You Might Be A Healthy Christian If............. (Series)
You pray even when things are good.
July 22, 2001 First Baptist Church, Chester, Illinois Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction:
1. There was a tavern being built in a town that was formally dry.
A. The baptist church held an all night prayer vigel.
a. Lighting struck the empty tavern and it burnt to the ground.
b. The tavern owner sued the church and was holding it responsible.
B. The Christians hired a lawyer and claimed they weren’t responsible.
a. When the case went to court and said, "No matter how this case comes out, one thing is clear. The tavern owner believes in prayer and the Christians do not."
b. We’re going to be talking about prayer today.
2. You might be a healthy Christian if....You pray even when things are good.
A. We’ll spend the next four weeks looking at what healthy Christians look like.
*EXEGESIS:
James (½ brother of Jesus, writing to THE church...US. Prayer was a big part of James’ life. His nickname was "Old Camel Knees." He wore calluses on his knees. Wow. He’s a prayer expert.
a. James 5:13-16
JAS 5:13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. [14] Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. [15] And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. [16] Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
b. God wanted people to pray. (Essence of the Text)
B. Healthy Christians have a healthy prayer life. (Essence of the Sermon)
a. I hope you will spend quality time in prayer everyday. (Objective)
b. On a scale from 1 to 10, how healthy is your prayer life? (Probing Question)
Transitional Sentence: Let’s look at two indicators of a healthy prayer life.
I The first indicator of a healthy prayer life is....PERSISTENCE. (vv:13,14)
A James told the church to pray with persistance.
a If your in trouble.....pray.
If your in good times......pray. (Through songs of praise)
b Jesus taught this same principle of persistence in Luke 11:9-10.
LK 11:9 "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. [10] For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
(The imparitives in vv:9 and the participles in vv:10)
*Keep asking, Keep seeking, Keep knocking
*It doesn’t take a lot of faith, commitment and effort to pray once about something and stop.
B Being persistant with prayer makes it apparent to God that its important to us.
a It doesn’t mean we’ll get what we asked for.
(IL) Matthew 26:39, 42,44
Jesus prayed three times for his cup to pass from Him. Persistent!
(IL) 2 Cor. 12:7-9
Paul prayed three times for the removal of his thorn in the flesh..Persistent
b A healthy Christian can pray with confidence that God may not necessarily give us what we ask for, but He’ll give us what is best!
C Pastor Stephen Bly, of Winchester, Idaho was fortunate enough to have seen the beauty of a healthy Christians prayer life.
a August (Gus) Jensen was an 84 year old widower who sat at the back of the church. (Most would say he didn’t have a lot to offer. Pastor Bly found out different when he spend the day with him.)
*Gus spent 2 ½ hours everyday in bible study & prayer.
*Then he walked 3 miles where he talked with God.
*Currently, Gus was fasting 2 meals a day & praying for the salvation of a neighborhood boy named Anthony. (Anthony was good for getting into mischief)
*"How long have you prayed for Anthony, Gus?" "40 days." Gus replied.
*How much longer will you continue? As long as it takes.
*On day 51, Anthony committed his life to Christ.
b. A healthy Christian has a persistent prayer life.
T.S.: Persistence is an indicator of a healthy Christians prayer life, but its not the only one.
II The second indicator of a healthy prayer life is....FAITHFUL PRAYING. (vv:15,16)
A James tells the type of prayer that makes a difference.
a Faith (Gk. Pistis) You believe because you’ve heard about God.
*Didn’t see, feel....simply heard and believed. You believe God will answer..period.
*If you pray, don’t worry. If you worry, don’t pray.
b Righteous (Gk. Dikaios): Living right in God’s sight.
1PE 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous (dikaios) and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."
*Pray all you want..if your not living (doing) a life of faith...what does God do with your prayers? Turns His Face!
B We can make a difference with our prayers.
a When Jesus went to His hometown of Nazareth, He was not allowed to do great things because something was missing. (Mark6:5-6)
[5] He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. [6] And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.
*The act of FAITH is necessary for God to act.
**(IL) Little Rachel went to bed and said, "Lord, today was wonderful. I can’t wait to see what your going to do tomorrow."
*She expected God to do something big. Do You?
b Living to please God. (Righteous)
(IL.) Kenneth Bruner, stepson of a pastor, before he and seven other accplices held up Herman’s Fine Jewelry in Des Moines, Iowa. He prayed that nobody would hurt in the heist. Nobody got hurt, but Kenneth and his praying band of thieves wound up with federal indictments and not the jewels.
*If your living like hell, don’t expect the God of heaven to hear your prayers.
I
C A lieutenant was sitting in his office when a five star general came into and sit down.
a. The phone rang and as the lieutenant was reaching for the phone, the general intercepted his hand and said, "Whoever it is, they can’t be more important than me."
b God is more important than everyone else and is therefore worthy of our attention in prayer.
*I want to give you system to use in your prayer time. (Easy to follow & use)
Adoration: Tell God why you love Him.
Confession: Telling God "Your right, I’m wrong" Let God speak to you and reveal your sin.
Thanksgiving: Thank Him for your blessings.
Supplication: Intercession & Petition (Intercession is for others & Petition is for yourself)
Conclusion:
1. The power of prayer is not in the one who prays, but in the one who hears it. Healthy Christians have a healthy prayer life.
A. We’ve looked at two indicators of a healthy prayer life.
a Persistence: Continual, during good & bad times.
b Faithful: Trust with your life and God will move in your life.
B. I hope you will spend quality time in prayer everyday.
a Remember Peter and his walking on the water? (Matt. 14:26, 28-29)
* [26] When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It’s a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. MT 14:27 But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid." MT 14:28 "Lord, if it’s you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." MT 14:29 "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
*Jesus could have enabled all 12 of the disciples to walk on the water..the only disciple that walked was Peter. Why?
*He asked.
b. You can either stay in boat and pray the waters don’t get you or you can go to God in prayer and ask to do big things in your life.
2. On a scale from 1 to 10, how healthy is your prayer life?
A. In 1986, Vera Reeder of Fort Worth, TX received an amazing get-well card from her 6-year-old grand daughter, Melissa, who lived at Fort Worth at that time too.
a. Melissa wrote (on her own hand made card)
"Dear Nana, I hope you fel beter."
*She asked her mother how to spell "Watson", then asked for a stamp. (Mom figured she was doing a little project and directed her to a little green S & H stamp instead of the regular postage stamp.)
b The next day, Melissa’s Nana found an envelope in her mailbox simply addressed. Nana, 1712 Watson. Return address simply "Melissa".
*Her green stamp had been postmarked like a regular piece of mail.
*The anonymous hero at the post office remained anonymous, but the postal service oficials were real proud of the extra effort taken with Melissa’s
B. Prayer can be a lot like Melissa’s letter.
a. It doesn’t have to be perfect, eloquent for God to receive it. It just needs to be delivered from our heart.
b. On a scale from one to 10, how healthy is your prayer life?
