REVIEW
FLIP CHART: SOM’S KEY VERSE, GOAL, MOTTO
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness ….” (Mt. 6:33a).
The law sends us to Christ for justification; Christ sends us back to the law for sanctification.
FLIP CHART: Show new “Perfect Righteousness” chart explaining steps to coming to Christ (As a worm, mourning, meek, spiritual hunger/thirst with the result of legal righteousness). Explain: moral righteousness, immediate moral change at conversion, gradual change through life’s challenges and speeding up moral change via CCRC (Concentration, Choice, Reflection and Confession/Thanksgiving). Key verse, “By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Heb. 10:14).
FLIP CHART: John Stott’s outline of SOM.
TEACHING GOAL: Weighing some ways to enrich our prayer life.
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:7-12)
INTRODUCTION:
QUESTION: What are some of the most common of Christian prayer requests?
OUTLINE FOR TODAY:
PRAYER – QUESTIONS, ANSWERS & CONCEPTS
I. Why Should We Pray? (Jesus Prayed, Relationship, Partnership)
II. Why Doesn’t God Answer Every Prayer? (Holy, Won’t Abdicate)
III. Why Does God Delay in Answering prayer?
1. Conflict, Opposition from Satanic Forces
2. He Loves to Hear Our Voice, Fellowship with Us
3. Humble us, The Answer is not Due to Our Merit
4. We’re not Ready to Receive the Mercy We Seek
5. We Must Become More Unified with Object of Our Prayer
6. Must Work in Others First, Many Pieces to the Puzzle.
7. Answer Will Be More Prized, Sweeter When It Comes.
IV. Perseverance in Prayer
1. The Parable of “The Friend at Midnight”
(Shameless Boldness, Perseverance)
2. The A.S.K. Promise of Mt. 7:7-8
(Encouragement, Intensity, Fervency)
V. Fatherhood of God and Prayer
1. Character of God – The Foundation for Prayer
2. God’s Fatherhood – Our Encouragement to Pray
3. Our Father – The Giver of Good Gifts
4. Our Clinching Argument When We Pray
VI. How to Pray with More Leverage. By referring:
1. God’s Fatherhood
2. God’s Mercy
3. God’s Promises
4. God’s Glory
5. The Death of God’s Beloved Son
6. The Salvation of the Lost
7. Things that God Wants Done in This World
8. That He Has Chosen Us as His Co-Workers
VI. Weighing Some Ways to Enrich Our Prayer Life
1. Focus Primarily on Spiritual Needs
2. Avoid Habits that Make Prayers Ineffective
3. Develop Habits that Aid Effective Prayer
4. Never Underestimate the Importance of Prayer
SOME WAYS TO ENRICH OUR PRAYER LIFE
I. FOCUS OUR PRAYERS PRIMARILY BE ON SPIRITUAL NEEDS
Our tendency as humans is to focus our prayer requests on the material and not on spiritual needs. In fact our Lord uses material needs for illustrative purposes in the Ask/Seek/Knock text e.g. bread, fish, egg.
We now have a whole theology in evangelical Christendom built around a focus on the material, e.g. the Prosperity Gospel, the “Name It and Claim It” faction of our Christian community. This false Gospel has permeated Asia and Africa too.
Some time ago Jack and I were walking across the church parking lot and he asked me if it was alright to pray for something material, a job etc. It came to me that one out of the six requests in “The Disciples Prayer” was for material things …. E.g. “Give us this day our daily bread.”
The Bible instructs us to seek after God (Acts 15:17, 17:27); seek first the Kingdom (Mt. 6:33); seek God’s will (John 5:30), seek and save the lost (Lk. 19:10), seek glory, honor and immortality (Romans 2:7, John 5:44); seek spiritual gifts (I Corinthians 14:1,2,12); seek the interests of Christ (Philippians 2:21); seek the things above, in heaven (Col. 3:1); seek to lead a quiet, productive and useful life (I Thessalonians 4:11); the City of God (Heb. 13:14); seek peace (I Peter 3:11; Heb. 12:14).
In this text our Lord and Savior does not promise that he will always give us bread, fish and eggs but he does promise that he will give us “good things.
“. . . how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
A.S.K. SHOULD BE FOR SPIRITUAL WISDIOM
QUESTION: According to the context, the verses preceding our text, what spiritual wisdom might be needed?
Mt. 7:1-5 talks about “speck removal” and the need to assist others in dealing with faults. All of us know that this is exceedingly difficult. First we need wisdom in dealing with the planks in our eyes (our faults) and then we need spiritual wisdom in helping others.
Mt. 7:6 deals with discerning who are dogs and hogs. We are not to give what is holy and sacred, e.g. we are not to share our message with some people but who are these people? This is really difficult for Jesus plainly commands us to share the Gospel with the world.
Many commentators feel that the Asking, Seeking, Knocking is specifically for wisdom in handling the “speck removal” and “hogs and dogs” command which are both difficult to do.
I guess we could say that we pray for wisdom to remove the fog so that we can handle logs, dogs and hogs.
All of know that “social intelligence” is much different than “mental intelligence.” We all need God’s help in developing our “social intelligence.”
Our Heavenly Father does not give us a rule book for discerning specks, dogs and hogs. He wants us to ask, seek and knock so we can receive help from him.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5).
A.S.K. SHOULD BE FOR OTHERS
Praying for others is one of the most selfless acts a person can perform.
Asking in prayer for others has a much better chance of being answered. “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (James 4:3)
Do we focus our prayers on the spiritual needs of others? Do we pray that our heavenly Father will ripen his fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control in the lives of our brothers and sisters?
A.S.K. SHOULD BE FOR HOLINESS OF LIFE
We all know how challenging it is to live according this sermon: to be pure in heart, rejoice in persecution, to be salt and light, to be more righteous than the Pharisees, to always live in harmony with our brothers, to avoid all lust, to love our enemies, to be totally forgiving, to avoid all forms of materialism, to focus only on God’s kingdom. It is not easy to live this kind of life.
Note that the A.S.K. command comes towards the end of the Sermon on the Mount. We can’t live the Sermon on the Mount. We A.S.K. for our Father’s help and intervention in our lives so that we can live like this.
READING: “Our assurance is this: God will give us anything that is good for us spiritually (anything!) if we keep asking him for it! If you do not yet have eternal life through Jesus Christ, you may be sure he will give it to you if you ask with all your heart. If you are a believer but are short on Christian graces, you need to keep praying. If you often find yourself lying, if you begin to “ask” and “seek” and “knock,” God will help you become a truth teller. If you are not generous, make a habit of passionate prayer and he will give you a generous spirit. If you are not kind but persistently seek God for a kind spirit, he will give it to you.” (Hughes, 238)
Pastor Hughes gives this advice:
1) Search out some spiritual qualities that you lack but would like to have. List them on your Prayer List.
2) Pray passionately for them – – keep asking, seeking, knocking.
3) Have confidence that your Father will give them to you.
FLIP-CHART: Review our chart on dealing with our character flaws, sins, weaknesses: Concentration (study the problem, memorize verses about it, read books about it, attend seminars), Reflection, Confession, Thanksgiving.
There is no spiritual lack that you have that you cannot bring to your Father with confidence that He will answer and help you deal with.
A.S.K. SHOULD BE FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT
Notice the “good thing” that is listed as the great gift of our Father right after the A.S.K. promise in Luke: “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Lk. 11:13)
So our Father doesn’t only give us wisdom to live out the Sermon on the Mount, He also gives us His Holy Spirit!!!!
Do we pray for the Holy Spirit? Many Christians say it is wrong to pray for the Holy Spirit since when we are born-again, when we become Christians, God’s Spirit enters and lives in our heart.
Yet we know that the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus when he prayed (Luke 3:2) and upon the believers on the Day of Pentecost when they prayed (Acts 4:31). Do we prevail in prayer for the Holy Spirit?
Daily Morning Prayer of John Stott: Good morning, Heavenly Father; Good morning, Lord Jesus; Good morning Holy Spirit. Heavenly Father, I worship you, the creator and sustainer of the universe. Lord Jesus, I worship you, Savior and Lord of the world. Holy Spirit, I worship you, sanctifier of the people of God. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that this day I may live in your presence and please you more and more. Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you. Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Holy, blessed and glorious trinity; three persons in one God, have mercy upon me. Amen.
II. AVOID HABITS THAT MAKE PRAYER INEFFECTIVE
TABLE QUESTION: What are some bad habits that can have a negative impact on our life of prayer?
John MacArthur discusses some bad prayer habits of the Pharisees that were set forth by William Barclay, as follows:
(1) Prayer became ritualized and then simply repeated from memory or read with almost no attention to what is being said. There is much difference between reciting a prayer and praying a prayer.
(2) They limited prayer to specific times and occasions and thus often without a sense of genuine need.
(3) They started thinking that long prayers were more effective and better than short prayers. Verbosity was confused with meaning, and length was confused with sincerity. “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” (Mt. 6:7)
(4) They felt that continual repetition of a prayer made it effective. This is often referred to as “vain repetition.”
(5) They wanted to be seen an acknowledged by others as people who prayed. “And when you pray to not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men” (Mt. 7:5)
(6) They connected prayer to a place and felt that praying in the temple or the synagogue was superior or better than praying in the home or in the field.
(7) Seeking prayer as a “duty” and not a “privilege” is also a major error in prayer.
HAVE CLASS SING (Tune: Amazing Grace)
Great God, how infinite art Thou!
What worthless worms are we!
Let the whole race of creatures bow,
And pay their praise to Thee.
Thy throne eternal ages stood,
Ere seas or stars were made:
Thou art the ever living God,
Were all the nations dead.
Our lives through various scenes are drawn,
And vexed with trifling cares;
While Thine eternal thought moves on
Thine undisturbed affairs
Just think, an infinite God invites us into His presence and listens to our prayers. What a privilege!
“When we come to God in a prayer we do not come hypocritically like play actors seeking the applause of men, nor do we come mechanically like pagan babblers whose mind is not in their mutterings, but thoughtfully, humbly and trustfully like little children we come to our Father, and that is the essence of the prayer.” (John Stott)
ILL: We all have a little Pharisee within us and need to be very careful in dealing with him. Lisa, who is a great woman of prayer and who prays everyday for three hours criticized her husband because he did not pray as much as she did. Of course she doesn’t know when he prays etc but she set herself up, since she is strong in her prayer life, to judge her husband.
III. DEVELOP SOME HABITS THAT AID EFFECTIVE PRAYER
The most important is a mindset to focus on your prayer life. In Colossians 4:2 Paul writes: “Devote yourselves to prayer.” In I Thessalonians 5:17 he challenges the church to “Pray continually.”
MEMORIZE SOME PRAYERS
QUESTION: Why are some Christians against using memorized prayers?
While repeating prayers from rote without our heart in them is meaningless, memorized prayers can be a help.
“Others recommend taking a further step beyond simply reading the Bible’s prayers: memorize them, so that they can be recalled at any moment. Debra Rienstra calls the process “stocking up” on words of the Bible, ‘giving the Spirit a bigger repertoire to work with in speaking to you – – Post-its on the bulletin board.” (Yancey, Prayer, pg. 178)
READING: The thought of memorizing prayers seems an artificial and stilted way to restore something as vital as spiritual hunger. But consider what Rabbi Abraham Heschel said to the members of his synagogue who complained that the words of the liturgy did not express what they felt. He told them it was not that the liturgy should express what they feel, but that they should learn to feel what the liturgy expressed. Recited faithfully, great thoughts put into great words can do that for us. . . . Memorization can be to our hunger for God what practicing a musical instrument is for performance. It can be the singing of the scales of the soul.” (Yancey, Prayer, pg. 179)
HAVE A SYSTEM
There is nothing wrong with having a system, a prayer list, memorized prayers etc. As long as your ‘system’ aids and does not impede your prayer life and fellowship with God, it is good. Is the “system” an instrument of devotion or a formality?
How can you tell when your system becomes a formality? When it is boring, when you want to get through it, when the time doesn’t go fast enough. “One of the masters of prayer, Teresa of Avila, admits to shaking the sand in her sixteenth-century hourglass to make the hour of prayer go faster.” (Yancey, Prayer, pg. 184)
PRAY WITH OTHERS
READING: A final survival strategy is to lean on the faith of others. When the cloud descends, it heartens me to realize that not everyone is having the same experience. Indeed, the Bible gives a strong emphasis to the practice of praying along with others. Many of the psalms have notes indicating group worship rather than private meditation. ”Our Father,” Jesus taught us to pray, notably using the plural pronoun. “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them,” he affirmed. After Jesus’ departure, his followers continued the practice of praying together. At times when I have no words and my faith falters, I find solace in listening to the prayers of others and realizing that not everyone is sharing my sense of desolation. (Yancey, Prayer, pg. 206)
USE THE 8 “DOOR KNOCKERS”
1) God’s Fatherhood
2) God’s Mercy
3) God’s Promises
4) God’s Glory
5) The Death of God’s Beloved Son (Pray in Jesus’ name)
6) The Salvation of the Lost (the great desire of God)
7) Things that God Wants Done in This World (His will)
8) That He has Chose Us as Co-Workers (We need His help)
SET TIMES FOR PRAYER
If we are going to train ourselves to pray continually we need to start with disciplined times of prayer. This is certainly modeled in the Bible by Daniel (3 times a day ‘just as he had always done” – Daniel 6:10).
READING: For years I resisted a regular routine of prayer, believing that communication with God should be spontaneous and free. As a result I prayed infrequently and with little satisfaction. Eventually I learned that spontaneity often flows from discipline. Leonardo da Vinci spent ten years drawing ears, elbows, hands, and other parts of the body in many different aspects. Then one day he set aside the exercise and painted what he saw. Likewise, athletes and musicians never become great without regular practice. I found that I needed the discipline of regularity to make possible those exceptional time of free communications \with God.” (Yancey, Prayer, Pg. 166).
Multiple studies have been undertaken to determine what helps a person develop world-class expertise. Bill Gates, Mozart, The Beatles etc. and apart from being gifted research has come up with “The Ten Thousand Hour” rule as the secret.
READING: “The emerging picture from such studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert – – in anything,” writes the neurologist Daniel Levitin. “In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals, and what have you, this number comes up again and again. . . . No one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it take the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve mastery.” (Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell, 40)
Prayer is not based on “expertise” and we are not interested in being “world-class” but it is probably true that you won’t pray well if you don’t pray much. And it is probably true that the more you give yourself to true Bible prayer, the more effective you will be in prayer.
As in everything, a little talk with Jesus, won’t do if you want to learn how to pray effectively!
SO WHAT???
1. The main focus of our prayers should be for spiritual and not material needs.
2. We should pray for wisdom, for the spiritual needs of other people, for the daily infilling of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
3. Be careful not to let bad prayer habits keep you from a vibrant prayer life.
4. Do what you can to strengthen your life of prayer, e.g. use memorized prayers, a prayer schedule, a system, prayer with others but most of all set aside time, plenty of time to pray!!!