Title: Begin with Prayer
Theme: To show that when witnessing or anything in life we must begin with prayer.
Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:17
Resources Used: Pray First by Chris Hodge & sermon series on Bless by Community Christian Church
Introduction - intentional
In 1 Thessalonians 5 Paul deals with the expectation of the Lord coming. There were people who were questioning the second coming. Paul warns them not to listen but to be ready.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. (2) For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.
1 Thessalonians 5:3-5 For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. (4) But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. (5) You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.
1 Thessalonians 5:6-8 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. (7) For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. (8) But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.
In the next section of 1 Thessalonians he gives us some helps in preparing for the Lord’s coming.
1 Thessalonians 5:12-22 And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, (13) and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. Be at peace among yourselves. (14) Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. (15) See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. (16) Rejoice always, (17) pray without ceasing, (18) in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (19) Do not quench the Spirit. (20) Do not despise prophecies. (21) Test all things; hold fast what is good. (22) Abstain from every form of evil.
Purpose of prayer
Prayer is the lifeline that connects us to our heavenly father.
Prayer made simple: What does it take to pray?
“A heart willing to talk to God, to listen to Him and willing to hear His voice. Prayer is about His Spirit and our spirit connecting with each other. It is about real fellowship, open and honest heart-to-heart talks with one another. It’s about intimate conversation.” – from What’s Next? By Christ Hodge.
Why people don’t pray?
Pray can be like that for most of us. It’s something we know we should do, something we even want to do, but it can be hard to be consistent at it. Why is that? (“Reasons We Don’t Pray” heading) There are a lot of reasons. Here are a few:
• Sometimes we don’t pray because: “I don’t know how.” Many of us learned to pray as children—mostly at meals and at bedtime. But how many people reach adulthood without any additional instruction? We know we should pray, but many of us aren’t sure how.
• Sometimes we don’t pray because: “I’m too busy.” Let’s face it… prayer takes time, it takes focus, it takes energy; and many of us feel like we’re running short on all of those things. Our busy lives crowd out a lot of things we know are important, and oftentimes that includes prayer.
• And sometimes we don’t pray because: “I doubt it works.” We think, “I prayed, I really did, and it didn't seem to make any difference.” I’ve felt that way before. Maybe it’s led you to question whether you even believe in prayer. When we pray and nothing seems to happen, it makes prayer really difficult.
View Prayer Differently- Pray without Ceasing
“Prayer as ongoing conversation with God”
Pray without ceasing 1 Thessalonians
Jesus challenged the Jews in John 15:4 with an new way of looking at their relationship with God. It is abiding.
John 15:4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Priority of Prayer - Jesus Prayed – Jesus practiced what He preached.
Jesus Begins With Prayer
Jesus is the one we follow. His whole life was a blessing to the world. Every place that he went, every person he encountered experienced a “God moment” in his presence. Jesus lived out the BLESS practices in his daily life on earth, and he did that by beginning with prayer.
If you read through the first four books of the New Testament that tell Jesus’ story, you see a consistent pattern of prayer. (Build lists of Scripture…2 different slides if needed)
• (Luke 3:21) Jesus prays at his baptism, and the heavens are opened as he is filled with the Holy Spirit and blessed by the Father.
• (Luke 5:16) Jesus had a regular practice of withdrawing from the crowds by himself to pray.
• (Luke 9:16a) Jesus prayed before performing miracles asking the Father to bless the work he was doing.
• (Luke 22:32) Jesus prayed for his friends, that they would remain strong in their faith.
• (Luke 22:41) Jesus spent the night before his crucifixion alone in a garden praying.
Over and over again, we see Jesus prioritizing prayer. And I’d like for us to focus in on one of these occasions… a time when Jesus was deciding whom to invest his time, effort, and energy in to further his mission and, you guessed it… he begins with prayer.
Luke, a historian, records it like this:
Luke 6:12-16 “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.” -
We have to Take time to Pray – Daniel 6:10
Consistently
Have a Place to Pray
Have a Plan for Prayer
Series Recap
We are currently in a series called “B.L.E.S.S.” that is all about our mission of “Making a Difference in the lives of others”. Understand, this isn’t just the mission of LANGLEY CHURCH OF GOD, this is your mission, this is my mission, this is our mission.
And yet, too often rather than getting into the game, we sit on the sidelines waiting for someone else to carry out the mission. Instead of helping people find their way back to God, we sit back hoping people find their way back to God.
So during this series, we’re challenging one another live the mission of Jesus. And through the years we have discovered that the best way to live this mission is to be a BLESSING to the people and places God puts in our lives.
Every one of us has been blessed to be a blessing! And so during this series we are challenging one another to identify the people and the places we’ve been called to B.L.E.S.S.
As a reminder, this acronym, BLESS, stands for five missional practices we can carry out every day. B-Begin with Prayer, L-Listen, E-Eat, S-Serve, S-Story. And today, we’re talking about the first one, the “B.” B stands for (graphic) Begin with Prayer.
Place of Prayer
Find a place of prayer. This is a place where you can connect with God with no distractions.
Plan of Prayer – Tabernacle Prayer
There is nothing wrong with having a plan when we pray. Jesus gave us a pattern to pray whenever He gave us the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6:9 – 13. We also learn from Luke 11:1 -2 that this was a response to the disciples asking Jesus to “teach us to pray”
This morning I want to give you a simple pattern for prayer from the tabernacle of the Old Testament.
We could spend extensive time in this but I want to give you a simple pattern for prayer.
To the Hebrews in the wilderness the Tabernacle was a way to connect with God. While today we have the right to go “boldly” to the throne of God. In the Old Testament they would go through the tabernacle.
I do believe this tabernacle gives us a great pattern for prayer.
The Outer Court – Praise and Thanksgiving
Psalms 100:4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
The Brazen Altar – Redemption and forgiveness of sins
Psalms 103:2-5 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: (3) Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, (4) Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, (5) Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
The Laver – Repentance and surrender
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service (ESV spiritual worship).
The Candlestick – Holy Spirit & Light
Isaiah 11:2 The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.
The Table of Shewbread – The Word of God
Joshua 1:8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
The Altar of Incense – Worship
Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.
The Ark of the Covenant – Mercy Seat – Intercession
1 Timothy 2:1-4 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— (2) for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. (3) This is good, and pleases God our Savior, (4) who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
Leads us to the Power of Prayer
Acts 4:21-31 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done. (22) For the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed. (23) And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. (24) So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: "Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, (25) who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: 'WHY DID THE NATIONS RAGE, AND THE PEOPLE PLOT VAIN THINGS? (26) THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TOOK THEIR STAND, AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST.' (27) "For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together (28) to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. (29) Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, (30) by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus." (31) And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
Conclusion
Let’s move beyond hoping people find their way back to God to helping people find their way back to God. And to do that, let’s begin with prayer.
In fact, we’re going to take the opportunity to begin with prayer right now. I want to guide you in a moment of prayer where we are going to ask God for a few things…
1. For God to give us the desire to pray.
2. For God to prepare our hearts for the adventure
3. For God to give us clarity as to the people and places he is calling us to BLESS
So as we close, I want to ask you to bow your heads, and in this moment, just talk to God in the quietness of your heart.
(Lead people in prayer according to the above prompts)
Prayer Close: God, you are awesome, no one compares to you. We come confessing that many times we struggle to pray. Thank you for the opportunity you give us to come before you. So we ask, give us a desire to pray, prepare our hearts to BLESS others, and make it evident to the places and people who are calling us to BLESS. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen
