and evening. What does the New Testament say about how often WE should pray?
In I Thessalonians 5:17 the Apostle Paul gave this instruction on prayer: He told the early Christians: "Pray without ceasing." Is that even possible? How can we to do ANYTHING without ceasing? I try to exercise at least 5 times a week, but I can’t say I exercise without ceasing. I’ve sure never been able to diet without ceasing! It’s hard to practice any good habit without ceasing. The only thing most of us actually do without ceasing is BREATHING.
So here’s the question: can prayer become such an integral part of life that we literally pray like we breathe … without ceasing? If we PRAYED like we BREATHE, how would that affect our spiritual lives?
One thing that breathing does for us is to give us the ENERGY to keep going.
1. Prayer gives us Energy
What happens when someone can’t get enough air? It’s not long before they have to stop running and walk, or stop walking and sit. And if they still can’t get their breath, they’re going to pass out. That gives a whole new way to look at Luke 18:1, where Jesus taught that we ought always to pray, and not to faint.
Notice that Jesus didn’t say we ought OFTEN to pray. He taught we ought ALWAYS pray. The first time I experimented with doing that was back when I was in college. I was working at a meat market alone in the meat locker, so for about 4 hours I was able to pray while I worked, and I did that by simply thinking my thoughts towards God who I knew was there with me.
Since then, I’ve continued trying to include God in every part of the day. I think my thoughts to God while working. I sing along with praise music while driving. I consult God when thinking through a problem. I believe this is what the Bible means when it tells us to pray without ceasing.
Philippians 4:6 says, Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Do you find yourself constantly worrying about things? Then you know that nothing saps your energy like worry. And PRAYER is the solution. Whenever you catch your mind wandering off into worry, turn your worries into prayers. Learn how to pray about EVERYTHING. If it’s important enough to worry you, it’s important enough to pray about.
A Christian named Edwin Keith said this about prayer: "Prayer is exhaling the spirit of man and inhaling the Spirit of God." When we breathe, we inhale oxygen (demonstrate) and we exhale (demonstrate) carbon dioxide … and anything else that would be harmful.
In prayer we INHALE spiritual ENERGY, and we EXHALE the things that need to be cleaned out of our lives. Prayer CLEANSES us from sin.
2. Prayer CLEANSES us
The other day, Susan and I were eating out and some guys at a nearby table were talking about some of their experiences with women. They were getting louder and louder, and it seemed like they were trying to one-up each other with who could say the most inappropriate thing. After a while, Susan whispered to me, “I feel like turning around and telling them, ‘Hey! I can hear you!’”
I wonder if that’s how God feels sometimes. We know that God always sees and hears us. But so often we act like He’s nowhere near. Does He ever feel like saying “Hey! I can hear you!”
Max Lucado said this about his effort to pray without ceasing: "In the past my prayer life had been mostly a matter of checking in with God --- as if He were my Sergeant or Commanding Officer --- and then leaving His presence to go do what I thought He told me to do. But this idea of allowing God to be always with me --- inviting His presence every few moments --- this is a delightful adventure! It’s wonderful --- but not easy. It demands a re-shaping of the thought process."
He goes on to say that it wasn’t long before he started noticing a few things that needed to be cleaned up. He said … "There were times when I would be watching a certain TV show with my eyes --- and then turn to God in my thoughts --- and feel very uncomfortable. I was trying to communicate with God while on the TV people were being disrespectful, using poor language, and giving bad examples. I finally got up and turned it off --- not out of guilt --- not out of regret. To be honest; I’d rather spend time with God than with that TV show --- just like I’d rather spend time with my wife than some harlot."
When we turn our minds toward God, the natural result will be a cleansing of our thoughts … Just like we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide.
Do you have a pattern of sin that you need to clean out? Give this a try: instead of revving up your own will power (one more time … you know it never works!) Instead, focus your attention on the presence of God in your life. This is a sure way to loosen the grip of sin in your life. The fact is, the more you pray, the less you will sin.
The New Testament is FULL of verses that encourage us to pray without ceasing – to pray always – to pray about everything. Ephesians 6:18 says, Never stop praying, especially for others. Always pray by the power of the Spirit. Stay alert and keep praying for God’s people. (NKJV)
Prayer gives us the ENERGY to keep going. It helps to CLEANSE our lives from sin. And it is Prayer that will allow us to have the ABUNDANT LIFE that Jesus promised.
3. Prayer gives us Abundant Life
In John 10:10 Jesus said, I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. Later, in John 15, Jesus said this to his disciples: "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples." John 15:7-8
What did Jesus mean when he said abide in me? I think the secret is found in the words, pray without ceasing. To abide in Christ is to constantly live in His presence.
I want to finish up by talking about 2 men who made it their purpose to truly abide in Christ. These men wrote extensively about what it means to practice the presence of Christ. (Practicing the Presence of Christ, Bro. Laurence, and Frank Laubach)
The first of these two men, Nicholas Herman, was born in France in 1611. At the age of 18 he was converted to Christ. He served as a soldier and later as a footman. Later, while serving as a “Lay Brother” in a religious community in Paris he became widely known as Brother Lawrence … a man who was loved and admired for his quiet, serene faith. During these years --- while doing menial work in a hospital kitchen --- Brother Lawrence wrote several letters that were compiled into a well-known book called Practicing the Presence of Christ.
About 200 years later, the second writer, Frank Laubach, was born in the United States. At the age of 45, while working as a missionary in the Philippines, Frank Laubach dedicated himself to the practice of abiding constantly in the presence of Christ.
During the remaining 40 years of his life, His close, continual communion with God, caused some to label him a Modern Christian Mystic.
That term, Mystic, sounds kind of … mystical … doesn’t it? It makes me picture someone sitting on top of a hill, chanting and meditating. Well, don’t let that term fool you.
Here are just a few of the things Frank Laubach accomplished. As a missionary, he became concerned about literacy. He developed the “each one teach one” literacy program and founded the first world-wide literacy program. He wrote more than 50 books, many of them best-sellers. He traveled so much of the globe that he has been called the most traveled man of modern times.
When presented with a Man of the Year award, he responded, “The Lord will not wish to count my trophies, but my scars.” He is the only American missionary to be honored on a US postage stamp. And that just scratches the surface. The point is that we don’t have to disconnect from the world in order to live in the presence of Christ.
You might think that if you focused on God all the time … if you literally drew your thoughts to God all through the day every day … you’d never get anything else done. Laubach’s life illustrates what Jesus meant when he said that if we ABIDE in Him, we will bear much fruit. If you want to make a REAL, ETERNAL difference in the world around you, then abiding in Christ is the first step.
CONCLUSION:
I’d like to close with a quote from Frank Laubach. He wrote, "This thing of keeping in constant touch with God --- of making Him the object of my thought and the companion of my conversations --- it is the most amazing thing I ever came across. It is working. I cannot do it even half a day… not yet. But I believe I shall be doing it some day for the entire day. It is a matter of acquiring a new habit of thought."
Later on he wrote: "This concentration upon God is strenuous, but everything else has ceased to be so. I think more clearly; I forget less frequently. Things which I did with a strain before I now do easily and with no effort whatsoever. … Now, I like the Lord’s presence so much that even when for half an hour He slips out of my mind --- as He does many times a day --- I feel as though I had deserted Him. As though I had lost something precious in my life."
I want to invite you to take what may be a new step in your prayer life. As often as you can, include God in your thoughts. Think your thoughts to God.
• You don’t need to use religious sounding language.
• And you don’t have to stop your work or activity. God is there with you anyway. Simply acknowledge His presence.
• And don’t let this effort to pray without ceasing become a legalistic kind of burden that makes you feel guilty when you fail. Instead, realize that this is a wonderful opportunity Jesus has offered you. Jesus invites you and me to walk with Him all day every day.
To pray without ceasing simply means you live each day in His presence.
