What is PRAYER?
1.0 INTRODUCTION:
There may be some of you here today who have never prayed in your life to the One and True God. You may ask yourself:
. Is there a God who cares about me? Yes, so much so that Jesus came to die for us.
. How can I know about Him? Well the Bible reveals Him very clearly
. How can I communicate with Him? By prayer.
2.0 PRAYER
I would like to look at three points about PRAYER
2.1 Why do we pray
Many people see prayer merely as a religious duty that we have to carry out. Some pray for a number of motives.
There are many people who even go to Church on Sunday and do not know how to communicate with Him.
Story:
A friend of mine, Alun Morris once told a story of a very irreligious man, who he knew in Switzerland. One Sunday he met him going to a confirmation service. And as the man walked in, Alun watched as he bowed his head for a minute standing in front of the altar. Alun was very impressed.
After the service Alun went up to him and said: I didn’t know you were that religious,I liked the way you prayed up there. The man looked at Alun furtively and said: Well actually I didn’t pray, I just counted from one to ten.
So why do we pray?
2.1.1. As a Divine insurance policy.
To appease an angry God. If we do not pray and bring God offerings things will not go well for us. I won’t get that promotion or I will lose a loved one?.
2.1.2. As a religious duty.
God wants us to pray, I’ve no idea why, but I must do it. Then I will be blessed.
2.1.3. To make them a better person
When I was little, when I had to pray it was "God bless Mummy and Daddy and make Martin a good boy." IT DIDN’T WORK!!!!!!
2.1.4. Spiritual Snobbery
I pray because I am a better person and in this way I can reach a higher plane of consciousness.
2.2 What is Prayer?
2.2.1 Turning to God
It is the turning of a person to God
As it says in 2 Chr. 7.14
If my people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sin and will heal their land.
If we don’t repent and come in a humble attitude we can FORGET to PRAY.
2.2.2 Communication
It is talking to God a conversation between us and God as a friend
- Needs to be TWO WAY.
We need also to LISTEN to the Voice Of God.
As it says in the Psalms: Be Still and Know that I am God. Ps. 46:10
2.2.3 The Presence of God
It is the experience of the Presence of God
It is a divine experience. It should be one of awesomeness. It is not a time to be rushed. We sometimes fall into the trap of being too "chummy" with God. We lose our respect for Him. We really need to watch out for this. He is an awesome God.
Ecclesiastes 5:1-2
Guard your steps when you go to the House of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.
2.2.4 Contact of heaven to earth
It is where heaven and earth meet.
Jesus promises us ABUNDANT LIFE.
I am come that they may have life and have it to the full (Jn 10:10)
Prayer is that ACCESS to ABUNDANT LIFE in CHRIST JESUS.
This week I want to deal with my second point:
2.3 How to Pray:
Here is a mnemonic on how to pray
Praise
Repentance
Asking
Yes it’s for You
Expect to hear
Response from God.
2.3.1. Praise
The book of Psalms is full of praise to God. Psalm 150 is a psalm full of praise.
How do we do it? By speaking and singing to God
Ps. 33.2 Praise the Lord with the harp. Make music to him on the ten stringed lyre.
Aside: We had to make do with a twelve stringed guitar instead this morning!!
Why should we do it?
A fourfold reason:
1 Peter 2.9: You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people belonging to God that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
It is a call for Christians to do:
Hebr. 13.15: Through Jesus, therefore let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that confess his name.
Sometimes, when we are feeling down, it comes as a sacrifice and costs us much to praise God.
What does Praise do?
I. It changes our perspective.
I look to God for my strength. My problems are put aside and I look at HIM.
II. I can win the victory.
In the book of Chronicles, there were very few kings of Judah that did right in the sight of God and none in the Kingdom of Israel. Jehosophat, King of Judah is one who is described as walking in the ways of his father Asa and not straying from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord (2 Chr.20:32).
2 Chr. 20.22 As they began to sing and praise the Lord, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah and they were defeated.
When Jehosophat had a problem, he prayed in Church (the Temple) v.5. And in the meeting, a word of comfort a word of prophecy came in v.14-17 with instructions on how the victory was to come about.
Aside: Here is a clear indication how when we have problem and we all come together before God, how God ministers with His Spirit, in this case a word of prophecy given by Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the Son of Benaiah.
What can we learn. Regular meeting in church is where we need to be when we have problems, where the Lord can use the ministry of all the members of the church to support one another, not as some say: I was not feeling well so I did not come to church today. When there are problems that is where God will answer you, when your church is open for the moving of God’s Spirit.
And we see that Praise released the Victory.
As we praise God it releases the power of God in our lives for the victory.
2.3.2. Repentance
This is an integral part of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Turning to God from sin
Matt.3:2 John the Baptist’s message:Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.
We see Peter in Acts 3: 19 saying:
Repent then, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.
Repentance brings with it TIMES OF REFRESHING.
One of the most beautiful stories in the Old Testament is the repentance of King Manasseh in 2 Chr. 33: 1-20. Here was probably the most wicked King of Judah. He practised divination and sorcery. He caused his sons to pass through the fire as an offering probably to an idol. Legend has it that he executed Isaiah the prophet by having him sawn in two.
His wickedness was so bad that God punished him by the hand of the King of Assyria, Sennacherib. We read in 2 Chr. 33.11 how he was taken prisoner and a hook was put through his nose.
(You know they put hooks through the noses of bulls so that they can control the bull - it is so painful when the hook is turned that the bull is as obedient as a little lamb).
We read a key verse in 2 Chr.33.12. Manesseh sought the favour of the Lord and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.
And he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea, so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manesseh knew that the Lord is God.
It is interesting that Josephus, the jewish historian describes Manesseh, after his experience as "the one of happiest men on earth". His experience was that God can forgive whatever sin there is. No one is too bad for God.
Story:
In the 18th Century, a similar man was the slave trader John Newton. He swore and cursed. He sold slaves. Yet when he found God he renounced this evil, became a vicar in the Anglican Church. (They never did have high standards did they!!!!
Together with William Wilberforce was used of God to outlaw slavery. He was one of the leading men of the Evangelical Revival in England. You may know him as the author of the famous hymn: "Amazing Grace".
No one is too bad for the Grace of God, if he repents.
2.3.3. Asking
I’ll give you a mnemonic for ASK - Luke 11:9
Ask and it shall be given unto you
Seek and you shall find
Knock and the Door shall be opened unto you.
There are three types of prayer. Devotion, Petition and Intercession.
2.3.3.1 Devotional prayer.
Private Devotions. We need to shut ourselves away and have this intensely personal prayer time with God. The devil is out to get us so busy that we overlook our time with God.
Matt. 6: 5/6: And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you they have their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room close the door and pray to the Father who is unseen. Then your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
Jesus after intense ministry used to go away, even from his closest disciples to pray quietly.
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and went off to a solitary place where he prayed.(Mark. 1:35)
If Jesus needed it, don’t we even more?
2.3.3.2 Petition
Petition: ie Asking God for my needs
for someone else’s needs
2.3.3.3 Intercession:
Persistent Petition for my needs
for someone else’s needs
2.3.4. Yes it’s for You
Do you believe God is interested to ANSWER YOUR PRAYER?
This is the part that I can put my own testimony in.
2.3.5. Expect to hear
Do you expect to hear from God? Really I mena
Story:
When my children ask me a question, they do so in the expectation that they will GET an answer. It might not always be the one they want to hear. And they repeat it again if they don’t get an answer.
When we expect to hear then we need to learn to LISTEN.
The Lord says in Is. 51.7: Hear me you who know what is right, you people who have my law in your hearts.
You will not hear the response from God until you LISTEN to Him.
2.3.6. Response from God.
We think that because we humans have only a limited capacity to take in so is GOD. NOT SO!. HE IS ABLE and WILLING to listen and answer you.
Some people do not expect an answer because they think God is too busy to care about them. He is only interested in the BIG things and not the little things: Well he’s interested in BOTH. The big and the little things.
