SERMON OUTLINE:
To be effective in prayer…you need to be saved (vs 1-2)
To be effective in prayer…you need to be sharing (vs 3,5 & 9)
To be effective in prayer…you need to be submissive (vs 6-8)
To be effective in prayer…you need to be sanctified (vs 11-15)
To be effective in prayer…you need to be sincere (vs 17)
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• It was the late American pastor and author Donald Barnhouse;
• Who stunned his congregation one Sunday by declaring; “Prayer changes nothing!”
• The church was packed full of people,
• Yet you could have heard a pin drop.
• Now his comment was deliberately designed to make folks think.
• The point he wanted to make was “It is God who THROUGH prayer changes things!”
Ill:
• I like the story of the 72-year-old woman.
• Who went to bed one night and prayed this prayer?
• “Please God give me the skin like a teenager’s”
• The next morning, she woke up covered in acne!
• So be careful what you pray for!
• TRANSITION: We all want to be effective when we pray!
• This Psalm gives us some good insights on how to achieve that.
(1). To be effective in prayer…you need to be saved (vs 1-2)
“I waited patiently for the Lord.
he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire.
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.”
Ill:
• “Watson, come here! I want to see you!”
• With these famous words,
• Alexander Graham Bell catapulted himself into historic notoriety,
• Bell was the inventor of the first practical telephone.
• And during an experiment on June 2nd, 1875, working with his assistant, Thomas Watson,
• The telephone as we know it was born.
• It was a miraculous invention, and it changed the world forever.
• And even in a changing world where we use texting, email, social media,
• And a host of other communication mediums as new forms of “talking” to one another.
• The telephone is still probably number 1,
• And you probably all have a mobile phone with you this morning!
• TRANSITION: The telephone of course connects you to someone far away.
• Although not physically together you can speak to one another,
• As if they were by your side.
• And with modern technology you can make a video call,
• So, you can even see the person you are talking too as well!
Effective prayer starts when we are connected to God.
• In a poetic description the psalmist talks about how God has rescued him,
• How God has saved him from the slimy pit to a solid rock.
• It is good to be saved.
ill:
• On a sailing camp in Chichester Harbor, I jumped off a dingy to a small shingle beach,
• I was intending to get the hot chocolate and biscuits read,
• For the famished group of young sailors, we were looking after.
• The problem was I jumped out at the wrong spot and instantly sot stuck in the mud.
• Although it was only above my ankles as much as I tried, I was unable to pull myself out,
• In the end I need several people from other boats to come along side me and rescue me.
• TRANSITION: Salvation is like that.
• We are stuck in the slimy pit of sin and unable to get ourselves free,
• But another (Jesus) has come alongside and rescued us,
• He has given us a new foundation to our lives!
• “He turned” (vs 1)
• “He heard” (vs 1)
• “He lifted” (vs 2)
• “He set (vs 2)
• “He put” (vs 2)
• Salvation has been provided by God to those who will reach out and believe.
• And because we are saved by Jesus,
• We have been connected to God the Father!
• And that relationship makes all the difference to the effectiveness of our prayers.
Note:
• God answered his prayers but not straight away,
• “I waited patiently for the Lord”
3 REASONS WHY SOMETIMES GOD MAKES US WAIT:
#1: He is a wise heavenly Father, not a heavenly grandfather.
Quote: C.S. Lewis, ‘The Problem of Pain.’
“We want not so much a Father but a grandfather in heaven, a God who said of anything we happened to like doing, 'What does it matter so long as they are contented?”
• Grand parents can spoil the grand children because they only have them in short spells.
• But I wise parent will be more disciplined and say no more often.
#2: We ourselves have the solution.
ill:
Jesus in Matthew chapter 5 verses 23-24.
““Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”
• Sometimes our prayers do not get answered but we are required to do something!
• When we are right with others God may then grant our request!
#3: We only see the present, but God knows the future.
ill:
• Think of a jigsaw puzzle,
• One piece of it does not make sense but in the whole picture it fits perfectly!
Quote:
“If the request is wrong, God says no!
If the timing is wrong, God says slow!
If you are wrong, God says grow!
But if the request is right, and if the timing is right and you are right,
God says go!”
(2). To be effective in prayer…you need to be sharing (vs 3,5 & 9)
“He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
and put their trust in him.”
“Many, Lord my God,
are the wonders you have done,
the things you planned for us.
None can compare with you.
where I to speak and tell of your deeds,
they would be too many to declare.”
“I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly.
I do not seal my lips, Lord,
as you know.”
Quote:
“Before we talk to others about God,
We should talk to God about others”
• When we pray before our evangelism what a difference it makes.
• We need God’s wisdom and help and a fresh filling of his Holy Spirit.
Notice: that the psalmist shares his faith in 3 ways.
#1: By Life - “See it” (vs 3)
ill.
• Now of course David lived long before projectors and TV screens had been invented,
• We might see the words of a song,
• But no-one sees a song, you hear it!
• Yet the psalmist is quite clear in his use of language, “see it”
• So, what did he mean?
• TRANSITION: I think he means they will see the reality of the song in a person’s life.
• It is more than words; those words are out worked in a person’s life.
#2: By Lips - “Hear it” (vs 5)
ill:
• People say to me that I have, “The gift of the gab!”
• They say, “You are a preacher an evangelist, you can talk to anyone!”
• Often, they follow up that kind of statement with, “But I would not know what to say!”
• TRANSITION: Notice that is not the psalmists experience.
• Verse 5b.
“…were I to speak and tell of your deeds,
they would be too many to declare.”
• David’s problem is not what to say, but what to leave out!
• He has got to know his God through prayer and study,
• And he enthusiastic to talk, sing,
• And declare to anyone who will listen concerning his God!
#3: By Involvement - “great assembly” (vs 9-10)
• When the people came together, David spoke out the truths of God.
• We would say today that he witnessed in the public arena.
ill:
• These days it has never been easier to contact your MP etc.
• Many campaigns on social media have emails and forms already written out,
• We can give our opinion and share the Christian viewpoint on so many issues.
(3). To be effective in prayer…you need to be submissive (vs 6-8)
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire –
but my ears you have opened; –
burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.
7 Then I said, ‘Here I am, I have come –
it is written about me in the scroll.
8 I desire to do your will, my God.
your law is within my heart.’”
ill:
Aesop’s Fable regarding the sun and the wind.
• One day the sun and the wind got into an argument about who was the stronger element.
• They were in the middle of their argument when they saw a man walking by.
• “Whoever can remove that man’s coat is the strongest” exclaimed the sun.
• The wind decided to go first.
• It began to blow hard and as strong gusts hit the man.
• He wrapped his coat harder around himself.
• But the wind would not give up so easily.
• It blew harder and harder; with the strongest force it could muster.
• But the more forceful the wind got, the harder the man held onto his jacket.
• The wind soon grew exhausted from blowing so hard,
• But the man’s coat had not been removed. He gave up.
• It was now the sun’s turn. Instead of using force like the wind,
• The sun began to shine down upon the man.
• As the temperature grew, the man began to grow hot in his coat.
• The sun continued to shine brighter and brighter,
• Till it was too hot for the man to keep his coat on, so he took it off,
• And headed for the shade. The sun had been successful.
• Moral: Gentle persuasion may be stronger than force.
• TRANSITION: I would like to give that story a different application.
• Power can’t force us love someone; power can only make us conform.
• Love is a response aa reaction towards someone, and it is voluntary.
• The psalmist realized that hollow religion does not please God,
• No matter what the sacrifices or rituals might be (vs 6).
• But love does!
• Note: verse 8: “I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my mind.’””
• We that is how many of us might read it, but it is not what it says!
• Look again, “I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.’””
• Effective prayer comes from a heart that is enjoying with God.
(5). To be effective in prayer…you need to be sincere (vs 17)
“But as for me, I am poor and needy.
may the Lord think of me?
You are my help and my deliverer.
you are my God, do not delay.”
• We make the mistake of thinking that prayer is for strong Christians,
• Sometimes we feel we can’t pray because, we don’t know what to say.
• Or we fall into the trap that our prayers need to be perfect or in a certain way.
• Prayer is less about what comes out of your mouth,
• And more about what dwells within your heart,
• When you understand this, it will help us in our prayer life.
Notice:
FIRST: David prays as an imperfect man.
• Verse 17a - he describes himself as, “But as for me, I am poor and needy;”
• Verse 12 - he talks about the troubles and sins which abound in his life.
SECOND: David prays as an accepted man (vs 17b).
“May the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer.
you are my God”
• Notice the psalmist’s confidence, “My help” & “My deliverer.”
• He has experienced God answer his prayers in the past and rescue him (vs 1-2),
• And he is confident that God can do it again!
THIRD: David prays as a waiting man.
• David finishes the psalm exactly how he started it,
• Waiting patiently for the Lord.
• N.I.V.: “Do not delay.”
• K.J.B.: “Make no tarrying, O my God”
• But as we said at the beginning of the talk,
• Often prayer is a waiting game and for good reasons!
Quote:
“If the request is wrong, God says no!
If the timing is wrong, God says slow!
If you are wrong, God says grow!
But if the request is right, and if the timing is right and you are right,
God says go!”
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=2qSgUwmrRx27ymOUcgORuqeeV9edQjAw
SERMON VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/XzK0fPgP0H8
