David’s Prayer Life
Acts 1:13-14
When people refer to Pentecost and the first church, many times they get so tangled up with the results instead of focusing on the actual application that it took to get to the results of Pentecost.
Never forget, verse 14 tells you why they were able to experience in part what they experience.
They devoted themselves daily to prayer.
· Prayer over my life – to keep me safe and in God’s will.
· Prayer over my tongue – to keep me from saying things I shouldn’t
· Prayer over the lost – that they might get saved
· Prayer over the sick – that they might get healed
· Prayer over the church – that new additions might be added
But never forget, while Pentecost produced a great move of God…
· Notice the sound – like a violent, rushing wind
· Notice the tongues – as the spirit gave utterance
· Notice the understanding – of language from every tribe represented on this day
But don’t you dare forget to notice that this just didn’t happen.
It took the dedication of these men and women to fall on their face before an Almighty God.
- You can have your preaching
- You can have your singing
- You can have your shouting
But you can’t have a day go by without the “devoting of yourself to an active prayer life”
David was a man who knew how to pray.
He was a man, “after God’s own heart”. So why not check him out.
He killed Goliath
He became King
He committed adultery and murder
He lost a son
So if there was ever a man that covered every sense of emotion, it was David.
Someone once said that you could look at prayer with an acronym of the book of Acts that we read from earlier.
A = Adoration – Praising God for who He is
C = Confession – Admit your sins to God; ask forgiveness.
T = Thanksgiving – Thank God for all He has done
S = Supplication – Ask God for His help
Throughout the Bible, David prayed every one of these prayers, sometimes, more than once.
Adoration –
1. David’s Prayer of Confidence –
1st Samuel 17:37-47
What do we learn?
Sometimes you just have to speak it out loud.
When things come up and try your faith, it’s good that you can mumble a prayer and know that God hears you. But sometimes, you just have to open up your mouth and proclaim what you are praying for.
David – told that Giant exactly what was going to happen. He was claiming it. How? His confidence was in the Lord.
Read 1st Samuel 17:45-47
David said:
I am coming to you in the Lord’s name. On His behalf!
You are coming to fight me with your traditions and the ways that you learned from your people, I am coming up against you through the power of God.
By speaking it out loud, David was letting everyone know who was in control of the situation.
(In the E.R) – tell others that God is in control
(In the Funeral Home) – proclaim the life giver
(In the Jail cell) – proclaim the One who can set you free
(To the drug dealer) – proclaim that he doesn’t need them
(To the alcoholic) – proclaim he can let go of it
David wasn’t just letting Goliath know by speaking out his prayers, he was confirming in his own soul that I am about to take on something that I normally couldn’t handle.
But I am not going in David’s name…
· I am not going in Jesse’s (my father’s) name…
· I am not going in the name of America…
· I am not going in the name of Shipps Baptist Church
I am going in the name of the Lord!
Notice:
This is not something that was new to David. You can’t just show up for battle and expect to walk in God’s victory if you haven’t already spent some quite time with God for training and preparation.
Verse 37 – David shares how God already delivered him out of the mouth of a lion and a bear.
He was saying, “I have been here already. Goliath it might not have been you the last time but God has already shown himself faithful to me” And he will do it again!
Wouldn’t you have an active prayer life if you were going up against a lion and a bear?
David knew how to pray in confidence. His prayer of ADORATION: Praising God for who He is.
2. David’s prayer of Confession –
Psalms 51
David knew what it was like to win. He was familiar with the taste of victory but he was a man who was also familiar with the agony of defeat.
We have talked about David’s sin with Bathsheba already in a previous message but we have to go back to this story to understand where David is coming from in Psalms 51.
This morning, it was through this time in David’s life where he taught us that when we pray we have to give it our all.
Drastic situations call for drastic measures.
This was a drastic situation for David.
He was heartbroken
He was hurt
He was guilty
He was experiencing defeat…
Psalms 51 records his words of confession. This prayer of repentance remains on record as a tearstained testimony of his brokenness. His repentance did not stem from fear of punishment or concern of future successes. He repented for having violated God Himself.
He was crying out:
Not for pardon but for purity…
Not for acquittal but for acceptance…
Not for comfort but for a complete cleansing…
God’s Response:
Psalms 40:1-3
“I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay; And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.”
David knew how to win but he also knew how to lose. Why was he a man “after God’s own heart”?
He was a man who knew how to call out to a Heavenly Father even when he had committed sin.
3. David’s prayer after the Covenant – (Thanksgiving)
1st Chronicles 17:27
“For thou O Lord has blessed, and it is blessed forever.”
Nathan was not only used to bring David the word of conviction from God but he also brought David his word of the covenant that God was going to give David.
The Lord says (through Nathan)
v. 8 – I have been with you wherever you have gone
I have cut off your enemies from before you
I will now make your name great –
I will give you a place for my people –
I will build a house for you –
I will continue this covenant on, even after you are gone –
David’s response – verse 16
Who am I Lord to deserve this?
Then his prayer goes into a time of Thanksgiving:
v. 19 – David is giving God the credit for all the greatness that he has been able to experience.
David was:
A great warrior
A great leader
A great king
A great psalmist
A great musician
But he was a man who knew that it was nothing that he did, it was all because of God.
Listen to what David penned:
Psalms 8:1 –
“O Lord how majestic is thy name in all the earth. Who has displayed Thy splendor above the heavens…”
Psalms 27:1
“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is my defense of my life.
David was never guilty of taking the credit for the accomplishments he had. He always turned it back to his Heavenly Father.”
He knew how to pray the prayer of Thanksgiving.
4. David’s Prayer of Conceit: Supplication –
Psalms 54:1-4
Great men in the bible were men who recognized when they needed help. They might have been strong and mighty men but they also knew that they had weaknesses themselves.
David was one of those guys.
He had many situations throughout his life that he needed God more than he needed his talents.
Read Psalms 54:1-4
David spent a lot of time on the run. People were after him and tried to take his life.
Psalms 43:1,2
“Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man. (2) For thou art the God of my strength…”
Psalms 46:1-3
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble…”
He was talking here from experience!
David had been delivered from many things and he knew he was serving a God that could deliver him.
But David also knew that to access this type of help, he had to call out to God.
God wants to hear your prayers of:
Adoration –
Recognizing that He is God
Confession –
Recognizing you are but a sinner in need
Thanksgiving –
Recognizing where your blessings come from
(even those so called “unanswered prayers”)
Supplications –
Recognizing that you need help.
David was a mighty man who conquered many things.
But David was also a man who knew how to pray.
