INTRO.- ILL.- One day a woman was rushing home from a doctor’s appointment. The doctor had been somewhat delayed at the hospital, and the lab work took a little longer than usual so by the time she left the clinic she was running quite a bit behind schedule. She still had to pick up her prescription, pick up the children from the baby-sitter, and get home and make supper, all in time to make it to the prayer meeting at her church that evening.
As she began to circle the busy Wal-Mart parking lot, looking for a space, the windows of heaven were opened and a downpour began. While she wasn’t usually the type to bother God with small problems, she began to pray as she turned down the row closest to the front door. "Lord, you know what kind of a day I’ve had, and there’s still an awful lot to do. Could you please grant me a parking space right away, oh, and close to the building so I don’t get soaked."
The words weren’t even completely out of her mouth when she saw the backup lights of a car come on at the end of the row. It was the best space in the whole parking lot, right next to the handicap spots and straight out from the front door. She made straight for it and as she pulled in, she said, "never mind God, something just opened up."
Is this the way we pray? That is, do we only pray if we’re in need but when the need is over, we cease praying? Or else we don’t give the Lord any credit?
We humans are pretty good at using God like He is a spare tire or an EMT (emergency medical technician), or some kind of magic genie. And we’ve all done this with God.
ILL.- A man who had regularly prayed for many years began to wonder if God heard his prayers at all. During one of his routine times of prayer, he started this doubting pattern once again. He stopped praying and thought for a moment. “Enough of this,” he said.
He then lifted his eyes toward heaven and yelled, “Hey up there, can you hear me?” There was no response. He continued, “Hey, God, if you can really hear me, tell me what you want me to do with my life.” A voice from above thundered a reply, “I WANT YOU TO HELP THE NEEDY AND GIVE YOUR LIFE FOR THE CAUSE OF PEACE!”
Faced with more of a challenge than the man really wanted, he answered, “Actually, God, I was just checking to see if you were there.” The voice from above now answered with disappointment: “THAT’S ALRIGHT; I WAS ONLY CHECKING TO SEE IF YOU WERE THERE.”
Are we here? Are we the kind of praying people that we should be? Is God asking, “Are you there?” If so, why don’t I hear from you more often and not just when you need something?
Acts 4:23-24 “On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God….”
In the face of opposition and threats, the early Christians didn’t stop praying, they stepped up their praying! They joined together in praying even more!
ILL.- Someone has said, “When business is good, you ought to advertise; when it’s bad, you’ve got to.”
When life is good we should pray, but when life is bad, we HAVE TO PRAY! We have nowhere else to go! We of all people should be committed to a life of prayer in good times and bad.
PROP.- We need to think about three areas where we should be committed to prayer.
1- Committed to praise
2- Committed to intercession
3- Committed to seeking
I. COMMITTED TO PRAISE
ILL.- Who’s hot and who’s not in Hollywood? Well, that all depends on your viewpoint. Who’s your favorite actor? Actress?
Some of the crazies of the world think that those two gay cowboys in “Brokeback Mountain” are hot right now. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. Can you believe it? They may well be good actors, but they must not have any relationship to Christ at all. Otherwise, why would they make such a movie? We know why they made the movie. It’s called money/greed!
Hollywood accolades. I say “so what?” What’s the big deal? It shouldn’t be a big deal. We humans are quick to honor other humans, but what about the One to whom we owe everything? What about our creator? Our sustainer? Our Savior?
All these Hollywood stars wouldn’t have anything if it were not for our Creator. They wouldn’t be anything without Him. He alone deserves the accolades, the praise, the honor, the thanks!
ILL.- “What can I do for you, Madam?” Abraham Lincoln asked an elderly lady who had been ushered into his private office. Placing a covered basket on the table she said, “Mr. President, I have come here today not to ask any favor for myself or for anyone. I heard that you were very fond of cookies, and I came here to bring you this basket of cookies!”
Tears trickled down the gaunt face of the great President. He stood speechless for a moment; then he said, “My good woman, your thoughtful and unselfish deed greatly moves me. Thousands have come into this office asking for something since I became President, but you are the first person to come bringing something!”
Brothers and sisters, we often do more asking than giving. We ask for cookies when we should bring them to the Lord.
Acts 4:23-24 “On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.”
I get the impression that the early Christians were committed to prayer. It wasn’t a part of their lives, it was their life!
When those early Christians raised their voices together in prayer they praised the Lord for who He was and what He was. They prayed, “You made the heaven and earth….” They brought their cookies to God.
Heb. 13:15 "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name."
We need to be more committed to praising the Lord than we have in the past. Instead of “give me” prayers, it should be “thank you” prayers. “Thank you, Father, for being our God and Father. Thank you for Jesus, the Holy Spirit, your Word, your church, your people. Thank you for life, breath and everything else. Thank you for my warm house, comfortable bed and nights sleep, good food. Thank you for my family, etc.”
Every morning when you rise, you should begin by saying, “Thank you, Lord.” “Thank you for being compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love, and for not treating me as my sins deserve… I praise you!”
Our days would go a lot better if we would praise more and ask less!
II. COMMITTED TO INTERCESSION
ILL.- When I was in the 3rd grade something happened at recess that I recall. My 3-year older brother Larry was in the 6th and some bully was picking on him one day. I don’t remember much about the situation because it’s been so long ago, but I do recall that it made me very angry. One day I went after that guy by kicking him and chasing him around that school building. It was the old Eugene Field Elementary School that no longer exists.
What would that incident be called? Some people would call it standing up for a loved one. Or it could be called interceding for a loved one. In a sense, I was interceding for my brother. I was going after the bully who was after him.
We are supposed to intercede for others as well.
Eph. 6:18 “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”
We need to be talking to God on behalf of others, with all kinds of prayers and requests. Some of those prayers might include, “Father, keep them from the evil one, the bully who wants to beat them up and steal their soul.”
I Thess. 3:5 “For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.”
The apostle Paul was deeply concerned about the faith of his brothers and sisters. He feared the evil one might have tempted them and gained some control over their lives. You can just bet that he constantly prayed for their protection.
ILL.- For example, do you parents not pray for your children to be protected in this world? I knew an elder in one church back in Missouri who had four children: two boys and two girls. And those daughters were beautiful.
When they became teenagers and the boys started knocking on the door, wanting to take them out that daddy/elder met those boys at the door with a shotgun over his shoulder. DO YOU SUPPOSE THAT PUT SOME FEAR INTO THOSE BOYS?
I also bet that elder and his wife were quick to pray for the protection of those daughters when they entered the dating world and everywhere else they went. And as far as I know, they ended up with two good sons-in-law. Interceding for their daughters made a difference in their lives.
Because the devil is alive and well on planet earth and he is a bully, out to destroy, we must pray for one another. We must support one another in prayer! We must help one another in prayer! We must intercede for one another or stand up for one another against the bully, Satan!
We must imitate Jesus who intercedes for us.
Heb. 7:25 “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”
Not only does Jesus save us, He also lives for our good! He hasn’t stopped working on our behalf. He stands before the Father, interceding for us. How so? I can only guess.
ILL.- It might be something like this: “Father, my child Steve has blown it today. He’s been in a grouchy mood all day long. He hasn’t prayed much. He’s gotten angry at people, even though they didn’t know it. I’ll give him some credit. He didn’t blow his cool with some people. In general, however, he’s not been the kind of Christian he should be. Please have mercy on him, because He does belong to me. Please be patient with him and give him grace to overcome.”
How does that sound? It could be that way. And I do believe that Jesus even intercedes for us when we think worse and do worse that what I just talked about.
We must intercede just as Jesus intercedes for us.
III. COMMITTED TO SEEKING
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.”
Isn’t this a fascinating scripture? Ask, seek, knock. We are to continually seek the Lord in life and seek His will for our lives. Why? He knows best. He does best. He blesses best.
Prov. 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
ILL.- A young mom and dad were in Krogers with their two children. While the baby rode along in his infant seat in the shopping cart, their four-year-old son was bouncing off the walls and getting on their nerves. Maybe he’d had too much sugar that day! But he was antsy. Jumping around. Jabbering.
As they came to the end of a long row of stocked shelves, they were pulling up to the meat department. "Mom, can we go to Burger King when we’re through?" asked the little boy.
"No, Tommy. We’re not going to Burger King," said the mother. I told you before we came in here that we would go to Burger King if you wouldn’t act up while we shopped." "Aw, Mom! Please!" begged Tommy. "I want to go to Burger King. Can we go? Please. Please!"
The appeals went on and on, until eventually a frustrated young mother turned, squared off with her fidgety son, and said, "This is my final word. We are not going to Burger King! Now I’m tired and don’t want to hear any more about it."
A somber four year old looked up and replied, "Mama, if you’ll just take us to Burger King, I promise I’ll start my life over."
Brothers and sisters, this sounds like some of the prayers that we might offer to our Heavenly Father. While we smile at Tommy’s immaturity, we might not see our own.
Sometimes are prayers are just as childish. “God, if you do this, I’ll do this…” And whether we realize it or not, we try to manipulate God into giving us whatever it is we want.
It didn’t work for those parents and it won’t work for our parent, that is, our Heavenly Father. He can easily see right through us and through our motives.
James 4:2-3 “You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
We may want “Burger King” because it tastes good and satisfies our fleshly appetite but God knows that it may not be good for us so He doesn’t give in to our pleading and begging.
Brothers and sisters, there should be no doubt that we should seek the Lord’s will for our lives. When we do what pleases Him life is always better for us.
How do we discern His will for our lives? Two basic ways: Scripture and prayer. If it’s against scripture, it’s not His will. Some things are rather plain to us because God has written them down for us in His Word. Of course, this assumes that we are reading His Word in order to discern His will for our lives.
Next, we must pray and ask for God’s will to be shown to us, for Him to guide us, etc. And wait for Him to intervene and make known His will.
ILL.- Elaine and I moved here the second week of May, 2003. Was it God’s will for us to come and minister with you? Is ministry against God’s will? No. But finding the specific place to serve can sometimes be a problem. Our first thing to do was to find the church building and look it over. Elaine and I found Nettleton Ave. but went the wrong way. The further we went in the other direction, we said, “Hope the church isn’t in this part of the city.”
Well, we finally found the building and were pleasantly surprised. Next, we wondered what the people would be like. We met with Ray and Spencer Sandy, Jim and Jan Davis, E. J. and Faye Cunningham, and Paul and Loretta McKnight at Ryan’s. WHAT DO YOU THINK WE THOUGHT? I had been communicating with Paul McKnight on the phone about the church and just knew he was big strapping fellow.
Anyway, we enjoyed the evening, the meal, the conversation, and the fellowship while all eyes were on us. I preached the morning sermon and correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t we have a dinner and a question and answer time following? Then it was a matter of waiting until you folks voted the next Sunday to see how things turned out.
What some of you didn’t know is this: We had already preached at another church, interviewed and was waiting to hear from them. While we were leaving Jonesboro we got a call from that church, telling us that I was hired as their preacher. They also wanted to know when we would be coming. They knew, however, that we were looking at another church and I said, “I will let you know in a week.”
What were we to do? The other church was much larger (3 times larger) but in a smaller town (15,000) and farther away from our family in southern IL. WHAT WERE WE TO DO? We did the only sensible and spiritual thing we could do. We prayed. We prayed for the Lord to direct us and we believe that He did.
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.”
When we continue to pray, seek and knock, God will answer. He will open some doors and close others. This is how we discern His will for our lives. WE COMMIT OURSELVES TO PRAYER.
CONCLUSION---------------------------------
ILL.- Relationship therapist Dr. Laura Berman of Chicago’s Berman Center said, "Couples come into my office and say their relationship is failing, and I ask them, ’When is the last time you kissed, really kissed?’"
Brothers and sisters, is your marital relationship flagging or failing? If so, perhaps you need to do some more kissing.
Is your relationship to the Lord not what it should be? Then perhaps you need to do some spiritual kissing…by that, I mean, you need to be more committed to Him in prayer. You need to spend time loving the Lord in prayer and then no telling what will happen in your life.
Intimacy with the Lord can make a difference in your life! And much of this intimacy comes in prayer.
