HoHum:
Can we do a series on prayer? Well, I’ll pray about it. Bob Hostetler found himself praying about if he should help with a new product called the Prayer Bible. Bob accepted the writing assignment. Bob spent the next 2 months reading and praying through the last half of the OT, from Job through Malachi. As he prayed he jotted down prayers and added notes. any additional material. Job 26:14: “And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?” Bob prayed here: “God of power and might, even the ‘minor’ things you do are amazing, though they merely whisper of your power. I praise you for all your works; they are much too wonderful for me to understand.”
David in the Cave of Adullum in Psalm 142:3: “When my spirit grows faint within me,
it is you who watch over my way.” Bob prayed, “Life overwhelms me, O God. You alone know the way I should go; please whisper your will in my ears with every step I take.” When Ezekiel unfolded his vision of the valley of dry bones, I prayed, “Thank you, Father, for the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. Empower me today to live in the newness of life that you have given me.” As Daniel spent the night with lions, I prayed, “God, I thank you that you are able to keep me and protect me through every circumstance, and bring me into your ‘glorious presence innocent of sin and with great joy (Jude 24).” I prayed all the way through Malachi’s prophecy, and in the 4th chapter, where he promised the coming Sun of Righteousness who would arise with “healing in his wings (Malachi 4:2),” I prayed, “Thank you, Father, for the healing righteousness that you sent through your Son, Jesus Christ. May he rise in more people’s hearts, like the bright morning sun.” Now the notes in the Prayer Bible can be used to help people in their devotional lives. The book of common prayer has been used for centuries to bless people as they go through the prayers and readings. Often hear the serenity prayer today: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time. Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace. Taking, as he did, the sinful world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that he will make all things right if I surrender to His will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with Him forever. —Reinhold Niebuhr, 1892-1971. Now this is good but much like the model prayer it can become vain repetition. Many people today are saying that we need to go back to the Bible and base our payers on Scripture.
WBTU:
Jesus, when he battled the evil one, triumphed over the devil with Scripture. 3 times Jesus quoted Scripture. Jesus used the Bible to defeat temptation. Did we know that Jesus prayed Scripture, leaving us an example to follow. How do we know this? Go to Matthew 27:46. People have puzzled over Jesus’s cry here both then and now. These words show that Jesus felt forsaken in His last moments of life. At this moment the Father turned His face from Jesus, unable to look on Him because of all the sin He bore. Ok, but we are missing out on the fact that Jesus is quoting from the first line of Psalm 22. Go to Psalm 22. This was written about 1,000 years before by King David but they reflect with starling accuracy- Jesus’s situation on the cross: Read vs. 6-8, then vs. 14-18. Matthew 27:46 says that Jesus cried out in a loud voice. Need to mention that Jesus is on the cross. To say anything from the cross required strength to lift oneself up and to say anything took precious energy. Jesus said 7 things from the cross; why was he not preaching a sermon?; unable because of weakness, because of limited lung capacity; every word said from the cross has great meaning. Jesus said the first line of Psalm 22 employing the common technique rabbis used, a verbal shorthand in which part of a command or sentence served to evoke the whole, much like a modern speaker might say, “A penny saved,” trusting others to fill in the rest “is a penny earned.” There seems to be little doubt that Jesus, drawing from His Jewish upbringing and education, prayed biblically in that moment, drawing from this psalm that was most keenly applicable to His situation and most fully expressed His agony and His confident hope. He probably was praying the rest of the psalm silently for his own benefit. Read vs. 19-21 give a prayer from the victim. We see the Lord’s answer in vs. 21-24. In vs. 30-31 we see the results of the resurrection.
Jesus last statement from the cross is also from Scripture. Luke 23:46 says, “Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.” With those words, Jesus echoed the words of his ancestor David from Psalm 31:5: “Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, LORD, my faithful God.”
Jesus could have prayed these 2 prayers silently. In fact, those 2 times Jesus prayed Scripture were the only 2 times the Gospel writers described Jesus as speaking “with a loud voice,” from the cross. As if He wanted to be sure His followers heard those prayers. It is easy to imagine several reasons for that, and it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that one reason was because there is great comfort, strength, and blessing in praying the Word of God.
Thesis: Pray the Bible
For instances:
A. Pray the Psalms
No accident the 2 examples we have of Jesus praying scripture while on the cross came from the Psalms. The Psalms have been the prayer book of God’s people almost since they were first written. Jonah 2 gives us an example of praying to God using the Psalms while Jonah is in the belly of the whale. Many statements from the Psalms found there. Many people have found comfort, strength, encouragement, and blessing by not only reading the Psalms but also praying them- consciously making the words of the psalmist their own. I have been reading through the Bible slowly in my devotional times. Nearing the end and I believe that I will focus on the Psalms next. Who is with me? Not only have a Bible study but also jump start my prayers. Might pray Psalm 27 when we are afraid: “The LORD is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?” May choose to pray a common refrain from Psalm 42, 43 when we are discouraged or depressed: “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Psalm 1 can help us pray for wisdom and righteousness in our lives. Psalm 19 can help us praise God. Psalm 52 can aid our confession and repentance. Psalm 138 can help us express gratitude. Praying the Psalms enlarges our prayer vocabulary, teaching us to pray the whole range of human experience. It gives us words for otherwise inexpressible thoughts and feelings. It gives us permission to say things we might otherwise never say. Over time it stores within us a catalog of prayers to call upon in dark, confusing, or devastating times.
B. Pray the prayers of the Bible
If we pray the Lord’s prayer, we already pray at least one of the prayers found in the Bible. If we pray the Psalms we are mining the richest prayer being ever known to humanity. Even so, there are many more prayers in the Bible that can aid our praying and many that can provide help when we are not sure what to pray. Often ask people, How do you want me to pray? Any prayer requests? Sometimes when I am asked to pray for someone without knowing details about their need, I can pray Ephesians 3:14-21 (changing the pronouns from “you” to their name). Or we can pray Paul’s pray for enlightenment in Colossians 1:9-12 (again altering the pronouns). Other prayers we can pray include the early church’s prayer for boldness (Acts 4:24-30), the priestly prayer of blessing (Numbers 6:24-26). Jabez’s prayer for influence (1 Chronicles 4:10). Participated online with Anne Graham Lotz on the National Day of Prayer as she and the group prayed through Daniel 9:4-19 about bringing revival to the USA, can also use Nehemiah 9:5-37 in this way but a longer section. 2 Chronicles 7:14 is a great Scripture but Solomon’s prayer is much longer and there are prayer points that can be used even there. Now some of this does not apply to our day and covenant but can be a good springboard for our prayers.
C. Pray the promises of God
Charles Finney said, “There are general promises and principles laid down in the Bible that Christians might make use of it they would only think. Whenever you are in circumstances to which the promises or principles apply, you are to use them.”
6 promises of God we can hold on to:
1. GOD IS WITH us.
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. – Isaiah 41:10
2. GOD WILL STRENGTHEN us.
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” – Psalm 46:1
3. GOD WILL HELP us.
“For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.'” – Isaiah 41:13
4. GOD WILL HOLD us.
“I cling to you; your right hand upholds me..” – Psalm 63:8
5. GOD WILL GIVE us WISDOM.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” – James 1:5
6. GOD CAN BE TRUSTED.
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful” – Hebrews 10:23
Now we have to be mindful of the differences between the 2 covenants. Preached a sermon about Caleb and said that we need to take back the land. Had a man who thought I was going to lead a crusade to fight like Israel to take back the land. No, some of the promises are altered between the 2 covenants and some of the promises are personal such as to Hezekiah who was promised another 15 years, that is personal to Hezekiah. Even so, praying Scripture can be an immense blessing.
So what?
Wesley and Stacey Campbell describe in their book Praying the Bible: The Pathway to Spirituality: A few years ago, we were ministering in the mountains of Puebla, which is about a 4 hour drive from Mexico City. The situation was most desperate. The Indians of the area lived in villages built atop mountain peaks a mile high in the air, which meant that in order to get water, the villagers had to walk a mile straight down to the valley below. These villagers were descendants of the ancient Inca and Aztec tribes. Warring factions had driven these people to build on the very tops of the mountains in order to protect themselves from their enemies. Farming was difficult and life was very harsh. Today alcoholism is rampant and violence and abuse are epidemic. It hardly seemed the place for 2 single Mexican senoritas to start church planting. Yet these 2 girls had braved the odds and seen scores of village Indians come to Christ and be baptized. At the end of one long day of preaching, one of these young church planters came up to me to give a testimony. “You will not remember me,” she said, “but I was in one of your meetings in Mexico City. At that conference you taught about praying the Bible. You were talking about the missionaries of old and how the Celtic monks prayed the whole book of Psalms every week. Since the conference was called ‘The Revolution,’ you told us to ‘pray the whole book of Psalms every week, for a number of months, and a revolution will take place in your life.’ Beaming, she continued, “I began to do this. Six months later I gave up my practice as an accountant and here I am. I wouldn’t be doing anything else. Thank you for teaching me to pray the Bible.” Driving down the mountains that night, I realized afresh the power of praying the Bible. It changes the lives of those who do it and the lives of those they touch.
