Full
Pt. 5 - Prayer Full
I. Introduction
Are you full? If so, what are you full of? Your "fullness" will determine what overflows to every area of your life. And yet the truth is that if we find ourselves closer to the "e" than the "f" we are in the majority. In a recent study of 1,000 churches and the spiritual growth of their congregation the researchers discovered that only 11% (or in other words 1 out of 10) would say they are compelled by their faith to love God and love others! 89% in the wilderness. Saved? Yes. Full? No! Emptiness reigns in the church community. However, I want to remind you and challenge you that God does intend for us to be full! I am going to continue to read these because they are promises that we must allow to come to life in our spirit - not just for my neighbor but for me.
John 10:10
The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that _________ (insert your name) may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance - to the full, till it overflows. (Amplified Version)
Colossians 2:9-10
You don’t need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. When _________ (insert name) came to him, that fullness comes together for _________ (insert name), too. His power extends over everything.
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.
The accurate and mature understanding is knowing that salvation was only part of the picture. He came to save but He also came to enable us to experience fullness in life!
So I want to clearly state for us some of the things that should fill us so that we are able to experience this fullness that Jesus came to give us.
I have declared that we must be thank full, purpose full, grace full. I want us to continue on this path to fullness.
Luke 5:12-16 (NIV)
One day in a certain village he was visiting, there was a man with an advanced case of leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell to the ground before him, face downward in the dust, begging to be healed. “Sir,” he said, “if you only will, you can clear me of every trace of my disease.” Jesus reached out and touched the man (something no one else would do - instantly became by religious standard unclean and now at risk to develop same sickness - grace full) and said, “Of course I will. Be healed.” And the leprosy left him instantly! Then Jesus instructed him to go at once without telling anyone what had happened and be examined by the Jewish priest. “Offer the sacrifice Moses’ law requires for lepers who are healed,” he said. “This will prove to everyone that you are well.” Now the report of his power spread even faster and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases. But he often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.
Incredible account but because of the mind boggling act of grace and the miracle that was produced we miss it. It almost comes off as an afterthought. But slow down and read the last verse again. But he often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.
Did you see the key word? Often. One version says as was His custom.
Jesus models for us (even though He was God in the flesh) that
We must be prayer full!
What I just read to you reveals a secret. Jesus could not have been grace full and power full had He not been prayer full. Your ability to really be full hinges on this week's key.
Our ability to be thank full, purpose full, and the other full's we will talk about is directly contingent upon our prayer fullness.
On two different occasions Jesus confronts, chastises and even corrects His disciples lack of prayerfulness.
The first was when they were confronted with a demon possessed boy who they couldn't help! Jesus reveals their deficiency when He declares these kind only come out by "prayer and fasting". Did you see it? They weren't powerful because they weren't prayer full. So they come up short when someone needed them.
The second was in the garden when Jesus needed them they fall asleep on the job. Jesus makes a prayer request. Think about that a second. God makes a prayer request to man. Pray for me. But they weren't prayer full. They fell asleep. Jesus returns and asks the blush inducing stomach turning question . . . Could you not even tarry one hour? You can read it like this . . . Jesus is saying you let me down when I needed you most. You were rest full when I needed you to be prayer full.
Listen to me very carefully. If we are going to be full this year. If we are going to be able to respond when people need us and when Jesus needs us, then we must be prayer full. We can't wait until the need arises and then try to rapidly fill up. We must be prayer full ahead of the need.
Back to the text . . . Here is the secret . . .
He OFTEN withdrew to pray.
What you do often is what fills you! How often do you set time aside, schedule aside, career aside, kids aside, hobbies aside and become prayer full?
The writer of 1 Thessalonians tells us that prayer should be such a component of our life that with three words he calls us to a prayer life like this . . . 1 Thessalonians 5:17 - Pray without ceasing. In other words, so full of prayer that there is no beginning and no end. There is no amen. A constant flow. A constant pulling away. A ongoing conversation. Incessant. Relentless. This the same passage in which we are told to be thankful in everything. Again thank fullness and purpose fullness found only through prayer fullness!
I want to challenge you today . . . Maybe we can't respond to people, to God and maybe we are worry full, stress full, and care full because we aren't prayer full.
That is why Spurgeon said, "We must pray to pray, and continue in prayer that our prayers may continue!"
How prayer full are you?
I believe that too many of us want to operate in prayer full authority/power but at a prayer less level of life and then we are discouraged by the anemic results we experience.
"Prayerless people cut themselves off from God's prevailing power, and the frequent result is the familiar feeling of being overwhelmed, overrun, beaten down, pushed around, defeated. Surprising numbers of people are willing to settle for lives like that." Bill Hybels
In light of Jesus' model and request. In light of the standard that we were given to pray without end I am asking you to honestly examine your own prayer life.
You have exactly 86,400 seconds in each day. How many of those seconds are consumed with and by prayer? Are you more full of worry than of prayer?
Give you the opportunity to fill this moment with prayer. Make a commitment that your life is going to become more prayer full. Increase the prayer until it is often! When this year comes to a close and you reflect back on the days that have gone by will they be more prayer full than the previous year?
