So How Should You Pray? (Luke 11:5-13 May 2, 2010)

Transcription

1 So How Should You Pray? (Luke 11:5-13 May 2, 2010) In 1781, twenty year old William Carey married and became the pastor of a small Baptist church in Hackleton. This church could not fully support him so he made shoes to support his family. He studied the Bible, preached and prayed. But as he did so, he was overcome by the urgent need to take the gospel to the nations something that seems natural to us but was revolutionary in his day. He began to prepare to go to the nations. He set himself to learn multiple languages in preparation for going to the nations. He drew a huge world map on the wall of his small cottage, adding the names of countries and cities with populations and religions. He also made a globe out of leather to remind himself of the world mission command of our Lord Jesus. But above all he set himself to pray for the nations. He would cobble shoes before his map of the world claiming the nations for Jesus weeping over them. By 1786, he had become the pastor of a Baptist church in Moulton. His passion for world mission was growing steadily. A fellow Baptist minister, Andrew Fuller found out his vision for world mission and encouraged Carey to no longer make shoes but devote himself totally to the cause of world missions. Carey began to seek the support of other ministers but most had no interest in world missions. At a meeting of the Northampton Baptist Association of Pastors, Carey suggested that they discuss the great commission of Jesus. He was shut down by his own mentor, Rev. John Ryland, Sr., who told him, Sit down, young man. If God wants to convert the heathen, he will do it without consulting with you, or me! But, Carey pressed on. He prayed believing God had a plan for the world. 1

2 A verse that guided him was Isaiah 54:2, and it was here that it seemed that the voice of God spoke to him personally: Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. Finally, at a meeting of the ministers of the Northampton Baptist Association, Carey delivered a fiery message based on this passage in Isaiah 54:2. He concluded with these words, Brothers, expect great things from God; attempt great things for God. He expected God to use them to reach the nations, and they wanted His power and blessing to do so. It was this challenge that finally led to a resolution being passed to explore the establishment of a missionary society for foreign missions. Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God. This is a statement steeped in the nature of God and found throughout the pages of Scripture. God desires us to realise the enormity of His power and love and for us to ask great things of Him. In teaching His disciples to pray Jesus had taught them that God is our Father who loves us a delights to answer our prayer. He also taught that He is holy and has a plan for seeing His Kingdom come on earth. He taught them to ask for spiritual and physical food and for the forgiveness of sins spiritual strength and unction. So no wonder Jesus says we honour God by asking great things of Him. We reduce Him by only asking the trivial and the mundane. Listen to these verses. Jeremiah 32:16-17: 2

3 I prayed to the LORD, saying: Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. That honours God you are so great, nothing is too hard for you so please hear my prayer. Know who it is we come to and ask Him great things. Jeremiah 33:2-3: Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it the LORD is his name: Call to me and I will answer you. God may have made the whole earth but He wants us to pray to Him to take our requests to Him and He delights to answer these requests. Psalm 81:10: I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. Do you hear the heart of the Lord? Ask me and I will answer your prayers beyond anything you can think or ask. 2 Chronicles 7:14-15: If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. These are breathtaking verses. God Creator of heaven and earth the sovereign God for whom nothing is too hard He desires us to pray and says I will answer. Later in this sermon we will look at some of the incredible requests men and women have made of God but for now I want to suggest that for many of us Our prayers are too insipid. We go to the one who holds the cosmos in order the one who can change the hearts of kings and we ask for so little. We do not come to God with boldness and ask great things of Him. We come half-hearted, barely believing and we ask as if God cannot or will not heed our prayers. We have been looking at Luke 11 where Jesus is teaching on prayer. 3

4 We have seen that He gave us the: WHO Our Father v.2 WHAT Our Food v. 3 Our Forgiveness v. 4 And today we come to the: HOW Our Forthrightness vv Jesus wants us to pray with forthrightness, boldness, shamelessness. Look with me at Luke 11:5-9: And he said to them, Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him ; and he will answer from within, Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Here is the scenario. In first century Israel hospitality was a big deal. If a friend arrived you had a duty to host him which included an obligation to provide a meal. Jesus paints a picture. A man has a friend who arrives unexpectedly in the middle of the night and in Jewish culture this host has an obligation to house and feed his guest. But, the cupboard is bare, he has nothing to put before him. There are no seven elevens there is nowhere to get food at night except from a neighbour. 4

5 But, it was not done to go to a neighbour at night especially not at midnight. For many of us midnight is when we go to bed. Not so in the days before electricity and light bulbs. Midnight was the middle of the night. Everyone was sound asleep. Complicating this is the way Jewish homes were built. There was one main door which was closed with a wooden or iron bar. It would be noisy and difficult to open the door. Also, most first century Jewish homes had one main room and all the family slept together on a large sleeping mat. So if this neighbour had the boldness to turn up asking for bread he was asking a great deal of his neighbour. He would have to get out of bed and to open the door would mean waking his children. Then a lamp would have to be lit the bread and other food found. It would be a real inconvenience. That is why he whispers back: Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything But the key to this analogy is verse 8: I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. Do you see the word impudence or in other translations boldness, importunity, persistence or shamelessness this is the word anaideian. This is the only time this word is used in the New Testament. The word is used in Greek literature to speak of boldness, shamelessness, gall. The point is that it takes some gall to wake a man and his family in the middle of the night simply to ask for bread to feed a guest. Don t miss the point here. Jesus is teaching how we are to pray. The point is not that God is under some obligation to answer our prayer. It is not that persistence wears God out. The point is that God wants us to recognise His greatness and majesty and ask bold requests of Him. If a neighbour will respond to such a shameless response and answer it how much more will God who never sleeps, is never inconvenienced and delights to answer His children. 5

6 Do you honour Him with bold praying? Too many of us are content to ask for grandma to feel better, that the boss would be in a good mood or for a bigger tax return. It is not that the Lord doesn t care about that it is just He wants so much more for us. Verse 9: And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Notice the bold progression here asking, to seeking, to knocking. Some time do a study of the prayers of the Bible. I just want to take a few minutes to walk you through some of the great prayers of Scripture to see the boldness and shamelessness of these prayers. For time s sake I won t walk you through Genesis 18 Abraham s prayer over the city of Sodom but read through that yourself and look at the boldness of Abraham as he intercedes for this wicked city. Will you spare the city for 50 righteous, for forty-five, for thirty? Do you intercede with God like that? Give me five souls this year. Change their hearts. Break them? Lord, I beg you five souls. But do look at Genesis 32 where Jacob prays several incredibly shameless prayers. In chapter 32 verses 9-12 he prays for deliverance from Esau based on the promise of God. But the truly amazing prayer of brazenness comes later in the chapter. Verse 24: And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. At first, Jacob probably didn t know this was God. But the struggle goes on through the night. Verse 25: When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. It seems that somewhere through the fight Jacob came to realise who this was. Verse 26: 6

7 Then he said, Let me go, for the day has broken. But Jacob said, I will not let you go unless you bless me. This is a bold prayer. I will not let you go unless you bless me. Jacob is utterly exhausted his hip is wrenched he is in agony but he says I will not let You go unless You bless me. God then asks what is your name? He says with great shame It is Jacob I have spent my life deceiving men to get what I want. My life has been one of Jacob deception. But now the Lord says you will be known as Israel. The most likely translation is Let God rule. Ask God to change you. To overcome that sin, to lead your family well, to leave your job for the missionfield. Ask Him to turn a Jacob into an Israel. Ask God for great things to bless you, strengthen you spiritually, make you holy, give you souls, give you boldness to share your faith. These are the prayers God delights to answer. Some time read through Exodus 32:9-14. While Moses is up receiving the ten commandments Israel forms a golden calf to worship. And the wrath of God burns. And the LORD said to Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you. But Moses implored the LORD his God and said, O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever. And the LORD relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people. Do you pray such prayers? Asking God to give you souls to relent of His anger against them. That the honour and glory of God might be magnified by seeing sinners repent. Pray for your neighbours. Their sin dishonours God save them. 7

8 Pray for the church our insipid lives our sin our likeness to the world dishonours God. Pray for holiness and passion and souls. Spurgeon used to say that the Lord makes great promises in His Word and He delights to have us claim them. We need to pray like this. Listen to Psalm 85:4-7 this is how we should pray: Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us! Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation. God promises to renew us, give us a new heart, strengthen us, revive us, restore us follow the lead of the Psalmist pray these incredible promises to God. It can seem like too much to ask. We are such sinners, so insignificant, so weak who are we to ask God for anything let alone asking Him to use us mightily to His glory. But God delights to answer just such prayers. Ask great things of God. One of the most misunderstood and twisted prayers of the Bible is the Prayer of Jabez. While there is much written about this prayer that goes too far it is still a remarkable prayer. 1 Chronicles 4:10: Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain! And God granted what he asked. Jabez had the boldness to ask God to bless him richly to enlarge his borders to protect him. God delighted to answer this bold, shameless prayer. When the prayers are for the glory of God make us holy, uses us to reach souls, make us men of prayer God delights to answer those requests. In 1 Kings 3:5 we read that: The LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, Ask what I shall give you. That is quite an amazing offer. But in some ways we have that offer. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Solomon was wise in what he asked. He asked for the power to rule the people wisely. Verses 9-10: 8

9 Give your servant an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people? It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. Solomon asked for the ability to carry out his role of King well and to the glory of God. And the Lord richly blessed him. Verses 11-14: And God said to him, Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days. God said open your mouth and I will fill it. I will bless you far beyond what you have asked. Ask, seek, knock come with boldness and be amazed at how God answers prayers beyond anything we can even imagine. Martin Luther was heavily dependent on his assistant Philip Melancthon. Without him the ministry would suffer greatly. On one occasion Luther arrived and found his friend near death. His eyes were set; his consciousness was almost gone; his speech had failed, and also his hearing; his face had fallen. He knew no one, and had ceased to take either solids or liquids. Luther was filled with the utmost consternation, and prayed: Blessed Lord, how has the devil spoiled me of this instrument! Then turning away towards the window he called most devoutly on God. He besought the Lord to forbear, to spare his friend. He told the Lord that he needed Philip for the work. He repeated all the promises he could from Scripture. He asked for a miracle because the work of the gospel needed this man. He was so bold to cry that the Lord must hear and answer him now if the Lord would ever have Luther to trust in Him again. Finally, he was convinced the Lord had heard him. He took the hand of Philip, and declared, Be of good courage, Philip, you shall not die. At this, Melancthon began to revive and to breathe, and gradually recovered his strength and was restored to health. There is a line between putting the Lord to the test and asking boldly if we are seeped in the Word we will understand that line. 9

10 The pattern in Scripture is for bold prayer. In Isaiah 37 the armies of the pagan Assyrian King Sennacherib were surrounded Jerusalem. It looked bleak. In verses the King, Hezekiah, prayed to the LORD: O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. So now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the LORD. We are Your people Your honour is at stake. These Assyrians worship hunks of wood not the living God. So now O God, save us. Too many of us shrink back from praying such bold, forthright, passionate prayers. But if prayer is the link that connects us to the power of God that is how we should be praying. The man with the midnight visitor took the initiative to ask a shameless request that is what God wants from us. Ask Him great things so great we almost hesitate to open our mouths. And it is not just the Old Testament saints who prayed like this. Read the prayers of Jesus especially Acts 17. His prayer for power and unity and souls. And incredibly forthright prayer. Or read Acts 4:23-31: When Peter and John were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed 10

11 through the name of your holy servant Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. The leaders of the Jew opposed them forbade them from preaching Christ. Their response was to pray. Give us boldness to keep preaching Christ and the Lord answered filled them with the Spirit and sent them back into the world proclaiming the truth. In Ephesians 6:19: Paul asks the saints to pray for him: That words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel. This is just a sample of the bold, forthright prayers of the Bible. Jesus wants us to know that we can come asking great things of God. Now let me put this in perspective. We must remember the prayers God delights to answer are those prayed in accordance with His will and those that honour and glorify His name. Asking for a new Ferrari is bold but may not be what is best for us or glorifying to the kingdom. Then Jesus ends His teaching on prayer by reminding us of why God answers our prayers. Look at Luke 11:11-13: What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! Jesus returns to the beginning of His teaching on prayer. He reason that God delights to answer these bold prayers because He is our Father. But He is so much more than any human father. We are evil. We don t always give wholeheartedly, generously, selflessly. And yet, even though our giving is flawed we delight to give our children what we can. On Tuesday it was parent teacher interview night. I was driving home with Lisa. She mentioned how traumatic the teacher interview night was and thought that a McFlurry would help. 11

12 I mentioned that it wasn t particularly good for her. She mentioned again how settling it would be. This went on for a few minutes until I caved in. I find it hard to say no to my children and I am an imperfect father with an imperfect love. God loves us with an everlasting love. And while we sometimes refuse our children or by design or through ignorance give them something harmful God never does. If Peter asks me for a fish to eat I won t give him a live snake. If Stephanie asks me for an egg to eat I won t give her a live scorpion. The imagery is meant to make us shake our heads it is so ridiculous. God gives us what is good. The answer may be no, it may be unexpected but it is good. If we ask God for great things He will not give us what will harm us. He will give us His Spirit to strengthen us, make us bold and holy and like Him. He will gift us and empower us. Paul understood this. Listen to his great prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21: For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. What a prayer. Fill us. Strengthen us. Empower us. Let us know His glory. Work in us beyond anything we can even imagine. Use us to your glory. What is the point? James 4:2 sums up Jesus point: You do not have, because you do not ask. Dr. John R. Rice used to tell the story of an old slave in a southern state after the close of the Civil War who had been the personal servant to a southern gentleman. He had been set free by Lincoln s proclamation. But his master was old and he begged the slave to stay and take care of him. 12

13 The master promised to take good care of the former slave if he would stay. The slave loved his master and agreed to stay as the man s servant, which he did until his master died. After the master died, the former slave mowed lawns, chopped kindling, and ran errands to make a living. Eventually his legs grew stiff and his body became bent with age. There came a time when he couldn t do enough work to buy even the poorest and simplest of groceries. He lived in an old shack and got his clothing out of people s garbage. An old friend of his master s family came to him one day, Sam, you don t have to live this way, your master told me that he deposited $5, in the bank for you. Go to the bank and get some money to buy what you need! These were the days when a man worked a whole day for less than one dollar. After much persuasion the old man decided to go to the bank. Standing at the teller s window, turning his hat nervously in his hand, he inquired of the teller if any money had been left in the bank for him. The clerk told him yes that there was money at hand for him and that he could have it whenever he wished. He said, Could I have as much as fifty cents to get me a sack of meal? The teller replied that he could have as much as he wanted, up to $5, So the former slave told the teller to make out a check for fifty cents, and with trembling hands he made his mark beside his name. Then he took the bright fifty cent piece and shuffled away to buy some meal, and to live in his poor little shack in his rags and poverty, leaving $4, in the bank! Too often that is us. We have every spiritual resource waiting. God wants to give us the Holy Spirit of power. And we don t even ask. Finally, we go to a prayer meeting or we hear a sermon on prayer so we ask. God says ask great things of Me. Ask Me for the nations. Ask me for souls. Ask me for resources to take the gospel to the people. Ask Me for holiness. And we are like the old slave asking for fifty cents. We ask for a happy day, and the boss to be nicer, and a bigger car, and no rain on the holiday. And Jesus would say be bold be importune ask, seek, knock for so much more. He wants to give us the Holy Spirit in all its power and fullness ask! 13

14 Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God. Ask Him for this nation. Ask Him for Iran. Ask Him for specific souls. Ask Him to obliterate a sin in your life. Ask Him for your prodigal daughter. Ask Him for a church plant. Ask Him to heal a relationship. Ask Him for something great and then pray daily see how He responds. Most of us know the remarkable story of Jim Elliot. However, few of us know the atmosphere of prayer which empowered men and women like Jim and Elizabeth Elliot to the missionfield. The post-war era was an incredible phase of missions work. David Howard, the General Director of the World Evangelical Fellowship tells about the prayer that inspired this movement: I still have a small, faded World Evangelism Decision Card dated 1946, with my signature. Unfortunately, I did not record the day, but it is quite possible that I signed this card at the close of the first student missionary convention at the University of Toronto. The card used to be green. I can tell by the small green circle where a thumb tack used to hold this card above my desk throughout the rest of my college days. It served as a daily prayer reminder that I had committed myself to serve God overseas unless He were clearly to direct otherwise. The fact that I had 15 years of exciting service in Latin America is attributable in large measure to prayer much of it stimulated by that little card. Upon returning to college after the Toronto convention, students began to meet regularly to pray for missions. My closest friend in college was Jim Elliot. Jim was only to live a few years beyond college, but in that short life he would leave a mark for eternity on my life and on the lives of hundreds of others. Exactly 10 years to the week when the Toronto convention was ended, Jim and his four companions were speared to death by the Auca Indians on the Curaray River in Ecuador. In his death, he would speak to multiplied thousands, although we did not know that in our college days. Jim encouraged a small group of us to meet every day at 6.30 a.m. to pray for ourselves and our fellow students on behalf of missions. This became a regular part of my college life. 14

15 Jim Elliot also organised a round-the-clock cycle, asking students to sign up for a 15 minute slot each day when he or she would promise to pray for missions and for mission recruitment on our campus. The entire 24 hours were filled in this way. Thus, every 15 minutes through out the day and night, at least one student was on his knees interceding for missions at Wheaton College. Art Wiens was a war veteran who had served in Italy and planned to return as a missionary. He decided to pray systematically through the college directory, praying for 10 students by name every day. Art followed this faithfully through his college years. I did not see Art again until we met in 1974 at the Lausanne Congress on World Evangelisation in Switzerland. As we renewed fellowship and reminisced about old times, he said, Dave, do you remember those prayer meetings we used to have at Wheaton? I certainly do, I replied. Then Art said, You know Dave, I am still praying for 500 of our college contemporaries who are now on the mission field. How do you know that many are overseas? I asked. I kept in touch with the alumni office and found out who was going as a missionary, and I still pray for them. Astounded, I asked Art if I could see his prayer list. The next day he brought it to me, a battered old notebook he had started in college days with the names of hundreds of our classmates and fellow students. 1 Ask great things expect great things see God do great things. God desires us to realise the enormity of His power and love and for us to ask great things of Him. Jeremiah 32:16-17: I prayed to the LORD, saying: Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. Know who it is we come to and ask Him great things. Jeremiah 33:2-3: Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it the LORD is his name: Call to me and I will answer you. He wants us to call to Him. He wants us to show we believe He is a great God by asking great things. Psalm 81:10: 1 Cited in John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad, (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1993), pp

16 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. Prayer is one of the great resources we have for holy living, evangelism, revival, blessing. May we be a people of bold passionate prayer who ask our great God for great things and see Him work in ways we can barely imagine. 16