Why Pray?

Sermon Notes from last Sunday...
(sorry they're so late in gettin on my blog, I've been fighting the flu)

Three preachers sat discussing the best positions for prayer while a telephone repairman worked nearby. “Kneeling is definitely best,” claimed one.
“No,” another contended. “I get the best results standing with my hands outstretched to Heaven.”
“You’re both wrong,” the third insisted. “The most effective prayer position is lying prostrate, face down on the floor.”
The repairman could contain himself no longer. “Hey, fellas,” he interrupted, “the best prayin’ I ever did was hangin’ upside down from a telephone pole.”

Jesus never asked us to do something He himself did not do. Each of the Gospel writers shows us moments when Jesus was at prayer. Matthew notes nine such occasions, Mark, eight, Luke, thirteen, and John, five. Out of these thirty-five references, there are twenty-three separate occasions in Jesus’ three-year ministry when the curtain is pulled back on details of Jesus’ prayer life.

Hebrews 7:23-25 tells us that nothing has changed He’s still practicing prayer in the heavens…
Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them…seated at the right hand of God, forever interceding, our Mediator, Savior, Friend, Hope, Peace, Joy, Everything…

Some people have given up on prayer because of unanswered prayers or the wrestling that comes when trying to understand why God has allowed certain tragedies…
But consider some benefits from a lifestyle of prayer:

1. Relationship

Prayer is the main way we get to know God in a personal, relational way…Especially if that prayer is joined with the study of the Bible… Romans 8:16 talks about a Spirit-led prayer that God “testifies with our spirits that we are His children.” When we take time to listen, we can begin to know Him in intimate ways. This is that Vacation with Jesus we were talking about last week…
Buddy Westbrook said it well…Tapping into the divine intercession is not as hard as many people think. God loves to share His heart with us when we take the time to ask Him.

Jeremiah 33:3…Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know…

Start by asking the Holy Spirit questions. Take plenty of time to listen, maybe even take notes on paper of what you believe you hear Him saying. Ask questions like, “Lord, what is your perspective on this?” “What do You want me to see? To hear? To understand?” “Do You want to redirect me?” “How do you want me to intercede for this person or situation?” and so on…

Romans 8:26,27…Likewise the Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God…

2. Partnership

God partners with us, through prayer, to accomplish His purposes in the world. The Holy Spirit tells us what to pray and then we watch God work in ways that build our faith in Him. We see this illustrated in Genesis 18…when God partnered with Abraham regarding the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, inviting him to intercede for the sinful city. Such divinely led intercession was rare in Old Testament days, but through God’s indwelling Spirit, it can be an everyday experience for us.
If you have not been baptized in the Holy Spirit, let me encourage you to seek all that God has for you! His Spirit can open up new worlds of prayer. The gifts and fruit of the Spirit, even speaking in other tongues are all promises recorded in scripture available to every believer!

3. Perspective

By engaging with God through His Holy Spirit, we can know God’s thoughts about specific things He is doing in our lives and in the world around us. As the apostle Paul preached…no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him – but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit…1 Corinthians 2:9,10

Isaiah 55:9…For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts…

Anne Graham Lotz said it best…The Bible is God’s Story, and best way to discover the author of the bible, and our lives, is to read His story. God’s Story reveals God’s eternal person, His infinite power, His unlimited love, and His matchless glory giving meaning to your life and joy to your heart and purpose to your step. The Bible reveals the God of glory Whose very Presence can give fulfillment to the empty…healing to the broken…forgiveness to the sinful…freedom to the bitter…purpose to the meaningless…help to the helpless…courage to the fearful…strength to the weak…reality to the religious…hope tot eh hopeless…and love to the loveless. There is nothing in your life – no circumstance or crisis, no organization or administration, no individual or alliance, no problem or pressure, no habit or heartache, no sickness or grief, no king or criminal, nothing visible or invisible – nothing is greater than God! He is Creator Who is in authority over everything, fully able to control that which not only seems but is beyond our abilities to handle…

4. Guidance

When we tap into the Holy Spirit’s intercession, He freely gives us detailed, specific guidance, as He did the believers in Antioch in Acts 13:2…While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them’…

And beyond all benefits of prayer, I hear Job…Though He slay me, yet I will praise Him…For I know my Redeemer lives and my eyes will yet behold Him…Naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked I shall return to the ground, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away…blessed be the Name of the Lord!

Whenever I come to Jesus, When troubled or distressed
I always find a refuge, When I with Him can rest
I tell Him all my trials, I tell Him all my grief;
And while my lips are speaking, He gives my heart relief
When full of dread foreboding, And flowing over with tears
He always calms my sorrows, And hushes all my fears
He comprehends my weakness, The peril I am in
And He supplies the armor, I need to vanquish sin
When those r cold and faithless, Who once were fond n true
With careless hearts forsaking, The old friends for the new
I turn to Him whose friendship,Knows neithr change nor end
And so I find in Jesus, An ever faithful Friend
Whenever I come to Jesus, No matter when or where
To seek His gracious presence, I’m sure to find Him there
In times of joy or sorrow, Whatever my need may be
I can always come to Jesus, And Jesus comforts me