Central Christian Church
St Petersburg Florida
January 2003
Joe Bedy
“The How, What, When and Where of Prayer”
It was the Disciples who asked Jesus to teach us how to pray. Remember when they asked this question Jesus was still alive on the earth and the Holy Spirit had not yet come.
So today “the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Rm. 8:26-27)
You see it is the Spirit of the Lord intertwined with your Spirit that searches your heart and communicates to the Father.
I know this is true because I have shared with you before that when I became a Christian the church wasn’t all that I thought she should be. When I became a minister in that church I realized that some of the meanest, most cruel people I had ever met came to church, some of them had been there for 30 years and in one breath could sing praises to God and in the next curse a brother in Christ. It was sad to me that I had met nicer people in a tavern than at the church. At one point when it was particularly rough I went to the woods to pray, but my spirit was so hurt, I couldn’t pray. All I could do was sing Jesus; Jesus there is something about that name.
I cried, I wept in loud moans and groans but through the presence of the Holy Spirit living in me searched my heart and shared with God when I could not speak.
My prayers were answered, the call on my life was to minister to families, I wanted to help grow a spiritually deep church, my prayer was for a youth minister that I could mentor and to serve in a church where leadership was strong and sin would not be acceptable. A –place where in gentleness and love people would be rebuked and when they repented treated as if the sin had never occurred.
And so when I couldn’t pray the Holy Spirit showed my heart to God and God granted the desire of my heart.
By His grace I was placed in this body of believers!
Yet the questions remain:
1. How shall we pray?
2. For what shall we pray?
3. When shall we pray?
4. Where shall we pray?
How then shall we pray? :
Not just with words but with a pure heart. A heart that delights in the Lord and then when we do pray we must expect that God will give us the desires of our heart. Prayers are effective when we are upright and righteous people. Before we can pray effectively we must repent effectively, humble ourselves, be cleansed by the blood of Christ, put on His righteousness not our own self-righteousness and then we are ready to pray.
In the early church Peter was in prison they held a prayer meeting, they prayed specifically for his freedom for his release. (But did they believe it was going to happen?)
He was guarded the scripture say by 4 squads of 4 men. He was guarded better than Brad Johnson, but the church was praying. Not just praying but fervently praying. In other words they prayed with intensity because they knew this fisherman they loved, who had grown so much would probably be killed.
Now Peter’s prayer was probably, “oh Lord, get me out of here if you can use me.” Or maybe he just had peace enough to sleep because Jesus had already told him how He would die.
Here Peter is asleep between two guards chained to both of them when this angel kicks him or strikes him in the side and says, “Get up.” The chains fall off, he walks right past the guards like they have blinders on or he is invisible, the prison gates are suddenly equipped with an automatic garage door opener and out walks Peter a free man.
The angel takes off to who knows where and it dawns on Peter what has just happened and he talks to himself with these words, "Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating."
Meanwhile back at the prayer meeting it becomes clear they are certainly praying for Peter but in light of the anticipation of his most certain demise. In other words they are praying for Peter realizing he is “toast.”
How do we know this? Peter knocks on the door of John Mark’s mother’s house where the prayer meeting is ongoing. Rhoda the little slave girl says, like slave girls would, “who is it?” “It’s me Peter!”
Why she is thrilled she recognizes the apostle’s voice, now she doesn’t even open the door and let him in, but she runs into the room where these Christians are praying, fervently intently and she announces, “hey cut the prayers, you are wasting your time, Peter is at the door.”
There response was you are out of your mind he is guarded by 4 squads of 4 men and he will be chained to two of them one on each side, he ain’t getting out of there alive. He’s dead and what you see is his angel.
But Peter who was left outside kept knocking and when they opened the door they were astonished.
The guards didn’t believe it either, I hope they did believe and trust in God though from that experience, because all 16 of them were executed.
WE MUST pray with hearts that delight in the Lord. If we pray for rain, please have faith enough to take your umbrella.
Very quickly I want to tell you a story of a small town that had two churches of different denominations and a distillery.
Illustration:
Members of both churches complained that the distillery was giving the community a bad image. And to make matters worse the owner of the distillery was an out spoken atheist. He didn’t believe in God one bit. The church people had tried unsuccessfully for years to shut down the distillery. So finally they decided to hold a joint Saturday night prayer meeting. They were going to ask God to intervene and settle the matter.
The church folks gathered on Saturday night and there was a horrible thunderstorm raging outside and to the delight of the church members lightening hit that old brewery and it burned to the ground.
The next morning the sermons that were preached in both churches were on the power of prayer.
But the insurance adjusters promptly notified the distillery owner that they were not going to pay for the damages because the fire was an act of God and that was an exclusion to the policy.
The distillery owner was furious and he sued both churches claiming that they had conspired with God to destroy his business. But the churches denied that they had anything to do with the cause of the fire.
The presiding judge opened the trial with theses words: I find one thing in this cause most perplexing-we have a situation here where the plaintiff, an atheist is professing his belief in the power of prayer, and the defendants all church members are denying it.
How to pray? Pray with a pure faithful expectant heart.
What to pray?
James says, “Do you lack wisdom then ask for it, but ask with faith that you will receive it.” Faith means your motives are right, your heart is pure and when God sees your heart, He knows what you need and because He is a good Father. If you ask but don’t receive ask God to show you your heart.
I tell you the truth in this regardless of how you feel about deer hunting. I love venison call me Nimrod or Isaac or Esau. But I ask the Lord for the harvest and I ask other people to ask the Lord for me. This year I said,” Lord I have to feed these boys they eat like horses and the Lord provided. We needed pork for the “pig in the Park” and the Lord provided.
Last year in the tree in Ga. I had a wonderful time with the Lord. When I prayed I said, “Lord if you wouldn’t mind, I wouldn’t mind a 10 point but, it is up to you God, 10 point or no point I have had a wonderful time being out here together, just you and me, father and son.” Now laugh all you want at this but I specifically asked and He specifically provided.
Well we have a Pope and Young and Boone and Crockett system for measuring deer antlers. Basically, for a point to be a point under those standards it must measure 1”. In Florida we say if you can hang a ring on it is a point.
When I brought the deer into camp one of the other guides who does the antler work up said, “nice 9 point.” I said, “listen Jerry, I prayed for a ten point, God sent me this deer, you can call it what ever you want, but I wouldn’t argue with God.” The outfitter who is also an ordained minister said, “Jerry, I’d call it a 10 point because God scores differently than we do.”
Matt. 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
So what do you pray for? Well, we must know that the Father knows what we need and He supplies all our needs in Christ Jesus. Now understand needs from a biblical perspective is not the new Boss Mustang making 320 horses off the showroom floor and running 13.9 second quarter miles. What we need is our daily bread, clothes on our backs to cover our nakedness and a place of shelter to rest our heads.
In light of that you can pray for what you need and the needs of others.
Pray for what you need knowing you are saved people who deserve death but everything you receive after salvation is a good and perfect gift from the father of lights our God in heaven.
Pray for those who persecute you to come to repentance. Pray for more workers to spread the gospel and join our evangelist teams. Pray for your leaders, your ministers, your deacons. Pray everything according to the will of God as you find it revealed in His Holy Scriptures. Pray back God’s promises to God. You said if I confessed and repented you would be faithful and just and purify me from all unrighteousness, ok I’ve done my part.
When and where shall we pray?
Mat 6:5 "And when you pray, you are not to be as the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, in order to be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
Mat 6:6 "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
Mat 6:7 "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.
Eph 6:18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, 1 Th 5:17 pray without ceasing;
1 Th 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Tim 2:8 Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension. James 5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises.
James 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
In closing I want you to know that prayer needs to be a concerted effort of all the saints.
Why?
Because in heaven there are these golden bowls, bowls of incense that is the prayers of the saints. I believe that as each of us pray as righteous people, repentant people humble people our prayers don’t bounce off of the ceilings over us, but are heard in heaven and placed in these golden bowls. When those bowls are full and the angels have added to them they go the altar in Heaven and the hand of God is moved for His saints.
Do you want to move the hand of God? Then fill the bowl.
Not our fruit alone
>
> A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm at sea and only two of the men
> on it were able to swim to a small, desert like island.
>
> The two survivors, not knowing what else to do, agreed that they had no
> other recourse but to pray to God.
>
> However, to find out whose prayer was more powerful, they agreed to divide
> the territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the island.
>
> The first thing they prayed for was food.
>
> The next morning, the first man saw a fruit-bearing tree on his side of
> the land, and he was able to eat its fruit. The other man’s parcel of
> land remained barren.
>
> After a week, the first man was lonely and he decided to pray for a wife.
> The next day, another ship was wrecked, and the only survivor was a woman
> who swam to his side of the land. On the other side of the island, there
> was nothing.
>
> Soon the first man prayed for a house, clothes, more food. The next day,
> like magic, all of these were given to him. However, the second man still
> had nothing.
>
> Finally, the first man prayed for a ship, so that he and his wife could
> leave the island. In the morning, he found a ship docked at his side of
> the island. The first man boarded the ship with his wife and decided to
> leave the second man on the island.
>
> He considered the other man unworthy to receive God’s blessings, since
> none of his prayers had been answered.
>
> As the ship was about to leave, the first man heard a voice from heaven
> booming, "Why are you leaving your companion on the island?"
>
> "My blessings are mine alone, since I was the one who prayed for them,"
> the first man answered.
>
> "His prayers were all unanswered and so he does not deserve anything."
>
> "You are mistaken!" the voice rebuked him. "He had only one prayer, which
> I answered. If not for that, you would not have received any of my
> blessings."
>
> "Tell me," the first man asked the voice, "What did he pray for that I
> should owe him anything?"
>
> "He prayed that all your prayers be answered."
>
> For all we know, our blessings are not the fruits of our prayers alone,
> but those of another praying for us.
>
Think about it!
Author unknown
Additional poem if needed:
Jake, the rancher, went one day to fix a distant
>fence.The wind was cold and gusty and the clouds rolled gray
>and dense.>
>As he pounded the last staples in and gathered tools
>to go, the temperature had fallen, the wind and snow began to
>blow.>
>When he finally reached his pickup, he felt a heavy
>heart.>
>From the sound of that ignition, he knew it wouldn’t
>start.>
>So Jake did what most of us would do if we had been
>there.>
>He humbly bowed his balding head and sent aloft a
>prayer.>
>As he turned the key for the last time, he softly
>cursed his luck.
>They found him three days later, frozen stiff in that
>old truck.>
>Now Jake had been around in life and done his share of
>roaming.>
>But when he saw Heaven, he was shocked -- it looked
>just like Wyoming!
>Of all the saints in Heaven, his favorite was St.
>Peter.
>(Now, this line ain’t needed, but it helps with rhyme
>and meter).>
>So they set and talked a minute or two, or maybe it
>was three.>
>Nobody was keepin’ score -- in Heaven, time is free.
>"I’ve always heard," Jake said to Pete, "that God will
>answer prayer, but one time I asked for help, well, He
>just plain wasn’t there."
>"Does God answer prayers of some, and ignore the
>prayers of others?>
>That don’t seem exactly square -- I know all men are
>brothers."
>"Or does he randomly reply, without good rhyme or
>reason?>
>Maybe, it’s the time of day, the weather or the
>season.>
>"Now I ain’t trying to act smart, it’s just the way I
>feel.>
>And I was wondering’, could you tell me -- what the
>heck’s the deal?!"
Peter listened very patiently and when ol’ Jake was
done, there were smiles of recognition, and he said,
"So, you’re the one!!"
"That day your truck, it wouldn’t start, and you sent
your prayer a ’flying’, you gave us all a real bad
>time, with hundreds of us trying.">
>"A thousand angels rushed to check the status of your
>file, but Jake, we hadn’t heard from you in quite a little
>while."
"And though all prayers are answered, and God ain’t
got no quota;He didn’t recognize your voice and started a truck inNorth Dakota!
