New Habits for a New Year
Part 2: Dedicate Yourself to Daily Prayer
1 Timothy 2:1-6
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - Jan. 25, 2009
*What is God like? We could never get to the end of describing His goodness and glory. But today I want to focus on the fact that He has come to seek and to save the lost.
*God wants to meet you right where you are, and take you to a new place in life.
-You don’t have to change yourself to come to Him.
-You come just as you are and He will give you a new heart, new dreams, new attitudes and new habits.
*You may have been locked into bad habits for years, but all things are possible with God, so don’t give up. And Christians, God certainly wants to bring some good new habits into our lives. So Paul was “confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil 1:6)
*Right now is a great time to start new habits in your life.
-Last week we focused on the single most important habit you need to add to your life: A daily diet of God’s Word, feeding on the Word of God, listening to God as He speaks through His Word.
-This habit has to be number one, but today’s habit is almost as crucial: a daily time of personal prayer.
*As Christian, we all need to dedicate ourselves to daily prayer, and God’s Word shows us why.
1. Pray first because it is God’s priority for you.
*Paul put it this way in vs. 1: “I exhort (or urge) first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men.”
-This word “first” means “first in importance,” an urgent, crucial thing.
*What really matters? -- I remember watching part of a documentary about the crash of a Concorde jet in France. It happened on July 25, 2000.
-Over 100 people died. And it all started because of a strip of metal that had fallen on the runway. It was only 16 inches long. I could hold it here in my hand.
*What matters? -- Sometimes it’s hard for us to see, but God knows.
-And of all the words you think or speak every day, none are more important than the words you speak to God. “I urge first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men.”
*In this verse God gives us 4 words for prayer.
[1] The first prayer word is “supplications.” It’s the idea of having a need and asking for help, but the root word is “to bind.” So there is great strength here, like binding ourselves with chains to our purpose in prayer. But also binding ourselves to God and His will, no matter how He chooses to answer.
*We know that we are in the best Hands with God. So, we are willing to accept the answer He gives, even if it’s not the answer we want.
*Elisa Morgan saw a perfect picture of this in her 11-year-old daughter’s prayers.
-Elisa was troubled one night, because her friend had a teenage daughter whose hair had started mysteriously falling out. The sick girl’s name was Amy.
*Elisa asked her own daughter Eva to pray for Amy and she simply prayed, “Jesus, please hold Amy’s hair on her head.” *Over time the doctors experimented with different treatments, but Amy continued to lose her hair.
-And Eva continued to pray: “Jesus, please hold Amy’s hair on her head.”
*After 6 weeks the doctors determined that Amy had an extremely rare disorder where hair loss can be complete and permanent.
-That night, Eva’s prayer was different. She said, “Dear Jesus, if you won’t hold Amy’s hair on her head. Would you please hold Amy?” (1)
*We bind ourselves to the Lord with supplications,
[2] And we offer our “prayers.” The word picture here is bowing before the Lord.
-We bow before Him to give Him the glory and praise He deserves!
-We bow towards Him to draw close in worship. We offer our “prayers.”
[3] And we carry our “intercessions,” bearing the burdens of others to our King.
-Intercession is standing in the gap for other people through a close, personal conversation with the King. We plead with our King on behalf of our friend, knowing that we can come before Him with childlike confidence. We carry our “intercessions.”
[4] And we give our “thanks,” coming before God with grateful hearts for all that He has done, and will do! This is one of God’s greatest priorities for our lives.
*Dedicate yourself to daily prayer, because it is God’s priority for you.
2. But also pray because it will bring God’s peace to you.
*Listen again to vs. 1-2:
1. Therefore I urge first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,
2. for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.
*Well thank God that we don’t live under an earthly king. But we do have a new President, don’t we? God wants us to pray for him “and all who are in authority.”
*I know a lot of you are concerned about Obama becoming President.
-I am too for many reasons, including his connections in Chicago and his unbiblical positions on issues like abortion and the homosexual agenda.
-I am also very concerned about the United States turning its back on Israel.
*What are we to do? The best thing for us to do is what God tells us to do right here: Pray for President Obama and all of our leaders.
-Pray that they will sincerely turn to Jesus Christ and follow His way.
-Pray that they will make wise decisions and be open to Godly counsel.
-Pray for them “so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.” (1 Tim 2:2 NLT)
*Remember that Nero was the emperor of Rome when Paul wrote these words.
-Nero was a man who murdered his step-brother, his first wife, and many more, including his own mother.
-Nero also would become the first Roman emperor to viciously persecute Christians. He ordered some to be thrown to dogs, while others were crucified and burned alive.
-But God urges us to pray “for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.”
*You see, prayer changes my world. As bad as it was for Christians under Nero, there is no telling how much worse it could have been, -- if God’s people had not prayed.
*Prayer changes my world, but it also changes me.
-Prayer will surely help give me a quiet and peaceable life, a life not marked by storms and turbulence, but by tranquility. Peace in your heart and peace in your home: That’s what God wants for you. And it comes partly through prayer.
*Prayer will also help give me a life marked by godliness and reverence:
-A life not burdened with guilt, but blessed by goodness.
-A life where integrity blossoms, while our hypocrisy withers away.
*God wants us to be living “in all godliness and honesty,” and we get there by prayer.
-Prayer can change our situation and our state of mind!
-It can give you God’s peace.
*Frederick Meyer was one of the great preachers of England in the late 1800’s. On a train trip Dr. Meyer once met a Christian lady who was most lonely and miserable. For years she had taken care of a disabled daughter who brought great joy to her life.
*That mother made tea for her daughter each morning; then left for work, surely thinking that her daughter would be there when she arrived home. But the daughter had died. Now the grieving mother was alone and miserable.
-Home wasn’t home anymore.
*The lady asked for Dr. Meyer’s help, and he gave her this wise advice:
-“When you get home and put the key in the door, say out loud, ‘Jesus, I know You are here!’ And be ready to greet Him directly when you open the door.
-And as you light the fire tell Him what has happened during the day.
-If anybody has been kind, tell Him. If anybody has been unkind, tell Him.
-At night stretch out your hand in the darkness and say, ‘Jesus, I know You are here!’”
*Several months later, Meyer met the lady again, but at first he did not recognize her, because now her face radiated with joy. She said, “I did as you told me, and it has made all the difference in my life, and now I feel I know Him.” (2)
*She had found the peace that comes from time with the Lord in prayer, and so will you.
-Dedicate yourself to daily prayer, because it will bring God’s peace to you.
3. But also pray because it pleases God.
*In vs. 3, Paul tells us that prayer “is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.” Daily times of prayer are pleasing to the Lord.
-Who are you trying to please?
*Author Donald Miller once wrote:
-“The most difficult lie I have ever contended with is this: Life is about me. I hear addicts talk about the shakes and panic attacks and the highs and lows of resisting their habit, and to some degree I understand them because I have habits of my own. But no drug is so powerful as the drug of self.
*No rut in the mind is so deep as the one that says ‘I am the world, the world belongs to me, all people are characters in my play.’
-There is no addiction so powerful as self-addiction.’” (3)
*Stop trying to please yourself. -- Start trying to please the Lord.
-In 1 Thess 4:1 (NLT) Paul pleaded with the church: “Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You are doing this already, and we encourage you to do so more and more.
*You can please the Lord more and more through your daily times of prayer, because they are “good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.”
-So dedicate yourself to daily prayer, because it pleases God.
4. But also pray because it helps accomplish God’s purpose for people.
*Your prayer will help accomplish God’s greatest purpose for people. And we see this purpose in vs. 4-6 where God our Savior:
4. desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
5. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
6. who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,
*In vs. 4 God our Savior “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Your prayers will help them come to the truth.
*The Apostle Paul is our example in Rom 9:1-3. There Paul spoke of his deep concern for lost Jews. Listen to his words from the New Living Translation:
1. In the presence of Christ, I speak with utter truthfulness. I do not lie and my conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm that what I am saying is true.
2. My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters.
3. I would be willing to be forever cursed-cut off from Christ! -- If that would save them.
*What could Paul do? In the very next chapter he told us one of the most important things that he could do: “Brethren, my heart's desire and PRAYER TO GOD for Israel is that they may be saved.” (Rom 10:1)
[1] Paul prayed for lost people, because he knew that his prayers would help them come to the truth: This is the truth Paul spelled out for us in vs. 5&6:
5. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
6. who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
*Jesus Christ was the only one who could pay the ransom for your life, and He loved you enough to do it.
-Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment for your sins.
-He suffered so that you would not have to suffer forever in a place called hell.
-Then Jesus rose again to rule forever in righteousness, and give eternal life to everyone who will trust in Him.
*This is the good news of God’s love and salvation. This is the good news for all who will come to Jesus. And your prayers will help them come to the truth.
*One of the people I am looking forward to seeing in Heaven is a lady named Katie Finley. Miss Katie lived in the apartment below us when we got married.
*We really didn’t know her, but I got saved that year. And we later learned that Miss Katie had been praying for us every day for 6 months. She faithfully prayed that God would help us find a church where we could worship Him together.
*I believe with all my heart that her prayers made a difference, and I will forever be grateful for the prayers of Katie Finley!
-Our prayers will help lost people come to the truth.
[2] And they will help us Christians to communicate the truth. Our prayers will help give us a heart for the lost, a heart like Katie Finley’s, a heart like Paul’s.
*D.T. Niles once said that witnessing is “one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.” Christians, we are those beggars who need a heart for other lost beggars. We need a heart for the lost!
*Isaiah 53:6 says, “All of us, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
-Jesus died a horrible death, because our sins deserved a horrible punishment.
-Now we owe it to him to help find other lost sheep.
*Max Lucado says, “The sign of the saved is their love for the least.” And Bill Hybels, says, “We have never locked eyes with anyone that does not matter to God.” (4)
*Kent Hughes tells the story of a Russian girl who had a heart for lost people. Her name was Aida Skripnikova. She was born in Leningrad in 1941, and she grew up during some of the darkest days of the Soviet Union.
*In the fall of 1961 Aida came to know Christ as a 19-year-old, and with her faith came the desire to share it with others.
-Aida purchased some postcards with a beautiful picture of a harbor at sunrise,
-Then she wrote a poem on the back side. The poem expressed her view of life and the need to find God.
*Aida took her postcards and stood on the Nevski Prospect, one of the busiest city streets in Leningrad. There she started handing out her cards to people passing by. Aida was, of course, arrested. In April, 1962, she was tried by a Communist court. She was exiled from Leningrad and lost her job as a lab assistant.
*Aida was arrested again in 1965 and was sent to a labor camp for a year. In 1968 she was arrested again and was sent to a labor camp for three more years” But Aida never lost her love for the lost.
*Here is the translation of the poem she wrote in 1962:
Our years fly past
One after another, unnoticed.
Grief and sadness disappear,
They are carried away by life.
This world, the earth, is so transient
Everything in it comes to an end.
Life is important.
Don’t be happy-go-lucky!
What answer will you give your creator?
What awaits you, my friend, beyond the grave?
Answer this question while light remains.
Perhaps tomorrow, before God,
You will appear to give an answer for everything.
Think deeply about this,
For you are not on this earth forever.
Perhaps tomorrow, you will break Forever your links with this world!
SEEK GOD WHILE HE IS TO BE FOUND. (5)
*Truly Aida Skripnikova had a heart for the lost, and we can too, through prayer!
-Today I am asking you to make the commitment.
-Dedicate yourself to a daily time of prayer.
*Make that commitment right now, as we go to God in prayer.
-And if you don’t know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, now is the time you can call on Jesus to save you.
*He loves you. He died on the cross for you.
-He rose again from the dead.
-And He will save you if you will put your trust in Him.
1. Elisa Morgan in Christian Parenting Today. Christian Reader, Vol. 34.) (Found in SermonCentral sermon “Standing in the Gap” by Russell Brownworth - 1 Tim 2:1)
2. W. Wiersbe, “The Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers,” p. 194. (Found at Sermonillustrations.com)
3. Donald Miller in his book, “Blue Like Jazz.” (Found in SermonCentral sermon “Why am I Here?” by Edward Skidmore - Luke 19:1-10 - Sept. 17, 2006)
4. (D.T. Niles quote found in ChristianGlobe.com sermon “Jesus and the Divorced Evangelist” by Donald Strobe - John 4:27-38 - 2005) (Lucado and Hybels quotes found in SermonCentral sermon “When We Wander Too Far” by Ryan Johnson - Luke 15:3-7)
5. R. Kent Hughes, “Acts: The Church Afire” - Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1996, 86-87 (Found in SermonCentral sermon “Attacked Again” by John Hamby - Acts 5:12-42)
