[Note: This sermon was adapted from a chapter in John R. Rice’s book, Prayer: Asking and Receiving. I don’t agree with everything in the book, but I liked much of what he had to say in his chapter on prayerlessness.]
Daniel 6
In this chapter we find one of the most famous Old Testament stories—Daniel and the lions’ den. The only other stories that would compare to the popularity of this one would be—I think—Noah’s ark, David and Goliath, and Jonah and the big fish.
[1] It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; [2] And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. [3] Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
[4] Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. [5] Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. [6] Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. [7] All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. [8] Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. [9] Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.
The next verse is the one I want us to really pay attention to.
[10] Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
Here is a man who would not give up his prayer time. Though he knew that disobeying the king’s command meant a visit to the lions’ den, he would not stop praying.
You might be wondering, Why didn’t Daniel just close his window and pray in private. It really didn’t matter whether Daniel closed his window or not. Either way, he knew his enemies would accuse him before the king, and he would answer truthfully, “Yes, I did pray.” Since the king was going to find out anyway, he decided he wouldn’t change a thing.
Today’s message is called “Don’t Compromise Your Prayer Time.”
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if God had an answering machine?
Imagine praying and hearing this:
“Thank you for calling Heaven. Please select one of the following four options:
1. Press 1 for requests.
2. Press 2 for thanksgiving.
3. Press 3 for complaints.
4. For all other inquiries, press 4.”
What if God used the familiar excuse: “All of the angels are helping other customers right now. Please stay on the line. You call will be answered in the order it was received.”
Can you imagine getting these kinds of responses as you call on God in prayer?
1. “If you’d like to speak with Gabriel, press 1.”
2. “For Michael, press 2.”
3. “For any other angel, press 3.”
4. “If you want King David to sing you a psalm, press 6.
5. “To find out if your relative is here, enter his or her date of death and listen for the list that follows.”
6. “For reservations at My Father’s House, simply press the letters J-O-H-N on the key pad, followed by the numbers 3-1-6.”
7. “For answers to nagging questions about dinosaurs, the age of the earth, and where Noah’s ark is, wait until you get here!”
8. “Our computers show that you have called once today already. Please hang up immediately.”
9. “This office is closed for the weekend. Please call again Monday.”
Thank God, we can’t call Him too often! We only need to ring once and God hears us. We will never get a busy signal. Thank God for the privilege of prayer!
“Prayer,” someone once observed, “has already divided seas and rolled up flowing rivers, it has made flinty rocks gush into fountains, it has quenched flames of fire, it has muzzled lions, disarmed vipers and poisons, it has marshaled the stars against the wicked, it has stopped the course of the moon and arrested the sun in its race, it has burst open iron gates and recalled souls from eternity, it has conquered the strongest devils and commanded legions of angels down from heaven. Prayer has bridled and chained the raging passions of men and destroyed vast armies of proud, daring, blustering atheists. Prayer has brought one man from the bottom of the sea and carried another in a chariot of fire to heaven.”
That is not mere exaggeration. It is historical fact. Prayer is an awesome, mighty force in the world.
The questions is, Why don’t we pray more? Daniel would rather spend a night with the lions than miss a day in prayer! We, on the other hand, often neglect to pray.
I. Prayerlessness Is a Sin.
We may give excuses for why we do not pray, but in the end we must recognize prayerlessness for what it really is—SIN.
Since prayer is such a mighty power, then we must not be surprised if it has the opposition of Satan.
Andrew Murray said, “God’s child can conquer anything by prayer. Is it any wonder that Satan does his utmost to snatch that weapon from the Christian or to hinder him in the use of it?”
Samuel Chandwick said, “The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.”
Is prayerlessness really a sin?
A. Prayerlessness is a sin because that’s what the Bible calls it.
Samuel the prophet said to the people of Israel in 1 Samuel 12:23,
Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you....
Samuel’s words seem to suggest that prayerlessness is a sin.
B. Prayerlessness is a sin because the Bible commands Christians to always pray.
First Thessalonians 5:17 says,
Pray without ceasing.
I don’t believe that this verse means that we are to be involved in non-stop praying. What I do believe it means it that we are to prayerful attitude at all times. This attitude is built upon acknowledging our dependence on God, realizing His presence within us, and determining to obey Him fully. Then we will find it natural to pray frequent, spontaneous prayers.
In Luke 18:1 Jesus
. . . spake a parable unto them to this end, that man ought always to pray, and not to faint.
We ought to always pray and never give up! That is the command of Jesus Christ; not to obey it is sin.
C. Prayerlessness is a sin because it leaves the door open for all other sins.
This is made clear by the command of Jesus in Mark 14:38. He said to his disciple Peter,
Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.
Prayer is the only sure preventative of entering temptation.
If the disciples needed that warning in the garden of Gethsemane with Jesus, how much more do we need it now!
In fact, in the Lord’s Prayer, the model prayer for all who can truly call God “Our Father which art in heaven,” we are expressly taught to pray,
And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
Would not your speech have been different if you had prayed like David, “Set a watch, O lord, before my mouth,” or, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer” (Psalm 141:3; 19:14)? And if Peter had spent the time praying instead of sleeping in the garden of Gethsemane, would not the outcome have been far better? Surely he fell into the snare because he did not pray.
An old proverb says, “Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.” And well he may, if that saint really, directly, and persistently calls for God to help him against sin and to keep him out of temptation and to defeat the evil one.
The great John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress, wrote, “Prayer will make a man cease from sin, as sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.”
No doubt, then, all of our sins stem from our prayerlessness. No doubt in sincere and wholehearted praye is the remedy for and victory over sin.
It’s hard to stumble when you’re down on your knees.
Prayerlessness is a sin.
• It is a sin because that’s what the Bible calls it (1 Samuel 12:23).
• It is a sin because the Bible commands Christians to always pray.
• It is a sin because it leaves the door open for all other sins.
II. Prayerlessness Brings Sad Results.
A. God’s people do not get what they ought to have.
James writes in James 4:2,
Ye have not, because ye ask not.
Often there are other hindrances to prayer, but many, many times we simply have not because we ask not. What blessings could be ours if we only asked for them! Think about it!
Let me give you one example of what the Bible says people to not get because they do not ask.
The Bible says that many Christians die prematurely because they do not pray. There are a number of Bible examples of this. For example, 2 Chronicles 16:12-13 tells us, “And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not the Lord, but to the physicians. And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign.” Asa was sick. In his disease “he sought not the Lord but to the physicians,” and he died. The clear implication is that if he had prayed, he would have lived.
On the other hand, King Hezekiah was “sick unto death.” God sent Isaiah to say to him, “Thus saith the Lord, set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live” (Isaiah 38:1). But Hezekiah prayed and, as a result, God raised him up and gave him fifteen more years. Clearly Hezekiah would have died if he had not prayed.
The Bible does not teach that one who prays may live forever without dying, but it certainly does teach that many die prematurely when they might live longer with great blessing if they had prayed.
B. God’s work suffers and languishes.
God said to the nation of Israel in 2 Chronicles 7:14,
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Imagine what would happen in our church if all of us prayed for a great outpouring of blessing!
Hudson Taylor and the China Inland Mission are recent examples that the work of God languishes only because of prayerlessness and prospers under prayer. When many denominational missions which depended upon denominational organization and promotion for their funds were being overwhelmed with debts, the China Inland Mission, going only by faith, depending on God alone without any organization to raise money, prospered and increased, spreading the gospel to millions and sending out continually new groups of workers who were cared for in answer to prayer.
Hudson Taylor once said, “The prayer power has never been tried to its full capacity. If we want to see mighty wonders of divine power and grace wrought in the place of weakness, failure, and disappointment, let us answer God’s standing challenge, ‘Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not!’”
Prayerlessness brings sad results.
• God’s people do not get what they ought to have.
• God’s work suffers and languishes.
III. Prayerlessness Reveals the Reality of our Hearts
A. It shows a lack of real enjoyment of God.
We should honestly face the fact that most of us do not really enjoy prayer or we would pray more. If we are in love with someone, we long more of his or her companionship and spend more hours in their presence when possible. And that simply illustrates the fact that if your heart were hungrier for God you would pray more. If you really enjoyed His presence, you would seek it. If you enjoyed praying more than other things you do, then you would do more praying and less reading or playing or eating or sleeping. Prayerlessness proves that we do not really enjoy God.
Let us be honest. Do you not often pray simply as a matter of duty?
The complaint of Isaiah, quoted by the Savior, was that “this people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8). And Jesus frankly addressed such people, “Ye hypocrites!” How many of us, I wonder, pray in a way that honors Christ with our lips but our hearts are far away!
B. It proves our unbelief.
Hebrews 11:6 says,
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
How can we pray if we really do not believe it pays? How can we really pray if we do not believe we get anywhere or get anything from God? When we are sick we go to the doctor first instead of praying first because really we have more confidence in the doctor than in God. We think of medicine before we think of prayer.
And I do not mean that medicine and doctors are to be avoided by Christians. God often uses these things to heal the sick. But is it not obvious that a child of God who really believes that the healing depends on God and that the healing, whether through doctors and medicine or without either, must come from God—isn’t it obvious that one who believes that will pray before he does other things? I think there is no doubt that our prayerlessness proves that we really have little confidence in getting answers to our prayers. Prayer is a proof of unbelief.
C. It demonstrates that God is not first in our lives.
We read the newspapers instead of praying because we are more interested in the things the newspapers talk about than we are in the things we would talk to God about.
We spend more time chatting with other people than we do in talking to God because we really think more of other people than we do of God.
Prayerlessness reveals the reality of our hearts.
• It shows a lack of real enjoyment of God.
• It proves our unbelief.
• It demonstrates that God in not first in our lives.
IV. How to Overcome the Sin of Prayerlessness
Three suggestions:
A. Set aside a time early in every day to pray and read the Bible.
One great missionary had a motto, “No Bible, no breakfast.” If he couldn’t find time to read the Bible and pray, then he would not take time to eat.
Put prayer first by having a real time of prayer before anything else of importance in the day. You may have to rise earlier than you now rise to do it. You may have to neglect other matters of lesser importance. But “those that seek me early shall find me,” says the Lord in Proverbs 8:17. [Creative suggestions]
B.Take time to pray about things as they come up.
C. Leave off the formalities and let prayer be simply talking with God.
* * * * *
E. M. Bounds said, “How vast are the possibilities of prayer! How wide its reach! It lays its hand on the Almighty God and moves Him to do what He would not do if prayer was not offered. Prayer is a wonderful power placed by Almighty God in the hands of His saints, which may be used to accomplish great purposes and to achieve unusual results. The only limits to prayer are the promises of God and His ability to fulfill those promises.”
Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.”
May we not be guilty of the sin of prayerlessness. May we be like Daniel. May we not compromise our prayer time.
