INTRODUCTION
• VIDEO CLIP
• SLIDE #1
• A comparison of the following book titles on the subject of prayer points up some of the tensions of the subject:
• Where Is the Lord of Elijah? (Cox) vs. You Never Walk Alone (Mesner)
• How Can God Answer Prayer? (Biederwolf) vs. Getting Things from God (Blanchard)
• Let’s Pray Together (Fromer) vs. The Hidden Life of Prayer (McIntyre)
• Saying Better Prayers (Karney) vs. Prayer Without Pretending (Townsend)
• Teach Yourself to Pray (Winward) vs. The Holy Spirit—Our Teacher in Prayer (Walton)
• Five Laws That Govern Prayer (Gordon) vs. Beyond the Natural Order (Best)
• . . . and lastly, Taking Hold of God (Zwemer) vs. Prayer: Conversing With God (Rinker)
• Green, M. P. (Ed.). (1989). Illustrations for Biblical Preaching: Over 1500 sermon illustrations arranged by topic and indexed exhaustively (Revised edition of: The expositor’s illustration file). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.
• Prayer is something that many Christians do not fully grasp the meaning and importance of.
• How often do we only pray when we need or want something from God? Do we use prayer as an emergency call or a cold call to God?
• Jonah had been rebellious to God’s calling and he finds himself in DEEP trouble. Look at what he does.
• SLIDE #2
• Jonah 2:7 (CSB) As my life was fading away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, to your holy temple.
• A Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2014 found that 45% of Americans – and a majority of Christians (55%) – say they rely a lot on prayer and personal religious reflection when making major life decisions. The same survey found that 63% of Christians in the U.S. say praying regularly is an essential part of their Christian identity. (http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/05/04/5-facts-about-prayer/)
• This research is int eresting to me. 55% of Christians, only 10% more than those who are not Christians say they rely a lot on prayer.
• Only 65% of Christians in the U.S. say praying regularly is an essential part of their Christian identity.
• In the New Testament, Jesus both taught and displayed the importance of prayer. For some reason, according to Pew Research, many Christians do not seem to get it.
• Today we are going to look at the third of our 7 Hebrew words every Christian should know, the word Tefillah (TU FEE LAH’), ONE OF THE WORDS WE TRANSLATE PRAYER.
• We talk about prayer, we have prayer chains, but how do we utilize prayer in our life?
• Today we will dissect the definition of the word TEFILLAH. As we examine this word we will gain a deeper understanding of what it means to pray.
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
????????? I. Tefillah centers on communication.
• If you were to open a lexicon (which is a book containing an alphabetical arrangement of the words in a language and their definitions) and look up the meaning of the word TEFILLAH, part of the definition states, “THE ACT OF COMMUNICATING”
• When we go back to the passage in Jonah, TEFILLAH is the word translated PRAYER.
• SLIDE #4
• Jonah 2:7 (CSB) As my life was fading away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, to your holy temple.
• Jonah had been rebellious, he refused to go to Nineveh to preach against because of the evil that was happening in Nineveh.
• Jonah gets on a ship heading in the opposite direction of Nineveh, that was heading to Tarshish.
• God called up a great storm, the ship was going to go down, the crew was in panic mode; however, Jonah knew what was happening.
• He told the crew to throw him overboard so they would be saved.
• Reluctantly they did.
• Jonah was a dead duck; however, we are told that God appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah to keep him from drowning.
• Jonah 1:17 tells us that Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days.
• After three days, Jonah seemed to have a change of heart, and when he did, began to pray to God.
• Now Jonah was in a desperate situation, he turned to prayer.
• Prayer centers on communication. To communicate, one must have a sender, a receiver, and a message.
• Jonah understood that when he was praying, he was not lifted words to a great nothingness, he was sending up his heart to God.
• SLIDE #5
• Jonah 2:2 (CSB) I called to the Lord in my distress, and he answered me. I cried out for help from deep inside Sheol; you heard my voice.
• Jonah tells us that God HEARD his voice.
• When we go into prayer thinking we are wasting our time or that we are talking to an empty phone line, we will not be encouraged to pray.
• How many of us enjoy one-way conversations? You want to talk to your spouse, or your boss, but you know they will not listen to you. You know that your words will fall on deaf ears.
• Are you excited about that prospect?
• TEFILLAH centers on the thought of communication, a sender and a receiver. This implies that not only are we to send up our message or prayer, but we are called to also listen for a response.
• When I used to sit on Santa’s lap, he would ask if I was a good boy that year.
• I said I DO NOT KNOW, ASK MY WIFE?
• Anyway, I would say yes, then I would get to telling him what I wanted, I was not waiting for a response, my job was to tell him what I wanted and his was to deliver the goods!
• When we pray, we need to KNOW we are communicating, and that we have someone on the other end who is listening. WE need to be open to waiting for a response!
• But the second part of the definition of TEFILLAH is also important.
• SLIDE #6
????????? II. Tefillah requires one to understand with whom they are communicating with.
• The definition of TEFILLAH continues.
• THE ACT OF COMMUNICATING WITH A DEITY!
• This second aspect of the definition is vital to our understanding of TEFILLAH.
• This is important it consider, when we are praying we are praying to GOD!
• WE are not prying to nothing, we are not praying to other people.
• When was the last time you heard someone say they were going to pray to their spouse, or to any other human?
• In our passage from Jonah, Jonah makes it clear he is praying to God!
• When we realize that we are communicating with God, the creator of all things, that realization should change our attitudes.
• First, we should be humbled!
• We see that Jonah is humbled.
• SLIDE #7
• Jonah 2:8–9 (CSB) Those who cherish worthless idols abandon their faithful love, but as for me, I will sacrifice to you with a voice of thanksgiving. I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation belongs to the Lord.”
• Jonah is humbled as he speaks to God, he is going from an attitude of rebellion to one of humility. Jonah is ready to submit to God’s call.
• When we get around important people, we tend to be humbled to be in their presence, when we pray, we should be humbled that the creator of all things is willing to listen and communicate with us!
• Another attitude that we should possess because of whom we are praying to is an attitude of confidence.
• WE pray to the creator, with Him, we can have confidence that whatever we ask of Him can be fulfilled!
• Part of Jonah’s reluctance to go to Nineveh was the fact that despite all the evil that city had perpetrated, Jonah knew that God could forgive them, and Jonah was not too keen on that thought! (Jonah 4:1-2)
• Jonah was confident on God’s ability to deliver, this is what led him to pray to the Lord while he his life was draining away.
• The other attitude one should possess when praying to God is EXCITEMENT!
• Knowing our god can deliver should make us eager with anticipation as to what He will do with our prayer!
• SLIDE #8
????????? III. The various motivations to engage in tefillah.
• Let’s finish the definition of TEFILLAH.
• THE ACT OF COMMUNICATING WITH A DEITY; ESPECIALLY AS A PETITION OR IN ADORATION OR CONTRITION OR THANKSGIVING!
• We see four motivations from our definition to prayer to God.
• When we need to petition God for something.
• King Hezekiah was going to die, so he petitioned God for more time.
• SLIDE #9
• Isaiah 38:5 (CSB) “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I am going to add fifteen years to your life.
• We also see adoration of God as a motivation to pray
• SLIDE #10
• Psalm 69:13 (CSB) — But as for me, Lord, my prayer to you is for a time of favor. In your abundant, faithful love, God, answer me with your sure salvation.
• Contrition is another motivation to communicate with God.
• As Nehemiah ponders the condition of his people, he goes to God on behalf of the people.
• SLIDE #11
• Nehemiah 1:6 (CSB) — let your eyes be open and your ears be attentive to hear your servant’s prayer that I now pray to you day and night for your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins we have committed against you. Both I and my father’s family have sinned.
• Then there is the prayer of thanksgiving!
• SLIDE #12
• Psalm 66:20 (CSB) — 20 Blessed be God! He has not turned away my prayer or turned his faithful love from me.
CONCLUSION
• When you look at the research concerning prayer, too many Christians are missing the boat; however, once we understand what prayer is all about, and to whom we are praying, I hope we become more motivate to become prayer warriors.
• We all hear the stories of how prayer saved someone from cancer or some other terrible thing, yet here we sit, unmoved to examine the great potential of prayer.
• Jesus spent a great deal of time in prayer, prayer comes is part of a great relationship with Jesus.
• If our relationship runs deep, we will be a prayer warrior, if it is not, our prayer potential will never be reached.
• Prayer is not sitting on the lap of Jesus AND OFFERING OUR wish list. Prayer is talking to God and patiently waiting and listening for His response.
• Reading the Bible is how you get to know about the character of God, prayer is the way we grow deeper with Him!
