THE WORD & THE PRAYER LIFE OF A BELIEVER (Message at Gospel Light BPC Camp, Dec 2004 in Malaysia)

Transcription

1 MARANATHA MESSENGER Weekly Newsletter of Private Circulation Only MARANATHA BIBLE-PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 2 January 2005 Present every man perfect in Christ Jesus (Colossians 1:28). Address: 63 Cranwell Road, Singapore Tel: (65) Fax: (65) maranatha.bpc@pacific.net.sg Website: * Sunday School: 9.45 am Worship Service: am Wednesday Prayer Meeting: 8.00 pm Pastor: Rev Jack Sin (HP: ) Page 1 of 7 THE WORD & THE PRAYER LIFE OF A BELIEVER (Message at Gospel Light BPC Camp, Dec 2004 in Malaysia) Introduction The Word of God and prayer are closely intertwined together; one who loves the Word of God will love to communicate with the author of the Word in prayer and vice versa. Prayer is a privilege, the breath of godliness and the new nature in the saint, as the Word of God is their food. A prayerless Christian is a contradiction in terms. When the Lord assured the Damascus disciple that Saul of Tarsus had been truly converted, He told him, Behold, he prayeth (Acts 9:11). On many occasions that self-righteous Pharisee bowed his knees before God and has gone through his devotions, but this was the first time he had ever really prayed. This important distinction needs emphasising in this day of powerless forms (2 Tim 3:5). They who content themselves with formal addresses to God know Him not; for the spirit of grace and supplications (Zech 12:10) are never separated. Luke 18:7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? Let us cry unto Him, not merely say their prayers. Remember that Jacob wrestled with God in prayer (Gen 32:26-30). The Word of God should be our directory in prayer. The Holy Scriptures is our infallible guide, as in 2 Tim 3: 17, That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. Since we are required to pray in the Spirit (Jude 20). It equally follows that according to the measure in which the Word of Christ dwells in us richly (Col 3:16), the more will our petitions be in harmony with the mind of the Spirit, for Matt 12:34 for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. We must hide the Word in our hearts and it cleanses, moulds and regulates our inner man, then will our prayers be acceptable in God s sight. The Importance of Prayer In Col 1:9-17, the Apostle Paul has told the Colossians that he is praying for them. He tells them he is thanking God for them and that his prayers on their behalf are unceasing. These are not nice platitudes only but sincere intercessor for the want. Prayer is talking with God. We pray when we open our heart to the Almighty. True prayer is honest, humble and personal outpouring of the soul to God submitting to his perfect will to Him finally. Reasons for Prayer There are several good reasons to pray. It is a great privilege. Can you think of any greater honour than to have an audience with the One who rules over ALL creation? We are invited to seek counsel from the One who is all truth and wisdom. One who knows all things. The Puritan John Preston lays it out very plainly. Prayer is a privilege purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ. Christ died for this end; it costs him the shedding of his blood, so that we, through him, might have entrance to the throne of grace. Conversation is a part of any vital and growing relationship. We sometimes measure the quality of a marriage relationship by how well the couples communicate. The same is true for our relationship with the Father. True, honest, heartfelt conversation is a sign of a healthy relationship. There are three reasons why we should pray, namely:- 1. We should pray because we are in a fierce battle. Constantly we are warned of the Devil s intention to neutralise and demoralise us. We are told that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the

2 heavenly realms (Eph. 6:10). We are in a battle and we need the help of God. The enemy will marshall his armies...when we neglect prayer, we go into battle unarmed. Eph 6:18 says, Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. 2. Prayer is a deterrent to sin in our lives. In the quiet times of private, honest prayer God exposes the rationalizations and the excuses that we use to cater to sin. In prayer God holds a mirror up to our lives so we can see the way we really are...and repent. 3. Prayer makes a difference (2 Cor 1:11) I cannot tell you how it works...i know that circumstances change when people pray. Diseases are sometimes healed, strength is imparted, guidance is given, hearts are softened, needs are met. I know that when I pray for others it helps them. But we also know that when we pray, we are transformed too. John 16:24 says, Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. Page 2 of 7 The Content of Prayer It is instructive to note what Paul asks on behalf of the Colossians (Col 1:9-17). Paul does not focus on the material and temporal. He is not primarily concerned with physical comfort but He is concerned for their spiritual growth as well. Pray to Discern God s Will Notice that Paul s first request is this: I ask that God fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. The word fill means to be completely filled or totally controlled. Paul s primary concern is not for physical health, material prosperity, effective witnessing or a greater experience of spiritual gifts. Paul s first and primary concern is that the Colossians comes to love and understand God and submit to His will. Eph 5:17 says, Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane He sought to submit to the will of the Father. Many of us have turned this around. We spend our time pleading with God that MY will would be done. We want God to give us what we want. We want Him to see the wisdom of our desires and that is not proper and pleasing to God. We need to submit to God s will first in our prayers. In marriage and relationships we often hear and comprehend what our spouse say, to a certain request. How can we do this? We have come to understand our mate. We know what they like and do not like. We have a good idea of what their will is. The same is true of God, we need to delight ourselves in Him and He will grant us the desires of our hearts (Ps 37:3-7). We understand his plan and purpose in life when we come to know Him as our Saviour and study the Bible, through prayer and through our obedience. Paul prays that the Colossians should not be satisfied with a superficial relationship with God. He prays that they should continue to build a relationship with Him until they understand what God is doing and why. Pray to DO God s Will Paul does not only pray that the Colossians are able to discern God s will. He also prays that they might have the power to DO God s will. In verse 10 we read that Paul prayed that they might understand in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way. Paul is not praying just that we might be more knowledgeable...he is praying that we might learn more about God so that we will live more faithfully before Him. Paul prays that they might understand... and when they have understood, that they might live on the basis of that understanding. Consider how different the content of this prayer is from the prayers we often pray? Are you asking the Lord for superficial things and neglecting the greater things? Are you focusing on the temporary and neglecting the eternal? Do we spend all our time focusing on the temporal needs of the body and have no time to focus on the soul which is eternal? Something to think about.

3 Overcoming Obstacles to Prayer In this brief discourse on this vital issue of prayer, let us consider two obstacles to prayer. Page 3 of 7 Too Busy One of the biggest obstacles to prayer exacting work or study. We say we have a hard time finding time to pray. We need our sleep in the morning so we can function during the day. We are busy with family activities after our work. We stay up late because we need to finish our work for the next day but never had the time to read the Word. We want to pray, we say, but we do not have the time. Consider some pointed questions. Do you stop to eat each day? Do you wash? Do you read the paper or watch the news? Do you have time to play games or watch television? Do you have time to take a nap? Do you have time to exercise? Which of these things is MORE important than building your relationship with the Father? Which of those things has an eternal dimension to it? If you really do not have time to pray... substitute prayer for one of those things you DO make time for. 1 Tim 4:7,8 say, But refuse profane and old wives fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. Trouble Concentrating? If we were honest, many of us would admit that one of the greatest obstacles to prayer is the difficulty that we have in concentrating. We start out in prayer but then our minds begin to wander. It seems futile, so we stop praying and Satan triumphed at that instance. There are several ways to help a wandering mind. Pray at a time when you are most mentally alert. (Generally praying while you are lying in bed is not effective). Pause to remember whom you are talking to. The more important we believe the conversation with a particular person, the more attention we give it. Students will give rapt attention when the teacher is telling them what to expect during an examination. We are having an audience with the King of kings and Lord of lords, who is the Person we are addressing to, in prayer. Go to a quiet place where you will not be interrupted (Mark 1:35). Speak out and sing out loud too. Read a passage of Scripture. Use a prayer list and be disciplined. Keep a pad of paper handy. When reminded of something you need to do... write it down and then go on. Consider the following practical suggestions to enhance your prayer life:- 1) Set aside a time for prayer daily (Dan 6:10, Ps 5:3). Get up early. Block off a certain time. Find a quiet place. Give prayer priority in your schedule. 2) Pour out your life to our heavenly Father. Too many times we do our prayers and then move on. We have taken care of our guilt but we have never really touched the throne. So, make your prayer time personal. Talk honestly about your struggles, your fears and your calendar. Listen carefully. 3) Use the Word of God as a starting point. Read through a passage of Scripture and then apply that Scriptures to your life. When you read a command to forgive others, ask God to help you release the bitterness and the hurt that makes you resist that command. When you read about the importance of thinking pure thoughts confess the areas where your thinking is polluted and ask God for help to think better. This practice will help you focus on the deeper issues rather than the superficial. 4) Keep a prayer list. Make a list of the people you pray for. Be specific. What needs do you want to help carry for another. When someone asks you to pray for them... add them to your list if necessary. Prayer is the barometer of our spirituality. The purity and power of our prayer-life are another index by which we may determine the extent to which we are profiting from our reading and searching of the Scriptures. If our Bible study is not, under the blessing of the Spirit, convicting us of the sin of prayerlessness, revealing to us the place which prayer we ought to have in our daily lives and is actually bringing us to spend more time in the secret place of the Most High; unless it is teaching us how to pray (Luke 18:1) acceptably to God,

4 how to appropriate His promises and precepts and pleading them before Him, turning them into petitions, to the nourishment and enrichment of our souls, as in Jas 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves applies to its prayer-admonitions. Let us now point out the following factors concerning prayer and the Word:- Page 4 of 7 Firstly, the Scriptures bring us to realise the deep importance and necessity of prayer. It is really to be feared that many present-day readers (and even students) of the Bible have no deep convictions that a definite prayer-life is absolutely essential to a daily walking and communing with God, as it is for deliverance from the power of indwelling sin, the seductions of the world and the assaults of Satan. If such a conviction gripped their hearts, would they not spend far more time on their faces before God? A multitude of duties which have to be performed crowd out prayer, though much against my wishes. But the fact remains that each of us takes time for anything we deem to be imperative. Whoever lived a busier life than our Saviour? Yet who found more time for prayer (Luke 6:12, Mark 1:35)? If we truly yearn to be intercessors before God and use all the available time we now have, we can do it by His grace. Christ s Example Consider Christ s example in prayer in Mark 1:35, And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. The lack of positive conviction of the deep importance of prayer is plainly evidenced in the corporate life of professing Christians. God has plainly said in Matt 21:13 My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. Note, not the house of preaching and singing but of prayer. Yet, in the great majority of churches, the ministry of prayer has become negligible. Do you go for the church Wednesday prayer meeting? How sad an average of only 10% of the Church members come for corporate prayer. But when the Spirit of God wrought power in us, as in Mark 14:38, Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. In every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving (Col 4:2), then do we profit from the Scriptures. 2 Cor 1:11 says, Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf and Rom 15:30 says, The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart: and a good report maketh the bones fat. Secondly, the Scriptures make us feel that we need to learn how to pray. But such a conception is at direct variance with this inspired declaration, as in Rom 8:26 We know not what we should pray for as we ought. How many professing Christians believe this? The idea most generally entertained is that people know well enough what they should pray for, only they are careless and wicked and so fail to pray for, only they are careless and wicked and so fail to pray for what they are fully assured is their duty. Yet it is one thing to read and mentally assent to what this verse says, but it is quite another to have an experimental realisation of it, for the heart to be made to feel that what God requires from us. Consider this poem:- I often say my prayers, But do I ever pray? And do the wishes of my heart Go with the words I say? I may as well kneel down And worship gods of stone As offer to the living God A prayer of words alone The Christian can no more pray without the direct enabling of the Holy Spirit. This must be so, for real prayer is a felt need awakened within us by the Spirit, so that we ask God, in the name of Christ, for that which is in according with His holy will. 1 John 5:14 says, And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us. But to ask something which is not according to God s will is not praying, but presuming. True, God s revealed will is made known in His Word, yet not in such a way as a cookery book containing recipes and directors for preparing various dishes. The Scriptures frequently enumerate principles, which call for continuous exercise of heart and Divine help to show us their application to different cases and

5 circumstances. Thus we profit from the Scriptures when we are taught to cry, Lord, teach us to pray in our deep need (Luke 11:1) and are actually constrained to beg Him for the spirit of prayer. Page 5 of 7 The Holy Spirit s Help Thirdly, the Scriptures made us conscious of our need of the Spirit s help. First, that He may make known to us our real wants. Eg our temporal needs. How often we long to be delivered from these trials and difficulties. Surely here we know of ourselves what to pray for. Despite our natural desire for relief, so dull and ignorant are our discernment, that (even where there is an exercised conscience) we know not what submission unto His pleasure God may require, or how He may sanctify these afflictions for our inward good. Therefore, God hears and receives the petitions of most who seek for relief. Ecc 6:12 says, For who knoweth what is good for man in this life. Temporal things may be spiritually prayed for (Matt 6:11 etc) but with threefold limitation:- First, incidentally and not primarily, for they are not the things which Christians are principally concerned in (Matt 6:33). It is heavenly and eternal things (Col 3:1), which are to be sought first and foremost, as being of far greater importance and value than temporal things. Second, subordinately, as a means to an end. In seeking material things (ie sickness and health, direction and guidance from God, it should not be in order that we may be gratified, but as an aid to pleasing Him better. Third, submissively, not dictatorially, for that would be the sin of presumption (Ps 19:13). Moreover, we know not whether any temporal mercy would really contribute to our highest good (Ps 106:18) and therefore we must leave it with God to decide. We must pray according to God s will (1 John 5:14,15). We have inward and outward desires. Some of these may be discerned in the light of conscience, that it be in accordance to God s will. The things about which believers do and ought to treat primarily with God in their supplications is the spiritual disposition of their souls. David was not satisfied with confessing all known transgressions and his original sin (Ps 51:1-5), nor yet with an acknowledgment that none could understand his errors, when he desired to be cleansed from secret faults (Ps 19:12) but he also begged God to undertake the inward searching of his heart to find out what was amiss in him (Ps 139:23,24), knowing that God principally requires truth in inward parts (Ps 51:6). We should definitely seek the Spirit s aid, so that we may pray acceptably to God (Heb 4:16). Fourthly, the Scriptures said that the Spirit teaches us the right end in praying. God has appointed the ordinance of prayer with at least a threefold design:- First, that the great Triune God might be honoured, for prayer is an act of worship, a paying homage; to the Father, the Giver, in the Son s name, by whom alone we may approach Him, by the moving and directing power of the Holy Spirit. Second, to humble our hearts, for prayer is ordained to bring us into the place of dependence, to develop within us a sense of our helplessness, by owning that without the Lord we can do nothing and that we are beggars upon His charity for everything that we are and have. We are totally dependent upon God s grace in answer to prayer (2 Cor 12:9). One of the principal reasons why so many of our prayers remain unanswered is because we have a wrong and unworthy end in view. Our Saviour said in Matt 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you but James affirms of some in James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. To pray for anything and not expressly unto the end which God has designed, is to ask amiss and therefore to no purpose. Whatever confidence we may have in our own wisdom and integrity, left to ourselves, our aims will never be suited to the will of God. Unless the Spirit restrains the flesh within us, our own natural and distempered affections interfere with our supplications and rendered in vain. Paul says 1 Cor 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God yet none but the Spirit can enable us to subordinate all our desires unto God s glory. The Promises of God The Scriptures taught us how to plead on God s promises. Prayer must be in faith trusting Him fully (Rom 10:14) or God will not hear it. Say with the centurion, Lord I believe, help then my unbelief (Mark 9:24). Now faith has respect to God s promises (Heb 4:1; Rom 4:21); if, therefore, we do not understand what God s stands pledged to give, we cannot pray at all. The promises of God contain the matter of prayer and define the

6 measure of it. We are to pray for all that He has promised and nothing else. Deut 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law but the declaration of His will and the revelation of His grace belong unto us and are our rule. There is nothing that we really stand in need of but God has promised to supply it, yet in such a way and under such limitations as will make it good and useful to us. So too there is nothing God has promised but we stand in need of it. Hence, the better we are acquainted with the Divine promises and the more we are enabled to understand the goodness, grace and mercy prepared and proposed in them, the better equipped are we for acceptable prayer before Him (Heb 4:11). Page 6 of 7 Some of God s promises are general rather than specific; some are conditional, others unconditional; some are fulfilled in this life, others in the world to come. Nor are we able of ourselves to discern which promise is most suited to our particular case, present emergency and need, or to appropriate by faith and rightly plead it before God. The Scriptures bring us to complete submission unto God in prayer. One of the Divine s designs in appointing prayer as an ordinance is that we might be humbled and totally dependent on Him. This is outwardly denoted when we bow the knee before the Lord. Prayer is an acknowledgment of our helplessness and a looking to Him from whom all our help comes. It is an owning of His sufficiency to supply our every need. It is a making known our requests (Phil 4:6) unto God; but requests are very different from our own selfish demands. The throne of grace is not set up that we may come and vent our passions before God. We are to spread our case before God, leave it to His superior wisdom to prescribe how it shall be dealt with. He is the Final Arbiter, Judge and Redeemer of our lives. There must not be dictating, nor can we claim anything from God, for we are dependent upon His pity and mercy daily. In all our praying we must add, Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. For 1 John 5:14, 15 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. Paul besought the Lord thrice to remove his thorn in the flesh; instead of doing so, the Lord gave him grace to endure it (2 Cor 12). He has promised His Church pastors, teachers and evangelists. Some of God s promises are indefinite and general rather than absolute and universal; eg Eph 6:2,3. God has not bound Himself to the particular thing we ask for, even though we ask in faith. Moreover, He reserves the right to determine the time and season for bestowing His mercies. Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD S anger (Zeph 2:3). Just because it may be God s will to grant mercy unto us, it is our duty to cast myself upon Him and plead for it, yet with entire submission to His good pleasure for the performance of it. Joy in Prayer Fifthly, the Scriptures reveal to us a real and deep joy and peace that comes from a closer communion or intercession with God daily (Phil 4:6-7). Merely to say our prayers each morning and evening is not enough but to really come into the conscious presence of God, to behold the glorious light of His countenance, to commune with Him at the mercy seat, is a foretaste of the eternal bliss awaiting us in heaven forever one day. The one who is blessed with this experience says with the Psalmist, in Ps 73:28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works. Yes, it is good for the heart, for it is quietened; good for faith, for it is strengthened; good for the soul, for it is blessed. It is the lack of this soul in communion with God which is the root cause of our unanswered prayers: Ps 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. The Spirit produces and promotes joy in prayer. First, the heart delights in God as the Object of prayer and particularly the recognition and realisation of God as the Lord of our life. Thus, when the disciples asked the Lord Jesus to teach them to pray, He said, After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven (Matt 6:9-15). And again God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba Father (Gal 4:6), which includes a filial, holy delight in God, such as children have in their parents in their most affectionate addresses to them. In Eph 2:18, Our faith is strengthened when we have direct access to God the Father in prayer. Peace and joy will then accrue to the soul (Phil 4:6-8) whom we approached daily!

7 Second, joy in prayer is furthered by the heart s apprehension and the soul s sight of God as on the throne of grace a prospect, not by carnal imagination, but by spiritual illumination. For it is by faith that we see him who is invisible (Heb 11:27); faith being the evidence of things not seen (Heb 11:1), making its proper object evident and present unto them that believe. Therefore are we exhorted in Heb 4:16, Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Page 7 of 7 Conclusion Prayer is our source of spiritual power and privilege. It is encouraging to hear someone shared that his resolution next year is to come for the Church prayer meeting on Wednesday night. Consider 2 Chr 7:14 which speaks of revival and humble seeking of God in prayer, Communication with heaven is given to us through the avenue of prayer and the word and we have direct access to God through our Lord, Jesus Christ. Let us not forget nor forsake this great honour and prerogative of communing with God daily and as a Church in corporate prayer meeting and be revived, peradventure times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Jack Sin * * * * * * * * * CED Dedication Beside the pulpit ministry, the NBC and fellowships, we thank God for this vital arm of biblical instruction in the CED or Sunday School ministry of Maranatha Bible Presbyterian Church all these 14 years, headed by Eld Thomas as Superintendent and Dn Steven Ng, the assistant and staffed by committed teachers who teach the Word every Lord s day without fail. The Sunday School starts at 9.45 am in the sanctuary and the classes begin at 10 am. There are presently four classes namely:- Children (5-12 yrs) in nursery room taught by Poh Hong and Kin Kheng on Lessons for Life. Youth class (13-21 years) taught by George and Richard in the church office studying Hebrews. Adult class (21 and above) taught by Eld Thomas and Dn Daniel in the main sanctuary, studying James and The Minor Prophets. Catechism class (those new visitors preparing for baptism, reaffirmation and transfer of members) taught by Pastor in the Children s room, at the same time. Hos 4:6 says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. All are welcome to join any of the classes and grow and learn from God s Word systematically every Lord s day. * * * * * * * * * At the Pulpit Theme for the Quarter: Understanding Basic Doctrines & Church Ministry Rev Jack Sin Appreciating the Attributes of the Triune God (Exod 34:1-7; Hab 1:12-13) *These hyperlinks work with Word 97 and later version. [End of MM, 2 January, 2005]