Journey With Jesus: The Daily Trek of Discipleship
The Disciple’s Prayer Life
Introduction
Sanders: “Prayer is an amazing paradox. It is a blending of simplicity and profundity. It can be an agony or an ecstasy. It can focus on a single objective, or it can roam the world. It is ‘the simplest form of speech that infant lips can try,’ and yet at these time is ‘the sublimest strains that reach the Majesty on high.’ Small wonder, then, that even Paul, spiritual giant though he was, had to confess: ‘We do not know what we ought to pray for.’”
A beautiful expression of the complexity and simplicity of prayer! Prayer is a large topic that we cannot cover completely. The disciples knew Jesus as a praying man and they knew that John had taught his disciples to pray. “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). Today we want to focus in on the prayer life of the disciple.
1. GOD’S INTERESTS MUST COME FIRST
Too often our prayers are centered on our needs and desires.
When Jesus taught the dispels to pray, he said: Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (Matthew 6:9-13)
The first half of the prayer is totally occupied with God and His interests. Only after that do we find personal petitions. Worship, praise, thanksgiving have first place!
2. THE DISCIPLE SHOULD PRAY AUDACIOUSLY
Sanders: “In light of the wide-ranging promises to the intercessor, it is surprising that our prayers are so tepid. They seldom soar above past experience of natural thought. How seldom we pray for the unprecedented, lead alone the impossible!”
God delights to answer prayers that are based on his promises. Jesus encouraged His disciples to ask as freely for the impossible as the possible.
Matthew 17:20-21 “…For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
Sanders: All difficulties are the same size to God!
3. DISCIPLES WILL SOMETIMES WRESTLE IN PRAYER
Colossians 4:12 NIV “Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.”
It is from the Greek word for ‘wrestle’ that we derive our word agonize. It is used in the NT of toiling until weary; the athlete on the track, straining every muscle and nerve; of the soldier battling for his very life.
4. THE DISCIPLE SHOULD PRAY WITH PERSISTENCE
Jesus told two parables about this.
The Three Friends (Luke 11:5-8, 13 CEV Suppose one of you goes to a friend in the middle of the night and says, “Let me borrow three loaves of bread. 6 A friend of mine has dropped in, and I don't have a thing for him to eat.” 7 And suppose your friend answers, “Don't bother me! The door is bolted, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up to give you something.” 8 He may not get up and give you the bread, just because you are his friend. But he will get up and give you as much as you need, simply because you are not ashamed to keep on asking. 9 So I tell you to ask and you will receive, search and you will find, knock and the door will be opened for you…. As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks.”
The Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8 CEV Jesus told his disciples a story about how they should keep on praying and never give up: 2 In a town there was once a judge who didn't fear God or care about people. 3 In that same
town there was a widow who kept going to the judge and saying, “Make sure that I get fair treatment in court.” 4 For a while the judge refused to do anything. Finally, he said to himself, “Even though I don't fear God or care about people, 5 I will help this widow because she keeps on bothering me. If I don't help her, she will wear me out.” 6 The Lord said: Think about what that crooked judge said. 7 Won't God protect his chosen ones who pray to him day and night? Won't he be concerned for them? 8 He will surely hurry and help them. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find on this earth anyone with faith?)
Why should we have to ask God persistently for anything? Isn’t once enough?
-God is not reluctant to give us any good gift.
-William E. Biederwolf suggests that persistence is an instructor in God’s school of prayer.
-The necessity of persistence is in us.
Two dangers in the disciple’s prayer life.
-Stumbling because of apparently unanswered prayers
-Developing a fatalistic attitude
5. THE PROBLEM OF UNANSWERED PRAYER
God does not always say yes to every prayer.
2 Corinthians 12:7-9 “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
Though Paul prayed repeatedly that his thorn would be removed, but God said no. It may be hard to accept God’s
answer when it is no, but He is all wise and we recognize his sovereignty.
Sometimes we ask from the wrong motive. (James 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.). God doesn’t undertake to answer every self-centered petition, but He does promise to answer every prayer that is according to His good and perfect will.
We may be substituting faith in prayer for faith in God. We do not believe in prayer - we believe in the God who answers prayer!
We may see a delay in the answer to prayer. A delayed answer is not necessarily a denied answer.
God’s timing is infallible. He takes every factor and contingency into account. We often want to pluck unripe fruit but He will not be pressured into premature action. If he, in His wisdom, delays the answer to our prayer, that delay will in the long run prove to be for our good (Hebrews 12:10). He either has something better for us or because there is something He desires to achieve in our lives that can be effected in no other way.
Conclusion
The Journey with Jesus is one that is marked by prayer. He was a man of prayer and we should be a people of prayer.
- Pray God’s Interests
- Pray Audaciously
- Pray with fervor
- Pray Persistently
- Pray even when answers seem absent
Revelation 5:8 describes the prayers in the golden bowls in the hands of the elders as incense before God. God loves to hear us pray.
John Piper: “And what a beautiful image to get down on your knees and say: I am right now going to light a sweet smelling lamp or candle and it is going to fill the room of heaven with a fragrance this afternoon or this morning that God is going to be pleased by.”
The Daily Trek of Discipleship includes prayer.
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Jesus Likes You: 50 Words for Stronger Faith
https://a.co/d/7uH03LT
Through Your Tears: Sorrow From Loss, Hope For Healing
https://a.co/d/7dxqNJ1
Lord, Hear My Prayer
https://a.co/d/agUhcSo
Lord, Hear My Prayer Journal
https://a.co/d/8I0wnMS
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Discussion Questions
1. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, we can read his answer in Matthew 6:9-13. Do you think he meant for them to repeat this prayer, use it as a model, or both? How has the Lord’s Prayer impacted your prayer life?
2. In the lesson it was suggested that worship, praise, thanksgiving have first place in our prayers. Why is that sometimes difficult to do? What are some ways you learn to do this better?
3. Why is it difficult to be persistent in prayer? What challenges do you face in maintaining a consistent prayer life? Have you ever felt a prayer was answered? How did it impact your faith?
4. How can we support each other in our prayer lives within this group? What are some ways we can pray for one another more effectively?
5. The lesson covered some thoughts about why it seems that God is not answering our prayer. Why is each one of these a challenge for us today?
- We ask from the wrong motive (what are some wrong motives in prayer?)
- We have more faith in our prayer than in God (what are some ways we can be focused on our performance in prayer rather than the God who answers prayer?)
- We may have an answer that is delayed for a season (do we trust God’s wisdom in answering prayer?)
6. How has your understanding of prayer evolved over time? What steps can you take to deepen your prayer life?
7. What else did you want to talk about today?
Next Week: Disciples Are Examples To Others
