Poweful Short Prayers that Were Answered Pt 1
Introduction
A. I have been wanting to do a sermon series on prayer. But I was hesitant, because anytime you talk about prayer, people immediately feel bad, and often will say, “I don’t pray enough.” There are certain topics that if a preacher talks about them, people feel guilty, because they are almost never doing enough. If I talk about evangelism, we feel bad, because we don’t share our faith enough. If I talk about giving, people feel bad because they are not giving enough. If I talk about prayer people feel bad because we don’t pray enough.
B. But as I was thinking about this topic of prayer a thought came to my mind. What about short prayers? What about thought prayers that we might say during the day? Do they count? Then I started thinking of all the short prayers that are recorded in the Bible and how God mightily answered them. Now that got me excited. There is a lot of confusion about prayer in the church today. My hope is that this sermon series will help clear some of it up. I would like to start with a passage in Ephesians 6:14-20 today and take a look at one of the greatest short prayers recorded in the Bible that is found in Genesis.
Short prayers verses devotional prayers Eph 6:14-20
A. In verse 18 Paul talks about ‘praying always.” There is a lot of confusion about what Paul meant when he said this. Did he actually mean that we are not supposed to be doing anything else but pray all day? There are actually people who have felt that is what they are supposed to be doing, so they have joined religious groups and that is what they do most of every day, pray. Once I visited one of these monasteries. It was called a Trappist monastery, located in Kentucky. Interesting experience. Talking is discouraged, prayer and quiet work throughout every day is encouraged. Dinner is eaten in silence. Vespers, prayer times are held five times a day. I am sure God can use these people but it was not for me! I don’t think this is what Paul was talking about when he said, ‘Pray always.”
B. I am pretty sure Paul was talking about short thought prayer here when he says, “praying always.” Praying always is a reference to a lifestyle of prayer. This is similar to lifestyle evangelism: there are times when we are to go out and share our faith, but we are to always “be a witness.” There are times when we are to go to pray but we are to “pray always.”
C. If we don’t have daily thought prayers or short prayers, if we find ourselves going throughout the day and never even thinking about God or talking to Him, then there is real doubt of whether we really have a relationship with Him, or ever met Him. Short prayer or thought prayer means to be in constant contact with our Maker. Throughout the day, every day we must be in prayer.
D. Devotional prayers are very different. They are special times we set aside to get quiet before God. They are times we meditate on Scriptures and worship God for who He is. Devotional prayers are important. They are necessary for spiritual growth. Often it is during times of quietness that God can really speak to us and give us revelations and direction. But I need to be clear on this. First of all no one ever spends enough time in devotional prayer. And the truth is you don’t have to have devotional prayer to have a relationship with God. But you do have to have short/thought prayers to have a relationship with God. We should all seek to have set aside times alone with God but don’t beat yourself up if you don’t!
E. Many people have been taught that the ONLY kind of prayer that really counts though are long dedicated devotional prayers. Many people think that short prayers do not count. But after taking a look at all the short prayers recorded in the Bible and how God felt about them and how they really, really counted I have changed my mind about the importance of short thought prayers.
F. Let’s take a look at a very short prayer prayed by one of Abraham’s servant and how God answered this prayer. Gen 24:12-14.
Tell the story why Eliezer was on this journey Genesis 24
A. Abraham was getting very old, Sarah had died and Isaac was about 40 years old. In those days, the father did the match making and it was probably overdue that arrangements had to be made for Isaac to get married. I wonder how many of us would have ended up with the same spouse if it were up to our parents to make the arrangements. How many of you would really want your mom or dad to make your selection for a husband or wife? Might not have been such a bad idea!
B. Abraham didn’t even do the job himself. He sent out his chief servant, Eliezer to do the job. We are not told who this servant was but we read back in Genesis 15:2 that his name was Eliezer. He was apparently very close to Abraham, because before Abraham had any children he was thinking of giving all of his inheritance to Eliezer.
C. Abraham made Eliezer take an oath that he wouldn’t get a wife for Isaac from the Canaanites, who didn’t believe as the Jews did. Instead, Eliezer was to travel to Abraham’s home, and find a wife from Abraham’s own people.
D. So, Eliezer sets off on his 435 mile journey. It was a pretty good sized caravan, as he took 10 camels, which were loaded with valuable gifts. Eliezer had a difficult job. He had to convince a young woman to leave her homeland, her family, and friends, and travel a great distance to marry a man she had not even met. The odds seemed stacked against him
E. A camel can average 25 miles per day, so it would have been a 17 day one way journey.
Eliezer’s dilemma
A. He expressed concerns about the success of this crazy idea when Abraham talked to him in verse 5. This was not going to be an easy thing. How would he know who was the right young lady to bring back? Even if he did find the right young lady, would she even want to come back with him?
B. This is not uncommon today. We are asked to do things, or we may want to do something but we are not sure what God’s will is. Should we marry this guy or young lady or shouldn’t we? Should we take this new job and move or shouldn’t we?
C. We don’t know how many times Eliezer prayed about finding a bride for Isaac but we get to listen his prayer when he gets to Abraham’s home town, Nahor.
D. He prayed when he asked one women for a drink of water, she would DO MORE than expected, and ‘water the camels also.’ He prayed this would be the woman, be the one God was choosing for Isaac.
E. According to Middle Eastern hospitality, if a person asks someone for a drink of water, they would certainly give it to them. But probably they would not offer to water your camels.
F. But before Eliezer finished praying, Rebekah walked toward him and after she filled her jar with water, Eliezer hurried to meet her and he asked for a drink. Rebekah replied, “Drink, my lord,” and gave him a drink. Then she added, “I’ll draw water for the camels also and ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough all camels.
G. You may say, “I would have given the man and his camels some water. But for you, it would only be matter of turning on the faucet.
H. She had to get the water out of a well. A thirsty camel will drink 20-30 gallons of water. Rebekah came to the well in the cool of the evening with other women. She would have to take her turn to get water from the well to water the camels. Serving water to ten thirsty camels, each drinking 20-30 gallons of water would have taken 2-3 hours to do!
I. This story does not demonstrate the only way to make decisions in life, but it does show that praying short prayers and asking God to help is one legitimate way that God does honor.
J. It is an important subject for all us since we all must make important decisions. We all must take various courses of actions and desire assurance that God is directing our paths. How can we be sure of divine guidance and direction?
K. This passage Genesis 24 deals w/this subject and problem. I believe simple short honest prayer can sometimes do wonders.
Eliezer’s POWERFUL short prayer (Gen. 24:12-27)
A. “And he said O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water: And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.”
B. It is interesting he is praying to the God of his boss. So maybe this was his coming of age prayer. This was his time to try out what he had seen Abraham doing in his prayers. I think this is written to help us see that there is this moment in everyone’s life where they have to ‘come of age.” They have to reach out to God on their own. This is especially true of young people who grow up in Christian homes. Often they ride on the faith of their parents, but there comes a time when they have to decide if God is going to be their God.
C. It is interesting to see Eliezer’s prayer after he sees God answer his own prayer. Look in verse 52 and 56. It says in verse 52, that Eliezer worshipped the Lord. And then in verse 56 he says, “The Lord has prospered my way.” Notice something missing in those two references to the Lord? It is no longer the God of Abraham, it is now Eliezer’s God. He had seen God move and now he was developing a real relationship with God on his own.
D. We have seen others on the adventure with God in prayer. We have seen their passion. We have seen how God’s answers them. And we are stirred to participate in that mystery when we see them passionate about the adventure of prayer. Eliezer prayed a short simple prayer and saw God move in a special way. This changed his life forever!
E. Thought prayer is about checking in with God before we do anything. Short prayer is about asking Him if there is anything He would like to tell us. He is very interested in our work, no matter what it is, computers, cars, building, sales, medical, or restaurant work. He often has ideas that can really help us if we would just ask Him.
F. I can tell you from experience that short prayer is extremely helpful when raising children. It doesn’t matter how many books we have read, or how many seminars we have attended. When it comes to raising children it is so helpful to check in with God. He may tell us to be stern one time and then to show mercy another. He may tell us to do something different in punishing them, etc. This is also true when it comes to sharing our faith with others. We need to listen to Holy Spirit.
G. Short prayers, thought prayers are something we all do. They are different than ‘devotional prayers. Short prayers are prayed though out the day. They are prayers that last less than a minute usually one or two sentences. Short prayers are quick prayers uttered almost without much thought or preparation. They just come up from our hearts. Short prayers are evidence that we have a relationship with God. If we go day after day after day and we don’t find ourselves praying short thought prayers then we might take a look at the possibility that we do not have any kind of relationship with God. Short prayers are like short conversations that we have with our spouse. “Hello, how are you, good morning, see you later, thanks, etc.”
H. Everyone may not be a prayer warrior. Everyone may not have that ability to spend hours in devotional prayer. But everyone can talk to God in short prayer or thought prayer.
Why was this prayer successful?
A. I don’t know why sometimes short prayers are answered quickly sometimes they are not. But I do see a few things. He was sure he was on a mission from God. He was ready to accept God’s answers. Sometimes when we pray we may not be in the will of God and what we are praying for may not be God’s will. So we may not get an answer or we may get no for an answer. I think other times we are just not ready for God’s answer.
B. The fact that he asked for help. He admitted he needed help and could not accomplish this task on his own. This is humility. It seems obvious here but the fact is sometimes we don’t want to humble ourselves so we don’t ask. I think God does respond to this kind of prayer because it was honest and it was humble. He was doing his best. He had traveled a long distance and had arrived but now he did not know what else to do. There is something to doing your best and then committing the rest. It was a simple honest prayer. I think these kind of prayers move the heart of God.
C. In Isaiah 65:24 we read God’s answered BEFORE he was finished. “It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.” I remember talking to someone once on the telephone. He was trying to decide what God wanted him to do in a certain situation. I told him I would pray for him also. So I hung up the phone and prayed a short prayer for God to give wisdom for this situation. As soon as I prayed, I felt like an answer came into my mind. I was sort of surprised. It seemed like the right thing. It seemed like it was the answer but then I thought, “That is not right, aren’t we supposed to pray for a while, at least a few days or hours BEFORE we get an answer.” It just did not seem right that God would answer me as soon as I prayed! But sometimes He does answer short prayer immediately!
D. I think Eliezer was a bit surprised. It said, “He stood wondering.” He wondered, “Wow that was fast! Could this really be happening? Is this God answering my prayer or is this just a coincidence?”
E. I think we all feel this way. We pray but we really don’t expect an answer, at least not a quick answer. But God does answer some of our prayers IMMEDIATELY. He does respond to short quick prayers. He does not require that all of our prayers have to be long drawn out programs. So that we can brag about how we had been praying about that thing to happen for years!
F. Here is another thought, vague requests get vague answers. Eliezer made a specific request, not asking for a miracle but for a specific answer to his prayer, so that when it came he could recognize it. And even when it did come, he “wondered!” He was looking for a young lady with certain character traits, a servant’s heart. Don’t just be general in your prayers, “Oh God bless me” is not bad but being more specific would help us to see God moving more in our lives.
G. How many times do we have direct answers to our prayers and then neglect to consider the Lord's hand in our lives?
“And it came to pass” vs 15
A. Our times are in God’s hands. We don’t know when He is going to move, but we need to be ready for when He does move. Sometimes He moves quickly and surely, sometimes we may have to wait years. But when He is ready to move, “it comes to pass.”
B. In the story of Joseph who was sold into slavery and then accused of rape and thrown into prison it was 14 years of waiting but then the Bible says, “And it came to pass on a certain day” Everything changed for him one day. He woke up a prisoner in a prison, he went to bed that night assistant to the Pharaoh of Egypt because he interpreted his dream.
C. You don’t know how quickly God is going to answer your prayers, but you need to be ready. Often we have the misconception that God is reluctant to answer prayer. We think that He must be begged, manipulated or argued into answering. I have come to the conclusion that when it comes to asking in prayer, I have nothing to lose! If my prayer is not the right request, or not offered at the right time or if my motives are not quite right, what is the worst that can happen? God can say “No”
D. But if my request is something to which God can say “Yes” to then by asking I may receive a blessing I would not have obtained otherwise. I would rather go to my grave being guilty of asking for more than I received than for missing answers because I did not ask.
What would Eliezer have done if Rebekah did not draw water?
A. He would have moved on and kept looking!
B. He proposes a sign, not that he intended to proceed no further, if not gratified in it; but it is a prayer that God would provide a good wife for his young master; and that was a good prayer. This was not an ultimatum it was a SHORT prayer, asking for help.
Side note: Are marriages made in heaven?
A. I don’t think so, but I do believe that if God gets involved in this decision then you will marry the right person. Rebecca was more than likely inspired by the Holy Spirit to offer to water the camels, but ultimately it was her decision. She could have refused.
B. What if God was not involved in the decision? Then ask God to change YOU and the marriage will work out just fine!
God sometimes answers simple prayer in simple ways
A. We can see from this story that God is interested in the details of our lives. We are not a bother to Him. He is not so busy that He does not have the time to help us out. The problem is not that God is not interested, the problem is that often God answers our prayers in simple not so obvious ways.
B. The events of our lives and the choices that we make are of interest to Him, and His intervention and providence is constant. Sometimes, that intervention is more obvious, but most of the time it is hidden and almost imperceptible. In this unusual account, the Bible makes it emphatically evident that God is not oblivious to our prayers and is capable of granting them if that is His will
C. There is absolutely nothing miraculous in the episode itself. Eliezer requests a sign that is mundane, considering the circumstances. He does not pray for any sort of omen that we might consider to be supernatural or abnormal. Having journeyed from afar, he is thirsty, the camels are thirsty, and water is what they need. As the heat of the day dissipates, and the cool evening breeze begins to blow, the townspeople usually go down to the well to gather their water. The onlookers at the well who see him approach the young woman can detect nothing unusual in his manner or peculiar about his words, because both are perfectly discernible and typical for the context.
D. At the same time, Eliezer notices no magic halos around the head of the lucky damsel, no heavenly sounds of tingling bells as she walks or angelic figures dancing before her, in response to his prayers. In other words, God’s response to Eliezer's short prayer is communicated with as much ordinariness as the prayer itself.
E. It seems that not only is God aware of human affairs, and of human needs, and ready to respond to human prayers. Additionally though, and perhaps more significantly, His response is more often than not a subdued communication, usually consisting of some 'unusual' unfolding of events yielding a particular outcome. It is rarely if ever accompanied by supernatural wonders or announced by magical marvels.
F. Thus, a discerning follower of God may be able to detect an echo of God's response in the effect, but the less sensitive heart will only perceive a deafening silence. Therefore, those who impatiently wait for an obvious display of Divine involvement in the world wait in vain, for God's ways are much more subtle, but no less concrete.
Summary
A. You don’t have to pray very long in order to pray with power and get results. Do you need to go to the Lord today with some specific request? Don’t beat around the bush, folks. Tell God exactly what’s on your mind.
B. Take it to the Lord in a short prayer. Say it just like the way you’d say it to any other friend. May your thought prayers be exciting and powerful.
