The Rhythm f Prayer Eph. 6:10-20; 8/19/13 Page 979 American culture is prbably the hardest place in the wrld t pray. Yu wrk 50 t 60 hurs a week and then yu re used t being entertained: TV, internet (Facebk, Twitter, Pinterest), games (Temple Run), and all f this at yur finger tips n yur cell phnes at any given mment. Fr mst f us, the first thing we d in the mrning and the last thing we d at night invlves checking ur phnes. Wh s tempted t take a peak at yur phne right nw? In fact, many f yu are prbably even using yur phnes right nw t read the Bible. Have yu ever thught: I m just t busy t pray? I dn t have time t pray! Anther reasn prayer is s hard is because we prize intellect, cmpetency, and wealth. If yu have all f thse things, yu dn t need Gd. Des prayer feel useless, as if yu are wasting yur time? Yu start praying and yu get 15 secnds in when yu re verwhelmed with everything yu ve gt t d that day. Every bne in yur bdy screams, Stp praying; get t wrk! Our trust in urselves and in ur talents makes us structurally independent f Gd (Miller, A Praying Life, 16). I can relate with every single ne f these pressures as I face them daily. At the same time, cultivating the discipline f prayer is ne f the mst fundatinal means f grace that Gd uses t bring abut gspel renewal individually and crprately in the church. Will yu use this sermn as an pprtunity t hnestly reflect n yur current rhythm f prayer, r lack f prayer and ask Gd t ignite right desires and attitudes tward prayer? Let s pray. Tw weeks ag, Tanner laid ut a framewrk called, Dependent discipline. He said that we need bth dependence n Gd and a disciplined life in rder t grw in Gd s grace t maturity in Christ. We see these tw cmplementary truths clearly here in Ephesians 6:10-20, the cncluding passage f the entire letter n hw they shuld live the Christian life and walk in a manner wrthy f the calling f the gspel (Eph. 4:1). Dependence: Be strng in the Lrd and in the strength f his might (6:10). Present passive: this is an utside pwer and shuld be a habitual and cntinuus practice. Yur best days are never s gd that yu are beynd the need f Gd s grace (Bridges). One f Satan s greatest tactics is t cnvince yu that yu dn t need Gd. If he can keep yu self-sufficient, yu ll be useless fr the kingdm. But yu d need Gd. This war is a spiritual war and the frces f evil must be fught with supernatural pwer (6:12). If yu are ging t live the Christian life in the pwer f Gd, yu must kill self-sufficiency. Discipline: Put n the whle armr f Gd, that yu may be able t stand (6:11). Belt f truth, breastplate f righteusness, feet fitted with the readiness f the gspel, shield f faith, helmet f salvatin, swrd f the Spirit, praying Prayer is fundatinal fr the deplyment f the entire armr f Gd and yet Satan wants yu t believe that prayer is a waste f time. Many f us have bught int his lie. If yu are nt praying, then yu are quietly cnfident that time, mney, and talent are all yu need in life (Miller, A Praying Life, 49). I. Dependency is the Heartbeat f Prayer (6:10-17) Self sufficient peple dn t pray. If yu dn t, be strng in the Lrd, yu will nt pray at all times in the Spirit. Paul Miller says that A needy heart is a praying heart. Dependency is the heartbeat f prayer (A Praying Life, 24). Until yu can whleheartedly say and believe, Apart frm yu, Jesus, I can d nthing (Jhn 15:5) yu wn t pray as yu shuld. Gd, pen ur eyes afresh t see ur neediness befre yu. Nt nly des dependency drive yu t prayer, prayer drives yu t dependency. Time in prayer makes yu mre dependent n Gd because yu have less time t get ther things dne. Every minute spent in prayer is ne less minute yu culd ve spent ding smething else. Prayer then becmes a means f grace t drive yur heart and sul in utter dependence n Gd. Hw wuld yu rate yur dependence n Gd? 1
2 II. Cultivate the Rhythm f Prayer as a Discipline f Life. If yu re ging t cultivate prayer as a rhythm f grace in yur life, yu need t knw what this rhythm shuld lk like. We re ging t lk at sme specific characteristics f prayer that we can seek t cultivate, principles frm Ephesians 6:18-20 but als frm a variety f passages. I want us t start by reflecting n the Lrd s Prayer in Matthew 6:9 where Jesus said, Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallwed be yur name. 1. Pray Reverently Hw can sinful man apprach a hly Gd in the first place? If yu are ging t apprach a hly Gd in prayer, yu ve gt t have an advcate, smene wh will g in yur place. This is why Jesus tells us t pray in his name: Whatever yu ask in my name, this I will d, that the Father may be glrified in the Sn. If yu ask me anything in my name, I will d it (Jhn 14:13-14; als 16:23). We need t practice the title f Bryan Chappell s bk n prayer: Praying Backwards: Transfrm Yur Prayer Life by Beginning in Jesus Name. Prayer is nly pssible because f Jesus. Therefre, brthers, since we have cnfidence t enter the hly places by the bld f Jesus, by the new and living way that he pened fr us thrugh the curtain, that is, thrugh his flesh, and since we have a great priest ver the huse f Gd, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance f faith, with ur hearts sprinkled clean frm an evil cnscience and ur bdies washed with pure water (Heb. 10:19-22). Jesus life, death and resurrectin pave the way nt nly fr ur sins t be frgiven but s that we might enter int relatinship with Gd. Praying in Jesus name recgnizes that Gd nly hears and accepts us thrugh the wrk f Christ. Yu dn t need t g thrugh a priest r anyne else t access Gd. Jesus is yur way t Gd. Pray in his name. Yu need t get this: prayer is nt smething yu d in rder t please Gd and be accepted by Gd. Yu culdn t pray lng enugh and cnsistently enugh t make Gd accept yu. Yu need t cme t Gd, recgnizing his hliness and the prvisin in Christ and pray, Gd, be merciful t me, a sinner! (Luke 18:13) and Gd will frgive yu (1 Jhn 1:9). Until yu becme a child f Gd thrugh faith in Jesus Christ, yu can t pray, My Father in heaven. Gd s hliness drives us t ADORATION and CONFESSION. 2. Pray Relatinally Our Father : Prayer is all abut a relatinship. Prayer is simply the medium thrugh which we experience and cnnect with Gd. Prayer is nt the end gal. Knwing Gd is. Just as in any ther relatinship, yu dn t need t pretend t be smene yu aren t. Sme f yu think yu ve gt t clean yurself up in rder t pray t Gd. Prayer mirrrs the gspel: Yu dn t clean up act t becme a Christian and yu dn t clean up yur act t pray. Jesus isn t just the Savir f my sul. He s als the Savir f my prayers (Miller, 135). Gd lks at the adequacy f his Sn and delights in ur slppy, meandering prayers (Miller, 55). S where d yu start when yu cme t Gd in prayer? Start with what s real. Share yur weariness, yur wandering mind, yur jb struggles, family struggles, financial prblems, yur mess. Just tell Gd what s n yur mind. Praying relatinally is like catching up with gd friends. Last weekend, Leigh and I traveled t NC t participate in Seth and Michelle s wedding. We spent a night with cllege friends (Wes and Katie Haney) We lingered tgether n the cuch with snacks talking fr hurs. We had n particular agenda; we were simply enjying each ther. Listening, talking, reminiscing, laughing. We didn t plan the cnversatin. We bunced frm subject t subject and it had a kind f fund, meandering, and play-like quality. We weren t fcused n cmmunicatin r wrds. We simply shared ur lives with each ther. Why wuld ur prayer with Gd be any different?
3 A cautin abut prayer systems acrnyms: Systems can becme rte and desensitizing us t Gd as a persn. Fr example, try having an ACTS cnversatin with yur wife: Adre her fr tw minutes, then cnfess yur failure in taking ut the trash, then thank her fr cking dinner and then hand her yur list and requests fr the evening. 3. Pray Biblically Listen t these prmises f Jesus: If yu ask me anything I will d it (Jhn 14:13). ask whatever yu wish, and it will be dne fr yu (Jhn 15:7). Truly, truly, I say t yu, whatever yu ask f the Father he will give it t yu Ask, and yu will receive, that yur jy may be full (Jhn 16:23-24). Hw d these verses make yu feel? Let me address tw dangers in ur praying fund in James 4:2-3: Yu d nt have, because yu d nt ask. Yu ask and d nt receive, because yu ask wrngly, t spend it n yur passins. First danger: Yu dn t ask at all (If Gd is svereign, why pray? What gd des it d? Prayer desn t make much f a difference. I dn t need Gd!). Secnd danger: Yu ask selfishly (Gd is a virtual ATM and we ask fr mre cmfrts). A Cmplementary and Balanced Apprach: Gd is abslutely svereign and he is a prayer-hearing and answering Gd. Yu must learn hw t act n theses simultaneus truths withut elevating ne and diminishing the ther. If yur thelgy leads yu away frm prayer, smething is wrng with yur thelgy. The Bible insists that we pray and gives us examples f Gd answering prayer (g read Daniel 9-10). Because Gd is svereign and because he lngs t give gd things t his children, I can ask and he will listen and act. Prayer fills yur life with pssibility. Yu dream again. Ask bldly, surrender cmpletely: Jesus prayer n the crss: Abba, Father, all things are pssible fr yu. Remve this cup frm me. Yet nt what I will, but what yu will (Mark 14:36; see Dan. 3:17-18). Praying Yur kingdm cme, yur will be dne requires us surrendering ur will t Gd. This is actually a scary prayer. Yu re saying, King Jesus, cme rule my life. This is what Jesus is getting at in Jhn 15:7: If yu abide in me, and my wrds abide in yu, ask whatever yu wish, and it will be dne fr yu. Cnnect yur praying with Bible reading pray Gd s Wrd and yu will pray his will. 4. Pray Exhaustively S far, we ve talked abut the manner in which we shuld pray. But, what shuld we pray fr? praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplicatin making supplicatin fr all the saints (Eph. 6:18). D nt be anxius abut anything, but in everything by prayer and supplicatin with thanksgiving let yur requests be knwn t Gd (Phil. 4:6). Trust in the Lrd with all yur heart, and d nt lean n yur wn understanding. In all yur ways acknwledge him, and he will make straight yur paths (Prv. 3:5-6). It is nthing less than self idlatry t cnceive that we can carry n even the rdinary matters f the day withut his cunsel Be in the habit f ging t him in the first place befre self-will, self-pleasing, self-wisdm, human friends, cnvenience, expediency. Befre any f these have been cnsulted g t Gd at nce. Cnsider n circumstances t clear t need his directin. In all thy ways, small as well as great; in all thy cncerns, persnal r relative, tempral r eternal, let him be supreme. (Charles Bridges, A Cmmentary n Prverbs, 24 25). Are yu letting Gd reign supreme in every aspect f yur life? There shuld be nthing that is ff limits t take t Gd in prayer: cllege chice, ptential byfriend/girlfriend, car, huse, vacatin, jb, etc. We nrmally talk t everyne but Gd in these decisins. We tend t talk t Gd abut spiritual things and leave the rest up t the experts. Everything decisin, every wrd, every actin in life has spiritual significance.
4 At the same time, I want t make a distinctin between what C. Jhn Miller calls Maintenance Prayer and Frntline Prayer. Maintenance prayer is fcused primarily n physical needs, all needs that ne day will pass away when Jesus returns (jbs, hmes, sickness, death). Frntline prayer invlves eternal matters: cnfessin f sin, the flurishing f the church and reaching f the lst, a yearning t knw Gd and see his glry. Learn t pray this way by imitating the prayers f Scripture (Paul, the Psalms), reading prayers f dead saints (Valley f Visin), and by praying with thers. We need t make sure that we aren t just praying maintenance prayer we need balance. A Few Practical Suggestins (make prayer cards/lists: name, shrt phrases, Scripture; use technlgy with care): Pray fr Yurself (cnfessin, repentance, daily tasks, big dreams). Pray fr Others (Family, C-wrkers and Classmates, Neighbrs, Friends) Christians Nn-Christians (Mvement Cards) Pray fr Yur Church Leadership Church s Visin and Gals (2013 Visin) Cmmunity Grup Missinaries/Church Planters (Operatin Wrld) Pray fr Cultural Issues Orphan Care (Daybreak, Fster Care, Adptin) Elected Officials When I pray specifically fr peple, it als fuels my engagement with them when I see them. 5. Pray Cntinually and Persistently. When shuld I pray? What shuld this rhythm lk like? Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplicatin. T that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplicatin fr all the saints (Eph. 6:18; als Cl.4:2); be cnstant in prayer (Rm. 12:12); pray withut ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17-18). This is hw Paul described mst f his prayers, First, I thank my Gd fr all f yu that withut ceasing I mentin yu always in my prayers (Rm. 1:9-10). Cntinually: Charles Spurgen said, I always feel it well t put a few wrds f prayer between everything I d. Describe a day f cntinual prayer (mrning, kid s awake, mrning wrk, lunch appt., afternn wrk, Stp and Shp, Gas Statin, return hme. The very act f pausing in a busy day t pray weakens pride and fsters dependency n Gd. Weariness is ften the result f pride and self-sufficiency (C. J. Mahaney). Persistently: this is the way little children act. They ask repeatedly. Over and ver and ver again. They wear us ut. Gd wants yu t cme persistently, needy and dependent upn him. In Luke 18, Jesus tells the parable f the persistent widw s that they ught always t pray and nt lse heart (18:1). 6. Pray Systematically. Dn t let cntinual prayer be an excuse fr nt develping a rhythm f strategic, fcused prayer. Hw great wuld yur relatinship be with yur spuse if yu nly talked in snippets t each ther thrugh the day and never had fcused times f cnversatin? But when yu pray, g int yur rm and shut the dr and pray t yur Father wh is in secret. And yur Father wh sees in secret will reward yu (Matt. 6:6). Nthing fuels cntinual prayer better than systematic and cnsistent prayer. This is a matter f priritizing yur life. If prayer is really a means f grace in prducing gdliness in me and
5 impacting the kingdm, and if I really can t d anything a part frm Christ, then I ve gt t priritize prayer. Fr sme f yu, t cultivate this rhythm is ging t invlve an adjustment f yur schedule. Get t bed. Get up early (eliminates distractins: emails, texts, TV, kids). Keep ging. This is easier than yu think. Can yu make a 6:13am flight? Yes, because f what s at stake (mney, missing an imprtant ccasin). If I tld yu that if yu wke up 30 days in a rw an hur early and that ne f thse days yu wuld get an idea that made yu $5,000, wuld yu get up early? Wuld yu get up early if it helped yur marriage last frever? Wuld yu get up early if I prmised yu d grw in yur faith? We sacrifice fr and priritize things that have a large enugh reward. Set an alarm, get ut f the bedrm, turn all the lights n, drink a cup f cffee, get cmfrtable. Will yu cmmit t pray five minutes a day fr 21 days (3 weeks)? Cultivate nt nly individual prayer, but cllective prayer (Acts 2:42; 4:23-31). Dn t use persnal prayer t keep Christian cmmunity distant. Yu can t islate prayer frm the cmmunity f believers because many times Gd uses ther t answer prayers in yur life. Yu shuld ask thers the same questins yu ask Gd. Pray with yur wife, yur kids, n Sunday Mrnings at Church, in Cmmunity Grups, in Discipling Relatinships, at First Friday Prayer Gathering Dependency is the Heartbeat f Prayer: Dependency is the heartbeat f prayer. Pray reverently in Jesus name. Pray relatinally with authenticity. Pray biblically by asking bldly, and surrendering cmpletely. Pray exhaustively by letting Gd reign supreme in all things. Praying cntinually and persistently thrughut yur day. Pray systematically, individually each day and regularly with thers. Dream with me: what might Gd d thrugh Redemptin Hill Church and Greater Bstn if we cllectively cultivated prayer as a mre cnsistent rhythm in ur lives and starting asking Gd bldly fr his will t be dne as we cmpletely surrendered ur lives t it. America is ne f the hardest places in the wrld t pray and I knw yu re t busy t pray, but there s n greater time and place than tday in Bstn fr Gd s peple t priritize prayer and yu are t busy nt t pray. Will yu be a part f a mvement f Gd? What tday can yu ask Gd bldly fr?