Prayer review, Part 13: What prayer is and isn’t; John 15:16.

Title: Prayer review, Part 13: What prayer is and isn’t; John 15:16.

 

Opening prayer:

 

 

 

We will first complete our documentation of continuous prayer.

Examples of continuous prayer through the early Church:

a. After the Lord’s ascension …

 

Directly after the Lord’s ascension to heaven the disciples along with the women waited for the Lord’s promised Holy Spirit in Jerusalem and as they waited they continuously prayed.

 

Acts 1:14 These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

 

b. Directly after Pentecost …

Acts 2:41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

 

Acts 2:42 And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

 

They were obviously instructed to pray.

 

c. After the church began to grow exponentially in Jerusalem …

 

Acts 6:1 Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.

 

Acts 6:2 And the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.

 

Acts 6:3 "But select from among you, brethren, seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.

 

Acts 6:4 "But we will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word."

 

d. Before the Gospel reached the northern provinces …

In the early Church, the prayers of those who knew only of the baptism of John and to whom had not come the good news of the Lord’s victory were heard and in the case of Cornelius, were answered.

 

Acts 10:1 Now there was a certain man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort,

 

Acts 10:2 a devout man, and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people, and prayed to God continually.

 

Acts 10:3 About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in to him, and said to him, "Cornelius!"

 

Acts 10:4 And fixing his gaze upon him and being much alarmed, he said, "What is it, Lord?" And he said to him, "Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God.

 

Cornelius would have heard the good news eventually, but his continual prayers led God to send him the Gospel sooner and directly from the apostle Peter, and in so doing, Peter learns a valuable lesson about the Gentiles.

 

[Acts 19:1-7]

 

e. Deeper into the church age this practice of continual prayer did not cease …

 

ROM 1:9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you,

 

f. Continuing through the growth of the Church continual prayer becomes a mandate of the RFHC [Rom 12-15].

 

ROM 12:9  Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. [evil is around us and is always attempting to overwhelm our thinking]

 

ROM 12:10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;

 

ROM 12:11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;

 

ROM 12:12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted [hupomeno - to abide under] to prayer,

 

ROM 12:13 contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

 

ROM 15:30  Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me,

 

g. All through the later epistles the continuousness of prayer is entreated…

 

EPH 1:16

 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;

 

EPH 6:18

With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit

 

Phil 4:6

 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

 

COL 4:2

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;

 

COL 4:12

Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.

 

1 Thess 1:2

 We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers;

 

1 Tim 2:1

 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men,

 

1 Tim 5:5

Now she who is a widow indeed, and who has been left alone has fixed her hope on God, and continues in entreaties and prayers night and day.

 

Philem 4

 I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers

 

1 Peter 4:7

The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.

 

 

Point 2: What prayer is not.

a. Prayer does not make God your servant; therefore all prayer must be in accordance with God’s will and authority.

 

If prayer is a blank check or a shopping spree then God must do whatever you wish whether that wish or desire is in line with His will or not.

 

If a believer can get God to do something that is outside of His will and Sovereignty then that believer sits above God and that is obviously not ever going to happen.

 

b. Prayer is not a stimulus program to bail us out of trouble; rather it is designed to show our helplessness, humility, and dependence on God’s power and not our human power.

 

I’m not going to say that we should never ever pray, “Oh God, help!” since I think there are times when that is legit. But the prayer, “Oh God, get me out of this situation,” is always illegitimate.

 

We do not pray for God to take away adversity, but to help us understand how to be delivered in the adversity. Often this applies to us asking for wisdom that we already have but are failing to apply because of confusion.

 

James 1:5

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

 

This is not God downloading doctrine that you do not have, but asking Him to show you which doctrines to apply, that you already have.

 

c. Prayer was never designed to fulfill our lusts and desires but prayer was designed to fulfill the will, plan, and purpose of God for our lives and to give us access to heaven while still living on earth.

 

Too many prayers are expressions of what you want when it is in opposition to what God wants. To express the will of God in your prayers, you have to come to know what the will of God is or how to ask for the will of God instead of your own will.

 

Point 3: What prayer is.

a. Prayer is the privileged function of the royal priest to approach the grace throne of the Father with thanksgiving, petition (self), and intercession (others).

 

When you supplicate for yourself you ask God to assist your ministry. When you intercede for another believer you assist in their ministry. Prayer is not a substitution for the daily intake of doctrine.

 

b. Prayer is a weapon for the assistance of yourself and of others. Prayer is not a problem solving device.

 

Phil 1:19 For I know that this shall turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

 

Phil 1:20 according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I shall not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ shall even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

 

Phil 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

 

Phil 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 

Acts 12:5 So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.

 

Acts 12:6 And on the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains; and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison.

 

Acts 12:7 And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter's side and roused him, saying, "Get up quickly." And his chains fell off his hands.

 

Peter becomes a winner and a leader because of the doctrine in his soul, but this prayer meeting was a weapon of assistance that roused God to act on Peter’s behalf.

 

c. Prayer is effective only for the believer who is in fellowship with God and has a knowledge of God’s will.

 

1 Peter 3:8 To sum up, let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit;

 

1 Peter 3:9 not returning evil for evil, or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.

 

1 Peter 3:10 For, [quote from PSA 34:12-16]

"Let him who means to love life and see good days

Refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile.

 

1 Peter 3:11 "And let him turn away from evil and do good;

Let him seek peace and pursue it.

 

1 Peter 3:12 "For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous,

And His ears attend to their prayer,

But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

 

Both the indwelling righteousness and the believer’s experiential righteousness are in view here. One cannot approach the throne of grace unless he possesses the righteousness of God and is in fellowship with God. The petition or the desire must be in agreement with the will of God for the prayer to be affective.

 

d. Prayer is the seventh and final article of the armor of God, EPH 6:18.

 

EPH 6:13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

 

EPH 6:14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth (1), and having put on the breastplate of righteousness (2),

 

EPH 6:15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace (3);

 

EPH 6:16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith (4) with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one.

 

EPH 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation (5), and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (6).

 

EPH 6:18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit (7), and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,

 

In numerology 7 is the number of perfection. Since 6 is the number of man, prayer brings the armor of God to its proper station as perfection in power.