PRAYERS THAT REALLY WORK
Essentials for Growth, part 3
11-04-12 Sermon
We are continuing in our
series on “Essentials for Spiritual Growth” and exercises for spiritual growth. If you’re going to grow you’ve got to
exercise for growth. We’re going to talk
today about how you exercise in communication with God and connection with God
in order to grow spiritually.
Did you know that Larry King
the talk show host has written a book about prayer? He wrote a book where he interviewed a lot of
people that he’s talked to about their conversations with God. It has chapters by Goldie Hawn and Mohammed
Ali and Tommy Lasorda and Willie Nelson.
That’s interesting, I think.
But to me, even more
interesting is how about an interview with somebody whose prayer life literally
changed the world? Whose prayer life
really transformed everything?
The person we’re going to
look at today is a guy who learned to pray from Jesus. A man by the name of Paul. The apostle Paul prayed in such a way that
his prayers literally changed the world.
Paul talked to a group of people that he had helped come to a
relationship with Christ in a city by the name of Thessalonica. He helped them to begin this relationship and
then a little while later he wrote a letter back to them. He said some things to them, which indicates
the kind of ways that he prayed. It’s a
model to us of a kind of way of praying that can be refreshing and new and
really transformative in your life.
Let me read for you what he
had to say. 1 Thessalonians 3:10-13 Paul
says “Night and day we pray [circle
“night and day” because you can learn something about the kind of prayer that
changes everything,] most earnestly [circle
the word “earnestly” – we can learn something from that] that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your
faith. Now may our God [circle “may
our God” – you and I can learn something from that] and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to
you. May the Lord make your love increase
and overflow for each other and for everyone else just as ours does for
you. May he strengthen your hearts so
that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when
our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.”
That’s what we’re going to
look at together as we learn from Paul about how to pray. So with our hearts in an attitude of prayer,
connection with God, how does this thing of prayer, this relationship of
prayer, this conversation of prayer, how does it work? How can some new and fresh things happen in
my life?
Here’s the example that Paul
gives us.
1. He says first of all pray frequently.
That’s how you do it. You pray frequently. He uses the words “night and day.” The truth of it is, most of us are challenged
to pray even once a day. And now I’m
saying pray night and day? How are we
going to get there?
Here’s what we’re talking
about. Instead of moving from praying a
few minutes a day to maybe praying a few more minutes a day, skip that middle
stuff entirely and move from praying a few minutes a day to praying constantly
throughout the day. Begin to see prayer
not as an appointment you have to keep but as a conversation that you’re
having.
The first thing in prayer is
this constant daily dependence on God.
Recognizing he’s there every moment.
Wouldn’t you like to have that?
Just this sense that he’s there every moment throughout the day. I can count on him. I can depend on him. I can talk to him. And Paul says I have this night and day sense
of dependence on God. That’s the kind of
prayer that really works.
That’s what the Bible’s
talking about when, in the next verse it says,1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray all the time.” And by the way, that’s the whole
verse. If you’re ever going to memorize a
Bible verse, that’s a good one to start with.
That is the whole verse: “Pray all
the time.” Pray without ceasing,
maybe you’ve heard. It’s something you
do all the time in your life.
How is that possible? How can you pray all the time? Does this verse mean you’re literally talking
out loud to God all through the day, all the time? Obviously not. No one could possibly do that.
Think of prayer like
breathing. I breathe all the time. It’s a good thing that I do that. It’s a good thing that you do that. All through the day and I’m also doing other
things at the same time. That’s what
this is saying. You pray all the time. It’s like breathing a prayer to God all
throughout the day. A prayer for help, a
prayer of thanks, a prayer for strength.
You pray and then you pause. You
pray and you pause and do something else.
You pause and you pray. You pause
and you pray. In the back of your mind,
even, you’re praying as you’re doing other things. That’s what this means, you pray all the
time.
The Bible says this – the
next verse in your outline. Ephesians
6:18 “Pray at all times and on every
occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Circle “all times” and “every occasion.” That’s how it works. There’s no time when it’s not a good time to
pray. Pray at all times.
Jesus knew we’d struggle with
this. He knew that sometimes we’d not
only have to pray but we’d have to persist in praying. The Bible says in Luke 18:1 ‘Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to
show them that they should always pray and not give up.” If you’re going to pray all the way throughout
the day there’s going to be sometimes when it’s not happening like you want but
you don’t give up. That’s called
persisting in prayer. In this parable,
Jesus told his disciples the story about a judge who didn’t want to help a
widow. But the widow kept bugging him
and finally the judge said ok. A lot of
people make the mistake of thinking that the judge in this story represents
God. But that’s not the story at
all. Jesus was saying the judge is the
exact opposite of God. The judge didn’t
want to help – God wants to help. Here’s
the point. Jesus is saying if a judge
who didn’t want to help helped a widow because she kept asking, don’t you think
that God, who does want to help,
don’t you think that he’s going to help you?
When you and I are talking to
God throughout the day, asking him for something, you don’t have to nag God for
something. You don’t have to ask him
again and again and again to get it.
That’s not persisting in prayer.
That’s bugging God in prayer.
Persisting is trusting God in prayer.
Jesus said I want you to
always pray and not give up. Persisting
in prayer is persisting in trust.
Because you know you can trust him.
You can trust him. And God is not
just a way to get what you want. You
persist in prayer, Jesus says.
Martin Luther once said, “Prayer is not overcoming God’s
reluctance. It is laying hold of God’s
willingness.” That’s what Jesus is
saying in this story. God wants to
help.
So this thing of constant
prayer, making it a part of my life all throughout the day, how do I do
this? What’s the exercise? Let me give you an exercise for each of
these.
The exercise for this one is pray the first two minutes. First two minutes of what? The first two minutes of everything. That’s how you bring him into your life. First two minutes that you wake up in the
morning. You communicate with God. The first two minutes that you come down to
eat breakfast; you communicate with God.
The first two minutes that you get in your car; you communicate with
God. You walk into your office. Not out loud, you communicate the first two
minutes. That’d be weird if you were
talking out loud. In the back of your
mind, the first two minutes you walk into your office. The first two minutes in an important meeting
in the office – in the back of your mind you’re talking to God.
When you pray the first two
minutes, that brings him into the day, throughout the day.
Here’s the second thing he
teaches us. If you want to have the kind
of prayer that really changes things, prayer that really works…
2. You pray
passionately.
You pray with all of your
heart. What I’m saying is this. If there is one area in your life where you
should go for it, it is in the area of prayer.
In baseball, when a ball is
hit, just out of the center fielder’s reach and you see him streaking across
the field and you realize he’s going to go for it, he runs with all his speed
and then he lays full out and the ball lands in his mitt and he lands on his
stomach. There is something exciting
about that because he went for it.
And you and I, when you and I
decide to go for it in prayer, there is something about that that just thrills
the heart of God. Instead of sitting
down to pray the same routine prayer again, the same rote prayer again, instead
of praying the safe prayer or the quick prayer or the easy prayer, when you go
for it in prayer, that thrills the heart of God.
We all have different
personalities. We all have different
ranges of emotions. But whatever your
personality, prayer should be that moment in your life when more than any other
moment, you emotionally go for it.
That’s the kind of prayer that changes things. That’s the kind of prayer that makes a difference.
Jesus taught us to have heart
in our prayers and he also taught us what kills passion in our prayers. You know what kills passion in my
communication with God and your communication with God? Jesus talked about it in the next verse. He
says in Matthew 6:5 “When you pray, don’t
be like those show-offs who love to stand up and pray in the meeting places and
on the street corners. They do this just
to look good. I can assure you that they
already have their reward.”
Jesus here isn’t saying that we
shouldn’t ever pray with other people.
He did that a lot of times. He’s
saying that we should never pray to be noticed by other people. You might underline that phrase “just to look
good.” Don’t pray just to look good.
If I begin to try to look good,
I’m not going to pray with passion.
Remember when you pray with passion, sometimes the most passionate
prayer doesn’t have any words to it at all.
The Bible says in Romans 8:26 “In
the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but
the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” Sometimes you just don’t know what to
say. In those times if you just say,
“God I don’t know what to say. I‘m just
going to sit here in your presence.”
There is more passion in that prayer than in a thousand words. You go for it in your prayer.
How do you do that? How do you pray with passion? Paul taught us to do that. He said, night and day you pray. You pray frequently. He said most earnestly you pray. You pray with passion. How do I do this?
A couple of ideas. A
couple of exercises.
One, pray out loud. Sometimes we think that the
only way you can pray is by mental telepathy.
I’ve just got to do it in my mind.
Jesus prayed most of the time out loud.
One of the ways to express emotion and compassion is out loud. I didn’t say loud, so that all the neighbors
can hear. Just out loud. Some quiet place in your backyard, in your
car as you’re driving along, some place in your office where you can be
alone. Just pray out loud to God. That’s one of our exercises this next
week. Just try that once this next
week. Pray out loud to God. Pray with emotion to God.
Another exercise is pray through the book of Psalms. In the Bible, in the Old Testament, right in
the middle of the Bible, there is a book called Psalms. It’s a book mostly of prayers. Those prayers are emotional prayers, a lot of
them prayed by David. They are emotional
prayers. If you pray through the prayers
in Psalms it will add emotion to your prayers.
I’ve got to pray
frequently. I’ve got to pray
passionately but then there’s a third way I’ve got to pray…
3. I’ve got to pray specifically.
Pray specifically to
God. When you pray you are praying for
something specific to happen, not just some broad thing that no one can know
what it means. What specifically are you
asking for? Jesus said it this way in
Matthew 7:7 “Keep on asking, and you will
be given what you ask for. Keep on
looking, and you will find. Keep on
knocking, and the door will be opened.” You’re
asking for something, you’re looking for something; you’re wanting a door to be
opened when you pray.
And God wants you to
ask. In fact, he tells us to come boldly
to him, to come into his presence and ask.
Hebrews 4:16 “So let us come
boldly [circle that word “boldly”] to
the throne of our gracious God. There we
will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it.”
Coming to God boldly means
you’re confident to come into his presence and talk to him. Confident not because of who you are but
because of his love for you. He’s
invited you in.
But it also means that once
you get there, boldness means, that you ask God to act. You ask God to do something. It doesn’t mean ordering God around. You come to him humbly. But you do ask him humbly to act. In your prayers, do you ask God to act? Or do you thank him and that’s all? Or tell him what’s going on in your day and
that’s all? Boldness is asking God to
act.
One of the problems we have
in figuring out how to do this, how do I ask God to act specifically in ways
that will get answered, is that we miss many times one of the most important
things that Jesus taught us about prayer.
Jesus said I want you to pray in my name. There’s deep meaning in that. But we’ve just made it a rote ending to our
prayers: “In Jesus name, Amen.” We just rattle it off. I can say it in different languages. But what does it mean? That’s the key.
What does it mean to pray in
Jesus name? When you get that you
understand how to ask and what to ask for in a way that changes the world.
I love John 14:13. Jesus is speaking. The Message paraphrase brings out what it
means to ask in Jesus name “From now on,
whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I’m doing, [you
might underline that “along the lines of who I am and what I am doing”] I’ll do it.” [That’s Jesus’ name. It’s along the lines of who he is and what
he’s doing.] That’s how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son.”
When I pray along the lines
of Jesus’ name that doesn’t just mean I can use his name as carte blanche to get whatever I want.
That would be silly. I could pray
for God to do something evil and he’d have to do it. This isn’t like ordering a genie around. That’s not what he’s meaning here.
He’s meaning my name means my
purpose, my position, my passion, my power.
It means who he is. When Jesus is
saying when you pray for what I want to do in this world, along the lines of my
heart, absolutely I’m going to do it and I want to show you how to ask for those
kinds of things. Because prayer is not
about my will be done, prayer is
about God’s will be done. This is how Jesus teaches us to do it,
because I’ve got a connection to him.
Paul’s example shows us how
we can bring this into our everyday lives.
How we can pray specifically. How
do I pray specific prayers that will get answered? I don’t want to waste my prayer time. There are some prayers you know are not going
to get answered because we’re praying in opposition to one another. It’s the weather we always talk about. One person is praying for it to get cooler
today. Somebody’s out there praying for
it to get hotter today. I wish you
weren’t doing that. But you were praying
that. How’s God going to answer both
prayers? Or sports, one person praying for
this team to win and another person praying for that team to win. Both prayers couldn’t be answered. Or politics – praying for this candidate to
win or that candidate to win. Both
prayers couldn’t be answered.
I want to pray prayers that
specifically can get answered. How do I
do that? Paul teaches us how. He shows us these are the kind of prayers to
pray, something new to do in your communication with God that he will answer these
prayers. Five specific things that he
did as he prayed for these friends in Thessalonica.
1. First kind of specific prayer, a new way of
thinking, something new on the white board, Paul teaches us pray for God to remove obstacles.
That’s a specific way to pray
that will get answers. Pray for God to
remove obstacles. “May God clear the way for us to come to you.” Specific prayers recognize that there are
specific things that are in the way of God’s will being done. That’s why we are to pray that God’s will is
done, on earth, as it is in heaven. It’s
always done immediately in heaven. On
earth sometimes something is in the way.
God is all powerful, but he has allowed for a time something to be in
the way. He’s allowed it. He’s allowed our sin to be on this earth for
a time. One day that’ll be no more. He’s allowed us to make choices that get in
the way. Something’s in the way of that
prayer being answered.
A specific prayer says God
get that thing out of the way.
Specifically pray for a barrier to be removed. For instance, if you’re praying for someone
to begin a relationship with God though Jesus, you want them to find his peace
and purpose in their daily life because you love them and you know the
difference it would make. If you’re
praying for that to happen in somebody’s life, pray that they’ll begin a
relationship. But also pray that
barriers will be removed. Pray
specifically. “God remove the barriers
of their doubts. Help them to find
answers if not from me, from somebody else, to see your truth. God, remove the barrier of that relationship
over there that’s drawing them in a totally different direction, a pretty
destructive direction it looks like.
God, remove that barrier. God, remove the barrier maybe of me and
something that I’m doing that’s keeping them from getting to know you and who
you really are.”
You specifically pray for God
to remove a barrier.
If you’re praying for a new
job, you pray for God to remove barriers.
I’m not talking about people here.
Like, rub that person out because that’s the job that I want. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about, “God, in people’s
thinking, would you remove barriers in their mind? Would you help this person to see me that I
could be a good person for this job?” Or
maybe even more courageous, “God, would
you remove barriers in my own life?
Would you help me to see a new kind of job I need to apply for? A new place even I need to live. Help me to see things in a new way.”
When you begin to pray in that
way, God will specifically answer that specific prayer.
The point is when an obstacle
is taken out of the way, if it’s God’s will, it will be done. Without a shadow of a doubt. Because his will is done.
This prayer that Paul prayed
here “I pray that things will get out of the way so that I can come and see
you.” This prayer was answered. About five years later he went on another
missionary journey and he went to see these people. This is the first step in making prayer more
specific. Pray for God to get things out
of the way.
2. A second kind of specific prayer that God
will answer is you pray for God to
increase love.
Paul prayed “May the Lord make your love increase.”
1 Corinthians 8:1 says “If I increase my knowledge but not my love
it’s just fat. Knowledge puffs up, love
builds up.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
says, “If I’ve got all the faith in the
world but don’t have love it’s just fat.
If I’ve got enough faith to move a mountain into the sea but don’t have
love it’s just fat.”
I don’t know why but I miss
this sometimes. I pray for some thing to
happen but I don’t pray for love to increase; when I know that love increasing
is the number one thing that God wants to do.
So whenever you’re praying for some thing
to happen, also pray for love to increase because God will always answer that
prayer. It’s the number one thing that
he’s doing in this world – he’s increasing my love for you, he’s increasing my
love for him. That’s what he wants to do
in our lives.
So whenever you pray, pray
that God would increase love in that situation.
Pray for love to increase and pray for love to overflow. That’s how love works. It increases in my life and then it can overflow
in my life to other people. It can’t
overflow in my life until it’s increased in my life. I can’t give out what I don’t have in my
life.
What do you do when somebody’s
being unloving? Let me give you a prayer
trigger that’s absolutely going to increase your prayer life. Whenever you notice somebody being unloving,
instead of that being a cause of irritation in your life, instead of that
ruining your day, let that be a cause of invitation
in your life to pray for love to increase and overflow. Whenever somebody’s being unloving. You pray for God to increase love.
3. You
pray for personal growth. Growth in
character.
“May he strengthen your hearts,” he prayed. We
live in a climate, we live in a culture where, let’s be honest, prayer is too
often a selfish pursuit. Of all the
quotes that I’m going to share with you about prayer in this message, I think
this next one more than any other identifies some of our attitudes towards
prayer. It’s by a theologian by the name
of Janis Joplin who wrote one time, “Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz. My friends all drive Porches. I must make amends. Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my
friends. Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a
Mercedes Benz?” That’s the selfish
prayer. That’s the I want what I want prayer.
What about a different kind
of prayer, a prayer for hearts to change.
There’s a theologian by the name of Dallas Willard, you don’t know his
name quite as well as Janis Joplin maybe but he’s a much better
theologian. He one time said, “What is
prayer? One definition among many is a
means of forming a character fit to reign with God.” That’s what’s happening as we’re
praying. God is changing our character.
What I’m saying is don’t just
pray for circumstances to change. You
should pray for circumstances. Should
you pray for God to meet the daily need in your life? Of course.
You should talk to God about your needs.
Should you talk to God and ask him for daily bread? Of course.
Jesus taught us to. Should you
talk to God about the hurt that you’re facing right now? Absolutely!
No doubt about it.
But the problem is sometimes
that’s where we stop. We don’t continue
and ask God to not only work in our circumstances but also to work in our
character. I need to talk to God not
only about other people’s circumstances but also talk to God about their character:
God, grow that person’s heart. I need to
talk to God, not only about my circumstances but also about my character. Because the truth is circumstances are not
going to last. The least they’ll last is
a lifetime. Most of the time they just
last a few weeks. But your
character? That’s going to last for
eternity.
So talk to God about
circumstances. But also talk to him
about your character. Pray for people’s
hearts to strengthen.
4. Paul teaches us in the way that he prayed,
how do you pray specific prayers. You pray for God’s greatest will.
For God’s greatest will. For them he prayed this prayer: “That you would be blameless and holy.” That’s God’s greatest will. That’s what I would call a hundred percent
prayer. He didn’t pray, I pray you’d
come to church a little more often… I pray you’d get a little bit more
character in your life. No. He went the hundred percent. He said I’m going to pray that you’re going
to be able to stand blameless and holy in the presence of God when Jesus Christ
comes again. That’s a hundred percent
prayer.
What I’m saying in this
hundred percent prayer is you pray for one hundred percent of what you believe
to be God’s greatest will in your life.
That’s the hundred percent prayer.
Here’ a question. Here’s a question to begin to get you and I
thinking about this: what do you want God to do most in your life? What do you want God to do more than anything
else in your life? Pray for a hundred
percent right there at that point.
George McDonald one time
said, “Man finds it hard to get what he
wants because he does not want the best.
God finds it hard to give because he would give the best and man will
not take it.” He will give the best
and I will not take it! That quote hits
me. It helps me realize how many times I
get stuck at the five percent. God wants
to do something great in my life and I’m stuck at the five percent in my life
because it’s easier, because it doesn’t challenge me, because it’s more comfortable. Five percent is more commutable. A hundred percent is going to change
everything. So I get stuck right
there.
God says I want to do a
hundred percent in your life, not because I want to ruin your life but because
I know you and I know the wonderful, incredible, great things I can do through
your life. That’s why he wants to do the
hundred percent.
Paul teaches us how you pray
specifically this new way. There’s a
fifth thing he has to share with us.
5. You
pray with the end in mind.
He says, “I want you to be blameless and holy as we stand together at the end
when Jesus Christ comes again.”
That’s what he’s praying for.
Pray with the end in mind.
You need to pray about the
events of the day. You need to pray
about now. You need to pray about
tomorrow. But what Paul is saying here
is as you pray, pray all the way through in some of your prayers to the
end. You can do that in the things
you’re praying about today.
You pray for your kids: God,
I pray that my kids will make good choices in their friends. That’s praying about today and tomorrow. Pray all the way through to the end. God, I pray that my kids will make good
choices about their friends so that someday when we stand together with you we
can rejoice in what happened in their lives while they were growing up. That’s praying all the way through.
God, I’m praying for a new
job. That’s praying about tomorrow. Hopefully, tomorrow – soon. Pray that but also pray all the way through
to the end. God I pray for a new job but
I pray for the right job. The kind of
job where I can use my gifts and where I can influence other people so that
someday when we’re standing together with you in eternity, some people at that
job and I, we can rejoice in what you did in and through our lives in that job. That’s what I want. Pray all the way through to the end. It’s a brand new way of praying for many of
us.
Praying with the end in
mind. It helps me to get the focus, I
don’t know about you, but it helps me get the focus off of me and just what I
want that day and get it on God and what he wants all the way through to
eternity.
We’re talking about this one
hundred percent prayer. This prayer that
looks all the way through to the end. It’s the kind of prayer that Paul prayed
in Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to him who is
able to do immeasurably more than all that we ask or imagine, [even our
hundred percent, God can do much more than that, to him who is able to do
immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine] according to his power that’s at work within us, to him be the glory
in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever!” Looking through to the end where the
answer to all my prayers in the end more than anything else is going to bring
glory to God through Jesus Christ. That
he loves me. That he worked in my
life.
Do you want to change? I’m convinced that if I’m going to grow in my
prayer life, if you’re going to grow in your prayer life, it’s not going to
just happen. It doesn’t accidentally
happen. It takes a commitment. It takes a decision. Will you today decide to make a fresh start
in your prayer life? Whether you’ve
prayed a thousand times or you’re just beginning to pray, make a fresh start.
I want to pray together as we
end. If you want to make a fresh start
in your relationship, your conversation with God, I invite you to pray this
prayer of commitment with me
Prayer:
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