The Strength of Weak Prayers
Pastor Dan Little
adfontes.djl@gmail.com
The Landmark Church - Binghamton, NY
02-02-11
Psalms 12:5 "Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise," says the Lord; "I will place him in the safety for which he longs."
The Psalmist gives us a picture of God rising at the sound of the groaning of the needy.
Many of the more effective prayers recorded in the Bible are anything but eloquent. They are little more than groans. They seem weak and totally lacking in confidence.
And yet such prayers were used to bring down kings and kingdoms and disintegrated military might.
These kinds of prayers and Jesus’ statement to Paul have the fact of human weakness in common.
2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." ESV
One of the myths that hold us back from entering into prayer is that real prayer must be eloquent, theologically brilliant, well organized, and clearly understandable—i.e., professional.
A simple reading the Scriptures will shatter that myth. Look at children of Israel.
Exodus 2:23 Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.
God heard their groaning and God knew!
Ever see the documentary THE MARCH OF THE PENGUINS? Multiplied thousands of emperor penguins producing many thousands of chicks, raising them in -50o F weather with winds up to 100 miles an hour.
They all look exactly alike; the mates know each other only by voice recognition—ten thousand birds and they recognize one voice out of them all.
Same for their chicks, out of thousands of chicks they come back from fishing with food to feed their one chick and they find it by voice recognition.
The God who knew you before you were born knows the sound of your voice. Let Him hear it often.
Psalms 55:17 Evening and morning and at noon
I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.
18 He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me.
19 God will give ear and humble them, he who is enthroned from of old, ESV
Think back to God hearing Israel’s cries for help. These prayers were not well-formed, well thought-out prayers. They were practicing an oral tradition. They were simply groaning under the crushing weight of hard bondage.
The day that my younger brother died suddenly and unexpectedly my wife told me that I groaned all that night in my sleep to such an extent she feared I was having a heart attack. I have no recollection of it.
I doubt that the Israelites were keenly aware of their groaning and sighing. And almost certainly they did not see themselves as being engaged in prayer.
And surely their task masters never thought “This groaning will be Egypt’s undoing.” So the slaves were allowed to go right on groaning all they wanted.
But God heard their voice though it came to not by way of eloquence or calm professionalism, but by way of groaning. The sound rose up before Him as weighty pleas for deliverance from powers much, much greater than themselves. And we know the results; Deuteronomy 26:8 And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders”
The Lord wants to release us to pray unapologetically out of deep need. The sound of our voice touches His heart and draws Him to come to our side. He hears and knows.
Praying out of need is hard for Americans because we are able to cloak our true neediness with an abundance of stuff and entertainment that keeps us busy and unaware of our situation.
For us praying out of need is almost embarrassing, less than sophisticated.
In third world countries you will find woman begging for food for their children. Their need has swept away all pretense of control. They approach you directly with the sign that they and their child are in need of food. All pretence of sophisticated control is gone.
To all the world prayers that rise out of deep need may sound weak, ineffective, worthless, even embarrassing to hear, but these are the groans referred to in Exodus 2:23 as “…the cry of the Hebrews for rescue from slavery.”
These are the prayers that caused God to “…remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.”
Day four, of the Seek God for the City prayer devotional urges us to FORSAKE THE FALSEHOOD OF RELYING ON PEOPLE, SYSTEMS AND POWERS INSTEAD OF GOD.
Certainly one of the falsehoods we want to forsake is the myth that God needs us to pray brilliant, eloquent prayers.
One of the many things that Jesus showed us was that living in utter dependence upon God is part of what it means to be fully and perfectly human.
He said about Himself. John 5:19 … the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing.
Jesus really believed that and that sense of utter dependence sent him to the place of prayer time and again.
To us Jesus said; John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. … apart from me you can do nothing. ESV “
Where ever Gospel people believe this it makes them more fully and more perfectly human—more like Jesus. They pray.
The true wealth and strength of the church is found in God alone. We are utterly dependent upon Him for all things. Believing this is the strength and wealth of the church. If the visible church in America has become poor, (as some think it has), that poverty shows itself most clearly in a lack of longing dependence upon Jesus.
Separating believers from their sense of utter dependence upon God is the most common of all ways that the enemy plunders the church. We are poor but don’t pray because we think we are rich. We are weak but don’t pray because we thing we are strong. When we lose that sense of longing dependence we become poor, weak and blind.
This is exactly how the the Laodicean church was plundered without even being aware of it.
Jesus addressed them saying; Revelation 3:15 I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. ESV
The deception is that we are fine.
The truth is that we can do nothing apart from Jesus.
A Chinese man visited some of the better know American churches. Before he returned to China he was asked to give his impressions. He said that he was totally amazed at what the American churches were able to do without the Holy Spirit.
That’s sad, isn’t it?
What is the Egypt in your life? Who or what has you under such pressure as to crush you to where you can only sigh and groan?
Do you want to see the power of Egypt broken then let the Lord hear your voice, direct your sighs toward Him.
Psalms 12:5 "Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise," says the Lord; "I will place him in the safety for which he longs."
