1 Saturday, May 29, 2010 Great Lakes Grace Bible Cnference Hw t Pray: The Pauline Prayer Paradigm Purpse: Demnstrate hw we shuld pray tday (nt hw we shuld nt pray). Explain the purpse and effect f prayer given that Gd already knws what we will pray befrehand. Intrductin It is easier t articulate hw nt t d smething than it is t psitively explain hw it shuld be dne. Demnstrating hw smething shuld nt wrk is easier than demnstrating hw it shuld. S it is with prayer. Much as been said by Grace Life teachers abut hw we shuld nt pray, while cnsiderable less has been said abut hw we shuld pray. I am ging t strive t say very little abut what prayer is nt (negative) but fcus rather n what Prayer is (psitive). I want t try and share with yu a cmprehensive Pauline Prayer Paradigm. Make cmment abut psting the resurces. Basics f Pauline Prayer I Thessalnians 5:17 cntains a straightfrward yet incredibly prfund instructin regarding prayer. Pray withut stpping. Right away this verse challenges ur traditinal views f prayers. Prayer by flding yur hands, bwing yur head, clsing yur eyes, is nt what this verse is talking abut. It is impssible fr yu t pray that way withut stpping. In time past this was nt the case. In the Old Testament, thse wh hnred and beyed Gd fund their way t certain places t pray places where the presence f Gd was said t dwell, places like the Temple. Acts 3:1 there were specific hurs and places where prayers were t be ffered. Daniel 6:10 Daniel prayers tward Jerusalem 3 times a day. Psalm 55:17 hw ften was Daniel praying? What were the disciples ding in Acts 3:1? They were praying in line with hw Israel was suppsed t pray. One f the first things Paul teaches us is that prayer is much mre than a spiritual discipline t be entered int during certain times and seasns r at certain places. It shuld instead be as clse and as regular as yur breath, integrated int every fiber f yur being. Tw spiritual realities are respnsible fr this change: 1) the fact that the justified believer has peace with Gd, 2) the fact that the believer is sealed and indwelt by Gd the Hly Spirit. In time past when Israel sinned Gd wuld nt even hear the prayers f the natin. Pastr Bryan Rss
2 Isaiah 59:1-2 Psalm 66:18 Micah 3:4 Rmans 5:1-2 during the dispensatin f Grace we wh are justified are at peace with Gd. In time past the Hly Spirit wuld cme upn peple fr a time in rder t accmplish a task but He wuld nt permanently indwell the Old Testament Saints. Judges 3:10, 6:34, 14:6 II Samuel 7:15 Psalm 51:11 David pleads with Gd nt t take his Hly Spirit frm him. Tday during the dispensatin f Grace, Gd the Hly Spirit permanently indwells and seals the believer in Jesus Christ. I Crinthians 12:13 Gd the Hly Spirit is what places us int the bdy f Christ. Ephesians 4:30 Gd the Hly Spirit als takes up residence in yur spirit and seals yu int the Bdy f Christ until the day f redemptin. Gd has frmed the mst intimate relatinship pssible with his saints. Read sectin frm Are Grace Lifers Deists? Because f the indwelling presence f the Hly Spirit the place f prayer is nw within the believer within yu in every step as yu carry ut yur ambassadrship in Christ s stead. These spiritual realities are what allw us t pray withut ceasing. As breathing is crucial t yur life in the natural, s prayer is crucial t yur spiritual life. Rmans 12:12 in ur fast fd, instant gratificatin sciety this verse ught t make sense t us. instant means t be steadfastly attentive unt, t give unremitting care t a thing, t cntinue all the time in ne place Rmans 13:6 attending cntinually upn is the same Greek wrd translated instant in Rmans 12:12 Philippians 4:6 Paul s frmula is simple. Have a cncern? Pray right then and there. One f the prblems with hw Grace Lifer teacher have taught prayer is that we have made peple scared t death t pray the wrng thing. Sme f us need t take sme f the pwder ut f dctrinal cannn and stp puncing n peple every time they say r pray smething that is nt quite right. Pastr Bryan Rss
3 The issue in verse 6 is that Gd says it s kay t pray abut anything that is bthering us. Were nt suppsed t be wrried abut imprperly ding the very thing Gd gave us t cmbat ur wrries, cares, and anxieties. Grace gives us the freedm t be vulnerable and candid befre ur heavenly father. The real issue is nt what yu pray fr but what yu expect Gd t d fr yu when yu pray. Rmans 8:26-27 Much has been said abut these tw verses by Grace Life teachers. Befre we deal with these tw verses specifically I wuld like t lk at the cntext by carefully lking at the first phrase in verse 26. Likewise what the Spirit des fr the believer in verse 26 is like smething else He des fr us in the passage. Rmans 8:16 there is a cmmunin in yur inner man between the Hly Spirit and yur spirit that bears witness t the fact yu are a child f Gd. Hw d yu knw? Besides reading it in the verses hw d yu explain this? Infirmities I have heard many different interpretatins abut what the infirmities are in the passage. I believe accrding t the cntext they are referring t the present physical graning we suffer as we wait fr the redemptin f the Bdy. Rmans 8:18-22 the entire creatin including believers grans and travails in pain under the bndage f crruptin. The suffering we experience nw is nt cmparable t the glry we will experience in eternity. Rmans 8:23-25 believers are asked t wait fr the redemptin f ur bdies. Therefre, these physical ailments and fleshly prblems that causes us t gran within urselves are the infirmities that verse 26 is referring t. Rmans 8:26 clearly says that we dn t knw what t pray fr. Our infirmities are nt ignrance as many have suggested. Rather ur infirmities cause us t nt knw hw we shuld pray. Shw diagram f the train and explain it. The reasn we dn t knw what t pray fr is because there is cnflict between the Facts and ur Feelings. It is in the midst f this situatin the Hly Spirit makes intercessin fr us with granings which cannt be uttered just as he did in verse 16. And the intercessin in verse 27 is in additin t the Hly Spirit s wrk in verse 26. He he that searcheth the hearts and makes intercessin in verse 27 is nt the Hly Spirit. It is a different individual. I Chrnicles 28:9 Pastr Bryan Rss
4 Revelatin 2:18, 23 Hebrews 4:12-13 nt nly is the wrd f Gd the discerner f the thughts and intents f the heart it is als referred t as a persn in masculine terms in verse 13. The wrd f Gd makes intercessin in a believer s life because wh knws better the mind f the spirit. Rmans 8:34 Jesus Christ the living wrd als makes intercessin fr us. When we pray the Hly Spirit cmmunes with ur spirit and makes intercessin fr us thrugh the cnduit f the wrd f Gd. The Hly Spirit, Written Wrd, and Living Wrd all make intercessin fr the believer. Why pray if Gd already knws what will happen? Because prayer activates Hly Spirit and Wrd f Gd in yur life. Just as yu dn t knw yu are the child f Gd but thrugh the Hly Spirit bearing witness with yur spirit s it is in prayer. Intercessry Results The results f this intercessry prcess are fund in Philippians 4:7 We are nt prmised physical deliverance r miraculus interventin. Rather we are prmised that ur hearts and minds will be kept by the peace f Gd. There is smething abut this prcess that we cannt enter int in ur understanding. Just as there are granings which cannt be utter r put int wrds. Keep--t guard, prtect by a military guard, either t prevent hstile invasin, r t keep the inhabitants f a besieged city frm flight. II Crinthians 11:32 It is imprtant t nte the cnnectin between the intercessry prcess and its results. Rmans 8:27 the searching f the heart reveals the mind f the Spirit Philippians 4:7 the prmise is that ur hearts and minds will kept thrugh Christ Jesus. Prayer activates within in the believer a pint f cnnectin between the Hly Spirit and the Wrd f Gd that garrisns the believers heart and mind in the peace f Gd. Use illustratin f the Bdy While anything in ur lives is a subject fr prayer we must als understand what the prmised result is. Philippians 4:8 this prcess nly wrks when we keep ur thughts captive t the bedience f Christ. If yu allw yu mind t dwell n the things that caused yu t be Pastr Bryan Rss
5 anxius in the first place yur emtins will fllw and yu will nt have the peace f Gd. Pastr Bryan Rss