Prayer, it is a very deep and personal subject and one that is to be taken very seriously and There are very clear and distinct differences between what we as Christians call prayer and what the world calls prayer. Not only are there differences in what we call prayer there are major differences in how we as Christians pray and how the world “prays”. There are major differences in the results of prayers offered up by Christians to God and the “results” of the prayers of those in the world. There is also this minor thing of who we pray to and “who” the world prays to.
Prayer is a vital part of a Christian’s relationship with our Lord and each other. Prayer is how we communicate with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, and it is necessary that we include all three personages of God in our prayers! There is an old saying about prayer that goes like this: seven days without prayer makes one weak (SPELL WEAK)! And what I mean by weak is just that, without prayer a Christian will become an anorexic believer. They will literally be starving to death spiritually from lack of connection to God. And when we become weak we are opening ourselves up to be attacked by the enemy and trust me he is watching to see when we become weak!
Prayer is something that should be or needs to be second nature to believers. Prayer needs to be something that is done so often that we do it without realizing it sometimes. Prayer is the lifeblood of a Christian.
Prayer is such a big topic that I will probably do two sermons on it and even that will not come close to talking about how important prayer is to Christians.
So let’s compare some aspects of prayer between what we believe and do as Christians and what lost people believe and do. Let’s start with the world’s views on prayer first. Now I want to say this right off the bat that when people in the world pray, they are being religious by definition. But always remember that being religious IS NOT the same as being in a relationship with Jesus Christ!
People who are of the world will pray to a lot of different so called gods, deities, and things. And this pattern of praying to everything and everyone other than the One that they should be praying to has been going on since the earliest of times.
Here is an example of the difference between the prayers of the world and the true prayers of a believer in God Almighty. In 1st Kings Chapter 18 we find the account of the Prophet Elijah and his dealings with the very rotten and ungodly King Ahab, the so called prophets of Baal, and the so called prophets of Asherah. In this story we find Elijah asking that the people of Israel send out to him 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah and of course Elijah would be the only Prophet of God there.
Let’s skip to the action part of this story as it relates to prayer. Elijah instructed the Baal followers to build an altar and then to take an ox and cut it up and put it on the wood in the altar but to not set any fire to it and to call upon their god. And this is what happened next in 1st Kings Chapter 18 verses 25-29:
25 So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it."
26 Then they took the ox which was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, "O Baal, answer us." But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they made. 27 It came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened." 28 So they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them. 29 When midday was past, they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.
What has happened here is what happens when lost people pray either to a made up god or even to our God. Absolutely nothing and I will get back to this point about nothing happening when lost people pray in a bit. But now let’s see what happened with Elijah and his ox and his altar. Elijah called all the people there to gather around him and he built an altar and he put wood on it and he cut up his ox and placed it on the altar but did not set fire to it.
In verses 34-39 this is what happened:
34 And he said, "Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood." And he said, "Do it a second time," and they did it a second time. And he said, "Do it a third time," and they did it a third time.
35 The water flowed around the altar and he also filled the trench with water. 36 At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, "O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word. 37 "Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again." 38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God."
Do you see any differences in what happened on the two altars? Elijah was a godly man who was doing what God wanted him to do and the followers of Baal were praying and worshiping a false, non-existent god.
Elijah prayed an earnest prayer, a sincere prayer that was full of power and authority. In the Book of James chapter 5 verse 16 we read this: Confess [your] faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Elijah was an earnest man when he prayed for fire that day and it didn’t hurt that God wanted to make a point either!! LOL!
I said that I would get back to the point about the prayers of the Baal followers amounted to absolutely nothing and that is also what happens today when people who are not Christians pray to either our God or some made up one that they have created in their own mind.
It is common today to here that a lot of people who are not Christians pray to our God. They believe that their prayers are heard by Him and answered by Him all the time. Is this true? No, unfortunately it is not true and you may be saying well, Brother Terry you’re being judgmental again aren’t you!? No, actually I am being very factual and biblical.
This information was so common place at one time that even a blind beggar who was healed by Jesus in the Gospel of John chapter 9 knew it. In verse 31 we read this: John 9:31 "We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him.
Now if a formerly blind beggar knows that God does not hear the prayers of lost people or sinners then shouldn’t we also know this today and believe it? If we were to start telling people that we know are not Christians that God doesn’t hear their prayers then in my opinion that would give us a wonderful jumping in point to tell them about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and how if they accept Him as their Lord and Savior THEN AND ONLY THEN will He hear and answer their prayers!
Now Brother Terry, if God doesn’t answer any of their prayers then how would they ever get saved? That’s a great question and here’s the answer: The prayer of salvation is the ONLY PRAYER that God will ever hear AND answer from a lost person, period!
Now don’t misunderstand, God hears and knows about everything that all of us do and pray. But He is not obligated to answer the prayers of lost people because they are not His children yet.
Is God being mean by not answering everyone’s prayers regardless of their spiritual condition? Absolutely not! Being able to talk to God through prayer is s privilege and an honor that only comes to us as believers through our relationship with Jesus Christ! It cost our heavenly Father His only begotten son dying on a cross for our sins to enable us to come to the very throne of God with our prayers! Membership has its privileges does it not!? Amen?!
So we have briefly looked at who the world prays to, false gods and idols. What happens when they pray, absolutely nothing. And that they seem to not even notice that nothing happens or even worse they chalk up what happens to them in life to mere chance or coincidence! What a shame! They try to reach out to God on their terms and not His and they always fail miserably because God has set up the rules and it is up to people to conform to His ways of doing things not the other way around.
So what about us today as believers? Where do we stand on prayer? Who do we pray to? What are the results of our prayers? Does God hear and answer all of our prayers, even the selfish ones? Yes He does and the answers that He gives us are yes, no, and wait. Doesn’t God already know what we need and what we are going to pray for? Yes, He does but he loves to hear us say them and in so doing He interacts with us on a fundamental spiritual level that cannot be beat.
In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 6 verses 7-8 we read this: 7 "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. 8 "So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
God wants to hear from all of us as believers and Children of God. So where are we in our prayer lives? Do we take this wonderful privilege for granted? Do we only pray when things go wrong for us or do we also pray prayers of thanksgiving when things are going well for us?
There are so many important aspects to praying that this is really like an introductory message on prayer. There are too many benefits of prayer to even begin to mention them all here today. Bottom line for us today: PRAY, PRAY, and PRAY some more! You can never pray too much and here’s the good thing, God never gets tired of hearing us pray and He values them so much that He collects them and has collected them since the very first prayer ever uttered by man!
Listen to what Revelation chapter 5 verse 8 says: Rev 5:8 When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
How much have you added to the bowls full of prayers of the saints? My encouragement to all of us here today is pray like there’s no tomorrow and always remember this saying from Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish Philosopher: Prayer does not change God, but changes him who prays.
