Series Summary: We are here!
Thesis of the series: We are here in 2013 as a church and as Christian individuals to declare the message of Jesus and to bring in God’s heavenly harvest of souls. We are here to be the salt and the light of this world.
Sermon 2: Prayer Focused!
Introduction:
Reference Jim Cymbala’s video: My House Shall Be Called a House of Prayer - on You Tube
Scripture references:
Matthew 21:10-14
10When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
11The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
12Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.
13“It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’”
14The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them.
• Matthew 21:13: “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’”
• Mark 11:17: “And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: “‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations?’ But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
Jesus cleansed the Temple in our passage – but it is important to remember this was the second time not the first. He did it at the beginning of his ministry too!
John 2:13-17:
13When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money.
15So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.
16To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”
17His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
Thesis: The church and all of us Christians should be prayer focused within our lives. Business should never choke out our prayer life instead we should be committed to pray first. When we pray we discover God’s presence then we receive God’s power.
I. We Are: Prayer Focused as a Church
a. Scripture texts:
i. Matthew 21:13: 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’”
ii. Mark 11:17: 17 “And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: “‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations?’ But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
iii. Why did Jesus say this in our text?
1. Why did he get so upset each time he came to the temple and saw the buying and selling of God goods?
2. Where they doing something wrong were not providing a service to the God worshippers?
3. Where people there who should not have been there?
4. What was the big deal?
a. I believe the answer to these questions lies within what Jesus saw in the people’s hearts who were buying and selling .
i. He saw people getting ripped off financially.
ii. He saw the greed and bargaining.
iii. He saw the lack of prayer and devotion to God.
iv. He saw the disrespect to God and His house.
v. He saw the act of worship and sacrifice being marketed for profit.
vi. He saw the cheapening and marketing of Passover for profit and personal financial gain.
vii. He saw the Godly leaders approving of this mass marketing of Gospel for profit as good.
1. He saw flesh producing more flesh and no Spirit led or driven times of worship and prayer.
2. Prayer was absent in God’s house of worship – money and marketing had replaced the spiritual discipline of prayer.
b. Quotes and thoughts on prayer:
i. Jim Cymbala: The Bible does say, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." Preaching, music, the reading of the Word--these things are fine--but they must never override prayer as the defining mark of God's dwelling.
1. In our scenario from the Bible today Jesus was upset because the focus was on making money in the Temple to worship God. People were making money off the Worship of God. People were making a living off of the Temple worship and the offering of sacrifices up to God.
a. It had become a marketplace for profit!
b. There was no prayer no worship of God.
c. It was all business!
d. It was about making a living, making money!
e. The worship of God had become a money endeavor.
i. Paul warned Timothy to not let making money be associated with godliness.
1. 1 Timothy 6
2. I get disturbed at all the marketing of the Gospel I see today!
c. Has the church of today missed one of the key components modeled by Jesus? Jesus prayed – His kept Him in touch with God’s presence and being in His presence gave him power.
i. Jim Cymbala: What does it say about our churches today that God birthed the church in a prayer meeting, and prayer meetings today are almost extinct?"Source: Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire
1. Acts 2 after the church was birthed what was the culture of the day?
a. Acts 2:42: “They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
i. The culture of a revival in the church will always have these elements present.
ii. Jim Cymbala’s church the Brooklyn tabernacle is over 12,000 people in Brooklyn New York and this church is prayer focused. They are not ashamed of this primary focus and they have seen thousands of people come to Jesus because they are prayer focused.
1. That focus is stressed, modeled, and practiced each and every week in this place.
iii. Jesus in the Garden is an example of why we need to be pray focused:
1. Prayer leads us into God’s presence which then empowers us with power.
2. Mark 14:32-42: Prayer in God’s presence is where Jesus received His power!
a. We must cultivate the culture of Prayer – to enter into God’s presence and receive His power.
d. Hands on Illustration:
i. Have table with a lot of Christian merchandize on it – have we commercialized God’s message and house?
ii. What would Jesus do today if He came into one of our services into some of our churches? I think He would flip the table of the profiteering of the Gospel.
1. I am overwhelmed today with all of the different kinds of Christian marketing ideas for the Bible and for the Gospel today!
a. In 2004 the Christian Marketing groups for Christian products grossed about 5.6 Billion dollars (http://www.sharethepassionofthechrist.com/links/CNNMoney.pdf).
i. What would Jesus think of this?
ii. How does Jesus see these things?
iii. What would He say or do today?
e. We must have the ability to see things through the eyes of Jesus and prayer is what does this for us: Pray opens up our spiritual eyes to see things we cannot see in the fleshly realm of life.
i. Prayer – its absence in the church is why people cannot see what God is doing or wants to do.
ii. A few weeks back I had an experience at the International House of Prayer: The Lord helped me to see things spiritually – through this focused prayer time, He quiet my heart and refocused my mind and I heard the gentle voice of the Lord speaking to my heart.
1. Some people may think this is a waste of time but it is not a waste of time or effort.
2. Prayer retreats are essential if you want to grow spiritually!
3. Prayer retreats help you focus on prayer which leads to God’s presence and then enables you with power.
f. My experience at IHOP – my prayer focused time revealed some things to my heart:
i. As I was praying at IHOP in KC the Lord let me see our church and this is what I saw: “I see our church as a house of prayer:”
1. Prayer is all about a relationship with God the Father like Jesus had. It presupposes that God has the ability and the willingness to hold intimate relational experiences with us. We as Christians understand and know that He has personal control of all things in this world so this should compel us to pray. We pray to ask for His divine intervention in our lives and in our church.
a. And I see this happening every week at our church and it pleases the Lord.
b. There is only a fraction of this church praying but it only takes a few to connect with God.
2. Acceptable prayer must be sincere and be offered from the heart and not the head (Heb. 10:22). It is to be offered with reverence and godly fear, with a humble sense of our own status as created creatures and of our own unworthiness as sinners. Prayer must have an unhesitating submission to His divine will. Prayer should push us on to God's agenda.
a. I see us in this church offering up this kind of prayer – from the heart – not the head – I see humility at the root of our prayers.
3. Prayer must also be offered in faith that God is, and is the hearer and answerer of prayer, and that He will fulfill his word, “Ask, and ye shall receive” (Matt. 7:7, 8; 21:22; Mark 11:24; John 14:13, 14).
a. Bill Hybels, “I used to make excuses for my faint-hearted prayer life. I don’t have any good models of persevering prayer; I told myself. I have too many responsibilities to fulfill, so I don’t have the time to pray properly. But God convinced me that I was not being honest with myself. The real reason my prayers were weak was that my faith was weak” (Page 31, Too Busy Not to Pray).
b. We are asking – we are praying and many of us are believing God can fulfill the vision he has given this leadership for the ministry of Christian Hills.
4. Prayer is also to be offered up to God in the name of Jesus Christ because the power of prayer comes from Him (John 16:23, 24; 15:16; Eph. 2:18; 5:20; Col. 3:17; 1 Pet. 2:5).
a. We are doing this! We are honoring Jesus name here! He is going to do something as a result of this! He always has and always will!
ii. We are...from my observation this last year:
1. I see our church people spending hours each day on their knees in prayer.
2. I see our church filled at altar calls with saints praying and sinners repenting to God.
3. I see our church in prayer and praise services moving by the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
4. I see our church offering special prayer and praise services “Hearts Ablaze” each Sunday night because we love to worship and pray to our Lord.
5. I see our church praying for one another consistently and fervently.
6. I see our prayer gatherings for missions, for evangelism and for the weekly services happening on a regular basis and this excites my heart.
7. I see our church flowing in the Spirit of prophetic prayer and worship.
8. I see our church praying and interceding for our city and our community.
9. I see our church moving mountains with the power of prayer.
10. I see our church praying humbly before the Lord.
11. I see our church interceding for people to be transformed by the Holy Spirit.
12. I see our church flowing in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
iii. We are …...Seeing that prayer is the foundation for our Spirit empowered church and it needs to continue to take first place in the life of Christian Hills Church in 2013.
1. We will never be able continue to be a place of “healing waters” without a continued strong prayer focus and commitment to prayer. When Jesus instructed the people in our verse above He told them that His house is to be a "House of Prayer" and after His house was cleaned up by Him and refocused we read in verse 14 that then those needing a healing came to Temple and met with Jesus and they were healed.
iv. We are ...Jesus' church and He is our leader and we acknowledge that spiritual fact. Nothing happens by our works only through the grace and the power of the Holy Spirit are places and people changed and transformed.
v. We are ... Seeking to be on God's agenda and this means we have to be praying continually.
1. We must focus on becoming more of a House of Prayer in 2013.
vi. In my prayer time at IHOP KC - I saw our church has become a house of healing for those who are hurting:
1. I see our church filled with people who have been healed of physical illnesses.
a. We have been praying for many people who are suffering and we have seen some healed – we are believing for more of His presence because that is where healings occur – in His presence. When we enter into His presence there is power!
2. I see our church filled with people who have been healed of mental anguish and illness.
3. I see our church filled with people who have been healed spiritually.
4. I see our church filled with people who have been delivered from addictions.
5. I see our church filled with people who have been delivered from sins repercussions.
6. I see our church filled with people whose families have been healed.
7. I see people who have come here and experienced healings to their wounded hearts.
8. I see our church involved in its community bringing healing to the hurting.
9. I see our church reaching overseas and abroad to bring healing to other cultures and people groups.
10. I see our church working within this nation to bring about a healing to this nation.
a. 2 Chronicles 7:14-15: 14If my people, who are called by my name, will 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. 15Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.
vii. While I was at IHOP KC - I saw our church as healthy!
1. I see our church united in vision and purpose instead of a church where everyone does what they feel is right.
2. I see our church encouraging each other rather than tearing each other down.
3. I see our church forgiving each other rather than carrying a Spirit of offense with each other.
4. I see our church loving to hang out with each other instead of avoiding each other.
5. I see our church helping one another out in times of need rather than ignoring each other.
6. I see our church practicing the Matthew 18 principle for resolving conflict.
7. I see our church filled with people praising each other rather than gossiping about others behind their backs.
8. I see our church reaching its community with compassion and servant evangelism.
9. I see our church filled with people who have the joy of the Lord.
viii. I also felt the Lord show me how our church is helping people to grow spiritually – The 5 ways spiritual growth is happening is:
1. By engaging with relevant Biblical teaching and preaching.
2. By connecting in divine appointed relationships.
3. By practicing spiritual disciplines daily which enable us to experience God – one of the important ones is prayer.
4. By serving in a ministry or on a mission trip.
5. By praying through and adjusting to unexpected circumstances in life.
ix. Friday’s Prayer room experience – When God rolled in at 11:17 am in the prayer room.
T.S. – Christian Hills is committed to be being a prayer focused church and to also challenge all of us to make the commitment to be prayer focused as individuals.
II. A prayer focused individual we can all learn from.
a. George Mueller was a man of faith.
i. George Mueller was a prayer warrior.
1. His ministry was blessed because he trusted God completely.
ii. His 63 year ministry included: missionary support, the establishment of the Scriptural Knowledge Institute in England, teaching Sunday school and day school, distributing Bibles and Christian tracts, and caring for England's orphans.
b. His accomplishments were driven by a strong emphasis on prayer:
i. He financially supported missionary operations in 26 different countries.
ii. He was directly involved in the Christian instruction of 121,683 pupils.
iii. He distributed: 281,652 Bibles: 1,448,662 New Testaments; 21,343 copies of the Book of Psalms; 222,196 other portions of the Holy Scriptures.
iv. He distributed 111,489,067 Christian tracts, booklets and pamphlets.
v. He was directly involved in the conversion of 2,813 orphans.
vi. He mastered 6 languages: French, German, Hebrew, Latin, Greek, and English.
vii. Mr. Muller was a native of Prussia, born in Kroppenstaedt, on September 27, 1805.
viii. After his conversion, he saw beyond the present to a greater goal. He realized that God alone was able to supply his every need by faith. He took God at His Word and boldly came before the throne of grace to receive.
ix. Mr. Mueller never found the throne vacant nor the supplies exhausted. He asked, knowing that God was able.
x. Near the end of his life he admitted to reading the entire Bible about 200 times; 100 times on his knees. He found God's promises, believed them, and acted accordingly.
xi. Mr. Muller mastered the lesson of outlooks: living by the heavenly up- look rather than the earthly outlook.
1. "The Lord pours in, while we seek to pour out."
xii. He asked God to pour in the supplies, so that they might be distributed to others.
1. As Mr. Mueller faithfully distributed God's abundance of money and supplies; God poured in more needed materials.
xiii. Mr. Mueller's testimony includes the specific answers of 50,000 prayers; 5,000 prayers had been answered on the day of asking!
1. He diligently kept records and his prayer request records indicate a 2-page entry format. On one page he wrote the petition and date; on the opposite page he recorded the answer date. He recommended this form to believers who desired specific results to their prayers.
c. Here are some of his quotes on prayer’s power and importance:
i. "…I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk about, when I lie down and when I rise up. And the answers are always coming. Thousands and tens of thousands of times have my prayers been answered. When once I am persuaded that a thing is right and for the glory of God, I go on praying for it until the answer comes. George Muller never gives up!"
ii. "Let not Satan deceive you, in making you think you could not have the same faith, but that is only for persons situated as I am. When I lose such a thing as a key, I ask the Lord to direct me to it, and I look for an answer to my prayer; when a person with whom I have an appointment does not come…I ask the Lord to be pleased to hasten him to me, and I look for an answer…Thus in all my temporal and spiritual concerns I pray to the Lord and expect an answer to my request; and may not you do the same dear believing reader?"
d. His Christian advice and rules to strengthen faith were simple:
i. Read the Bible and meditate upon it. God has become known to us through prayer and meditation upon His Word.
ii. Seek to maintain an upright heart and a good conscience.
iii. If we desire our faith to be strengthened, we should not shrink from opportunities where our faith may be tried, and therefore, through trial, be strengthened.
iv. Give God time to work.
e. Mr. Mueller believed that nothing was too insignificant to take to the Lord in prayer. He believed the scriptures to be literal.
i. Philippians 4:6: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
f. His story:
i. “The Mueller's set off for the United States in August 1877 aboard the Sardian…Off Newfoundland the weather turned cold and the ship's progress was seriously retarded by fog. The captain had been on the bridge for 24 hours when something happened which was to revolutionize his life. George Muller appeared on the bridge.
"Captain, I have come to tell you I must be in Quebec by Saturday afternoon." "It is impossible," said the captain. "Very well," said Mueller, "if your ship cannot take me, God will find some other way--I have never broken an engagement for 52 years. Let us go down into the chart-room and pray." The Captain wondered which lunatic asylum Muller had come from. "Mr. Mueller," he said, "do you know how dense this fog is?" "No, my eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God." Mueller then knelt down and prayed. When he had finished the captain was about to pray, but Mueller put his hand on his shoulder, and told him:"First, you do not believe He will and second, I believe He has, and there is no need whatever for you to pray about it." The captain looked at Muller in amazement. "Captain," he continued, I have known my Lord for 52 years, and there has never been a single day that I have failed to get an audience with the King. Get up, captain, and open the door, and you will find the fog is gone."
The captain walked across to the door and opened it. The fog had lifted. It was the captain himself, who later told the story of this incident, and who was subsequently described by a well known evangelist as "one of the most devoted men I ever knew."
g. It was prayer that kept Mr. Mueller's soul free of doubt, worry, and fear.
i. As a result, he could write such entries as on March 9, 1847, "The greater the difficulties, the easier for faith." And a later one, "The greater the trial, the sweeter the victory."
ii. Mr. Mueller's victories came through prayer and his trust in the Lord's unfailing promises.
iii. Quote: "It is not enough to begin to pray, nor to pray aright; nor is it enough to continue for a time to pray; but we must patiently, believingly continue in prayer, until we obtain an answer; and further, we have not only to continue in prayer unto the end, but we have also to believe that God does hear us and will answer our prayers. Most frequently we fail in not continuing in prayer until the blessing is obtained, and in not expecting the blessing."
iv. During just the last year of Mr. Mueller's life are recorded these gifts to feed and care for thousands of England's orphans.
1. 7, 203 loaves of bread
2. 5,222 buns
3. 20 boxes of soap
4. 9 tons of coal
5. 26 haunches of venison
6. 112 rabbits
7. 312 pheasants
8. 5 bags of oatmeal
9. 26 cases of oranges
10. 5 boxes of dates
11. 4,013 pounds of meat
12. ...hundreds of other essentials
13. Mr. Muller's faithful prayers brought into the orphan houses $2.5 million.
a. George Mueller was faithful in prayer and his life and ministry revealed the blessings of being prayer focused.
b. The above from: Answers to Prayer by George Mueller; Moody Press , George Mueller Delighted in God by Roger Steer; Harold Shaw Publishers , George Mueller, Man of Faith & Miracles by Basil Miller; Dimension Books , The Autobiography of George Mueller by George Muller; Whitaker House
h. As we have explored George’s life let me ask you how prayer focused is your life? Remember the sequence of receiving Gods power – Is prayer – presence –power!
i. Do you cultivate and attitude of prayer?
1. Do you pray in the Spirit?
a. Romans 8:26, 27
2. Do you pray on all occasions?
a. Phil 4:6
3. Do you pray continually?
a. Acts 1:14:
b. Acts 2:42:
c. 1 Thess. 5:17:
i. This is a posture of the heart not the mouth by the way!
4. Do you pray persistently?
a. Mark 14:38
b. Luke 18:1-5
c. Exodus 17 – Moses and praying during the battle –arms get weak but Joshua and Aaron come and support his arms as he prays for victory.
d. Matthew 7:7 ask-seek-knock!
5. Do you pray in a intercessory way for others?
a. 1 Timothy 2:1,19, 20:
i. Do you use prayer lists?
ii. Do you pray for your family
iii. Do you pray for your church family?
ii. So how is your prayer life? Is it focused?
iii. Do you need us to pray for you to release a spirit of prayer in your life?
1. Share about seminar you went to yesterday.
Conclusion:
Jim Cymbala stated: “What does it say about our churches today that God birthed the church in a prayer meeting, and prayer meetings today are almost extinct?" Source: Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire.
This last Wednesday night in my class Experiencing God we watched the transformation video, “A Force For Change.” The story is told about how a police force in Brazil which started to pray to God for help with their crime ridden communities and reveals how God showed up to assist them in bringing peace and order back to their city. In one of the scenes in the movie the police force invites out all of the churches and their pastors of this certain crime ridden community and rebukes the pastors for not making a difference in San Pablo, Brazil. They were convicted and many repented and vowed to God to work together with the police force for change in their community.
Share your story of the mayor of Orland Park’s request about 3 years ago of forming a Orland Ministerial Association to tackle the problems in our community. Only three of us raised our hands showing an interest in a ministerial association which would meet monthly the other 20 were not interested. So no ministerial association was formed and most of our churches are still disconnected from working together in our community. Out of that second meeting the 3 of us who raised our hands did start a First Friday Prayer Meeting which has gone on for three years now. For the most part it has only been the three of us but as of lately we are up to about 7. We are still praying for unity among the churches, an Orland Ministerial Association which meets monthly, transformation of our communities and our own churches.
It’s important to understand that being centered on Prayer causes us to become Spirit empowered and this power causes the church to be impactful in its community.
Response Call!
