Poignant Purpose for Passionate Prayer
Text: Col. 4:2; James 5:16b
Intro: In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he urges them to “continue in prayer.” The word translated “continue” meant that the Colossians were “to give constant attention…unremitting care…” to the practice of prayer.
Paul went on to exhort the saints at Colossae to “watch” in prayer. The idea here is to give “strict attention to, to be active, to take heed…” to one’s prayer life in the sense of being awake and alert.
How often we pray dull, listless prayers. However, I fear the reason for our ineptitude in prayer is not so much that Christians do not know how to pray, as it is that they do not have an intimate relationship with God. If there is no fire on the altar of one’s heart, the incense of prayer will not rise to God. Along this line, King David said, “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice” (Ps. 141:2).
Dear folks, is the fire of God burning on the altar of your heart today? Is your walk with God seen merely as your Christian duty, or does it voluntarily flow from a heartfelt devotion to God? If there is no spiritual fire on the altar of your heart, there will be no fervency in prayer. That is what James was talking about in our secondary text this morning.
Far too many of our prayers are self-centered rather than Savior-centered. Too many of our prayers are ventures in self-pity rather than sincere petitions and praises to almighty God.
Folks, Christians must rekindle the practice of passionate prayer. We must return to prayer that is possessed of spiritual purpose and godly perspective. We need to get back to praying with a burden, rather than feeling burdened with what we perceive as the duty of prayer.
Spurgeon once said,
The condition of the church may be very accurately gauged by its prayer meetings. So is the prayer meeting a grace-ometer, and from it we may judge of the amount of divine working among a people. If God be near a church, it must pray. And if He be not there, one of the first tokens of His absence will be a slothfulness in prayer.
Today, I want to share three reasons God’s people need to return to passionate prayer.
Theme: We need to return to passionate prayer because…
I. THE NEEDS are ENORMOUS
A. Families Need Rescuing.
1. Families are supposed to be representative of a heavenly relationship.
Eph. 5:31 “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”
2. Too often modern-day families resemble a hellish relationship.
a. Verbal biting and bickering diminish far too many families.
Gal. 5:14 “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.”
b. Wantonness and adultery destroy far too many families.
Prov. 6:26 “For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
27 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?”
c. Lack of mutual respect and consideration devastate far too many families.
Eph. 5:21 “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.”
1 Cor. 7:3 “Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.”
d. Undisciplined children disintegrate the tranquility of far too many families.
Prov. 23:13a “Withhold not correction from the child…”
Prov. 29:15b “…a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.”
e. The lack of a godly focus deprives the home of a firm foundation in far too many families.
Joshua 24:15b “…as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
NOTE: [1] Some years ago, a young teenage girl committed suicide in the Chicago airport. She left a suicide note that read as follows:
Dear Mother,
I’ve never given you anything but trouble in all my life. You won’t have to worry about your wayward girl anymore. Mother, tell my wicked daddy I’ll meet him in hell.
[2] Dear friends, this country has for all practical purposes, lost its families. Families continue to collapse because of sin and selfishness, and the lack of a home-life based on God and His Word. We need to fervently pray for our homes and our children that Satan would not gain a foothold in them.
B. Churches Need Revival.
2 Chron. 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Ps. 85:6 “Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?”
NOTE: [1] Unfortunately, I do not remember the author of this statement, but his thought was very sobering. He said, “Revival will not have priority until prayer has priority.” “Why is this so,” you ask? Here is the answer: “Revival is not merely the excitement of superficial religious sentimentality, but rather, the exercise of radical spiritual surgery upon a child of God’s heart (Ezek. 11:19).” The flesh does not give up its ground easily. Spiritual victory over fleshly strongholds is gained only through faith, and persistent and passionate prayer.
[2] Sad to say, but many church members of our day have little more than a sickening sentimental type of religion. Their mouths speak pious phrases about God, but their lives show little depth with God. It is mere symbolism without substance. This type of situation is nothing new, for God condemned it in Isaiah’s day, when He said, “…this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me…” (Isa. 29:13).
[3] You may be thinking, “Well, it’s the preacher’s responsibility to bring revival. If he’d preach more exciting messages, we’d have revival.” That is simply not true, my friend. Someone has accurately noted:
Preaching will not do it unless praying has first done it. Preaching will not go through beyond praying. We can only preach through to the point where we have prayed through first. We must prevail with God in prayer and then we prevail in preaching.
[4] We would do well to take the following slogan to heart: “No prayer, no conversions; no prayer, no power; no prayer, no church additions.” You see folks, God is trying to get us to realize a spiritual truth this morning: “God likes to see His people shut up to this, that there is no hope but in prayer. Herein lies the Church’s power against the world.”
[5] The answer to the spiritual problems our churches face is prayer. However, there is a problem with that solution:
…the people will work; they will give; they will teach; they will organize; they will visit. But for prayer in the real sense of vital fellowship with God, prayer in the sense that our fathers understood it, wrestling with God, asking for the Kingdom of God to come—this I cannot get them to do.
[6] Here is another sobering thought to consider:
A church without a prayer meeting is like a brigade without ammunition. The pulpit is bound to be ineffective if there is not prayer in the pew.
C. The World Needs Redemption.
1 John 5:19 “And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.”
NOTE: One translation of the passage above says, “…the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” The only answer for our lost world is Jesus, and it is that truth which the Apostle John addresses, when he says, “And he (Jesus) is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our’s only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2).
II. THE NEEDS are EXIGENT
NOTE: The word “exigent” refers to something “…calling for immediate action or attention; urgent; critical.”
A. Men are Dying.
1. Death is an appointment.
Heb. 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
2. Repentance and redemption are absolutes.
Luke 13:3 “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
Eph. 1:7 “In whom (Christ) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;”
NOTE: [1] Let me give you some idea of the gravity of the situation:
[1a] There is an estimated “6,924,246,831” people in the world.
[1b] “55.3 million people die each year; 151,600 people die each day; 6316 people die each hour; 105 people die each minute; almost 2 people die each second.”
[2] One author gives the following pertinent information:
To give a point of reference for the magnitude of one billion, it would require forty thousand trips around the world to equal one billion miles.
B. The Lost Face Destruction.
Ps. 9:17 “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”
Rev. 20:15 “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
NOTE: Folks, as much as Jesus had to say about it, and as many sermons that have been preached about it, there are still millions of lost people who frivolously ignore the destruction and torment they will one day face in Hell. They are a lot like this guy:
Why are the Shades Down?
Some time ago, I heard about a man who went to the hospital to have surgery. After the operation, the doctor came to the patient’s room to check on him. The patient asked, “Doctor, why are the shades down on the windows in my room?”
The doctor answered, “There’s a big fire across the street. I didn’t want you to come out of the anesthesia and think the operation had been a failure.”
Now, that is a somewhat funny story. Some people are living with the shades down in their lives, and that is not funny. They are blinded to a coming judgment and are not willing to face the fact that they will have to meet God one day. Likewise, such people are unwilling to listen to the Gospel—the Gospel that explains the path of salvation and escape from the coming judgment.
C. Time is Dwindling.
Gen. 6:3a “And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man…”
2 Cor. 6:2b “…now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
Isa. 55:6 “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.”
NOTE: Those who die not having trusted Christ as their personal Savior will have squandered the opportunity of a lifetime.
Have you ever done something you regretted? Ever missed an opportunity to witness and wished so much you could have that chance again? Ever said something in anger and wished you could take the words and stuff them back in your mouth?
God can forgive our sins of omission and commission; however, if you reject Christ and die in that condition, there will never be another chance. Regret is a terrible thing—but to live in regret forever is what Hell is all about!
III. THE NUISANCE of the ENEMY’S ENCROACHMENTS
A. Satan Seeks to Encroach upon Lost Mankind.
2 Cor. 4:3 “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
B. Satan Seeks to Encroach upon Man’s Mind.
2 Cor. 10:4 “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
Col. 3:2 “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
…………………………………………………………………..
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
NOTE: [1] Someone has wisely noted that the Christian should, “Let the mind of the Master be the master of your mind.”
[2] Dr. Tim LaHaye once made a sobering statement concerning the mind. He said the following:
What this life is all about is THE BATTLE FOR YOUR MIND: whether you will live your life guided by man’s wisdom (humanism) or God’s wisdom (Christianity). Either one will affect the way you live and where you spend eternity.
C. Satan Seeks to Encroach upon our Ministry.
1 Thess. 2:18 “Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.”
2 Thess. 3:1 “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you.”
Theme: We need to return to passionate prayer because (of)…
I. THE NEEDS are ENORMOUS
II. THE NEEDS are EXIGENT
III. THE NUISANCE of the ENEMY’S ENCROACHMENTS
Copyright © October 1990 by Rev. Donnie L. Martin. All rights reserved.
