Knocking on Heaven’s Door
JCC 03.01.10 am part 1 Prayer
If you had the opportunity, what one thing would you have liked Jesus to show you?
See miracles? The dead raised? Etc
One thing the disciples asked Him to show them
They asked Him to teach them to pray
Luke 11:1
We are not told if Jesus ever prayed with his disciples
But they observed him
But everything he did was a link to his prayer life
They were aware he was committed to going off to pray
Sometimes all night, sometimes with fasting
Usually just a few steps away from them
Like in the garden of Gethsemane
The disciples wanted Jesus to teach them prayer like John did with his disciples
John taught his disciples prayer
John wasn’t always preaching repentance
John was also known as a prayerful man v1
This is why he knew it was time for him to decease, job done
The reason for Jesus’ success was his prayer life
Apprentice, one to one, or small groups are the best way of learning; not done much these days
The best form of learning is watching, listening and applying
The disciples were observing him
Some of us have years of impressions of what prayer should or might be like
Voice, tone, language, length etc
The Pharisees taught the people self righteous prayers
They were known for their standing on street corners
The disciples knew Jesus’ praying was far more than they had experienced previously
The disciples didn’t say, ‘teach me to walk on water’, etc. They recognised they needed prayer
They heard Jesus pour out his heart and pause to listen to what the father said to him
A two-way conversation
They knew everything he did was out of his connection with heaven
They knew ‘how’ to pray, the mechanics, but they wanted to pray
We have millions of books, DVD’s, CD’s etc on how to pray, but we still don’t pray
Many find it the most difficult thing to do
The prayer meeting is the least attended. Why?
It’s because we have this mentality that we aren’t doing it right
Will God answer anyway?
Some need a prayer book with prayers written for them
Someone asked me to pray once because they didn’t have a prayer book at hand!
Prayer isn’t that important to some
Yet it should be the most natural thing for us to do; talking to daddy
Your child didn’t learn ‘how’ to talk to you, they just talked
Some prefer to come Sundays where they get fed, but not Thurs because prayer is hard work to them
Not if it’s based on relationship
It’s only difficult if you don’t know the person you are talking to
None before Jesus had ever looked to heaven and said, ‘Abba father’; not Moses, David, Samuel etc
Come like children to a father
We have baggage on our prayer life
Especially if our earthly father was, or is unapproachable
We don’t know the joy of freedom in talking and have conversation with the Lord
The art of conversing is more and more diminishing
Texting and emails are the art of conversation now
But what’s missing, is the rest of conversing: body posture/language, facial gestures
These convey much more than words at times
Sometimes we don’t have to say a word. The look is enough
You need wisdom to know how to pray
Wisdom is a powerful tool in our hands, that’s why Solomon asked for it
It helps us to weigh everything up
It’s like wool or material in clothing
You can’t knit without wool
You can’t make a garment without material
You can’t pray without wisdom
Knowing what to pray and why is the key
We must pray for specific things
Nehemiah questioned himself when faced with the situation back in Jerusalem
He thought, “What can you do about it Nehemiah?
Come, it has to be done, and you are the man that is to do it, at least, to do your bit
What can you do?”
He decided to set apart a time for prayer
It never left his thoughts for nearly four months!
Day and night Jerusalem was written on his heart
He could only see Jerusalem
Have you had times like that?
Your focus was on something or someone?
When he slept he dreamed about Jerusalem
When he woke, the first thought was, “Jerusalem!” and before he fell asleep again his evening prayer was for the ruined walls of Jerusalem
Consistently was he in communion with God
Then that moment he couldn’t hide his feelings came
Serving the King his wine, his face told it all, his communication was not with words to the King, but the King knew something heavy was on this man
Nehemiah 2:4.
“So I prayed to the God of Heaven.”
It is surprising that he should have deliberately prayed then, because he had been already praying for the past three or four months
You will always find that the person who has prayed much is the one who prays more
Nehemiah refrains from answering the king’s question until first he has prayed to the God of Heaven
It was a brief silent prayer
A prayer which threw a dart and then it was done
It was not the prayer which stood knocking at Mercy’s door; (knock, knock, knock), but it was the concentration of many knocks into one
He had been knocking on heaven’s door for months
Now, the door was about to open
What if after a few days or weeks Nehemiah had stopped knocking, stopped seeking, stopped asking?
The situation may have been a different outcome
This brief prayer is among the very best forms of prayer
Notice how very short it must have been
It was introduced, slipped in, between the king’s question and Nehemiah’s answer
The prayer was offered in the blinking of an eye
It was done instinctively, and it proved to be a prayer that prevailed with God
We know that it must have been a silent prayer
Artaxerxes never knew that Nehemiah prayed, though he stood, probably, within a few feet of him
He did not even move his lips as Hannah had, nor did he think it right, even, to close his eyes
The prayer was within himself, but offered up to God
A heart-felt prayer
It was an ‘on the spot prayer’
Have you ever prayed like that?
These can be very encouraging prayers because we don’t have time to go into long fancy words
It’s spontaneous from the heart
He did not go to his chamber, as Daniel did, and open the window
Daniel was right, but this was a different occasion
Nehemiah would not have been permitted to withdraw from the palace just then
He did not even turn his face to the wall or seek a corner of the room
Then and there, with the cup in his hand, he prayed unto the God of Heaven, and then he answered the question of the king
It was a very intense and direct prayer
He says, “So I prayed to the God of Heaven.” That was Nehemiah’s favourite name of God, ‘the God of Heaven’
Not like those who prayed to an idol
He knew to whom he was praying
It was a straight prayer to God for the thing he needed and his prayer sped through to God in perhaps a second of time
Scripture says, ‘before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear’ Is 65:24
A short but fervent petition; something like that of the publican in the temple, “God be merciful to me, a sinner.”
My conversion prayer was, ‘God if that’s you, do something with my life’
It’s not so much the content of prayer but the end and the aim of it; it caused a reaction in my soul and in heaven
Another example of direct praying is through David
The psalmist David knew how to praise, so much so that his psalms have become the language of people in all ages
So well did he also understand how to pray, that if we must catch his spirit, and follow his mode of prayer
We see pleading with God in heartfelt ways
"But I am poor and needy: make haste to me, O God: You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, make no tarrying." Psa 70:5
First he was a soul confessor: "I am poor and needy."
Next, the soul pleading, for he makes a plea out of his poor condition, and adds, "Make haste unto me, O God!"
Thirdly, a soul in its urgency, for he cries, "Make haste," and he varies the expression but keeps the same idea: "Make no tarrying." (Hurry up)
And the fourth and last view, a soul grasping hold of God, for the psalmist says: "You are my help and my deliverer"
With both hands he lays hold upon His God, so as not to let Him go till a blessing is obtained
Let us learn to plead the promises of God
You haven’t prayed unless you have pleaded, for pleading is the very heart of prayer
He who pleads knows the secret of prevailing with God, especially if he pleads through the blood of Jesus
It is that which unlocks the treasury of heaven
Many keys fit many locks, but the master-key is the blood and the name of Him that died and rose again, and ever lives in heaven to save us to the uttermost
With pleading comes faith
Faith must blend with prayer
Like yeast in a recipe for bread, it causes the bread to rise
With faith, it causes our prayers to rise to heaven
Why ask if you don’t think you’ll get?
Jesus has been teaching us
Just read in between the lines; how many silent quick prayers may he have sent to the Father?
It doesn’t tell us he prayed, but if Paul told us to always pray, then Jesus probably did
He prayed continually
1 Thes 5:17 pray without ceasing
A true prayer warrior doesn’t realize that’s what they are
It’s natural to them to just talk with Father
We have to watch Jesus
Not always the words he spoke
Rom 8:26 the Spirit helps us; intercessions that cannot be uttered
Not tongues, or noises, nothing comes out
1 Tim 2:8 we are told to pray everywhere
When did you last pray believing God was listening?
James 5:13-14 are you sick etc pray
The initial steps are yours; you should call for the elders, not the other way around
You have to call for me, not me come to you; you then step out in faith
Jesus gives us a model v2
We call it ‘the Lord’s Prayer’
But is it?
We shall look at this tonight
