SundayJune 12, 2016 Phone: 570.829.5216
Pastor David Miklas e-mail:
Message: Prayer Text: Colossians 4:12-13
Definite Praying
INTRODUCTION: Jesus said in Luke 19:46 while He was driving out the merchants from the temple, “It is written, My house is the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.”In recent times, I am afraid we have made the church house and the ministry everything but what it is supposed to be.
We have made it a place of activities and programs. It seems that we have to have a program for every social group that has a need.
We have made it a place of mere social fellowship. There is more interest in gathering for fellowship than for preaching and praying.
We have made it a bank of money. People think that they can just call the church and their bills will be paid.
We can almost hear the clamor of our people playing and seeking to be noticed. The heart of Jesus must be agitated by today’s merchants in the church as he cries out, “…My house is the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.”I want to challenge usto make the Green Street Baptist Chapel a definite house of prayer.
First:By signing up for the prayer chain ministry,when there is a need within the families of our church; one telephone call will start the prayer chain, so that need could be quickly met.
Second: By coming to and praying during our Mid-week Bible Study and Prayer time, more adults of this church will notice God’s power at work.
E.M. Bounds in his book "Power through Prayer" said,
"What the church needs today is not more machinery or better organization or more novel methods, but men whom the Holy Spirit can use, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not flow through METHODS, but through MEN. He does not come through MACHINERY, but through men. He does not ANOINT plans; he anoints men of prayer."
He goes on to say, "We must learn anew the worth of prayer, entering anew the school of prayer. There is nothing which takes more time to learn. And if we would learn the wondrous art of prayer we must not give a fragment here and there, "A little talk with Jesus", but we must demand and hold with iron grasp the best hours of the day for God in prayer, or there will be no praying worth the name."
Now to be serious in prayer and to be serious about prayer takes considerable TIME and WORK, which flesh and blood do not relish. Prayer is NOT just "Lord bless this food, or Lord bless my family, or Lord now I lay me down to sleep."
Prayer takes time.
Prayer takes energy.
Prayer takes work.
Please turn with me to Colossians 4:12-13 where we read,
“Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. (13) For I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis.”
You see the word "labouring", the word means "effort, work." The next word is "fervently" which comes from the Greek word that means "to agonize, to struggle, to wrestle." Few Christians ever mature enough to discover that prayer is hard, physical work.
Jesus prayed in Gethsemane until His perspiration became as great drops of blood.
Jacob wrestled in prayer at Jabbok and had his thigh put out of place.
Praying is spiritual work; and human nature does not like taxing, spiritual work. Human nature wants to sail to heaven under a favoring breeze, a full smooth sea.
Prayer is humbling work. It abases intellect and pride, crucifies vainglory, and signs our spiritual bankruptcy, and all these are hard for flesh and blood to bear.
In this message, the focus will be on two areas of prayer briefly, and a third area extensively.
NUMBER 1: PRAY WITHOUT CEASING In I Thessalonians 5:16-18. We read,
“Rejoice evermore. (17) Pray without ceasing. (18) In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
Did you notice the words of verse 16 "rejoice evermore" are linked up with the words in verse 17, "Pray without ceasing." God is saying, the more praying the more rejoicing! That means less praying, less rejoicing. Now note the statement in verse 18, "in everything give thanks." O' how sweet that is, when joy and prayer are married, their firstborn child is gratitude.
Now what does it mean to, "Pray without ceasing"?
There is no time when the Christian should not pray. Every day is a Sabbath day and every moment is a sacred moment. There is no time when a Christian should not nor could not pray.
There is no placein which the Christian should not pray. You can come to the mercy seat from where you are. As someone has said, "It is only a knee away." The King of Kings is always holding out His scepter. The dead of the night is not too late
God wants us to pray all the time. God never wants us to quit praying.Againwe read "Rejoice evermore, Pray without ceasing, In everything give thanks."
NUMBER 2: PRAY ASKINGNow, the main reason for prayer is that we may get things from God.
Praise is good,for Psalm 150:6 says, "Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord." However, praise is not praying!
Meditation is good, for Psalm 1:2 says, "But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he mediate day and night."But meditation is not praying!
Confession is good, for in I John 1:9 we read, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins..." However, confession is not praying!
Thanksgiving is good, for in Philippians 4:6 we read, "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer... with thanksgiving..." However, thanksgiving is not praying.
The word prayer itself means “asking”. This means that praise, thanksgiving, confession and meditation are necessary forms of communication with God, but unless something is asked and a petition is made, it is not prayer. Real prayer requires asking for something.
Matthew 7:7, "Ask and it shall be given you...for everyone that asketh receiveth."
Matthew 7:11, "How much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him."
Matthew 21:22, "And all things, whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive."
NUMBER 3: BE DEFINITE IN PRAYER Genuine prayer that comes from the heart takes work. Prayer is asking for something. But we must be definite in our asking.
We never go into a restaurant and say, "Bring me some food." No, we carefully select from the menu definite items we desire to eat.
No woman goes into a grocery store and says, "Please give me a basket of groceries." No, she very carefully selects definite items.
Now if thisis true in the physical world, then why don't we pray definitely also? Prayer is getting down to brass tacks, and asking for exactly what you want. Prayer is not only asking, but it is asking for that particular something.
How definite was the prayer of Gideon who prayed in Judges 6:36-37?
“And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, (37) Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.”
Sure enough the next morning Gideon got up, and the fleece was so full of water that he "wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl of water." Now that was a very definite prayer request!
But Gideon was encouraged to change his specifications and pray again in verse 39 -40.
“And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. (40) And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.”
Sure enough, the next morning it was dry upon the fleece; and dew was all over the ground. Gideon requested it and God gave it.
How definite was the prayer of Moses in Numbers 16 when He asked that the ground open up and swallow Korah, Dathan and Abiram and their families?
How definite was the prayer of Elijah who went around for years with the key of heaven in his pocket?
He prayed for drought and got drought.
He prayed for rain and got rain.
He prayed for fire from heaven and out of heaven fire came.
How definite was the prayer of Joshua in Joshua 10:12 when he asked for the sun to stand still and God keep the sun up?
The Bible is full of examples of men who knew exactly what they wanted and they got exactly what they had in mind, down to the last detail.THAT IS DEFINITE PRAYING!
In Isaiah 45:11 we have a very unusual verse which reads,
"Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, ASK me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands COMMAND ye me."
Blessed is the Christian:
Who prays in the will of God for the mind of God.
Who has definite prayers concerning the work of God.
Who can COMMAND God and have exactly what he asks!
This is not praying in arrogance, for we must realize that God is Holy and we must approach Him in reverence, humbleness and obedience, realizing to whom we are speaking. So how are we to be definite in our prayers?
FIRST: Weed out any objects of prayer that are not definite. Don't pray to be heard by men. God wants us to tell Him what we want.
I like that prayer in Luke 11:1-10 when the man begged for bread because he had a friend who came at midnight and had nothing to feed him. He didn't say, "Friend, give me some food for my friend."
He told him what kind of food he wanted;he asked for bread.
He told him exactly how much bread he needed; he wanted three loaves.
Look, I sincerely believe many of our needs go unsupplied and unanswered because we don't come to God and definitely ask for what we need.
The Sunday school teacher should not just pray, "Lord bless my class," but rather, "Lord help Susie at school," and "keep Mary pure."
While praying for your children,Mom and Dad,pray for them by name and pray definitely for their needs.
Lord, help Johnny to quit his lying.
Lord help Mary make good grades today.
Lord, Help Bobby to be obedient today.
My friends, if you have a need, then
Tell the Lord you have need of a specific job.
Tell the Lord you need $350.00 for the mortgage.
Tell the Lord you need food for dinner tonight, if that is what you need.
Don't limit your prayer to"Lord, forgive my sins,”but go on to pray:
forgive me my jealousy,
forgive me the hatred in my heart,
forgive me my envy."
SECOND: Wait on God to clearly determine what the true need is. In Romans 8 there is a passage that tells us it's the Holy Spirit who helps us in our prayer. There are times when even I don't know how to pray for something.
“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (27) And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
Right now I am thinking about a matter. I am not sure if I am asking this out of selfishness, or if I am asking for something that will not be right for us. In this passage we are told the Holy Spirit will help me to know for what I ought to pray.
THIRD: Write down the prayer request. Keep a prayer list, and as you definitely pray, you can praise God for those definite answers.
Remember, prayer is asking. However, there are blessed bonuses that come to the child of God when s/he prays. These are in addition to the answer itself. Quickly let me give you three of these.
ONE: Prayer keeps the Christian from TEMPTATION. In Matthew 26:41 we read, "Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
When the Christian comes to God in prayer, he may or may not mention his temptation. He may be asking for something which he needs, but the fellowship with God builds a personal resistance to temptation. This is a blessed bonus of prayer.
In Matthew 6:13, we are given the Lord’s instructions concerning temptation, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil." Literally the verse should read, “deliver us from the evil one.”
An old proverb said, "Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees." And well he may, if that saint directly and persistently calls for God to help him avoid sin.
Another said, "Prayer will make a man cease from sin, as sin will entice a man to cease from prayer."
Again this is one of the by-products of prayer, God's protection of us from temptation and the evil one - Satan himself.
TWO: Prayer gives JOY. In John 16:24 we read, "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." When the child of God comes to his Heavenly Father and petitions Him for a need, when that need is supplied, there is a blessed by-product called JOY!
THREE: Prayer brings PEACE to the Believer. Over in Philippians 4:6-7 we read in a literal sense "Stop worrying, but in every thing by prayer...let your requests be made known unto God. And the PEACE of God..." The child
The child who lives in a house provided by his father,who eats food provided by his father, who wears clothing provided by his father, andwho lives near the care, provision and protection offered by his father has no need to fret. He knows dad will take care of his needs.
Likewise, the child of God who walks with his Heavenly Father and who has his prayers answered will soon find that he has no need to fret or worry.As the Father answers his prayers along with that comes peace of mind and contentment.
In John 15:7 we read, "If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you."
Here again the words of that hymn of prayer:
Oh, what peace we often forfeit;
Oh, what needless pain we bear!
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer
There is no burden so great that God doesn't want to help bear it.
There is no burden so small; but that God wants to help solve it.
There is no problem so small that does not attract the attention of our God to find a solution to it.
There is no question so hard but that God can answer it.
There is no question so simple but that God wants to help find the answer.
God is interested in our shopping; talk to Him about it.
God is interested in your work; talk to Him about it.
God is interested in your life, every detail about it, so talk to him about it
God is interested in your ministry, so talk to Him about it.
There is no area of life that should be kept from God, and we should be in constant touch with heaven presenting our petitions and finding grace to help in time of need.
Oh!Learn to pray. Learn to pray by asking definite things from God. What is it that you need today?As we bow our heads in prayer, why not ask God for that very thing?.
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If God has spoken to your heart after reading the sermon “Definite Praying” right now talk to God about what He has spoken to you.
Do you have the assurance that one day you will go to heaven? If you have no assurance that you know Jesus Christ, then I trust you will decide to accept Him as your personal Savior. The Bible tells us in
Acts 16:31,“...Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved...”
Romans 10:13,“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
This prayer is here for those who need to ask Jesus to be their personal Savior: “I do want to go to Heaven. I know I am a sinner, and I do believe Jesus Christ died for me. I realize I cannot buy this great salvation, nor can I earn it. Knowing Jesus died on the cross and arose from the grave to pay my sin debt and to purchase my salvation, I do now trust Him as my Savior, and from this moment on I am completely depending on Him for my salvation.”