For The Lord’s Sake, Pray Church!
Daniel 9:17
(Key ideas from C.H. Spurgeon & Brian Bill)
April 2, 2006 Chester FBC, Chester, IL Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction:
A A man went to his neighbor’s house to borrow a horse. (The neighbor was a pastor.)
1 The pastor gave the man specific instructions on how to ride the horse.
a The pastor gave a mini-sermon on prayer to the man. He said, "We begin our prayers with thanksgiving to God for his blessings and we conclude our prayers with agreement."
a "Thank God" makes the horse go and "Amen" causes the horse to stop.
b "No, problem" the borrowing man replied.
2 The man took off with a hearty "Thank God."
a The horse trotted faster & faster and they quickly approached a cliff.
b He forgot how to stop the horse, "Stop, Retreat, Whoa" finally, he shouted, "AMEN!!!!" and the horse stopped just inches away from a 150 foot drop-off.
c Wiping his forehead the man said, . . ."Thank God."
B We are talking about prayer this morning (again.) For The Lord’s Sake, Pray Church!
1 (READ Daniel 9:1,2) I picture a nearly 90 year-old Daniel, holding the book of Jeremiah in his lap.
a He’d served nearly 70 years in the Babylonian empire, under 3 kings as their Prime Minister.
b He reads Jeremiah 29:10-12 (READ)
c He knew from scripture that his people were only 3 years away from going back to Jerusalem. (Taken captive in 605 BC, and that it was now 538 BC)
aa He also knew his people weren’t spiritually ready.
bb He was on his knees praying for his people, his church.
2 17 "So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary. Dan 9:17 (NASB)
a (ETS) Daniel asked God to do something that only God could do for His people.
b (ESS) Only God can bring His glory to His Church.
3 I hope you’ll use the insights from this message to be better equipped to pray for your church. (Objective)
a How can you use these insights to pray with mover precision for your church? (Probing Question)
b (Trans. Sent.) Let’s look at two insights that can make us all better equipped to pray for our church.
I The first insight that can make us all better equipped to pray for our church is . . .
ALWAYS REMEMBER WHOSE SANCTUARY YOU WORSHIP IN.
A Daniel placed a tremendous amount of importance on the place of worship in his prayer.
1 The temple had been built with great labor and expense.
a 46 years (Jn. 2.20) to built at a cost of 3,775 tons of Gold & 37,750 tons of Silver, more than that in bronze & iron (1 Chron. 22:14-16.)
*>$70 billion Building!!! To get our minds around that number, it is estimated that is going to cost between $9 & $16 billion to rebuild the Mississippi Gulf Coast after Katrina. (Everybody @ worship today gets $350 million today!)
b Daniel knew that God’s name was on the title of that spiritual house.
c "Thy sanctuary", not ours or Israel’s, but "Thy."
2 The temple sanctuary was from were; God’s Word was spoken, God ruled His people, and God defeated His enemies.
B When we pray for our spiritual house with Daniels heart, we will immediately recognize that this is not our house.
1 As expensive and labor intensive as it was to build the sanctuary Daniel was praying for, God spent much more on the sanctuary that He is inviting us to meet with Him in today.
a It is not our tithes and offerings that bought and paid for this Church.
b It took 8 hours on an old rugged Cross and at the expense and cost of God’s only begotten Son!
b It was the blood of Christ that paid the cost for this Church to be built.
2 The church is were His Word is still spoken, people are feed, and the enemies of God are still defeated.
a The Congress, House, and Senate are not the establishments that will change our nation.
b The Church House is how God will change our nation and the world.
aa Kings & kingdoms will pass away, nations & governments will fall.
bb The Church of Jesus Christ will stay until the bridegroom comes for His Bride.
C We seldom will slow down to stop from criticizing a church, will we?
a How many of us would attend a wedding and afterwards go through the receiving line and go to the groom and say, "Dad-gum, man, your bride is ugly. She’s short, homely, can’t cook, and stupid."
b We’d never say that about a man’s bride would we?
aa No matter how we may personally feel or perceive that bride, to the groom that bride is radiant and beautiful.
bb That is his bride and she belongs to him. (She’s even taken his name!)
c This is the Church of Jesus Christ and it’s Christ’s Bride.
aa Every time we criticize the Church we’re telling Jesus that his bride is ugly.
bb This is His sanctuary, church, bride!
II The second insight that can make us all better equipped to pray for our church is . . .
ASK GOD TO SHINE ON HIS CHURCH.
A Daniel is remembering God’s mercy on Israel when they had cried out to Him in the desert (Exod. 2:24-25.)24 So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of them. NASB
1 When God’s people were in misery, God had shown His mercy.
a Daniel was crying out for God to shine on the people once again.
b "O" is mentioned about 10 times in Daniel 9.
aa "O" is a moan, groan, cry of desperation that isn’t fully understood when we skim over it in causal reading.
bb (IL.) Hee-Haw skit of three hillbillies singing "Doom, Despair, Agony on me." Then one hillbilly would let out with a painful "OOHHHH!"
2 Daniel knew that the only one that could bring shining glory to the desolate sanctuary was God.
a Daniel didn’t ask God do something that Daniel, the people, or government could do.
b He was asking, groaning for God do what no one else could do for them.
B Our prayers should be asking God to do only what God can do for this church.
1 "Honest men do not ask God to do what they can do themselves." C.H. Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Sermon Notes: 193 Sermon Outlines from Genesis to Revelation, Ed. David Otis Fuller, Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1993, p. 132.
a I believe Spurgeon’s thought is applicable to honest churches as well.
b "Honest churches do not ask God to do what they can do themselves."
aa We kind of cringe at that do we not? Why?
bb It means that unless we’re doing all we can for our church, then our prayers are somewhat of a mockery.
cc (IL.) A man had a dream that he could ask God any question. He asked God, "Why don’t you do something to stop global warming, the AIDS epidemic, hunger, starvation, the deterioration of families, and marriage?" God replies to the question, "That’s funny, I was just wondering the same thing about you."
c When we pray we are delighted at the thought that God is there for us when we should be declaring, "God, I’m here for you!"
2 When we’ve done all we can do, then our prayers will be genuine in asking God to show up and shine on this church like only He can.
C By praying for God to Shine, we’re asking God to conform us to His Will.
1 A 5th grade preachers kid had heard his daddy preach on persistent prayer when his daddy heard him praying by his bed one night.
a The boy was praying, "Tokyo, Tokyo, Tokyo."
b The next day at the breakfast table, the father asked the son what he was doing.
c The boy replied that he had given the wrong answer on a test for the capital of Mexico, and he was praying that God would make Tokyo the capital of Mexico.
2 But sometimes, we do the same.
a We want God to adjust to us rather than our seeking what God wants and adjusting to Him.
b Do all you can do, and ask God to do what ONLY God can do.
Conclusion:
(ETS) Daniel asked God to do something that only God could do for His people.
(ESS) Only God can bring His glory to His Church.
A We’ve looked at two insights that can make us all better equipped to pray for our church.
1 Always remember whose sanctuary we worship in.
2 Always remember to ask God to shine on His Church
B I hope you’ll use the insights from this message to be better equipped to pray for your church. (Objective)
1 Choice: Pretend that this is YOUR church or Submit to the fact that this is HIS church.
2 Choice: Ask God to do things that we can do for ourselves OR We can do what we can do for ourselves and ask God to do ONLY the things He can do for us!
C How can you use these insights to pray with mover precision for your church? (Probing Question)
1 During the time of the Second Great Awakening in America, Charles Finney was the foremost among the great evangelists. Many people know him. However few know the name, Daniel Nash.
Nash was a lackluster pastor in upper New York State who, at the age of 48, dedicated his life to prayer. Long before Finney would arrive in a town Nash would be there in an empty cellar or boarding house room praying for the power of God to enter the city. Finney relates:
"When I got to town to start a revival a lady contacted me who ran a boarding house. She said, ‘Brother Finney, do you know a Father Nash? He and two other men have been at my boardinghouse for the last three days, but they haven’t eaten a bite of food. I opened the door and peeped in at them because I could hear them groaning, and I saw them down on their faces. They have been this way for three days, lying prostrate on the floor and groaning. I thought something awful must have happened to them. I was afraid to go in and I didn’t know what to do. Would you please come see about them?’"
"No, it isn’t necessary," I replied. "They just have a spirit of travail in prayer."
Within four months of Nash’s death, Finney left evangelism for the pastorate. The great prayer warrior of his crusades was gone.
Is you want to see the grave of Daniel Nash you have to drive to upper New York, almost to the Canadian border. There, in a neglected cemetery along a dirt road, you will find a tombstone that says it all:
DANIEL NASH
Laborer with Finney
MIGHTY IN PRAYER
2 Billy Graham’s Prayer Warrior
3 Spurgeon, "I would rather teach one to pray than 10 to preach."
4 What strengthens the church are prayers of it’s saints.
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Respectfully,
Mike Fogerson
