Prayer: A Means of Grace
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
I found a series of “Dear God” prayers on the internet, a few of which I’d like to share with you:
7-year old Debbie prayed, “Dear God: Please send a new baby for Mommy. The new baby you sent last week cries too much.”
Hank, 7 “Dear Lord: Thank you for the nice day today. You even fooled the TV weather man.”
Lois, age 9 “Dear God: Please help me in school. I need help in spelling, adding, history, geography and writing. I don’t need help in anything else.”
David age 7 “Dear God: I need a raise in my allowance. Could you have one of your angels tell my father. Thank you.”
Diane age 8 “Dear God; I am saying my prayers for me and my brother, Billy, because Billy is six months old and he can’t do anything but sleep and wet his diapers.”
I think that raises the question, “Why should we pray?” Five reasons. First, we are exhorted, encouraged and commanded us to pray. Philippians 4:6 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Colossians 4:2 says, “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.” And 1 Thessalonians 5:17 calls us to “pray without ceasing.” I could go on and on but the point is that God wants us to pray. He wants to hear from us. He wants to talk with us. He wants to speak to us His heart’s desire but that can only happen when we pray.
Second, Jesus equipped us to pray. "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. "So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. "Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven…” Matt. 6:7-9 This passage is from the Sermon on the Mount. In the middle of His sermon, where Jesus is focusing on teaching his followers how to live, He turns His attention to the subject of prayer. He not only begins to teach his followers how to pray but by interrupting his sermon, he’s telling them that prayer is meant to be a part of how they live their daily lives. And so Jesus gives them a model for prayer in the Lord’s Prayer.
Third, God uses our prayers to advance His purposes. This is why we pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done…” When we pray for God’s will and for God’s work, we enhance it and speed its completion. Prayer is what ensures the triumph of the Gospel and the establishment of God’s kingdom here on earth. Everything that comes to pass takes places according to God's unchangeable decree. When God answers our prayers, we have been used as instruments in forwarding His purposes! It is not that our prayers change God's plans - but that in a wonderful way He uses them as a powerful means to accomplish them. God harnesses the prayers of His people to His unchangeable plans as one means by which He will bring them to pass! This is why God loves when we pray, why He puts all that power into our hands, and why He so highly esteems people who pray, because they become co-laborers and partners in His mission. Every movement in the advancement of the Gospel was created by and inspired by prayer. In all these, prayer precedes and attends as an invariable and necessary condition for a new initiative in the work of God.
Fourth, prayer is a spiritual weapon. Ephesians 6:12-13, 18 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm….With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.” Paul reminds his readers that we are engaged in a war, a war between the armies of heaven and those of hell. Even though these forces are invisible to us, they are very real and they are very powerful, and that the struggle that is taking place with them is our struggle. You are a part of God’s army and God has enlisted you to fight this war and our most powerful spiritual weapon is prayer. It enables us to engage the powers and principalities and fight for the kingdom of God.
Fifth, it’s a Means of Grace. John Wesley considered prayer an essential part of Christian living. He called it in many of his writings the most important and powerful means of grace. Prayer empowers us for ministry and following God. Jesus showed us this through His own example. After teaching a large crowd most of the day Luke 5:16 reports, “…Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.” Jesus' popularity with the people was growing and large crowds gathered around Him to hear Him teach and to be healed of their sicknesses. That increasing burden led Jesus to withdraw regularly from the crowds and so that he could pray and spend time with the Father. Jesus had a regular ebb and flow in his life moving from the press of the crowds and demands of life and ministry and then withdrawing to spend time with the Father. One informs and empowers the other.
Prayer determines the whole attitude of our lives. It develops in us an attitude of dependence and trust in God and that places us in a position for receiving God’s grace. Prayer is a direct appeal to God. It is in its very innermost core a petition for help and for grace. Prayer enables us to commune with God who is the source of all grace. When the soul is in contact with God, in conversation with God, and in association with Him, it is not only in an attitude to receive grace; it actually leads us to seek grace because we’re now in a position to receive it. Jesus expressly commanded, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matt. 7: 7, 8). We are "directed to ask as a means of receiving; to seek in order to find the grace of God and to knock to open the floodgates of God’s grace. When grace enters our lives, we are empowered to do the work of the kingdom and as Jesus promised to do even greater things than Him but we are also transformed in heart and mind to be more like Jesus. Thus, prayer - private, family, and public prayer - is the most powerful means of grace. It is a glorious gift of God's love, for in and through it each and every one of us can come before the throne of Grace and enter into a personal, meaningful, life-transforming relationship with the Almighty Creator of the entire Universe.
There is another aspect to prayer, one which may be the most challenging of all: waiting. We are to wait for God’s answer. All who want to receive the grace of God to believe in Jesu as Lord and Savior or to deepen our relationship with God and our service to Him "are to wait for it in . . . prayer." We are to "wait for the blessings of God in prayer," persuaded of the reliability of his positive promise that he will hear and answer our prayers (Matt. 6:6). In doing so, we are trust in God’s perfect timing for our lives, for God says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways,” and “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
So how do I pray when an answer is being delayed? You keep on praying until one of three things happens: 1. You get the answer. When you get it then you can stop praying. That’s obvious. 2. You get the assurance that you're going to get it. Then you know it’s as good as money in the bank. 3. You keep praying until God reveals to you that it's not His will. When you figure that out, you become uncomfortable praying about it and you don't have any peace so you stop praying. The point is, when God seems to remain silent, when your prayers seem to go unanswered, it’s not because God is asleep on the job. Take time to consider all that He is doing to prepare you for His answer. Before God works on your problems, He wants to work on you.
Prayer isn't just our talking to God, it is also our listening to the voice of God in our lives. Someone once said that the reason God gave us two ears and one mouth is that we are to listen to each other twice as much as we are to speak. The same should true in our relationship with God. In fact, Pastor John Maxwell takes it a step further and says that we should listen to God in prayer 90% of the time and talk only 10% of the time. What about you? How much time do you spend talking to God compared to how much time do you spend time listening to God. We can hear God's voice in many different ways: through the words of Scripture, directly and internally, through the words of great Christian authors and poets, through the words of our family, friends, and loved ones; there are many ways of hearing the voice of God. Prayer is about opening oneself to that voice and allowing God to speak to us, wherever we are and whatever our needs may be.
There are four basic steps involved in prayer. First, bring the problem to God's attention immediately. Don’t let it stew and don’t try to take matters into your own hand. Give it to God. And always keep the problem God centered and not problem centered or you centered. In other words,, ask for God’s will to be done rather than your will. Second is supplication. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving make your requests known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7 Supplication is a very honest and clear confession that tells God that you need his help. Paul uses two words here. When you think of prayer, I think about my normal conversation with God; such as: Lord, bless my family today, keep them safe, thank you for loving me and saving me." When you think of supplication, think about the times you cry out to God because someone is hurt, or seriously ill. Third, focus on God and not on the problem. Keep in mind that our prayers are always to be God centered. Fourth is thanksgiving. You are thankful because you know the following about our great and mighty and glorious God.
• That you can come to the Father with your problems anytime
• That he is concerned about you
• That he loves you
• That he said that he would help you
• That he will see you through this problem
• That he has the power to solve this problem
• That you trust him 100%
God is just waiting for you to talk to him when you acknowledge him, think about him, and show him some love and respect. Yes, your God is just waiting for you to talk to him and he desperately wants to talk to you, not in words, but through your mind and your heart. God is going to bypass the vocal cords and the ear and instead your heart will feel that gentle tugging, that urging, that pulling. Your heart and mind will know exactly what God is trying to tell you.
There are seven things to ask about each prayer request. I love the way one teenager view of prayer: “God answers prayer four ways: yes, no, wait awhile, or, you’ve got to be kidding!” Each and every time that you pray, you should ask yourself how the things that you are praying for fit in and affect the following seven conditions.
1) Will the thing that I am praying for meet my Godly personal needs and will it fit in with a just and righteous life style, or is it just born of the flesh?
2) Am I being submissive to God's will, and will I gladly accept God’s answer no matter what it is/ Are you praying, “Not my will Father, but let your will be done?”
3) If my prayer is answered, will the result honor God?
4) Will it harm or hurt someone else or will it interfere in another person's life?
5) Will it please God? Will what you pray for delight God?
6) Does my request contradict or conflict with the Word of God in anyway?
7) Will it further my spiritual growth and draw me closer to God?
Lastly, remember there are three things you are responsible for when it comes to prayer.
Faith---You must have complete faith in God.
Obedience---You must obey God fully and completely.
Patience---You must wait patiently on God, for we are all on his schedule.
