Prayer is without doubt the most underrated and unused force in today’s world. I am convinced that everyone prays sometime or the other.
We pray when the tragedy strikes. We pray when that unexpected phone call comes that threatens to turn our world upside down. We pray when life seems to spin out of control. If the only time you pray is when something is wrong than you are missing the whole point of praying.
Do you ever long for a closer relationship with God?
Do you ever wish that God would be more of a reality in your life?
Do you wish that you had a friend that would be closer to you then even a brother?
We all struggle with prayer. It is hard to have a one sided conversation with someone who never talks back in an audible voice. We struggle with how to pray.
Lorene Workman’s granddaughter came over to spend the night. The next morning as they were talking, Workman asked her grandchild if she said her prayers last night before going to sleep. The little girl replied, “No, Granny. I got down on my knees to pray, but I got to thinking that God might be tired of hearing the same old prayer every night, so I crawled into bed and told him about Little Red Riding Hood. Mature Living, Feb. 2000, p. 6
I have to wonder if God wouldn’t be pleased to hear from some of us even if all we did was tell Him a story!
We continue today with the series based on the names found in Hebrews 11:32-34. All the people in this series have done something by faith in their lives. Today we look at a story from the life of Samuel the prophet.
The story is found in I Samuel 7:1-14.
Samuel prayed a prayer of faith. He prayed a prayer of faith on behalf of Israel. One of the greatest privileges we have is to be able to pray a prayer of faith.
There are two very clear statements about praying a prayer of faith found in the Bible.
Mark 11:22-24, “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea’, and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
James 5:15, “And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned he will be forgiven.”
What are the characteristics of the prayer of faith? Today we will look at them based on the story of Samuel.
Prayer: God, we come to you this morning with one question, ‘can you hear us now?’ More than anything we want to be so connected to you that we never have to ask that question. May we learn from your Word today. Cause us to walk in your ways. Allow us to connect with you today in a new and real way until the signal strong and the connection is clear and static free. Amen
There are some characteristics that must be in place if we are to connect to God with a prayer of faith. Let’s look at them together.
1. Daring to be disciplined. “Ready”
If we have learned anything in this series it is that God never gave up on Israel. Time after time they would disobey Him and He would punish them. In the story lesson today we read that Israel “mourned and sought after the Lord.”
“And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, ‘If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Astoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve Him only, and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.’ So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only.” I. Sam. 7:3-4
There are some things that you and I must do if we are to be “ready” to pray a prayer of faith. We dare to be disciplined by God.
a. Remove the things that hinder your spiritual life.
Don’t allow anything to remain in your life that pulls you away from God and His word. God will have a relationship with you that will be incredible and life changing but He wants all of you. He is not interested in your weekly effort to show up at church if you are not showing up everyday to walk with Him in relationship.
Ask God to help you identify the issues in your life that are detrimental to your faith. Once you have identified them take the next step which is to repent of them.
b. Repent or be genuinely sorry.
Being sorry for wrong-doing is a lost art in our society. We always need someone to blame. We are a society of victims and very few people will take responsibility for their actions. We love to blame others for our problems. If you are ever going to advance in your spiritual life you are going to have to take responsibility for your actions. There is no substitute for godly sorrow and repentance.
While traveling on business, an executive had a very bad experience at one particular hotel. When he climbed into bed, a bug started racing up his leg. He jumped from the bed, turned on the lights, and threw back the covers. The bug wasn’t alone; there were numerous other critters between the sheets. Although the man was granted another room, he was not satisfied with the situation. Upon returning home, he wrote a letter to the hotel’s corporate office. Within a few weeks he received a letter directly from the company’s president. With flattering remarks and penitent words, the president made it quite clear the problem should have never occurred and that he would make sure it wouldn’t happen again. The businessman felt somewhat vindicated by the letter until a small Post-it note fell from the envelope. The secretary had inadvertently left her boss’s directives on the reply. The little note simply said, “Send this man the bug letter.” It’s not repentance when we just try to cover our tracks after getting caught. Repentance involves a commitment to correct our ways. HomeLife, Jon Walker’s Editorial, Feb. 1997, p. 3
c. Realign your life to God.
The nation of Israel heard the word from Samuel to “commit yourselves to the Lord and serve Him only.” When you realign your life to walk in God’s ways you will be ready to pray prayers of faith.
2. Dealing with doubt. “Connection and text message”
When you begin to practice praying prayers of faith you find that there will be times of doubting. You may be tempted to give up because of the circumstances you are in at the time. Let’s look at the scripture again.
“When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. And when the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. They said to Samuel, ‘Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that He may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.’” I. Sam. 7:7-8
Israel had assembled at Mizpah to accept the discipline of God and to get right with Him. Now they are about to be attacked by their feared enemy.
It is not unusual to face attacks on your faith. They will generally come in the forms of doubting and fear.
I would offer you two simple solutions to the problem of doubting.
a. Stay connected: Don’t quit praying. Don’t give up. Listen to the verse we just read again. “And when the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. They said to Samuel, ‘Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us. . .” In other words, keep praying. Stay connected.
b. Text message: To borrow from our cell phone metaphor. Text messaging is great because you can use it almost anywhere. I have sent and received messages right during meetings. If you want to dispel doubt never be far from the text. (The Bible) You and I must be in the word of God if we are going to deal with doubt and stay connected. You will find that if you will stay in the word you will hear God sometimes say to you, “Can you hear me now?” There is noting better than finding a word of encouragement from God while reading the Bible.
There is another important characteristic that we must practice to be effective in faith praying.
3. Declaring your dedication. “No Roaming”
They said to Samuel, ‘Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.’” I Sam. 7:8
There will be times in your life when you will be tempted to run from God. You may feel like life is about to overwhelm you and that God is not listening. It is at that moment when faith must kick in. It is in moments like this that you must stand strong and not give in to your feelings.
Barbara Kerby has written a humorous reflection about her first experience of driving. Barbara’s father took her to the high school parking lot for driving lessons. For this particular lesson, Barbara’s three-year-old sister rode along in the backseat. While trying to negotiate a turn, Barbara hit the curb. From the backseat she heard a small voice say, “God is great, God is good, let us thank him for our food.” Barbara slammed on the brakes, turned around to the backseat and yelled, “What are you talking about?” Her little sister replied, “Your driving is scaring me, and that’s the only prayer I know.” Parade, Oct. 1, 2000, p. 16
Don’t give up.
Don’t look somewhere else for help. Now is the time to stand strong.
Some of us will turn to everything but God when life gets tough. People will try to fill their lives with all kind of stuff to deal with the fear. They will turn to alcohol, drugs, illicit sex or a host of things to get their mind off the reality around them. I’m telling you when it looks like all hope is gone; God will step in if you will trust in Him.
Can you hear Him now?
There is a fourth characteristic that we need to be aware of.
4. Defeating the darkness. “Searching for signal”
“While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle.” I Sam. 7:10
Do you sense in this story that the enemy and destruction just seems to be getting closer and closer. That is a picture of life. Walk the halls of any hospital and you will see people who are dealing with destruction. Watch the news read the paper and you will find that pain and suffering is no respecter of persons. When it comes to problems we all have them.
You and I must be willing to stand and fight if we are going to exercise our ability to pray a prayer of faith.
Prayer is warfare. In my opinion some people today have gone off the deep end with their spiritual warfare teaching. You need to be careful to not blame every little thing that happens in your life on spiritual warfare. Sometimes life just happens!
What you need to remember is that if you are going to engage God in prayer you will fight some battles. Praying is entering into a spiritual conflict.
Ephesians 6:10-12, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
After describing the whole armor of God in Eph. 6:13-17, Paul admonishes, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep praying for all the saints.”
It may that you are in an incredible struggle or battle. You may be fighting of your life or at least it feels that way. Let it happen. Let life unfold and give you its worst but declare your dependence on God and you will find that you have the power to defeat the darkness.
Listen to the testimonies of those who have been victorious and you will find that they all came alive during the darkest days. If you drift away from God you won’t find him but He’ll be there if you search for Him.
Jeremiah 29:11-13, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord.”
Can you hear Him now?
5. Displaying your deliverance. “Recent calls”
I love this characteristic. Deliverance will come.
For Israel right at the last minute God showed up and thundered so loud that the Philistines were panic-stricken and ran. Israel defeated them soundly.
“Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far has the Lord helped us.’” I Sam. 7:12
Ebenezer is more than a character in the Christmas Story!
When you engage in faith praying there will be great moments of victory in your life. They will come right after a great battle and struggle.
You will want to remember and savor those answers to prayer.
Write them down. Keep a journal. Remember and rehearse what God has done in your life.
Don’t be disheartened. Don’t be discouraged. Don’t be defeated. Don’t give up. God is about to answer your prayer.
Tony Campolo is a well-known Christian communicator who teaches sociology at Eastern College in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. One day he was invited to speak at a Pentecostal College near his home campus. When he arrived for the chapel service, he was escorted to a back room where eight men laid their hands on him and began to pray. Campolo said he was very appreciative of the heartfelt prayers, but one guy spent a long time praying about something that had nothing to do with the chapel service. The longer he prayed the more the others grew weary and leaned more heavily on Campolo. He prayed on and on about a friend of his named Charlie. He said, “God, you know Charlie. He lives in that silver trailer down the road about a mile. You know the trailer, Lord, just down the road on the right-hand side.” Campolo was thinking, “Knock it off, fella. What do you think God’s doing, saying, ‘What’s that address again?’” He went on, “Lord, Charlie told me this morning he’s decided to leave his wife and three kids. He’s going to walk out on his family. Lord, step in, do something, bring that family together again.” Campolo said the guy just kept praying earnestly for his friend Charlie, and kept reiterating the fact that he was leaving his wife and three kids and that he lived in a silver trailer, just down the road on the right-hand side. Meanwhile, the others kept leaning more heavily on Campolo’s head and he was just waiting for the lengthy prayer to end. Finally it was over and he went in to preach for the chapel service. Afterwards, he got into his car and started heading home. Soon thereafter, he saw a hitchhiker and pulled over to give him a ride. As they pulled back onto the road, Campolo introduced himself and the hitchhiker said his name was Charlie. Campolo’s heart began to race and he took the next exit off the turnpike. The passenger asked him why he was exiting and Campolo said, “Because you just left your wife and three children, right?” Charlie’s eyes got real big and he said, “R-r-r-ight.” He leaned closer to the door and never took his eyes off Campolo. Then things got real strange when Campolo drove him right to his silver trailer. In complete amazement Charlie asked, “How’d you know I live here?” Campolo replied, “God told me.” He then ordered Charlie to get in the trailer and Charlie hurried to the door. His wife greeted him at the doorway and shouted, “You’re back, you’re back!” Charlie then began whispering in her ear and her eyes got bigger and bigger. Campolo came up to the porch and said, “Sit down. I’m going to talk and the two of you are going to listen.” It was the most captive audience he had ever addressed. That afternoon, those two people were led to Jesus Christ and today Charlie is a preacher of the gospel. Prayers aren’t always answered that dramatically, but then again, they aren’t always prayed that fervently. “Christianity Illustrated: What Makes Prayer Powerful,” John Ortberg, Seeds Tape Ministry C9820
Early in the service we sang the old song written in the 1700’s, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” For those of you who remember that song from bygone years you know that we left out a verse.
Samuel raised a memorial to what God had done and called it Ebenezer. It was a strange name. It simply means. God did it!
In celebration of what God has done or what you believe He might be on the verge of doing in your life I want us to stand and sing two verses of that song again only this time we will sing that classic verse that says, “Here I raise my Ebenezer, Here by Thy great help I’ve come.”
Let’s worship Him this morning. As you know a response is always in order here. You can respond this morning by singing to God in this great hymn, but if you feel the need to pray today you are invited to come and kneel at the front and talk to God. He’ll listen.
Can you hear Him now?
