Conversations with God - A prayer Lifestyle
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
May 1, 2016
For the past 3 weeks we’ve been looking at some very difficult conversations we have with God. We’ve looked at situations where God may say NO, times when God seems to be late or slow to respond, and times when God says you’ve completed your mission, well done! For the next few weeks I want to step back a little bit, and I want to take a look at what prayer is. I think we started with the advanced lessons, and now we’re stepping back to set more of the foundation.
With that in mind, I want to read from 1 Thessalonians 5. It’s one of Paul’s first letters. He’s coming to the end of the letter. He’s helped reassure the people of Thessalonica about many issues, especially their hope in Christ upon death. As Paul comes to the end of the letter, he writes ~
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good.
22 Abstain from every form of evil.
23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
As we continue our look at prayer, at our conversation with God, I want prayer to be more of a lifestyle, not something we do when we feel our backs are against the wall and we’re in deep trouble.
Paul commands us Pray without ceasing ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:17
He is calling us to pray with any interruptions. Pray with nothing left between, without any unnecessary interval or gap in time.
How do we do that? Some of us look at prayer like it was a call to exercise or workout. We don’t really like to do it, we find excuses, we busy ourselves with other things, then, when we finally do it, we are really glad we did. We feel better walking away . . . but it was such a struggle to get started.
But prayer is much more than exercising or working out. It's not just something you do occasionally, or even for a few minutes every day. We are called to pray, and the essence of what Paul is calling us to do is a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week conversation with God. It becomes built into our lifestyle.
So, today, we’re going to look at what it means to pray without ceasing, even in a busy lifesteyle.
Richard Foster wrote a book called Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home. In the first chapter of this book he teaches what I believe is the most powerful principle or statement on prayer that I have ever learned. It’s really pretty amazing and it’s really pretty simple. It’s almost so simple, it’s ridiculous. I almost am ashamed to tell you. I wish I thought it. But I’ll stop delaying and tell you the most important principle about prayer you will ever hear! How’s that for a build up!!
Are you ready? Here it is:
We learn to pray by praying!
How’s that!!
Isn’t that really simple!? All our lives we’ve been told we should pray. I grew up in the Temple and we were told to pray. We said lots of prayers and even prayed in Hebrew. When I became a Christian we had organized times of prayer in church. We learn the Lord’s prayer. We may pray before meals. We may pray before we go to sleep.
Add to that I have a number of books on prayer. Some modern books and some old books reminding me of the importance of prayer. I’ve attended seminars which talk about prayer. I’ve listened and read sermons about prayer.
But none of them have taught me how to pray until I actually do it myself, and learn about my style of prayer. I learned how to pray by praying.
Think about yourself - - - if you want to learn to do something . . . if you want to learn a sport or a musical instrument - - - you could watch all of the how to videos, you could talk to people who are experts. You could learn and learn and learn . . . you could talk all about it learning and the knowledge you have. You can almost be an expert on the subject. But, when someone says, ‘hey could you demonstrate what you’re talking about . . . you’d have no clue about what to do.
You can come to church and listen to message after message about prayer, about serving, about giving, about growing in Christ, but until you do something about it, these will just be good messages which really mean nothing in your life. The best way to learn to pray is to pray!
Let’s look at some ways in which we can make this a winning proposition and not something which will frustrate you and lead you away from prayer. The hope is you will develop a prayer lifestyle as you have conversations with God. First of all...
Begin where you are! I know that sounds pretty basic. And most of this really is. Sometimes we think we are not the least bit worthy to be heard in our prayers. God doesn’t want to hear from me, he’s got more important matters to attend to . . . or I’ve done so many bad things since the last time I prayed, that He will hang up on me when the prayer hotline rings. We may think . . . God doesn’t even know my name. I have to remind Him when I pray. Hey God, it’s Michael, remember me. I called you about 2 months ago!
So, think about this . . . Don't try to clean up your life . . . before you call on God! Don't try to make yourself "worthy" to be heard in prayer. It doesn't work that way. You don't clean yourself up for God, you come to Him as you are and He does the cleaning.
When we embrace a relationship with Christ, we understand we could never earn or deserve His forgiveness, and it is only through God’s grace and mercy that we receive salvation. But after experiencing His grace at salvation, we often try to earn God’s continued acceptance through our good works.
I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but it's happened to me. There have been times in my life when I've become a little too familiar with sin. At those times, when I know I need to turn to God, my first thought is . . . "I can't do that . . . I need to clean up my life, get it straightened up before I call God."
The part about needing to clean our lives up is correct, but there's a crucial point we’rSLIDEe getting wrong. We’re getting the cart before the horse. We don't clean ourselves up so that we can come to God, we come to God so that He can clean us up.
Let me say that again - - - - We don't clean ourselves up so that we can come to God, we come to God so that He can clean us up. When your life isn't where it should be, the first step toward getting things back on track is prayer.
There's a great example of this in Luke 18. Jesus told the story of two men who came into the temple to pray. The story:
10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’
13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” — Luke 18:10-14
This tax collector understood the principle of confessing to God at the point where you are at. He was a sinner and he knew it, so he came to God confessing it.
Too often we find ourselves in the tax collector's shoes, and instead of turning to God right then, we start thinking of things we can do that will enable us to pray like the Pharisee. We may justify our sin or think it’s not bad compared to others.
That's not the kind of prayer life God wants from us. He doesn't want our spiritual resume. He wants us right where we are, to be totally honest with Him and with ourselves.
That's the first key to developing a prayer lifestyle: begin today, right this moment, where you are. The second thought goes right along with the first . . . and it’s almost a repetition . . . and it’s pretty simple as well - - -
Be honest with God in your prayers! Be who you are!
I’ve heard some people pray and I think to myself I wish I could pray like them. God must listen better to them than to me. They’re so amazingly eloquent. I don’t use big words, I’m not colorful, I’m pretty simple. God could care less. As long as I am being me, that’s all that matters.
I want to show you a video clip. It shows a few things and I think it’s pretty funny. It’s from the original Chevy Chase movie Vacation. There are 2 prayers in the movie. When Aunt Edna dies, they say a couple of prayers for her. Now, this is kind of irreverant. But, what makes it irreverent is what makes it humorous because it’s kind of true to life.
Now, everyone disliked Aunt Edna because she was harsh and abrasive, and she helped make their vacation pretty miserable. Let’s show that clip.
VIDEO CLIP
It's funny because it's so realistic. That's how we often approach prayer. We say things we know aren't true, and God knows aren’t true. But we think we need to say them. We often think prayer is just a kind, nice ritual we are required to go through.
In contrast, if you really read through the Bible you will see the rawness of prayer. That’s one of the beauties of the Bible. It’s real! There is brutal honesty which is kind of shocking. Some of the great people of faith said things in prayer most of us would never dream of saying. And - - - God didn’t smite them and in fact - - - God responded to their prayers.
For example, Jeremiah once prayed...
7 O Lord, you deceived me, and I was deceived; you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me. — Jeremiah 20:7
Can you imagine daring to say such a thing to Almighty God? "Lord, you deceived to me!"
In Psalm 73, David cries out...
13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. 14 For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. — Psalm 73:13-14
Can you imagine saying something like that to God? David was saying: "Lord, I’ve been good, and it has been a total waste of effort. You bless everyone but me."
Or how about Job? Talk about brutal honesty. When Job went through his time of trial, in which he lost his family, his fortune, and his health, he cried out to God...
4 For the arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are against me. – Job 6:4
18 SLIDEWhy did you bring me out from the womb? Would that I had died before any eye had seen me – Job 10:18
20 I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me.
21 You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me.
22 You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm. – Job 30:20-23
When I read these words - - - these cries - - - to the God of the universe - - it’s like Wow! And they didn’t get zapped by a lightening bolt.
Can I tell you, I’ve yelled at God, I’ve cried out to God, I’ve told God how bad He was. I’ve let God know where He stands in my life. Have I stayed there and gotten stuck in times of despair, trials and troubles? NO! But in the midst of dark times, in the not so good seasons of life, I have raised my voice. God would hear the soft whispers, as well as the loud voice.
It’s not sinful to come before the throne of God and plead your case . . . whether it is to cry out, to whisper, to talk. It doesn’t matter how it is done. Of course, we are to be respectful, honoring and glorifying God, but that does not mean we can’t express our deepest feelings to God.
We must be absolutely honest with God in our prayers, and for a very obvious reason: He already knows what's going on in your heart, spirit, and mind. It's not as if your honesty will take God by surprise. It’s not like God will suddenly say, “OMG! I never knew this was happening!” He knows. You know that God knows. And God knows that you know. So . . . be honest with Him about what you're going through, so that God can help you.
In each of these situations — Jeremiah, David, and Job — these men were restored to a right relationship with God and their situation improved. Sometimes, actually, let me restate that . . . all the time we need to be talking to God. That’s what the pray without ceasing is all about.
It does not have to be a formal prayer, where we sit down and fold our hands and start to pray. We can pray anywhere and everywhere . . . because we have the confidence that God is everywhere all at the same time. It’s a gift given to us through the Holy Spirit - who is with every believer in Christ.
When we pray with all of our heart, spirit, mind and body - - - we are not only being honest with God and honest with ourselves, we are also being tenacious. When we cry out to God we are now opening the door for God to work within us.
There have been times when I had no clue what to pray, what to say, how to say it. And if you do nothing because you don’t know what to say, then you’re missing the point. You know what I do when I’m in that situation? If I can’t get myself started . . . it’s kind of funny . . . I just start talking to God by telling God I have no idea what to say and that is the start to my prayer. Just start or as they say . . . Just do it!
We’re going to stop at this point and next week we will continue to talk about prayer. We’ll do this for a few more weeks after this. Remember, pray without ceasing.
Because We learn to pray by praying!
