When The Church Prays…
In Hebrews 10:19,20 we read;
“So, brother and sisters, we are completely free to enter the Most Holy place without fear because of the blood of Jesus’ death. We can enter through a new and living way that Jesus opened for us. It leads through the curtain – Christ’s body.” (NCV)
NOW – that is a powerful couple of verses…
CIRCLE – “Completely free…”
We are completely free to enter the MOST Holy Place
(explain the Holy Place – presence of God…)
CIRCLE – “without fear”
Without fear – (remember the fear the people had at the base of Mt Sinai)
“So, brother and sisters, we are completely free to enter the Most Holy place without fear because of the blood of Jesus’ death.
WHY? Can we enter because of the blood, because of the death of Jesus.
“We can enter through a new and living way that Jesus opened for us. It leads through the curtain – Christ’s body.”
CIRCLE – “new & living” - LISTEN – Jesus opened up a new and living way. UNDERSTAND – it is Jesus’ torn body that allows us to come into God’s presence.
I love what Paul writes in Ephesians 3:12;
“Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come fearlessly into God’s presence, assured of his glad welcome.” (NLT)
DID YOU – catch that not only do I have nothing to fear when I come into God’s presence – BUT – God wants me there…
AND Checkout Hebrews 4:14-16;
“Since we have a great high priest, Jesus the Son of God, who has gone into heaven, let us hold on to the faith we have. For our high priest is able to understand our weaknesses. When he lived on earth, he was tempted in every way just as we are, but he did not sin. Let us, then, feel very sure that we can come before God’s throne of grace. There we can receive mercy and grace to help us when we need it.” (NCV)
LAST WEEK – we began looking at divine weapon #4, YES - on June 2nd we began a journey that God intends to use to radically change Central forever…in ways far beyond even our imagination. Last week we began talking about prayer…
AND – in that introductory message we said that prayer among many other things IS; coming into the presence of God; it is entering the throne room of the KING of kings and LORD of lords; it is communicating with the creator of the world; it is a child talking to His Father; it is bringing our questions to the one who has the answers; it is reaching out to the NEVER; tired, confused, afraid or taken by surprise God; it 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…”
CIRCLE – ”Our Lord is near us whenever we pray to him…”
We also said last week that prayer can do anything, BECAUSE God can do anything; “WITH God all things are possible.” Mt 19:26
Waters part, storms are stilled, stars are hung, disease is cured, giants fall, our enemies are defeated and hearts are changed through prayer….
NOW – those first 2 points were & are, pretty awesome – HOWEVER - the third point was and is tragic… Do you remember what the third point last week was – “Why Doesn’t The Church Pray…” AND the church doesn’t…
AGAIN – I like to share some more words from EM Bounds a prayer warrior who wrote the following nearly 150 years ago today;
“We have every reason to fear that we are doing more of other things than prayer. This is not a praying age; it is an age of great activity, of great movements, but one in which the tendency is very strong to stress the seen and the material, and to neglect and discount the unseen and the spiritual. Prayer is the greatest of all forces because it honors God and brings him into active aid. There can be no substitute, no rival for prayer; it stands alone as the great spiritual force, and this force must be imminent and acting..if any great movement is to be advanced…
BUT we cannot run our spiritual operations on the prayers of the past generations. Many people believe in the power (efficacy) of prayer, but not many people pray. Prayer is the easiest and the hardest of all things. It is the simplest and the most sublime, the weakest and the most powerful. It’s results lie outside the range of human possibilities; they are limited only by the omnipotence of God
Few Christians have anything but a vague idea of the power of prayer; fewer still have any experience of that power. The church seems almost wholly unaware of the power God puts in her hand… It is astounding how little we use it, and how little we reap its benefits Prayer is our most formidable weapon, but the one in which we are least skilled and the most adverse to using…” (pg 34,35)
Things have not changed much in 150 years, have they. NO – we don’t pray like we should and we could offer many reasons as to why – 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…
QUESTION – do you remember what the 3 major reasons why the church does not pray were, that we talked about last week?
1) 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…
2) We misunderstand the purpose of prayer… LISTEN – the purpose of prayer is not: to get what we want and to make our lives better… the purpose of prayer is twofold to advance the kingdom of God and to improve our relationship with God.
3) The church doesn’t ‘really’ believe in prayer… (Luke 18:1-8) the evidence we don’t pray…
AND LISTEN - when the church doesn’t pray – we lose – we don’t move forward. AND – we both operate and are limited by, the flesh. When we don’t pray we unplug ourselves from our power source, we unplug ourselves from God.
AND LET US NEVER FORGET – that prayerlessness angers Jesus. WHY? – because his house is to be called a house of prayer… That is why a serious plea was made last week for some Hilkiah’s to rise up.
LISTEN - we need some Hilkiah’s here at Central who will dig up and dust off, this incredible weapon of prayer…. We need to raise up an army of men, women & youth – who will dare to believe that prayer can do some amazing, incredible things…”infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts or hopes…”
QUESTION – do you believe that God can do anything? Defeat any enemy? Level any obstacle? Help us through any crisis?
BUT LISTEN – even if we do, we need to understand that God has designed the system such that, we must ask…
Charles Spurgeon – a preacher in England in the 1800’s wrote;
Whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the kingdom. “Ask and you will receive…” It is a rule that never will be altered in anybody’s case. Our lord Jesus Christ is the elder brother of the family but God has not relax the rule even for Him. Remember this text: The Father says to His own son; “Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance the ends of the earth your possession.” (Ps 2:8)
IF the royal and divine Son of God cannot be exempted from the rule of asking that he may have, you & I cannot expect the rule to be relaxed in our favor. Why should it be?
What reason can be given why we should be exempted from prayer? What argument can there be why we should be deprived of the privilege and delivered from the necessity of supplication? I can see none; can you?… If you may have everything by asking, and nothing without asking, I beg you to see how absolutely vital prayer is, and I beseech you to abound in it…” (Bounds On Prayer Pg 44)
James said it this way – “You do not have because you do not ask God…” (4:2)
Jesus said; “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Mt 7:7,8
LISTEN – we have to ask – we have to knock we have to pray….
UNDERSTAND IF – Moses would not of prayed God would not have turned back his wrath… If Jonah didn’t pray the great fish would never have spit him out… If Esther didn’t pray her people would have been destroyed… If Hannah didn’t pray she never would have had a child… If Samson didn’t pray his strength would not have returned and the Philistine Temple would not have fallen. If Hezekiah would not have prayed 15 years would not have been added to his life.
PRAYER
TODAY – I want us to begin looking at the book of Acts – a book that could rightly be called “The Power of a Praying Church…” This morning we are going to look at the first two chapters and uncover several things that happen, when the church prays…
READ - Acts 1:1-14 [talk about verses…]
“They all joined TOGETHER constantly in prayer…”
OKAY – in this verse we see one of the things that happens when the church prays… When the church prays…
We Become United…
In a Peanuts cartoon Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he didn’t. "What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?" asks Linus.
"These five fingers," says Lucy. "Individually they’re nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold."
"Which channel do you want?" asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, "Why can’t you guys get organized like that?"
In Acts 1:14 Luke says they ALL… joined TOEGTHER, NOW - those words joined together could actually be translated one mind… The NASB reads, “These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer…”
Luke uses this same word 10 times in the book of Acts to underscore the unity of the early church… LISTEN – the early church was united - they were on the same page, they had the same agenda (God’s), they were of one mind – they were together…
AND LISTEN - UNITY is absolutely essential for the church….In John 17 we read;
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me…” John 17:20-24
Jesus prayed for the unity of the church in the garden – just before his arrest? WHY? Because he knew that only when there was “complete unity” – would the world believe the message…
NOW – this unity thing, isn’t a very easy to accomplish… Paul writes in Eph 4; “Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace” Eph 4:3
Though unity is not easy it is essential for us as we do battle for the Lord; checkout what Paul wrote in Phil 1;
“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in ONE spirit, contending as ONE man for the faith of the Gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is assign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved – and that by God. ”
Phil 1:27,28
LISTEN – when we are united we…. We are as one mean contending for the faith and we defeat our enemies that is why satan always tries to attack the unity of the church… That is why he always tries to create; disharmony, division and grumbling… Perhaps his greatest weapon against our unity is our tongue… James says this in the 3rd chapter of his letter;
“With the tongue we praise our Lord and father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers this should not be…” (3:9,10)
Here is something that could really help the unity of this body… Jim Cymbala writes;
One Sunday about 20 years ago…I said something impromptu while receiving new members into our church that has stuck with us ever since. People were standing in a row across the from before me, and as I spoke the Holy Spirit seemed to prompt me to add,
“And now, I charge you, as pastor of this church, that if you ever hear another member speak an unkind word of criticism or slander against anyone – myself, another pastor, an usher, a choir member, or anyone else – you have authority to stop that person in mid-sentence and say, ‘excuse me-who hurt you? Who ignored you? Who slighted you? Was it Pastor Cymbala? Let’s go to his office right now. He will get on his knees and apologize to you, and then we can pray together, so God can restore peace to this body. But we will not let you talk critically about people who are NOT present to defend themselves.’ New members please understand that I am entirely serious about this. I want you to help resolve this kind of thing immediately. And meanwhile, know this IF you are ever the one doing the loose talking, we WILL confront you.”
To this very day, every time we receive anew members, I say much the same thing. It is always a solemn moment. That is because I know what most easily destroys churches. It is not crack cocaine. It is not government oppression. It is not even lack of funds. Rather, it is gossip and slander that grieves the Holy Spirit. [pg 160]
LISTEN PRAYER – is a tremendous uniting force… Prayer draws us closer, it knits us together. There is a special kind of bonding that takes when God’s people join together to cry out to their King… (when you pray with someone you see their heart, when they pray for you it changes things; when you pray for them your attitude towards them changes)
WHEN – the church prays;
We Receive Divine Guidance
We receive divine guidance in important decisions…
As you read through the first chapter of Acts – you see the church having to make an important decision. They needed to choose a man to replace Judas and become one of the 12 apostles… Peter said; “it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning at John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
WELL - they came up with 2 guys (Joseph & Matthais) and they did not know which one to pick. SO – they prayed to the one who did know; ”Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry…”
AND – do you know what God showed them which one to choose…
NOW – this seeking guidance from the Lord is not something new… (Urim & Thumim)
Many times when David faced an enemy – he would inquire of the Lord – like in 1 Samuel 23:1; “..he inquired of the Lord saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines,” The Lord answered him, “Go attack the Philistines…”
Another time – when David wanted to know if he should pursue an Amalekite raiding party that had attack his camp – he inquired of God and God said pursue them..”
There is an awesome account of King Jehoshaphat inquiring of the Lord in 2 Chronicles chapter 20…
Read 2 Chronicles 20:2-17…
How awesome it is to be able to inquire of the Lord when making important decisions for his kingdom…
BUT UNFORTUNATELY – God’s people did not always inquire of the Lord… King Saul did not… Scriptures say of him;
“Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the lord and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to the David son of Jesse.” 1 Chron 10:13,14
AND – we read in Jeremiah 10:21; of how the leaders of God’s people failed to inquire of the Lord… “The shepherds are senseless and do not inquire of the Lord; SO they do not prosper and all their flock is scattered.”
NOT – inquiring of the Lord lead to Saul loosing both his life and the kingdom and to God’s leaders loosing his flock – NOW – when you contrast that, to what happens when you do inquire of the Lord – LET Isaiah in Isaiah 8:19 you want to say; “should not a people inquire of their God.”
WHEN – God’s people sought guidance from Him, He gave then His guidance..
OKAY – let’s get real practical here – this is exactly what we have began doing at Central last night… We have launched a 40 day prayer campaign to inquire of the Lord in regards to a major decision that we are facing… The building of our new auditorium…
Our BFL – weekly commitments (50%) have caused us to pause and seek God’s guidance. This is a huge decision and we need His input…
Is God saying hey – “step out, and I, will part the waters/slay the giant….
Is satan trying to get us to do the wrong thing…
Bottom line we don’t know - God knows…
And he will tell us…IF we ask him
AND let me say this if you picked up the first installment of your 40 day prayer guide you will see that – the goal is much deeper than the just an answer to our building decision – BUT to turn this place and our lies into houses of prayer…
WHEN – the church prays; we become united, we receive divine guidance and
We Unleash The Power Of God…
In Acts chapter 2 – we see the power of God unleashed in an incredible way – loud rushing wind – tongues of fire… A scene so dramatic and so powerful that it caught the attention of thousands.
LISTEN - Prayer unleashes the power of God…
In 2 Kings chapter 19; we see an awesome example of this… Hezekiah is the King of Judah – The Assyrian army that had just crushed the Northern kingdom, was marching on Jerusalem they had the city surrounded…
Hezekiah feels out gunned & unnumbered – the Assyrian general even sends him an intimidating letter…(serious trash talking) In response - Hezekiah tears his clothes puts on sackcloth – AND then he bee-lines it to the temple, spreads out the letter and cries out to God.
AND do you know what? Those prayers unleashed the power of God – that very night an angel of the Lord put to death 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp – destroyed the entire army… NOW – that’s power!!!! The power of God and it was unleashed by prayer.
LISTEN – the bible says that our God is the same yesterday, today and forever and one of the things that is the same is his power…The same God who; shut the mouth of the lion for Daniel, gave a child to 92 year Sarah, brought down a ten foot giant for David, won the battle for Jehoshaphat, brought down the walls of Jericho, parted seas, multiplied food, opened blind eyes and even raised the dead is our God…
He is the same yesterday – today and forever… God has not changed. He is not growing old, His power is not waning. “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary” Is 40:28..
LISTEN – if God was ever able to control nature, change people and alter circumstances, he is still able to do these things!!!
UNDERSTAND – that it is our arrogance – our philosophy of independence, our self-sufficiency – that teaches that God checked in his power at the end of the first Century. There is NOT even a hint of that in the bible.
Knoffel Staton – a professor at Pcicif Christian College writes;
“I am convinced that we have caved in to the theology that God has checked in his power because we like to stay in control ourselves – so we replace praying with planning, intercession with involvement, waiting with working, patience with perspiration. We have made organizational skills and planning more significant then God’s power..
Many of our missionaries observe God’s intervention firsthand, but tragically, when they come home they cannot talk about the powerful workings of God, lest we become too uncomfortable and withdraw our support…
RON MORSE – witnessed an example of God’s power years ago. He was working with some villagers in northern Thailand. That area was having the worst grasshopper plague that they could remember. The leader of the village said to Ron, “You go away and gather your Christians and pray for 3 weeks that the grasshoppers will leave the Christian fields but not the non-Christians fields. If when you return in 3 weeks, the grasshoppers have left the Christians fields and are still in the non Christian fields, I will help you lead this whole village to worship your Jesus.”
With earnest & sincerity the Christians prayed. 3 weeks later Ron came into the village and was devastated by what he saw. It was obvious that the grasshoppers were still in the Christians fields. In fact, there were more grasshoppers in those fields. BUT upon more careful examination, they found that the grasshoppers in the Christian fields were only eating the weeds – they were not touching the rice – while the grasshopper sin the non Christians fields were eating the rice and not the weeds. There were so many grasshopper sin the Christian fields that the dung they left fertilized the ground, so that there was an abundance to feed the people.
Missionary JIM ELROY – tells about what happened in the Philippines when he was called into a village. An infant was deathly ill. The child had not nursed for days and was turning gray. His eyes rolled back; he was lifeless and listless, just moments form death.
Jim turned to the Filipino preacher and said, “I didn’t know we were coming here for medical reason. I didn’t bring any medicine. Did you?” The Filipino preacher said no. “What shall e do?” Jim asked. “Let’s just pray.”
While they were praying fervently for God’s power to move, the little infant reached up and touched one of those who were praying. Before they finished the infant move toward the mother’s breast and began to nurse.
The following Sunday was Easter. As Jim was preaching in a neighboring village in an outdoor assembly, he saw coming over the brink of the hill a woman carrying a baby. Behind her were over 20 adults. As they got closer, Jim recognized the mother and the infant, who was looking very healthy. The adults had come to accept Jesus Christ and be immersed!!!
That’s awesome!!!
God is powerful AND many times our prayers unleash that power…
BUT listen – let me make something very clear - pray is not a vehicle that allows us to order God around. God is still and we are not…
YES – God answer but not always in the way we might want. AND when the answer we want does not come (been there? Done that?) – we must hold hands with the faith of those three guys who were thrown into a furnace of fire, who declared, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand…But even if he does not, we want you to know…that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Dan 3:17
Listen – our trust in the power of God continues NOT because we always get our way – BUT because we always believe in the way of God!!!
WHEN – the church prays…
WHEN – Central prays
WHEN – we pray
Some awesome stuff is going to happen…
We will become united
We will receive divine guidance
We unleash the power of God and 4th
WHEN the church prays….
The Word Of God Comes Alive…
“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Heb 4:12
LISTEN - Peter on the day of Pentecost preached with power…
When the people saw all that happened – when they saw the power of God show up in such a visible way they all had opinions as to what was going on…
BUT Peter quickly stopped there speculating and said – THIS is what it means – It means what God says it means – and THEN Peter proceeded to preach God’s word with power – boldness and authority… Listen – when the church prays the word of God is proclaimed with power…
“Pray opens the way for the word of God to run without hindrance. It creates an atmosphere that is favorable for the word to accomplish it’s purpose. Prayer puts wheels under the God’s word…”
Paul understood this that is why he always asked Churches to pray for him – to the believers in Colosse he wrote;
“Don’t forget to PRAY for us too, that God will give us many opportunities to preach about his secret plan – that Christ is also for you gentiles. That is why I am in chains. Pray that I will proclaim the message as clearly as I should.” 4:3,4 (NLT)
To the church in Ephesus he wrote;
“And pray for me too. ASK God to give me the right words as I boldly explain God’s secret plan that the good news is for the gentiles too. I am in chains now for preaching this message as God’s ambassador. But pray that I will keep speaking boldly for him as I should…” (6:19,20)
To the church in Thessalonica;
“”Finally brothers pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored just as it was with you..” Thess 3:1
LISTEN – Paul even though he was an apostle – even though he had performed miracles – even raised the dead – He still knew where the real power in his ministry was – in the prayers of God’s people…
Please pray for me as I preach & teach…
We Will See People Get Saved…
I love Acts chapter 2 – and one reason is because, Peter for the first time in human history preaches the Gospel. It’s the first time that the message that God has waited to proclaim ever since the garden is spoken…
Peter proclaims to word with power
He spoke the right words
He spoke them clearly
He spoke them boldly
The word became alive and cut into the hearts and minds of the p[people
They were convicted of their sin… To such a point that the cry out with great emotion; “Brothers, what shall we do?”
TO which Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The PROMISE is for you and your children and for all who are far off…”
AND – 3,000 people repented and we were immersed that day… and they had their sins forgiven and the Holy Spirit came to live in them to help them become more Christ-like – to help develop the fruit of the Spirit….
LISTEN - when the church prays people get saved… Do you believe that?
CHECKOUT – these words in Matthew 9;
“Jesus traveled through all the cities and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogue and announcing the good news about the Kingdom. And wherever he went, He healed people of every sort of disease and illness. He felt great pity for the crowds that came, because their problems were so great and they didn’t know where to go for help. They were like sheep without a shepherd. He said, “The harvest is great, BUT the workers are so few. So PRAY to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ASK him to send out more workers for his fields.” (25-38)
QUESTION – do you think if we prayed BOTH - for the harvest and for harvesters – that people would get saved? Do you pray for harvesters? Do you pray for those who are lost that are in your sphere of influence?
WE have done that a little at Central, we have had a taste… (Z 4:6 – and someone we pray for accepts Christ…)
WHAT if we did it more?
WHAT if you joined us in that prayer?
Summer challenge….
FINALLY – WHEN the church prays…
We Pray More…
LISTEN – when the church in the book of Acts saw what happened when they prayed…
When they felt that incredible unity building
When they found divine direction for those big decisions
When they saw God’s power unleashed
When they heard the word come alive
WHEN they saw 3,000 people get saved…
They figured out that 1 + 1 = 2…
Okay - a few days ago it was just a few of us in a room praying AND now look where we are today, and look at all that has happened….
Is it any wonder that it says in Acts 2:42 – that they devoted themselves to prayer…
Acts 2:42-47
