TITLE: WHEN WE FIND IT DIFFICULT TO PRAY
SCRIPTURE: ROMANS 8:26 / ROMANS 15:30
(This is not an original sermon, it is a combination of various ministers with my own adaptations throughout)
Richard Dehaan told of a soldier who was doing guard duty on the front line in WWI. After being relieved of duty, as a Christian, he wanted to pray, to thank God for protecting him, and to ask for His continued protection. But the enemy lines were very close, and he couldn’t go far, so he just walked a little ways away from where he had been standing guard, knelt and began to pray aloud. The soldier who replaced him heard his voice and thought he was speaking to someone in the enemy lines. So, he reported him. The officer in charge said, "you’ve been accused of revealing secrets to the enemy. How do you respond?"
• The soldier said, "It’s not true. I wasn’t doing that"
• The officer replied, "Then what were you doing when you were out there facing the enemy and talking?"
• He said, "I was praying"
• "You were praying out loud?"
• "Yes, I was the young soldier responded"
• The officer said, "Show me. Pray right now"
• So, the young man knelt and prayed
• And when he finished the officer dismissed the charges
• "Because," he said, "nobody can pray like that unless he has been practicing"
In my Christian life, I have found that prayer is a difficult discipline. I concur with others that praying moves through different seasons.
• My Posture may change
• My Prayers may change
But whatever season I am currently facing, my specific prayers are often marked by experiences.
• If I am Doubting - I pray for Faith
• If I’m Hurting - I pray for Healing
• If I’m Confused – I pray for Understanding
• If I’m Worried – I pray for Calmness
• If I’m Restless – I pray for Peace
• If I’m Afraid – I pray for Comfort
• If I lack Wisdom - I ask God to give me Discernment
If this is true for you, we are together in the difficult discipline of prayer, for i am no saint when it comes to fervency of prayer.
• Prayer is a lagging discipline that needs constant shoring up
• Prayer is a spiritual discipline that needs cultivation
• The ground needs to be turned over
• Seeds of prayer need to be planted and watered
• We wait like the farmer, trusting the seed will sprout and multiply its blessing
Prayer takes effort and constant fine-tuning.
• We learn to pray
• We learn what not to say
• Disciples did not ask Jesus to teach them how to Pray
• ST. LUKE 11:1 “…LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY….”
At one point, Paul commended Epaphras on his fervent prayer life, calling him fervent in prayer - “EPAPHRAS GREETS YOU, ALWAYS LABOURING FERVENTLY ON YOUR BEHALF IN HIS PRAYERS” - COLOSSIANS 4:12. I like this descriptor that the apostle uses — prayer is indeed a struggle and we must learn to become Fervent in it.
In the midst of this Pandemic and the past four years of this Trump Administration, that finally came to an end – COVID-19 and sickness all around us – can’t go out and visit and travel – can’t shake hands and hug our friends and church family - there are times when i don’t feel like praying – there are times when the Holy Spirit must help us in our weaknesses.
• For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought
• But the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered
• I will talk more about that in a few minutes
Prayer is not a mood. It is our lifeline to all that is good and must be chosen above our feelings. Sometimes we just have to “FAKE IT ‘TIL YOU MAKE IT.” – PAUL FAULKNER said “IT IS EASIER TO ACT OUR WAY INTO FEELINGS THAN FEEL OUR WAY INTO ACTING.”
• An author was once asked how he motivated himself to write
• He replied, “I just start writing”
• When the people began rebuilding the WALLS OF JERUSALEM, it took them fifty-two days once they got started -- NEHEMIAH 6:15
Oftentimes when we find it hard to pray – we need to just get started.
• Just start talking to the Lord
• Just start Praying
• Don’t worry about the Words
• Don’t worry about your Posture
• Don’t worry about Sounding Good
• Just start Praying
It’s difficult to pray because humbling ourselves, getting over ourselves, and coming to the end of our stubborn and sinful selves is hard.
• When we pray, we die to self, and death hurts
• That’s why our flesh fights so hard against prayer
When we pray, we are entering into real warfare against our flesh and against the flaming arrows of our accuser the devil and his host. Although they are not afraid of us, they are terrified of the One within us and who is for us, and they despise that we are praying to the One who has crushed them and will destroy them.
Moreover, it’s hard to pray because our focus is too often on praying itself and not on God. We learn about prayer not so that we might know a lot of facts about prayer, but so that we might pray with our focus on God.
• By His Sovereign Grace, we know Him
• We know He is there
• We know He not only Hears but Listens
• We know He is not silent
• We know He always answers our prayers and always acts in accord with His perfect will for our ultimate good and for His glory
When we recognize God’s sovereignty in prayer, we are also reminded of His Love - Grace - Holiness - Righteousness, and we are thereby confronted with the harsh reality of our own wretched sin in the light of His Glory and Grace.
Prayer is not a preparation for work, it is work.
• Prayer is not a preparation for the Battle - Prayer is the Battle
• Prayer is two-fold - DEFINITE ASKING and DEFINITE WAITING TO RECEIVE ~ Oswald Chambers
• Prayer is Time-consuming – average Preacher – sadly - 10 minutes/day
• Prayer is Emotionally Consuming
• Prayer is Physically Consuming - Fatigue
When we find it difficult to pray - satan wants to keep us from prayer and its power
• No one is a firmer believer in the power of prayer than the devil
• Not that he practices it, but he suffers from it
Satan uses “Weapons of Mass Distraction” –
• Phone Calls
• Text Messages
• Social Media Platforms
• Our Jobs
• Our Busyness
When we find it difficult to pray -- our flesh is weak. We have difficulty suppressing physical tiredness and challenges. Perhaps there are days when our mind grows tired. Or we are physically exhausted from work - from our children - and possibly from weakness due to an illness. I find that physical weakness is often connected to spiritual weakness (though not always connected).
• When the body is weak, our minds can think wrong thoughts about God, and our hearts can begin to believe these thoughts
• Prayer time can become ineffective because our minds are distracted and wander to different themes
I know none of you this morning have every had this issue, but I have caught myself falling asleep during prayer, like the disciples. In these moments of lapse, I awake and find myself embarrassed or troubled in spirit that I did not labor in prayer. You recall how Jesus went a little further to pray and told the disciples to pray and keep watch. He came back and found the disciples asleep and said to them “WHAT, COULD YOU NOT WATCH AND PRAY FOR ONE HOUR?”
• So, I pray, “Lord strengthen my body and mind to pray”
• Remember that even simple prayers can be launching pads for effective, fervent prayers to the Lord
Sometimes, we approach prayer with the wrong pattern. We spend more time focusing on personal needs than addressing “OUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN.”
• God is to be Glorified
• He is to be Adorned
• He is to be Worshiped
Following a pattern for prayer is helpful and keeps us from becoming distracted by a personal wish list. patterns direct our thoughts back to God. For the disciples, prayer was a difficult discipline that needed refinement. They grasped their need to pattern their prayers, so they watched Jesus pray. The Teacher provides them (and us) a helpful pattern to be modeled and exercised. If you take time to read through The Lord’s Prayer in St. Matthew 6 you will notice how -
• God is Exalted
• Sins are Confessed
• Needs Expressed
There are contemporary models that can serve as tools for your prayer life in an effort to help us when we find it difficult to pray. There is an acronym I like to use (ACTS) –
• A = Adoration
• C = Confession
• T = Thanksgiving
• S = Supplication
Let me share something here that just might challenge you. Some of my greatest prayers are in silence. Some of my greatest prayers are when words never come out because the pain is too strong.
• The heart can speak and God hears the prayers of a broken heart
• Stop trying to numb the pain with temporary things
• If it hurts to pray, then be still for a moment
• Turn off the volume!
• Be silent before the Lord and allow the heart to speak
• Concentrate on Him and allow the Spirit to help you
Sometimes all I can say is “God you know, help!”
• It’s not about the length of the prayer - it’s about the heart
• God understands and He weeps with you
• Jesus identifies with our situation
• Allow your heart to speak powerful words to God and allow Him to pour out His love
Remember what the Apostle Paul said in our opening scripture? --
“THE SPIRIT HELPS US IN OUR WEAKNESS. WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT WE OUGHT TO PRAY FOR, BUT THE SPIRIT HIMSELF INTERCEDES FOR US THROUGH WORDLESS GROANS. AND HE WHO SEARCHES OUR HEARTS KNOWS THE MIND OF THE SPIRIT, BECAUSE THE SPIRIT INTERCEDES FOR GOD’S PEOPLE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE WILL OF GOD”
How amazing is the gift of the Holy Spirit! better than any technology or computer program, He clearly communicates my thoughts and desires in harmony with the Father’s purposes. The work of the Spirit not only makes prayer work, that intercession also carries us when our hearts fail.
I must confess to you, I have been wrong over the years about Prayer and other things. I have mistakenly assumed that knowing how to pray is a skill that everyone should know automatically, but it doesn’t quite work that way. As someone constantly grappling with Grace, I know that my prayer life is not something to be ashamed of, but it reflects a weakness in character that needs strengthening.
Over the years I’ve learned there are a lot of ways to connect with god in a meaningful way.
• I may not be the 21st century Psalmist
• But I can pray Faithfully and Powerfully even with my DISJOINTED - DISTRACTED train of thought at times
• If you relate to this, I hope you don’t feel guilty
• Just know that God is listening, no matter what you try
• And if you feel like you don’t know how to pray, don’t worry
• It’s never too late to learn
--We believe in the power of God, and that is why we pray
--So, when we pray, we are reminded of who we are not
--We are reminded that we are not God
--When we Pray, we are reminded that we are not in control
--We are reminded that God is sovereign and in control
--When we Pray, we must recognize that prayer is our daily and continual surrender of our perceived control over our lives to the One who has control of them and cares about them more than we do
--When I was really growing as a Christian in my early 20s, I decided I wanted to be a prayer warrior
--Someone who really knew God and saw lots of results from their prayers
--It was a lofty and very naïve goal
--Forty years later I feel like I’m finally learning to pray!
--In these intervening years I have wanted to quit talking to God in different seasons because of the common frustrations of talking to a God who isn’t like us and who doesn’t answer prayers as I expected He would
--But here is what I have learned - WHEN WE FIND IT DIFFICULT TO PRAY – Keep on Praying
