CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE: PRAYER
LUKE 11:1
INTRODUCTION
Of all the spiritual disciplines we will speak about, prayer is the most important. How can I say that? How do I know that prayer is the most important spiritual discipline? It is prayer (and only prayer!) that allows us into the deepest parts of our spirit and His Spirit. I want to remind you of something I said last week in reference to meditation. What did I say was the one way you would get good/find meaning in meditation? Practice. It is the same with prayer. Real, deep, and meaningful prayer is something we learn. The disciples, perhaps in one of their few shining moments, had the wisdom and the foresight to ask Jesus in Luke 11:1: “Lord, teach us to pray.”
I want to speak to you today and bring to your attention some truths about prayer. I hope these truths will encourage you in your prayer life. I hope these truths will get you excited about prayer and commit yourself to it. I have already shared one truth and that is that prayer takes practice. There are four truths that I wish to speak with you about this morning: First, prayer is connecting with God. Second, we should pray expecting change to occur. Third, prayer is listening. And fourth, prayer is simple.
I. PRAYER IS CONNECTING WITH GOD
If I had to define prayer with one definition, “connecting with God” would be it.
“Connecting with God” defines prayer by giving it purpose, direction, and a map to guide us. Our prayer should be about communing with the Creator. We connect with God so that His Power and Life can flow through us. When we connect with God, we become stronger spiritually. When we connect with God, we will know His will for our lives and will be able to make Godly decisions. When we connect with God, we are able to resist temptation. When we connect with God, we are able to forgive one another and love one another.
ILLUSTRATION… Discipleship Journal, 11-12/92
A recent survey of Discipleship Journal readers ranked areas of greatest spiritual challenge to them:
1. Materialism
2. Pride
3. Self-centeredness
4. Laziness
5. (Tie) Anger/Bitterness
5. (Tie) Sexual lust
6. Envy
7. Gluttony
8. Lying
Survey respondents noted temptations were more potent when…
they had neglected their time with God (81 percent)
and when they were physically tired (57 percent).
Resisting temptation was accomplished by prayer (84 percent), avoiding compromising
situations (76 percent), Bible study (66 percent), and being accountable to someone (52 percent).
II. WE SHOULD PRAY EXPECTING CHANGE TO OCCUR
I know for a fact that Scripture teaches over and over again about this truth. “Ask
anything in my name, ” Jesus said. James writes, “Is any of you are sick… pray.” Moses was faced with leading the Israelites through the desert for 40 years, do you think his prayers were not ones that expected God to do something. Again and again in Scripture we are taught that we are to pray with our faith. We are to pray expecting God to change the situation. When you pray for those on our prayer lists: those who are sick, in nursing homes, grieving—do you really believe that what you say will happen? If not, then why should God do it?
ILLUSTRATION… Brett Blair, Sermon Illustrations, 1999
Pastor Joe Wright of Kansas was asked to lead the Kansas State Senate in prayer. They were expecting the usual formal prayer to open the session but that is not what happened. The pastor used the moment a confessional and prophetic opportunity. As he prayed there were some senators who got up and walked out but Paul Harvey got a hold of the prayer and read it on his program he got more requests for copies of it than any other thing he had ever done.
Here’s what he prayed:
"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that’s exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values. We confess that:
We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism.
We have worshipped other gods and called it multi-culturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it a choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
We have abused power and called it political savvy.
We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the airwaves with profanity and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas, and who have been ordained by You, to govern this great state. Grant them Your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your
will... Amen
I believe that he prayed that prayer with the expectation that God would change the hearts of those state senators in that room. That is why he didn’t pray the normal prayer… he believe in his heart that God would cleanse those men in the room and direct their paths. If he didn’t believe that, why else pray those things? We must believe that what we ask for will be done. We must pray with the expectation that God will move and change and heal and give hope.
III. PRAYER IS LISTENING
Soren Kierkegaard once remarked, “A man prayed, and at first he thought that prayer was
Talking. But he became more and more quiet until the end he realized that prayer is listening.” Here is where I think building on last week’s thought about meditation can be helpful. We have to quiet ourselves to be able to hear God. It is difficult to understand someone if both people are talking at the same time. Why should it be any different in prayer? If we are talking constantly, how will God ever get a word in? Listening to God is the first important thing in prayer. Listening is the second and third. We must allow ourselves to become calm and to tune ourselves into God’s voice.
ILLUSTRATION… TV and radio signals
IV. PRAYER IS SIMPLE
We should never make prayer too complicated. We are prone to do this once we begin to
practice and learn. Jesus taught us to come to God like children come to their father. Openness, honesty, and trust are the marks of good communication between children and their parents. The reason God answers prayer is because we ask. The reason God gives us gifts is because we seek. The reason God opens the door is because we knock. Prayer is simple in that it is the communication of a child to a Father and we should not make it more complicated than that.
CONCLUSION
Archbishop Tait says, “I want a life of greater, deeper, truer prayer.”
