West Side Church of Christ, Searcy, Arkansas
PRAY WITHOUT CEASING
Steve W. Reeves
INTRODUCTION:
A. E.B, White was the author of several popular children’s books including Charlotte’s
Web and Stuart Little. For many years he served as a contributing editor for The
New Yorker magazing. Among my favorite quotes from E.B. White is what he said
about humor: “Humor can be dissected like a frog but the thing dies in the process.”
1. I believe the same thing can be said about prayer. There is no power or life to be
found in talking about prayer. We can teach and preach and sing about prayer
constantly without discovering its enormous power.
2. The power of prayer is only realized when we pray.
B. How would you define prayer? Listen to these definitions given by individuals
throughout the centuries.
1. Tertullian (Early church leader c.a. 150-225): “Prayer is the spiritual sacrifice
which has superseded the sacrifices of the old covenant. It averts God’s anger. It
watches for its enemies. It intercedes for the persecutors. It obtains
forgiveness of sin. It dispels temptation. It comforts the feeble minded. It
refreshes the strong. Prayer is the bulwark of faith.”
2. Karl Barth (1886 –1968 Swiss Theologian): “To clasp the hands in prayer is the
beginning of an uprising against the disorder of this world.”
3. William Carey (1761-1834, British missionary known as the “Father of Modern
Missions”): “Prayer, secret, fervent, believing prayer lies at the root of all
personal godliness.”
4. Dietrich Bonhoffer (20th century German theologian): “Intercessory prayer is the
purifying bath into which the individual and the fellowship must enter every day.”
C. Perhaps you are asking why we need a study of prayer. Perhaps you are
wondering why we are having a “Prayer Emphasis Month” or why we’re having “24
Hours of Prayer” on February 22-23rd?
1.The disciples of Jesus recognized a need to learn more about prayer. As they
spent time with Jesus and observed the closeness of His relationship with His
Father they said, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Lk. 11:1).
2. Prayer was an important part of the teaching of Jesus. In the Sermon on the
Mount He taught:
5 “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 others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 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. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
D. R.C. Sproul wrote, “To neglect prayer is to burden ourselves with care, to shut
ourselves out of blessing, to enfeeble our faith, to dim the eyes of our hope, to
dampen the fire of our zeal, to relax the grip of our tenacity, to weaken the heart of
love and to rob our service of its strength.”
E. In this message I want to ask two questions.
1. Why is it important for us to pray?
2. How can our prayer lives be more effective?
I. PRAYER RECOGNIZES THE BASIC TRUTHS ABOUT GOD.
A. Prayer recognizes the reality of God – Gen. 1:1.
1. God is omnipotent – all powerful.
a. Luke 18:27 – “Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with
God.” God can do what we cannot do.
b. A children’s song says: “My God is so big, so mighty and strong – there’s
nothing my God cannot do.” Prayer is based on this belief.
2. God is omnipresent – everywhere.
a. Acts 17: 24 – “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is
Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.”
b.ILL. A small girl saw graffiti that said, “God is nowhere.” She took some
chalk and drew a line between the w and h. “God is now here.”
3. God is omniscient – “all knowing.” He knows you.
a. He knows everything about you. Mt. 10:29-30 –“Are not two sparrows sold
fora penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s
care. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”
b. He knows your thoughtsahd motives. He knows your heart. 1 Sam. 16:7 –
“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his
physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as
man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the
heart.”
B. Prayer is an acceptance of God’s invitation. He wants us to talk with Him. He does
not grow weary of hearing us. He loves to bless us.
1. Jn. 15:7 - “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you
wish, and it will be done for you.”
2. In Mt. 7:4-11 Jesus says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives;
the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he
asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 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!”
3. 1 Jn. 5:14 – “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask
anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—
whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”
II.PRACTICAL POINTS TO PROMOTE PERSONAL PRAYER
A. Make Prayer a priority. Purposefully set aside time to pray.
1. Mk. 1:35 – “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He
went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.”
2. Luke 5:16 – “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
3. John 6:15 – “Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by
force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.”
4. In our noisy, cluttered, hectic world one of the hardest things to do is turn
off the noise of the tv, the computer, the radio, the ipod, the cd player,
thesmart phone and android. It’s hard to get away from the sounds of traffic,,
the noise of lawnmowers, washing machines, dishwashers, doorbells and
buzzers tospend quiet time with God letting Him speak to us through His Word
and speaking to Him through prayer.
B. Make Prayer Purposeful.
1. I once heard someone discuss the Acts of prayer. They used the word ACTS as
an acrostic to remind them that prayer needed to consist os A-doration.
C-onfession of sin. T-hanksgiving. S-upplication (laying our requests before the
Lord.).
2. Prayer is so much more than presenting a list of requests to God. Henry
Ward Beecher (1813 – 1887 Congregationalist Minister and Social Reformer)
wrote: “Is it not apt to vulgarize and cheapen prayer to think of it only in terms of
getting things material? Would you permit a man to call himself a friend who had
no higher conception of friendship than to ask favors? Prayer is a daily
communion of the soul with an unseen friend and to use prayer only when the
soul is sick or in trouble is like writing a letter home only when you want to
borrow money.”
3. Keep a prayer journal where you write down the things you are praying for. For
years I have written my prayers. Not only is this a great way to focus your
thoughts it is a tremendous builder of faith as you review your entries from time
to time and seehow God has answered those prayers.
C. Spend time with people who value prayer.
1. My prayer life has been enriched by being associated with
peoplewhp valued prayer and whose prayer life inspired me.
2. Think of someone you know who has inspired your prayer life? What was it that
made you appreciate them? How can you follow their example in your life?
CONCLUSION:
A. In their book Liberating Ministry From The Success Syndrome, Kent and Barbara
Hughes talked about their struggles as a young couple beginning ministry with a
church. One of the things they learned was the value of prayer. They include the
following quote from E. Stanley Jones:
“Prayer is surrender--surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I
throw out a boathook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the
shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but
the aligning of my will to the will of God.”
B. Does your will need to be aligned with God’s will this morning? Pray about it. If we
can help you in that prayer please let us know publicly or privately. If you need to
confess your faith in the Lordship of Jesus the Messiah and be baptized in His name
come as we encourage one another.
QuestionsFor Discussion and Reflection:
1. Of the definitions of prayer noted at the beginning of this lesson which one is
most meaningful to you? What is your own personal definition of prayer?
2. Why do we need a study of prayer?
3. What happens when we neglect prayer in our personal lives? In the church?
4. What are the three realities about God that are recognized in prayer?
5. How does prayer acknowledge our need for God?
6. Do you believe that God hears and answers prayer?
7. Do you set aside time for prayer each day? What works for you?
8. Who are the people who have been your “prayer heroes” in life? Why was
this so?
9. What is the correlation between time spent reading the Bible and time spent
in prayer?
10. Most importantly, Pray!