Sermon Preached at Grace Community Church (EPC)
Sun City Grand, Surprise, AZ
Sunday, May 1, 2011
by the Reverend Cooper McWhirter
“Praying … Not Preying!” [Part One]
John 16:23-33
A father took his young son to town one day to run some errands. When lunchtime came around they went to their favorite diner. When the waiter brought their food the father said, “Son, let’s have a moment of silent prayer.” Well, the dad got through praying first and so he waited patiently for his son to finish his prayer. After a couple of minutes while their food was getting cold, the boy’s head was still bowed and his hands folded. Finally, when the boy looked up his father asked inquisitively, “What on earth were you praying about all that time?” With the innocence of a small child, the boy replied, “How do I know? It was a silent prayer!”
Yes, prayers, especially through the eyes of a child, speak volumes about how we, too, should pray to our heavenly Father. When Robert Louis Stevenson was a small boy he once said to his mother, “Mommy, you can’t be good without praying.” “Oh? And how do you know that, Robert?” his mother asked. “Because I’ve tried it!” he answered.
This reminds me of the story of the little boy who was sent to his room for misbehaving. A short time later he came back downstairs and said to his mother, “I thought about what I had done and so I prayed to God.” “Well, that’s good!” his mother said. “And did you ask God to help you behave?” “No, but I did ask Him to help you put up with me!”
Yes, all too often when we pray, we have our own agenda; a kind of “wish list”! I tell you the truth my most solemn prayers are when I am silent before God; when I ask God to speak to me first! The scriptures tell us that we are to pray without ceasing [1 Thessalonians 5:17], but a godly man once said: “We should pray often; use words only if you must!”
In this morning’s passage the apostle John recalls a time shortly before the Lord went up to Jerusalem for the last time. Just as on previous occasions Jesus told His disciples that He must go up to Jerusalem where He would be turned over to the elders and chief priests and that He would have to suffer and die. But that on the third day He would rise again from the dead [Matthew 16:21; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22-27; John 7:33-34; 14:16-19; 16:16 et al.].
One can only imagine how unsettling this pronouncement would have been for those who had been Jesus’ followers for some three years. But Jesus assured them that His death and resurrection would not only be of benefit to them, but to all who believe in Him. By returning to His heavenly Father, Jesus could then intercede on their behalf, and in His place He would send “the Comforter” … the Holy Spirit [John 16:7].
In this passage we are told not only how to pray, but by what means we should pray. In a word, we should PRAY (spell out the letters) … not PREY (spell out this word)! And because of what Christ has done, is doing and shall do …
THE BELIEVER NOW HAS ACCESSIBILITY (repeat).
John begins verse 23 by quoting Jesus whereupon He said: “In that day…” (a reference to the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit would be poured out upon the multitudes - Acts 2:1-13; fifty days after His resurrection and ten days following His ascension) you will no longer ask Me anything. I tell you the truth, My Father will give you whatever you ask in My Name.”
In other words, the disciple’s sorrow would soon turn to joy… unspeakable joy! The Day of Pentecost inaugurated not only the Church age, but it also came to represent a new relationship between the believer and God. In John MacArthur’s study Bible he writes this appendage: “Previously people approached God through priests. But after Jesus’ resurrection, the believer could approach God … directly. A new day has dawned and now all believers are themselves priests.”
In Hebrews 10, beginning in verse 19, we read: “Since, therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is His flesh.”
Then, too, in verse 27 of this passage Jesus assures us that God the Father loves us because we have loved His Son; and by virtue of our believing that Jesus came from God.
Some thirty-four years ago I attended my first Cursillo; a weekend retreat which proved to be, at least for me, a time when there was to be no retreating. It marked a time in my life when I boldly approached the throne room of God and received untold blessings from on high! No longer did I find myself ensnarled by generational bondage through the sins of my father and my father’s father. In a very real sense I was set free: mentally, emotionally, and spiritually! From this intimate encounter with God, I found Him to be readily accessible in ways I could never have imagined!
And so, too, can each and every one of you here, today! Continually throughout the pages of Scripture God says to His people: “Return to Me, so that I may return to you” [Zechariah 1:3; Malachi 3:7; James 4:8 et al.]. His love for us is so great because of His love for His Son, Christ Jesus.
The veil, which once separated us from God has been lifted; just as the temple veil was torn from top to bottom on the day God’s Son was crucified. No longer do we need a pope, a bishop, or a priest to intercede for us; for just as Paul reminds young Timothy: “For there is one God, and one Mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” [1 Timothy 2:5].
But, in addition to believers having accessibility when it comes to one’s prayer life, THE BELIEVER ALSO HAS VIABILITY (repeat)
And by that I mean “capability”; the means by which we can approach God in a new and living way! Jesus goes on to say in verse 24: “Until now you have not asked for anything in My Name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” Now on the surface this would appear to be a “license to steal!” So what does our Lord mean where He says, “Ask anything in My Name and you will receive”?
You’ll recall on the evening following the “Last Supper” when the Lord prayed so fervently in the Garden of Gethsemane whereupon He asked His Father: “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done” [Luke 22:42].
It is never appropriate for the believer to ask God to go against His divine will, whether we are asking something for ourselves, or for others. “SELF” spelled backwards with the addition of the letter “h” at the end spells “flesh.” When we ask for things of the flesh, our mind is set on the things of the flesh. Now this is not necessarily sinful; but it does reflect upon our frail human condition.
First, last and always we should preface our prayers by repeating what the Lord said: “… yet not My will, but Thy will be done!” Let me be absolutely honest, both with you and before God. Rarely have I asked for either material things, or things of this world. And that’s because if left to my own devices I would simply mess things up! I’ve experienced enough of life to know that God knows me far better than I know myself. So why should I ask for something that could either harm me, or someone else? After all, God desires what is best for me and for you!
At some point in our lives we have to “come clean”! And by that I mean we must come thread bare before God and be absolutely honest with Him. We must stand before Him and admit that alone we can do nothing! But the flipside to this is that with God we can all things; for just as the apostle Paul says: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” [Philippians 4:13].
But not only can the believer have accessibility to God and viability when it comes to one’s prayer life, but THE BELIEVER IS ALSO ASSURED OF DURABILITY (repeat).
The word durability conjures up synonyms like: “toughness” and “stability”. And this, of course, is precisely what the believer is assured of now that he has been redeemed by Christ’s atoning sacrifice.
Just as the believer is expected to be candid and honest before God, Jesus was now promising His disciples that He would speak in “plain and simple language.” No longer would the Lord resort to the use of parables or metaphors. From that day on He would speak to them frankly and forthrightly.
Remember the words to the song: “I beg your pardon…I never promised you a rose garden…along with the sunshine there must be a little rain sometimes…” Actually, I never liked that song! Instead, I prefer instrumental, mood music. Yet, here in verse 33 Jesus doesn’t “pull any punches.” He comes right out and He tells them that: “In this world there will be tribulation.” But He then goes on to say, But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
In our Reformed tradition we uphold one of the great truths of Scripture where it speaks of “the perseverance of the saints.” You see with Christ beside us and the Holy Spirit within us, we become “overcomers.” This is not to suggest that the believer merely learns “to cope with” or to “survive” in this fallen world. No! Paul writes that we become “more than conquerors” [Romans 8:37].
As a child of God we have every reason to hope for what is best. Or, as my wife so often reminds me, “The best is yet to come!” For us to deny this truth would be to belittle God by using a small “g” instead of a capital “G”! And so I close you with yet another quote from “Our Daily Bread”: “Prayer without expectancy is unbelief in disguise” (repeat)
Brothers and sisters let us learn to pray (PRAY)...not (PREY)! So by all means …
Let us pray!
