This is the third week of our Voice Lessons series, so let’s recap for a minute before we get started with this week’s message. Two weeks ago we kicked off this series talking about how we should be speaking to ourselves. We have to be sure that what we are saying agrees with what God says about us. The way we do that is by meditating on the word of God so we can use it to replace those negative thoughts from our past that the enemy brings up. Last week we learned about how we should be speaking to others, including both our christian brothers and sisters as well as unbelievers. We are to edify or teach others in our family of faith, in their time of need...instead of saying “I told you so”. We talked about how our speech is supposed to be seasoned with salt because it is an enhancer that makes things taste more like themselves. So as christians, our speech should be even more like Jesus when we are talking to unbelievers. Tonight we’ll learn about how we are supposed to speak to God...or as it’s more commonly called, prayer. As we begin, let’s do just that. Let’s pray. In the 1800’s there was a famous preacher by the name of Charles Spurgeon. He started pastoring his first church at the age of 19 and by the age of 22 he was preaching to crowds as large as 10,000. Charles Spurgeon credited prayer as the backbone of his ministry. It was his practice to always have people in the basement of his church praying during the services.
So it seems like the foundation of a growing healthy church is prayer. It’s also the foundation of a growing healthy Christian. So let’s explore it more. How often we are supposed to pray? The answer is found in one of the famous Bible verses about prayer, it’s 1 Thessalonians 5:17 and it says we are to “pray without ceasing.” Now, does that mean we are to pray continually, nonstop all the time? No, it simply means we are to pray often, and to not cease the practice of daily prayer. Someone once asked Charles Spurgeon how long he prayed. His answer shocked everyone listening. He replied that he rarely ever prayed more than five minutes...but he quickly followed it up by saying that it was rarely more than five minutes before he prayed again. I’d say he was praying without ceasing. The verses surrounding 1 Thessalonians 5:17 give us some more insight as to Paul’s overall teaching in this chapter. Let’s back up and begin reading at verse 14. 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18 “14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. 15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Paul is using very broad terms to instruct the church of the Thessalonians how they should live their lives every day, because it’s the will of God. And part of the instruction for daily life is prayer. But why do we need to pray? Because prayer is our connection to God through conversation. It’s the way we sustain our relationship with Him. It’s actually the way we sustain our relationship with anyone. If you call someone a friend, but never talk to them while they are standing right beside you, are you actually friends or are they just an acquaintance? You know, someone you were just introduced to once. Do we really have a relationship with God if we never talk to Him, or is He maybe just someone we were introduced to? Maybe by a preacher at an altar one time long ago? If we truly have a relationship with God, our conversation with Him should not cease for days...or weeks. So why is it that a lot of Christians hardly ever pray? Could it be the guilt or shame we feel for not doing what we know we should, or for doing things we know are wrong? Are we afraid that God is upset with us or at the very least disappointed with us? Probably so. And then, what is the natural human response? We try to avoid God, just like our distant relative Adam did. What did he do after he sinned? He tried to hide from God. But is that even possible?
The enemy wants to isolate you, by getting you to think you’re the only Christian who struggles with the desires of your flesh. That is a lie. Even the Apostle Paul said in Romans 7 “18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” Let me just say it clearly, there is no reason to be afraid to approach our Father and talk about what’s going on in your life. He is always there for us when we need the strength and protection of a father. And also when we need the understanding and wisdom of a father. He loves us and wants to always be talking with us. So how long should we pray? If we want to sustain a real relationship with God, shouldn’t our prayer time be more than a 10 second blessing at dinner or a 5 second prayer before that meeting with the boss? It probably doesn’t take too long to get through the list of things we want God to give us or do for us. But then what do we say after we’ve prayed about all that stuff and it’s only been 3 minutes? Is 5 minutes enough? How about 15 or 20 minutes? Maybe 40 minutes if you’re a really good Christian. Should you pray for an entire hour? Surely, that would be long enough, right?
Even long time Christians would ask, how do you pray for an hour? The answer is very simple. Think about it like this: It’s easy to spend time with someone you know and love. Here’s what I mean, Take a second and think about your best friend. Is it difficult for you to spend an hour talking with them? No? Why is that? It’s because you know them so well and they know you. You have lots in common and you trust them to know the details of your life. But it didn’t start that way, did it? There is a process for building a relationship with someone and it’s the same with God. The process takes time. The more time you spend with Him the more trust is built. That’s why God wants to spend time with you. He wants to be involved in all the details of your life and that means talking about them with Him. If you truly open up, it may talk a little while. The other way to spend more time praying is to move the conversation beyond a list of things you want. It’s amazing how fast time will go by when you’re asking God how you can help others. After you’ve talked to God, you should be quiet and remain there listening for His response. Remember your prayer time should be a conversation, not a monologue. The bottom line is that there is no magic number for the amount of time you should pray. The idea is that you should be more concerned with maintaining an intimate daily relationship with your Father, than with trying to pray for a required minimum time. Matthew 6:5-8 lays out what our attitude and process should be for prayer, but in addition to dealing with prayer it also puts
charitable deeds/giving and fasting in the same spiritual category and shows us that they should be done exactly the same way. How to Pray: verses 5-8 Matthew 6:5-8 “5And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.” We are to understand that prayer is between you and God. It is private, and not to be done as a public display openly in front of people, just so we can show them how spiritually impressive we are. God isn’t interested in watching a show of how spiritual you are. He wants a real relationship with you that is more than a surface act of spirituality. Remember your best friend from earlier? How would your relationship with them be if all you ever did was talk to them in front of other people so those folks could see what a great friend you are? Is that an actual relationship, or is it just using them to look good to the crowd?
How do you think God feels when we only pray publicly over dinner and never talk to Him privately beyond that? Verse 6 says: “6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” This is a personal conversation where you are free to discuss even the most intimate details of your life. God wants us to get real with Him and drop the layers and walls we’ve built to protect our reputation. The truth is that He already knows the details ...even better than you do. He just wants you to be honest with Him about your struggles and thoughts. It’s impossible to be too real with God. Your situation isn’t going to frighten or surprise Him. He’s just waiting on you...His child, to bring the situation to Him and let Him deal with it. I would submit to you that if we spent more time in God’s Word getting to know Him better and understanding what He desires for us, and from us, we would be much more comfortable talking to Him longer and more often. Are we annoying God if we come to Him often in prayer? After all, it’s a big universe and He’s got a lot to do. Let me answer that question with a question. Does it annoy you when your child wants to spend time with you, or does it make you want to stop what you’re doing and focus on what they want to talk about?
How much more does God desire us, His children, to come to Him and spend time having a conversation? After all, Jesus reminded us in The Lord’s Prayer that God is “Our Father, in heaven”. Let’s examine those verses of Matthew 6, where we find The Lord’s Prayer. It’s certainly the most famous prayer in the bible. What to Pray: verses 9-13 Matthew 6:9 “9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.” Begin by recognizing who you are talking to. He’s your Father and His name is to be honored and set apart. Matthew 6:10 “Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.” Way too much here to unpack during this message, but we do need to understand that His Kingdom comes to earth by people accepting His gift of salvation. And then, we as citizens of heaven, follow the direction of the Holy Spirit, it causes His will to be done here on earth just as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:11 “Give us this day our daily bread.” This is not just about food or physical needs. Jesus is the Bread of Life and we are asking for our daily portion of Him that sustains us. Matthew 6:12 “And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.” More on that in just a minute. Because there is more to consider about our forgiveness and our forgiving others.
Matthew 6:13 “And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one... “ I wondered about this for several years. Jesus is telling us to ask God to not lead us into temptation. But would God lead us into temptation? Then I read this: Mark 1:12-13 “12 Immediately the Spirit *impelled (drove) Him to go out into the wilderness. 13 And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.” Yes, God had actually driven Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after that experience, Jesus is telling us to ask for that not to happen to us, but instead for us to be delivered from the evil one. Matthew 6:13 “...For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. He again reminds us who we are talking to. We are to always acknowledge that God is the King who owns the Kingdom. He has all the power and authority. And because of this He will receive all the glory forever. So be it. Ok, let’s jump back to understand Verse 12. When Jesus finishes His prayer, he immediately goes back to reinforce the meaning of verse 12. This is the verse where He prays about God forgiving us as we forgive others. Here’s what He says. Matthew 6:14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
On the surface these verses seem to imply that your forgiveness, what we normally just call salvation, is dependent on you forgiving others. But that would mean that salvation is based on a work that you can do. And scripture is very clear in Ephesians that salvation is not of our works. Ephesians 2:8-9 “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” So what was Jesus talking about back in Matthew 6:14-15? In order to understand those verses, you have to understand the difference between Salvation and forgiveness, because they are not the same thing. Asking God for Salvation creates an unconditional relationship with God through Jesus. It is an eternal heavenly fact that is settled by receiving the free gift of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Salvation is about repenting, which means to turn and go the opposite direction. Asking for forgiveness of our daily sins is conditional based on our forgiveness of others here on earth. What we are really asking for is the forgiveness of the consequences of our sinful actions and that is an earthly condition. Forgiveness is about an apology for wrong doing. Think about it like this: Daily forgiveness is like not being fired for bad behavior at work, because the manager decided to forgive you. But eternal salvation means you cannot be fired because you are the owner’s son. Would you like to be one of the owner’s kids? Tonight you can accept His offer of salvation.
Comments