When The Church Prays – part one
In Ephesians 6 we read;
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devils schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms..” Eph 6:10-12
In these verses, Paul makes it quite clear that we ARE in a fight, that we ARE in a struggle; a struggle NOT against flesh & blood, BUT against the devil; against an unseen enemy, against a wicked an enemy, against an enemy with mighty powers of darkness, against an enemy who has many strategies and tricks up his sleeve – all designed to trip you up and knock you down…and destroy you.
LISTEN we are in a war and we have an enemy…
PETER – talked about this enemy. AND - unfortunately it was an enemy that Peter knew from personal experience, it was an enemy that at times even got the best of Him. That is why Peter warns us in 1 Pe 5:8 to;
“Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour.” 1 Pe 5:8 (NLT)
LISTEN – the devil IS your great enemy and he is going to attack you… AND he prowls around like a roaring what? A roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Do you see that picture? A lion in the bushes, watching his prey – looking for those who are weak, alone or straggling behind. AND when he finds what he is looking for he pounces and devours them… UNDERSTAND – the question isn’t, IF the devil is going to attack, it’s WHEN.
AND UNDERSTAND – satan is very good at what he does… AFTER ALL - he has been doing for 1,000 of years to billions of people. And that lion - is watching you right now – in fact, he’s been watching you – waiting for that moment of weakness of vulnerability….
The apostle John talked about our enemy in Revelation 12:17
“Then the dragon became angry at the woman, and declared war against the rest of her children – (against) all who keep God’s commandments and confess they belong to Jesus.” Rev 12:17
Do you see what Jesus is revealing to us in his Revelation? LISTEN – satan (the dragon) is very angry - WHY? because the blood of the lamb – because Jesus Christ defeated him on the cross… And since there is nothing more that he can do to Jesus, satan NOW – has turned his fierce anger against the church (the woman) – against all those who keep God’s commands and against those who confess that they belong to Jesus… He has turned his fierce anger - against you… against me… against your home…against Central.
AND UNDERSTAND – satan, is perhaps the most powerful being there is, after Almighty God (Jude says in his letter that even Michael one of the mightiest of the angels – didn’t dare mess with satan) AND – if you are a Christian, satan has declared war on you.
LISTEN - we have an enemy, we are in a war…Right at this very moment – The lion is prowling, the dragon is angry… NOW - we can choose to ignore it, live as though it’s no big deal, play baseball, go fishing on a pier, sleep in our beds – we can live our life’s like we have nothing to fear… BUT we do so to our own destruction…. BECAUSE - we have an enemy who is not ever going to quit – we have an enemy who is going to keep coming at us again, and again and again…
AND – when he does he will take from us; things that belong to us, things that are rightly ours, because we are children of God. We are losing precious territory to this enemy… LISTEN – many are LOSING THEIR; peace, hope, joy, significance, guiltlessness, victory over sin & temptation, satisfaction & fullness of life and their freedom.
QUESTION – how do we declare war on satan. How do we fight an enemy that is so much more powerful than we are… How can we possibly stand firm, how can we hold our ground, let alone defeat, an enemy that is the most powerful being there is, next to God – How do we overcome - an enemy that knows us so well and has been engaged in this war against the Christian for 2,000 years… Those answers are found in 2 Corinthians 10;
“Though we live in the world we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary they have divine power to demolish strongholds…” (3,4)
How do we defeat satan? with divine weapons… AND we have talked about 3 divine weapons so far in 2002…
Divine Weapon # 1 is your mind…
And we learned on January 20th, that to turn your mind – (which is your first line of defense, which is a battle you must win or you have already lost the war) to turn your mind into a divine weapon – you must take captive every thought and make them obedient to Christ… AND you do that by renewing your mind… AND you renew your mind by;
1) changing your exposure (have you done that? Have you really changed your exposure? are still putting junk into your minds [music, movies,internet]? Are you still hanging out with ungodly people – “Don’t fool yourself: Bad friends WILL destroy you.” 1 Cor 15:34.”
LISTEN - some of you are losing the battle to satan because of your exposure… He is beaten the spiritual snot out of you – your exposure is making so easy for him…
2) increase your bible input (have you done that; QT, bible study)
3) soak yourself, meditate on God’s word and his truth
Divine Weapon # 2 is The Gospel
AND - the Gospel becomes a divine weapon when; the message of Jesus (who he is –God the Son in the flesh – and what He did, died for your sins and rose again) – The Gospel becomes a divine weapon when; we ashamedly, with a sense of obligation, and an eagerness >> share it – turning the world upside, down taking a hold of true life…Like all those Jesus freaks of the past – Paul, James, John, Peter, Polycarp, Jim Elliot…
QUESTION - have you taken the offensive in your life and hit the enemy with the one weapon that has, will, and can destroy him – the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Have you shared the good news with any one in the last 18 weeks?
[summer challenge; in next 10 weeks do everything you can to bring someone to Christ]
Divine Weapon # 3 is Love
AND – love is a powerful weapon – so powerful that it took us 9 weeks to talk about love… LISTEN - we just have to love God’s way. AND if we don’t the world will never know that we are His disciples, if we don’t - what we know, say, give, accomplish and even our own faith will not matter… means nothing…The bible says, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love..” Gal: 5:6 "Love is kind, Love does not envy, Love is humble, Love is respectful, Love is patient (controls it’s anger), Love is forgiving, Love speaks the truth…
YES – we are in a war. We have a powerful enemy. AND – the only way we can defeat him, the only way we can win this thing, the only way we can stand our ground - is if we wage THIS war with divine weapons!
LOOK BACK – at that verse in Ephesians – “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power…”
CIRCLE – “strong in the Lord” “His mighty power”
LISTEN – if we as a church and as individuals are ever going to be able to stand up against our enemy (the devil) it is going to be in HIS mighty power. AND if we are ever going to be strong enough to defeat him – our strength must be in the Lord…. “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power…”
TODAY – we begin a series of messages (I’m not sure how many) talking about divine weapon # 4. Divine weapon #4 is an incredible weapon – a weapon that is arguably the most powerful divine weapon that we have. A weapon that scripture says is powerful & effective…
What – is that weapon? Prayer….
NOW – I have to be real honest with you…I have really struggled with putting this series together. I was still struggling at 3:18 pm this Thursday. AND - part of me wanted to put this introductory sermon off yet another week…
YOU SEE - I feel both excited and afraid at the same time, as I begin talking about prayer. Excited because I know that prayer is so powerful and so effective… It’s kind of like the excitement you might feel when a great player is coming to your team, or a great general is about the lead your army, or a great CEO is about to take over your company… LISTEN - I am excited because I know that if we put this weapon out on the field, if we use this weapon in battle – if we let the weapon lead us forward – some incredible things are going to happen around here… YES – I’m pretty excited/pumped…
YET – I also feel afraid too. WHY? - because I do not feel any where close to being adequate enough to talk about this weapon… BUT - nevertheless I will just grab me a few smooth stones, take my sling, and step into the valley anyway….
PRAYER…
What Prayer Is…
Prayer is coming into the presence of God…
Prayer is entering the throne room of the KING of kings and LORD of lords…
Prayer is taking our concerns to the one who cares for me
Prayer is to stand on holy ground…
Prayer is communicating with the creator of the world…(the one spoke this world into existence with a word…mountains, oceans, stars…)
Prayer is a child talking to His Father…
Prayer is bringing our hurts to the father of compassion and the God of all comfort…
Prayer is reaching out to our redeemer…
Prayer is crying out to the rock that is higher than we are…
Prayer is calling out to the only one who can save us…
Prayer is touching the one who loves us with an unfailing & unquenchable love…
Prayer is bringing our questions to the one who has the answers
Prayer is reaching out to the NEVER; tired, confused, afraid or taken by surprise God…
Prayer is connecting our lives with the ALL knowing, ALL present – and ALL powerful KING of kings…
Prayer is coming near to God…
Moses told the people in Dt 4:7; “What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way our Lord is near us whenever we pray to him…”
What Prayer Can Do…
LISTEN – prayer can do a lot. AND the reason that it can do a lot, the reason that it is powerful and effective is that GOD is powerful and effective…
JUST – look at His creation… The Psalmist was right when he proclaimed;
“The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or a word; their voice is silent in the skies; YET their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to all the world” (19:1-4)
[Smokies, Oceans, Grand Canyon… “My God, Our God made that….”]
Checkout what these scriptures say about God…
“Is anything to hard for the Lord…” Gen 18:14
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Is there any limit to my power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!” Nu 11:23
When God was going to fill a valley full of water without any rain or wind, He said, “This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord.” 2 Kings 3:18
Jeremiah prayed to God, “O Sovereign Lord! You made the heavens and earth by your great power. Nothing is too hard for you..”
The Psalmist writes; “He gives His command to the earth, and it quickly obeys him.” Ps 147:15
An angel came directly from heaven to Mary and brought this message, “Nothing is impossible with God.” (Lk 1:37)
AND Jesus who knows God better than anyone said, “With God all things are possible…” (Mt 19:26)
WHEN God decided certain seas or rivers needed parting – HE parted them. WHEN his people were hungry – HE dropped from heaven or multiplied bread and fish). WHEN a storm endangered the lives of his disciples – HE stilled it. WHEN Joshua’s army need more daylight to win a victory - GOD stopped the sun from moving. WHEN his people were thirsty in the middle of a desert – HE said ‘see that rock Moses, I’ll provide water for these 2 million people from it.” WHEN – the lame, the blind, the lepers,WHEN the dead needed raising – God healed and God raised…
LISTEN – there is nothing God cannot do… AND UNDERSTAND - when we pray we have our father’s ear…
Moses prayed and God turned back his wrath… Jonah prayed and the great fish pit him out. David prayed and his enemies were defeated. Esther prayed and her people were saved from annihilation. Hannah prayed and she had a child. Samson prayed and the Philistine temple crumbled down. Hezekiah prayed and God added 15 years to his life… Nehemiah prayed and the walls of Jerusalem were built. Elijah prayed and the false prophets on Mt Carmel were destroyed. Young Josiah prayed and revival swept across the land…
An awesome picture of the power of prayer is seen in a battle that God’s people fought in the wilderness…
READ – Exodus 17:8-13
Moses’ Israel’s famous leader, is faced with a crisis. An enemy army has just arrived near Israel’s desert camp intent on wiping out Israel… Moses calls in his most capable military leader for a discussion of military strategy. After a thorough planning session, Moses announces the approach they will take. “Joshua,” he says, “tomorrow you take the best fighting men we have; lead them out on the plains to meet the enemy; and fight with courage. I am going to take 2 men with me, climb the hill that overlooks the plains and raise my hands toward heaven. I’m going to pray that God will pour out courage, protection and victory over our army.
[describe how the tide turned when he stopped praying]
E.M. Bounds a preacher during the civil war, a man who wrote much about prayer – and man who had the following said about him, in the introduction to the book that I just picked up, that contains all 7 of his books on prayer.. “Since the time of the apostles, no man besides Edward McKendree Bounds has left such a rich inheritance of research into the life of prayer. Prayer was as natural to him as breathing the air. He made prayer first and foremost in his life because he knew it as the strongest link between man and God.”
E.M. Bounds writes in His book, “The Weapon Of Prayer”
“Prayer affects 3 different spheres of existence: the divine, the angelic and the human. It puts God to work, it puts angels to work, and it puts people to work. It lays it’s hands upon God, angels and people. What a wonderful reach there is in prayer! It brings into play the forces of heaven and earth. God, angels, and people are subjects of this wonderful law of prayer and all 3 deal with the possibilities and the results of prayer.” (pg 22,23)
QUESTION – what can prayer do? Anything God can do…. AND – God can do anything!!
Why The Church Doesn’t Pray…
LISTEN – when we consider what prayer is and what it can do – and has done… It is amazing how little the church prays…
I have been a Christian since December 30, 1979 (yeah, I thought I’d be further along too). AND – I have been active in several churches in that time… Summerville Christian Church, Lebanon Church of Christ, First Christian Church in Kissimmee Florida, Winter Park Christian Church, Poinciana Christian Church, Okeechobee Christian Church, East Tampa Christian Church & Central Christian Church… AND – I have yet to be part of a ‘real’ praying church. I went to Florida Christian College for 4 years and did not experience even there prayer as God wants it to be… NOW – I don’t blame those places alone – because part of the problem is me… I was there – and I didn’t turn things around…
I’ve talked with preachers and youth ministers from all over the country and have yet to talk to one who feels that the churches where they serve are praying churches…
AND - I found it interesting as went through a Christian bookstore looking for stuff on prayer - AND I saw books with titles like – The Power of a Praying (wife, husband, parent, nation) BUT not The Power of a Praying Church…
I recently came across a Christian magazine called Pray… AND the cover article for May/June 2002 reads; “The Ultimate Challenge – getting the church on it’s knees.” It seems that this problem of prayerlessness in the church is not uncommon…
In a book that for the most part is awesome – ‘Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire’ ( a book I first read almost 2 years ago) the author Jim Cymbala writes;
“What does it say about our churches today that God birthed the church in a prayer meeting, and prayer meetings are almost extinct today?
Am I the only one who gets embarrassed when religious leaders in America talk about having prayer in public schools? We don’t have even that much prayer in many churches! Out of humility, you would think we would keep quiet on that particular subject until we practice what we preach in our own congregations…
I am sure that the Roman emperors didn’t have prayer to God in their schools. But then, the early Christians didn’t seem to care what Caligula or Claudius or Nero did. How could any emperor stop God? How, in fact could the demons of hell make headway when God’s people prayed and called upon his name? Impossible!
In the New Testament we don’t see Peter or John wringing their hands and saying, “Oh, what are we going to do? Caligula’s bisexual…he wants to appoint his horse to the Roman Senate…what a terrible model of leadership! How are we going to respond to this outrage?”
Let’s not play games with ourselves. Let’s not divert attention away from the weak prayer life of our own churches. When the apostles were unjustly arrested, imprisoned, and threatened, they didn’t call for a protest; they didn’t reach for political leverage. Instead, they headed to a prayer meeting…The apostles had this instinct: WHEN in trouble, pray. When intimidated, pray. WHEN challenged, pray. WHEN persecuted pray…” (pg 72,73)
And Cymbala also writes;
“If our churches don’t pray, and if people don’t have an appetite for God, what does it matter how many are attending our services? How would that impress God? Can you imagine the angels saying, “Oh your pews! We can’t believe how beautiful they are! Up in heaven, we’ve been talking about them for years. Your sanctuary lighting – it’s so clever. The way you have your steps coming up to the pulpit – it’s wonderful…”
I don’t think so. If we don’t want to experience God’s closeness here on earth, why would we want to go to heaven anyway?” (pg 58)
AND – do you know what is really sad – this lack of prayer in the church that we see today – this putting not just on the back burner, BUT in the garage the POWERFUL weapon of prayer – has been a problem in the church for a very long time…hundreds of years…
Fenelon a French writer of the late 1600’s writes;
“Of all the duties enjoined by Christianity, none is more essential and yet more neglected than prayer. Most people consider the exercise a fatiguing ceremony, which they are justified in abridging as much as possible. Even those whose profession or fears lead them to pray, pray with such languor (lethargy, sluggishness) that their prayers far from drawing down blessings, only increase their condemnation.”
E.M. Bounds writes in his book, “Purpose in Prayer”
“When we calmly reflect upon the fact that the progress of our Lord’s kingdom is dependent upon prayer, it is sad to think that we give so little time to the holy exercise. Everything depends on prayer, and yet we neglect it – not only to our own spiritual hurt, but also to the delay and injury of our Lord’s cause upon the earth. The forces of good and evil are contending for the world. If we would pray, we could add to the conquering power of the army of righteousness; and yet our lips are sealed, our hands hang listlessly by our side, and by holding back from the prayer chamber we jeopardize the very cause in which we profess to be deeply interested…” (pg 22)
WOW – that is powerful… AND those words were written about 150 years ago… BUT LISTEN – though this problem of prayerlessness is not new – I found no comfort at all that others have walked the path that the church is walking today,,,,
QUESTION - Why doesn’t the church pray?
NOW - there are a lot of reasons that we could list… we are too busy, we are too distracted, we are too independent, we don’t know how, we are too impatient, there is no one to hold us accountable…
BUT – I want to focus on is 3 major reasons why the church does not pray…
The first is satan… LISTEN – satan does not want us to pray. Satan’s main strategy with God’s people has always been to whisper, “Don’t call, don’t ask, don’t depend on God to do great things. You’ll get along just fine on your own… BUT UNDERSTAND – the truth of the matter is that the devil is not terribly frighten of our human efforts and credentials. BUT he knows his kingdom will be damaged when we lift up our hearts to God. SO – he’ll do anything he can, to stop us… SOMETIMES - he’ll get us so busy doing the work of the kingdom that we don’t take the time to talk to the king…
A second reason why the church doesn’t pray is that we misunderstand the purpose of prayer… LISTEN – the purpose of prayer is not: to get what we want and to make our lives better… (That’s why though I was the first to really talk about this Prayer of Jabez at Central. I don’t like it that much anymore…YOU SEE, as I’ve study and researched pray for weeks now, I can see how it promotes a how to get God to bless me approach to prayer. AND BESIDES – if the ‘Jabez’ prayer was that important & powerful we would see it in the NT and when Jesus was asked by the disciples teach us how to pray - Jesus would have said – “I’M glad you ask there was this dude in 1 Chronicles 4…”)
UNDERSTAND – when we see prayer as simply a means to our wish list and sit on the lap of Santa - to tell him what we want and what will make us happy – NOT ONLY – will our prayers have no power but we will soon grow weary of such one sided praying…
LISTEN – GET THIS – the purpose of prayer is twofold to advance the kingdom of God and to improve our relationship with God.
Bill Hybels – in his book on prayer writes; (pg 11,12)
A third reason why the church doesn’t pray is; that the church doesn’t believe in prayer…
READ Luke 18:1-8
What Happens When The Church Doesn’t Pray…
We lose, we don’t move forward, we don’t impact the world….
“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. “What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground.” Zech 4:6,7
LISTEN – when the church fails to pray – she unplugs herself from her power source…
[visual…laptop; fan; ..etc]
UNDERSTAND – once we unplug – it does not matter how pretty our building is OR how many people are here – BECAUSE we are not going to go to far – we are running are spiritual tanks on fumes and we will end up broken down on the side of the road, without prayer we will not be leveling many mountains, overcoming many obstacles…
How Jesus’ Feels About Our Prayerlessness…
QUESTION – have you ever heard the expression – one picture is worth a thousand words…
SHOW – video clip from visual bible of Mt 21:12,13….
What got Jesus so ticked? LISTEN - as the coins were falling and the feathers were flying – and the business men were shouting for the police, Jesus cries above the roar, “This place looks and feels more like a mall than a temple. Whatever happen to Isaiah’ word about the real point of this building – to be a house of prayer for all nations? Out! Get out all of you!”
UNDERSTAND – the feature that is to stand out in the church is – prayer… NOTICE Jesus did not say… My house should be called a house: of music, of preaching… NOW those thing are great BUT – they must never override or take the place of prayer… WHY? BECAUSE of prayers purpose (to advance the kingdom and draw us closer to God) AND – because of what prayer can do – ANYTHING…..
We Need Some Hilkiah’s…
In 2 Chronicles 34; there is an awesome story about a priest named Hilkiah – who was helping with some of the temple restoration. AND – one day while doing this work he found something that had been lost for years (Do you know what it was?). The word of God [kind of crazy isn’t it, to be building God’s Temple with his word buried in the ground]… BUT - Hilkiah once he found it dusted it off, and took it to King Josiah and a great revival swept across the land…
LISTEN – as we seek to build God’s church here…at Central… It’s is just as crazy to try to do it without really using the divine weapon of prayer…
BOTTOMLINE - We need some Hilkiah’s to dig up and dust off this incredible weapon of prayer….
QUESTION – will you be a Hilkiah, will you dare to believe that prayer can do some amazing, incredible things…?
