Sermon for Sunday November 4th, 2007

POWERFUL PRAYERS by Bruce Ball

Matthew 6:5-6:15


Have you ever seen somebody try to use a tool that they had not used before? They are clumsy and awkward at best, and they certainly do not get as good of results as someone who knows how to use that tool.

Too many people go into prayer without giving any thought as to how they should pray. We have been taught that prayer is talking to God, and that is pretty much the extent of our teaching.

Last Sunday, in Bible class, I emphasized the need to focus on God as we pray to Him. I said it was fine to talk to Him all day long while we do other things, but we also need time to be alone with God. We need to have a time with no interruptions, nothing pulling our attention away from God, a time when we slow down and know that He is God.

I feel God calling us to take our prayer life to a new level here at CrossRoads; both individually and corporately within the church. Most of the churches I have attended throughout my lifetime have mentioned prayer, but have never taught on prayer. They have told about prayer, but have never modeled prayer.

Yet, prayer is the most important tool we have in our walk with the Lord. It is also the most powerful weapon we have in fending off the onslaughts of the evil one. And, it is the least understood and least used of all the blessings God has given to us.

Don came to us with cancer growing quickly in his brain and in his lungs and lymph nodes. The prognosis was dire. And Don was in that situation where he had to face the facts that we all try out best to ignore; the facts of our own mortality.

We prayed for Don, anointing him with oil, and we laid hands upon him as we prayed, just like it tells us to in the Bible. It wasn’t a one-time deal, as we continued to pray over him and anoint him several times.

Many a night, I would wake early and kneel in my living room, going to the Lord in very focused prayer. I began to see God’s work in Don, getting rid of the cancer. I had others outside this church praying for him, in groups and in individual prayer closets.

Purlene called me the other day to give me some news. She said they had been to the doctor again and he said the tumors were shrinking. I love her attitude. She told the doctor that wasn’t good enough; she wanted to know how much they were shrinking. The doctor told her that in this short time they have shrunk about 50% and were still getting smaller.

Let’s hear praise for what the Lord has done for Don!

Last week, Lorene came up during invitation, asking for prayer. She had been very sick for the entire week, having pains in her stomach and being nauseous. In addition, she had a steady and pounding migraine for several days.

We anointed her with oil and laid hands on her while we prayed. When we got done, she stood there, weak and half faint. She said she had never experienced feeling like that before. Diana walked her to a chair and sat with her, holding her hand and talking to her.

By the time she and Leon were on their way home, the stomach had stopped hurting and the migraine was gone. In fact, I talked to her Wednesday and she said she had not had so much energy in months.

I told her we serve a God of abundance. When we are serious about our requests, and go to Him with a focused mind, he gives us more than we ask for. I told her that if she would have had a hang-nail, He would have cured that, too!

What happened? Was it something I did? I can tell you right now that it was not anything I did. All I did was do what we are all called to do; I went to the Father in sincere prayer. It was God and Don and Lorene who did all the doing. They had the faith to believe what God promises.

Over and over again, you read where Jesus would heal someone and then tell them it was their faith that made them well. It was Don and Lorene’s faith that healed them.

Last week, I talked a little about the Beatitudes in Matthew, chapter 5. Today, I want to continue talking about what Jesus said to His disciples.

Turn with me to MATTHEW 6:5-15.

Jesus and His disciples were on the side of a mountain where they sat down to rest. While they rested, Jesus began teaching them. All the things He taught them at this time are called the Beatitudes. Today, I want to tell you what He taught about prayer, so that we might be able to have a more effective prayer life.

The disciples asked Him to teach them to pray. Starting in verse 5, we see how Jesus instructed them.

‘And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

‘And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need even before you ask Him. This, then, is how you should pray:

‘Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today, our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we also have forgiven those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

I want to go over this passage again, but this time I want to talk about several points in it. The first thing Jesus tells us is to not be like the hypocrites. They prayed in public so they could be seen and admired for their prayers. God wants us to pray directly to Him from the center of our hearts; a prayer that is private and totally focused.

Now, it is fine to pray in a public setting, and we offer a time of prayer at different points in each service, but when we go individually before the throne of God, I believe we need to go in a humbled and focused mode, one that spiritually bows down in all seriousness and sincerity to the God of heaven. And when we pray in public, we sometimes get caught up in the act of conversing ‘about’ our prayer needs and we forget to prayerfully focus on them.

Jesus said that God knows what we need even before we ask, so why do we need to go into prayer in the first place? It isn’t for God’s benefit that we pray – it is for our benefit. When we take the time to really pray, and by that I mean to truly take the time to focus on every breath taken in our prayers, we are training our hearts to rely upon the Lord, and not on ourselves.

As far as prayer goes, how do we generally pray? We come to the Lord in prayer with a list of things we want or think we need, and we ask for those things and end in Jesus name. Is this how Jesus said to pray?

Jesus said to start your prayer by offering up praise to God. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.” When we pray, do we exalt the name of the Almighty God? Most people don’t even think about doing that. Oh, it isn’t because we don’t want to, it is because we have never been taught to do it by our churches and teachers.

Then Jesus prays that God’s kingdom would be here, and that His will would be done on this earth just as it is done in heaven. Again, do we do that? Sadly, the answer would be that we do not do that. Think about that for a moment. Wouldn’t it be beautiful if God ran things down here instead of the enemy running things? As Christians, we need to start praying for that, because Jesus told us to.

What is next? Jesus asks God to give us the nourishment we need for today. Last week, I talked on God’s principle of abundant giving. Christians need to start thinking about things in a biblical context.

When you are sick, what do you do? You run down to the local pharmacy and buy some medicine. When you are hungry, you just pop in your local grocery store. And you can do that 24-hours a day, as long as you have the money to pay for it.

And we think we provide it. What would you say if I said we have nothing to do with our having these things? We don’t even think about God providing these things for us, but if it were not for Him and His compassion on us, we would have no medicine and we would have no grocery stores. We wouldn’t even have food. He has supplied us with what we need, and that is His abundant giving.

Now the next part is very important, and I want you to pay particular attention to this. Jesus says we should ask God for His forgiveness, just as we have given forgiveness. That is past-tense. Forgiveness is so important to God that we cannot approach His throne with unforgiveness towards others in our hearts.

Let me put it another way: God forgave you of your sinful nature against Him. Now, He wants you to forgive others of their sinful nature against you. If you refuse to do that, you are basically telling God that what He wants is not important to you. If that is the case, do you really think God will allow you to bring your prayer requests before His throne? No, He will not allow that. He has said to forgive others and He means what He says.

Go down to verses 14 and 15. Jesus talks about the need to forgive.

‘For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Going back to how Jesus tells us to pray, He asks God to not lead Him into temptation. In other words, we are to ask God to lead us and guide us as we walk with His Son.

And in closing, we are to ask God to deliver us from Satan. Some people ask God for a hedge of protection, or a barrier that Satan cannot cross, so they can keep safe in God’s will.

Now, can you see any difference between the prayer Jesus told us to pray, and the prayers that we all-too-often pray today? Jesus did not take a grocery list of demands to God that asks for Him to give us this or give us that. Jesus did not offer up a quick 30-second prayer. Jesus modeled a prayer for us to copy. And that prayer showed us how to exalt God in our prayers, and how to ask God for what should be our priority: Spiritual blessings, physical needs, and Godly protection from evil.

I want to talk now about three things we can do to take our church to a deeper level of prayer.


1. BE MINDFUL OF OUR WORDS

When we go into prayer, we sometimes have a tendency to hurry because our minds are focused on something else, or we go with an attitude that God kind of owes us one. And many go into prayer actually asking God to deal with someone who has made them angry!

ECCLESIASTES 5:1-2 reminds us to stand in awe of God.

‘Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth; do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.’

If I could add anything to that, I would just say choose your words with much thought and much wisdom.

And we should make sure that our hearts are pure, as whatever is in our hearts will automatically come out through our tongues. Someone said the eyes are the mirror to the soul. I think the words we use are a mirror to the hearts we have.

JAMES 4:3 talks about this, too.

‘When you ask, you do not receive because you ask with the wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.’

That means we ask for selfish things; things that are only meant for us. We are to always be thinking of other people, and if we have that kind of sacrificial heart, our words will show that love. Be very mindful of the words you choose to use when going in prayer, for prayer is much more holy than any of us can realize.

ZEPHANIAH 3:9 reinforces this.

‘Then I will purify the lips of the peoples’ says God, ‘so that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve Him.’


2. HUMBLE YOURSELF

You have heard me say that we should pray while on our knees. Some do not want to do this and others do not understand. Let me explain. We are the created, and we are to worship the One who created us – God.

That leaves us no room for haughty hearts or chip-on-the-shoulder attitudes. When we approach God, we approach Him with a heart that is contrite and humbled to His will alone. And if we humble our bodies into that kind of humble position, namely on our knees with our heads bowed, our spirits will follow suit.

That does not mean you must kneel every time you pray.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:17 tells us to,

‘Pray without ceasing.’

We are to pray as much as we possibly can, while we are doing other things all day long. But we are to want that closeness with the Lord so much that we look forward to having a quiet time each day. That quiet time consists of nobody but you and Him. That is why it is so important to find a place you can be alone for a while. No phones; no TVs; no people to interrupt you – just you and the Lord.

In ZEPHANIAH, it tells us that being humble unto the Lord will bring blessings.
In MATTHEW, we are reminded to have a servant’s heart.

What does a servant’s heart feel towards others? And how can one really be humble as God requires us to be? The answers to those two questions are found in …

PHILIPPIANS 2:3-5

‘Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.’

Our carnal nature wants us to consider what WE want; what WE need; and we are always focused on what WE think. But that is in direct conflict with what God wants. The only way we could ever have such an attitude, though, is through a humble heart. And the heart that is humbled will bring us into a deeper level of focused prayer than we have ever known before.

So then, how should we feel about prayer? We should have a deep craving to be alone with Christ. We should be drawn to such an intimate relationship with Jesus that we look forward to the time of day when, during our quiet time, we put everything out of our minds except our conversation with Him. We should look at our prayer time as the few minutes each day that we actually get to spend time with the One we love more than anyone else; our best friend; and our Creator.

God is a holy God. He is much higher than we are. And when we approach Him in prayer, we must do so with all of the respect, dignity, love, and honor that He deserves.

There are many ways in which to pray, but there is one that I used that helped me develop a stronger and more focused prayer life. It is called the ACTS module of prayer. Let me explain what that is.

A = ADORATION

Just as Jesus began His prayer by exalting the Lord our God, we should begin our prayers by praising His name, too. That will remind us once again that God is the to be worshiped and adored. And after we spend a few minutes giving Him our total worship, we can go on to “C”.

C = CONFESSION

We then proceed to confess our sins to God. Even though He already knows what we have done, we need to say them to Him, because that reinforces within us, the need to seek forgiveness from the One who forgives.

T = THANKSGIVING

We thank God for all He has given us. In His love and compassion, He has enabled us to live in His abundance, and we offer Him our heartfelt thanks and gratitude and love for that.

S = SUPPLICATION

This is where we tell God what is on our hearts. We ask Him to give us those things we need in our lives that will give Him the most glory. This is where we ask Him to walk with us through our storms. And this is the part of the prayer that we listen to Him.

Yes, part of any conversation is talking, and part is listening. Too often, we do all the talking in prayer and forget to listen to what God has to tell us.

PSALM 46:10 simply reminds us to ….

‘be still and know that I am God.’

We are instructed to slow down and focus. Focus our attention on Him. There is a need in each Christian to have a time every day when we slow down and focus only on God. That is our quiet time. And it is necessary for our very spiritual survival. And it is during this quiet time that we bow down to honor God in all we do. It is during this time that we humble ourselves so that we may talk directly to Him. And it is during this time that we entertain the need to even get on our knees in solitude with our heavenly Father.


3. GIVE YOUR FULL ATTENTION TO FOCUSED PRAYER

We are told to pray continuously, and we should. We can pray while we are doing everything else we do during the day. But there are different levels of prayer, each commanding a different level of focus.

There is a prayer that true believers come together to pray for others. That is the prayer of intercession; where we literally stand in the gap between the need and the provider, and ask for those things that others cannot ask for.

When a prayer request is lifted up in a church, that request needs to be drawn into very focused prayer among the body of believers. During our prayer and praise time, we pray for these, but because of the setting, it is not always the most focused of prayers.

Jesus came down off a mountain to find that his disciples had tried to drive out evil spirits from a young boy, but they failed. Jesus said that type of spirit demands prayer and fasting. And just taking a request before the throne of God sometimes is not enough, either.

Therefore, starting next week, we are going to enter a time where we focus much more on the individual prayer requests that have been given us. We have index cards on the table in the lobby. If you have a prayer request or praise report, we ask that you write it down on that card and put it in the Prayer Box on the table. Please make sure that your requests are in the box by the end of our service, however, because a few minutes after our service, we are going to take those prayer requests and do what Jesus said to do.

He said,

when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father

Those who wish to offer up focused and intent prayer for the requests will go with me into an office and we will shut the door so as not to have any interruptions. And we will go into prayer for these requests. These prayers will intercessory in nature and will have depth of focus. Not everybody will want to do this, and that is fine. Those who have this burning desire to be the intercessors will be the core of the Prayer Team. And during the week, I will be here and praying for these requests each day.

There are those who will feel the need to expound on their requests, and we don’t want to leave them without a chance to do this, so I will have Lesley and Diana be available before our service and immediately after the service to be with you, to hear your requests, and pray with you.

But during our praise and prayer time, rather than vocalize all the prayers, we will still acknowledge the needs by showing an uplifted hand when you have a request. It will not be necessary at that point for us to know the details, because the One who will answer the prayer already knows all the details.

ISAIAH 56:7 tells us that God’s house is to be a house of prayer for all peoples, and that is what this church is.

In addition to these changes, I will also be having a weekly prayer meeting here at the church. It will be on Wednesday evenings, starting at 6:30 pm. If you want to participate, be here by 6:30 pm and after a short time of fellowship, we will all go into prayer. It will be very informal and you can stay as long as you feel compelled to stay and leave when you think it is time to leave.

Every person here will go into focused prayer. There will be no leader, but each person will pray as the Holy Spirit leads them, out loud or to themselves. We will pray for our nation and her leaders, our state and her leaders, and our city and its leaders, that they all start moving under the canopy of God’s will.

We should also pray for such things as our local crime rate; for those who are lost in our community; for the churches around here that need pastors, that God would supply Godly men who lead His church; and for anything else you might think of. And it will also be during this time that we pray for the requests given to us the previous Sunday. And we will also pray continuously for Israel, that her leaders will stop giving pieces of their country away to their enemies.

In closing, let me remind you that this is not a complete or in-depth study of prayer. It is, however, a message that explains why and how we are going to become a house of prayer for all people.