ANCHORED IN PRAYER Prayer Makes a Difference I Kings 18:42-45 & James 5:16-18 Layne Lebo April 23, 2017

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1 ANCHORED IN PRAYER Prayer Makes a Difference I Kings 18:42-45 & James 5:16-18 Layne Lebo April 23, 2017 On the screen behind me and on your bulletin outline you ll see a line marked from 1-10 with 1 being Not at all satisfied and 10 being Extremely pleased Not at all satisfied Extremely pleased I d like you to make a mark on the line where you d place yourself in response to the question, How pleased are you with your prayer life? And after you ve done that ask yourself, What steps are you willing to take to see your prayer life strengthened? For the next 5 weeks we ll be studying prayer and my hope is that each of us will be inspired to grow in our prayer lives. Some of you are probably thinking, Oh great. My prayer life stinks. And now for the next 5 weeks Pastor Layne and others are going to try and guilt me into praying more. I want to assure you that that is not my goal. Guilt is a terrible motivational tool. I might be able to guilt you into praying more for a couple days or weeks or maybe even a month, but if guilt or shame is your main motivation, it won t last. My desire is that through this series our Heavenly Father will draw us into a deeper prayer life with Him. As we were preparing for this series, Pastor Susan Vigliano told me, People I know with strong prayer lives read and study about prayer a lot. Now, Susan isn t right about everything, as I m sure her husband, Joe, can attest, but I ve found her to be right on this. Over the last 3 weeks I ve been doing a lot of reading on the subject of prayer in preparation for this series and it has strengthened my prayer life. The books I ve been reading are: MOVING MOUNTAINS, by John Eldredge; PRAYER: Finding The Heart s True Home, by Richard Foster; and, PRAYER: Does It Make Any Difference, by Philip Yancey As I ve been reading, I find myself viewing circumstances and people more through God s eyes than from my own perspective and I find myself praying more. If you want to see your prayer life grow, I encourage you to read or listen to e-books on prayer; study prayer in the Scripture; or, for the next 6 weeks focus on praying more. I m convinced God is drawing us 1

2 deeper in prayer. During Lent we focused on The Lord s Prayer for 6 weeks and now we re preaching a 5-week series called, Anchored in Prayer. We didn t intentionally plan 2 consecutive sermon series on prayer, but I believe God has us on a journey. The factor that most impacts our understanding of prayer is our view of God. In the past several weeks I came across two pictures I want to share with you. In his book, Moving Mountains, John Eldredge writes, A man I counseled years ago described his childhood with such a stark image it stayed with me like a metaphor. The story went like this: His father was a very successful man; he left for work before the boy woke in the morning and returned home just in time for dinner. After their rather efficient meal his father would disappear behind a closed door into his home office, working there late into the night. This was his daily routine. The boy longing for his father s affection would sit in the hallway outside his father s office, writing little notes to his father and pushing them under the crack in the door. I always hoped that one time, just once, he would pass a note back under the door to me. But he never did. Eldredge goes on to say, A heartbreaking story but an even more heartbreaking metaphor, for this is how many people conceive of their relationship with God a busy man they hate to bother, whose affection they long for, passing their prayers under his door, hoping for just a word in return. Contrast that picture with this one. In his book, Prayer: Finding The Heart s True Home, Richard Foster shares this story One day a friend of mine was walking through a shopping mall with his two-year-old son. The child was in a particularly cantankerous mood, fussing and fuming. The frustrated father tried everything to quiet his son, but nothing seemed to help. The child simply would not obey. Then, under some special inspiration, the father scooped up his son and, holding him close to his chest, began singing an impromptu love song. None of the words rhymed. He sang off key. And yet, as best he could, this father began sharing his heart. I love you, he sang. I m so glad you re my boy. You make me happy. I like the way you laugh. On they went from one store to the next. Quietly the father continued singing off key and making up words that did not rhyme. The child relaxed and became still, listening to this strange and wonderful song. Finally, they finished shopping and went to the car. As the father opened the door and prepared to buckle his son into the car seat, the boy lifted his head and said simply, Sing it to me again, Daddy! Sing it to me again! Foster concludes, Prayer is a little like that. With simplicity of heart we allow ourselves to be gathered up into the arms of the Father and let him sing his love song over us. Which of those images best captures your understanding of God? Our answer to that question is crucial, because if we view God like the boy slipping notes under the door of his 2

3 father s study, and never receiving a response, why would we pray? If, on the other hand, we see God as a loving father who wraps his distraught children in his arms and sings love songs to them, our motivation to connect with our Heavenly Father through prayer will be high. Over the next 5 weeks Pastor Susan, Doris Barr and I will be preaching on this subject of prayer and we ll all come at the topic from different perspectives based on our personalities, spiritual gifts and life experiences. I think that the variety in perspectives will be helpful, because prayer is multi-faceted. Earlier this week I put together a list of 4 Purposes for Prayer: 1) Growing in relationship and intimacy with God. 2) Aligning our hearts with God s heart. 3) Seeking God s direction/guidance. 4) Petitions for God s intervention in our lives, in the lives of others, in circumstances we face and in circumstances in our world. All 4 of these are important, but I especially identify with #4. I m a doer. Purposefully accomplishing the mission God has for me is very important to me. It s how I m wired. And my prayer life over the years has deepened as I ve come to a greater understanding of the truth of Jesus words in John s Gospel chapter 15 some of his last words to his disciples, which John records as part of a long teaching Jesus gave during his last supper with his disciples. Jesus said, Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15:4-8 If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. My own prayer life has been strengthened as I ve come to realize that my prayers make a difference. Prayer impacts my own growth and development. I ve seen God work in the lives of people I m praying for. And I see God s purposes accomplished in our community, in our region and in our world as I pray. 3

4 The Bible talks a lot about prayer in both the Old and New Testaments, so there are a lot of passages to choose from, but as we focus on today s theme, Prayer Makes a Difference, I d like us to look at a story from the Old Testament found in 1 Kings chapter 18, which Jesus brother James also references in his short book in the New Testament. I chose this story because it addresses two challenges we face in prayer: praying with persistence and the fear that my prayers may not really make much of a difference. I Kings chapter 18 refers to a time of great rebellion against God in Israel. God s people were actively engaging in the worship of pagan gods and goddesses and as part of their punishment for straying from Him God commanded his prophet Elijah to pray that there would be no rain in the land. And it didn t rain for 3 & ½ years. King Ahab was incensed with Elijah and blamed him for the drought and he basically put out a warrant for Elijah s capture. Elijah had been in hiding, but God led him to present himself to King Ahab. When Elijah met with King Ahab he challenged the prophets of the pagan god Baal to a showdown in which they and he would ask their god to consume a sacrifice by sending fire from heaven. The prophets of Baal prayed fervently, cried out, shouted and even cut themselves, but there was no response. Finally, Elijah called an end to their nonsense. He prepared an altar. Quickly prayed that God would answer by fire and God responded by sending fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice. Then Elijah told King Ahab to prepare for rain. I ll begin reading at verse 42 of 1 Kings 18: So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. Go and look toward the sea, he told his servant. And he went up and looked. There is nothing there, he said. Seven times Elijah said, Go back. The seventh time the servant reported, A cloud as small as a man s hand is rising from the sea. So Elijah said, Go and tell Ahab, Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you. Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. I Kings 18:42-45 Elijah bent down and prayed and nothing noticeable happened. 7 more times he did the same thing and finally his servant reported that he saw a cloud the size of a man s hand rising up from the sea. And then the rain came. Elijah s prayers made a difference, but what he was praying for didn t happen immediately he prayed 8 times. Elijah s persistence in prayer made a difference. I don t know about you, but I often get discouraged in my prayers much more quickly than that. I probably wouldn t have hung in there like Elijah did for 8 rounds of prayer. 4

5 Now, turn in your Bibles to the New Testament to the Book of James. As happens frequently in Scripture, the New Testament provides us with some context and interpretation for what happened in the Old Testament. I ll read verses of James chapter 5: Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. James 5:16-18 Focus on the line that s highlighted. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. Our prayers make a difference. Prayer matters. Elijah, through whom God did amazing things, was a person just like us and God answered his prayers. Translation: your prayers and my prayers are powerful and they accomplish much we re humans, just like Elijah and yet our Heavenly Father hears and responds to our prayers. The Bible instructs us to pray, but often we get hung up and fail to pray, because we re thrown off by our doubts. Questions like, Do my prayers really matter? Isn t God going to do what He wants to do regardless of whether or not I pray? Why doesn t God answer more of my prayers? How do I even know God listens or cares? Can we really prove prayer works? One of the challenges connected with prayer is that it requires faith and its results can t be logically proven. We re so used to putting our trust in facts and science and formulas and equations that we struggle with faith. But there aren t factual answers to matters of faith and when science or technology claims that it has those answers it has moved away from facts to making faith claims. I can t answer all of your questions about prayer? I have questions of my own I can t answer. But I do know that throughout the Bible God instructs his children to prayer and I know that Jesus, God s Son, modelled a strong prayer life. In response to the question, Why pray? author Philip Yancey, in his book, PRAYER Does It Make Any Difference? writes, If I had to answer the question, Why pray? in one sentence, it would be, Because Jesus did. He bridged the chasm between God and human beings. While on earth he became vulnerable, as we are vulnerable; rejected, as we are rejected; and tested, as we are tested. In every case his response was prayer. 5

6 As we close I want to return to the list I shared with you earlier of 4 Purposes for Prayer: 1) Growing in relationship and intimacy with God. 2) Aligning our hearts with God s heart. 3) Seeking God s direction/guidance. 4) Petitions for God s intervention in our lives, in the lives of others, in circumstances we face and in circumstances in our world. Every person needs all 4 of those. We are built for intimacy with God. We benefit greatly from aligning our hearts with his heart. We need his guidance and direction for our lives. And our lives, the lives of those we love and circumstances in our lives and in our world desperately need his intervention. And perhaps the strongest reason of all for why we pray is that Jesus, who God sent to earth to live as one of us even though He was God was compelled to pray. Again, I like the way Philip Yancey explains Jesus need to pray When doubts creep in and I wonder whether prayer is just a sanctified form of talking to myself, I remind myself that the Son of God, who had spoken worlds into being and sustains all that exists, felt a compelling need to pray. He prayed as if it made a difference, as if the time he devoted to prayer mattered every bit as much as the time he devoted to caring for people. Philip Yancey Your prayers and my prayers make a difference. As James writes in chapter 5 verse 16: The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Remember at the beginning of this sermon when I asked you to assess your prayer life and then I asked, What are you willing to do to see your prayer life strengthened? I want to encourage you to view these next 6 weeks as a window for your prayer life to be strengthened. Read some of the books on prayer that I ve referenced; study prayer in the Scriptures; or, simply commit yourself to praying more. I believe God is giving us this window to grow in prayer and in relationship with Him. 6

Elijah Challenges the Prophets of Baal

Unit 2, Lesson 8 AIM: Our God alone is worthy of praise and honor. He is alive forever Theme: Our God alone is true and alive Elijah Challenges the Prophets of Baal 17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to