Donald Trump published a New York Times bestseller entitled, "The Art of the Deal." In that book, he outlines strategies he developed in mastering the art of negotiation. As a world-renowned dealmaker, Trump’s strategies are well worth investigating. His success in this area makes his book somewhat of an authority on the subject.
In the secular world, we can say Donald Trump has mastered the art of deal making.
From a Christian perspective, we have more important work to do than building buildings or making world class deals with other business people. At stake for the Christian in his or her work is the eternal destiny of men and women. This is far more important than all the buildings in all the world put together.
One problem Christians share is that we often do not take very seriously our work for the Master. Often, we offer him work that is shoddy at best and incomplete at worst.
The reason for this is suggested here in this parable that Jesus gives, which would be we are not desperate enough. For some reason we fail to see the urgency of the hour in which we live. Some Christians live as though there was no urgency, and that they had all the time in the world. Even "9/11" has not created a spirit of urgency in us as a nation.
Another reason would be, many Christians do not believe people are lost. Their creeds, tell them people are lost, but their actions say something altogether different. We have the idea that there’s a little bit of good in everybody. This is in direct contrast to what the Bible teaches.
• Romans 3:10 - 12 (KJV) “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
• Romans 3:23 (KJV) “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
One of the crucial elements of the Christian life, affecting every aspect, is our prayer life. Our very life depends on our ability to pray.
The average Christian today, in contrast to the "Normal Christian," is sadly deficient in this area of prayer. This is seen in the fact that many Christians don’t have enough prayer savvy to meet their own needs. Many Christians continue day after day in a much-depleted spiritual condition for the simple reason, they don’t know how to pray. They barely know how to get from God what they need to exist as a Christian.
There are two reasons for this. One, real prayer is work, hard work. Many people have the idea that prayer is a rather casual thing, but the contrary is true. Prayer will be the hardest thing you ever do in life. It is work, and most people are allergic to that four-letter-word.
And two, prayer is a highly specialized art, which few Christians have mastered. Everyone prays, but few have truly mastered the strategies resulting in effective prayer. It takes discipline and practice and hard work to achieve the level of effective prayer. A level, only a few Christians ever attain.
In this parable, Jesus outlines strategies for Mastering the Art of Prayer. The strategies can be boiled down to three primary ones. Know what to ask for; know where to look for the answer; know when to knock. When you have disciplined yourself in these three areas, you are on your way to "Mastering the Art of Prayer."
I. KNOWLEDGE: KNOW WHAT TO ASK FOR
"For everyone who asks, will receive what he asks for."
It would be fair to say, many Christians fail at this point. They really do not know what to ask God for. Of course, if you don’t know what to ask for, you’ve already failed. James points this out to us in his epistle. James 4:2 - 3 "Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."
The question begs to be answered, how do I know what to ask for?
The key to this is found in Luke 11:13 "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"
In order for us to know what to pray for, we need the Holy Spirit to guide us. And he is ever so faithful to do so, if we yield ourselves to him. In order for us to know how to pray and what to pray for, we need to have discernment. And this is the Holy Spirit’s field of expertise.
Discernment has three different levels.
Level 1 = discernment that comes from education. (Someone telling me about fire and how hot it is.)
Level 2 = discernment that comes from experience. (Getting burned by fire.)
Level 3 = discernment that comes from enlightenment. (the Holy Spirit a spiritual experience.)
I think it’s fair to say many Christians do not get to the third level. This is the great goal of our Christian life. To get to that level where the Holy Spirit can reveal to us certain things we need to know so we can pray effectively.
It is important to ask for the right thing in the right spirit. Psalms 106:15 (KJV) " And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul."
The more I give myself to the reading and studying of the Bible, the more opportunity the Holy Spirit has to cultivate and nurture within me an awareness of the needs around me. Out of this will flow a torrent of intercessory prayer, which will literally change me and the people around me.
II. FAITH: KNOW WHERE TO LOOK.
"Everyone who looks, will find what he is looking for."
Faith is expectation based on revealed truth. The apostle Paul tells us the direction of our looking in, Hebrews 12:2 "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
This of course, is the look of faith. By faith, we look "unto Jesus." If, as Paul says here, he is the "author and finisher of our faith," this should be the very first place we look.
How can we do this? What is the procedure in this?
Again, Paul gives us the instructions in Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
It’s my opinion that prayer does not begin until we have a good foundation of Scripture to guide us. As we look into the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit will guide us in knowing what to ask for, and what our expectations should be. I firmly believe that God will give us everything he has promised, but he will not give us anything he has not promised. It behooves me then to understand and know fully well, what he has promised in his word.
I will always find what I’m looking for.
III. AUTHORITY: KNOW WHEN TO KNOCK
"Everyone who knocks, will have the door opened to him."
If I have been led by the Holy Spirit to look in the right place, and if I know what I’m looking for, it brings me to this third phase of knowing when to knock. As important as the other two are, this is crucial in my prayer life.
This "knocking," is referring to authority. If I am to receive anything from the Lord, I need to have authority: the right to ask and the right to receive. This right is based on Christ, and my relationship to him. Someone has referred to this as the "Authority of the Believer."
Two things about this knocking are important. The first would be to know what door to knock on. And then knocking in expectation of the door opening. (Boldness)
The apostle Paul understood this matter. Acts 14:27 (KJV) "And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles."
The most crucial thing about prayer and God’s work is the matter of timing. God is very seldom early, but he is never late. Despite what we’ve may think of at the time, God has a timetable that nothing ever violates. Or frustration usually comes from forcing God timetable.
APPLICATION:
As a Christian, I have an obligation to develop effective prayer strategies. I need to be able in my prayer life, to reach out and touch the lives of those around me.
True prayer is the only thing Satan cannot stand against. In this world as believers, we are standing against spiritual terrorism. The lives of some people are dependent on our ability not only to defend ourselves against spiritual terrorism, but also to break the chains keeping people from Christ. To snatch them from the fires of hell.
Around every non-Christian is a Satanic hedge designed to enslave that person and keep them from Christ. Only a person who has Mastered the Art of Prayer can break this hold the devil has.
2 Corinthians 5:16-20 - Reconciliation. Conversion as a result oh a praying saint in cooperation with the Holy Spirit.
Prayer is important. We treated casually our own peril as well as those around us.
Grandparents Day: today, grandchildren, more than any other generation, need grandparents who have truly mastered the art of prayer.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, our world is in desperate need of men and women who can storm the very gates of hell and break the chains holding many in prison. Raise us up for this holy work enabling us to wage a good warfare. In Jesus name. Ame
