A Praying Christian

Opener: A man was working on a roof and lost his balance, and started sliding down the roof. He grabbed at a shingle, but it broke off in his hand and he continued sliding.

Just as he was about to slide of the edge of the roof, he cried out in desperation "Lord, help me!"
Suddenly, he felt something grab the cuff of his pants. As he dangled over the edge of the roof, he looked to see what had happened.

Then, he said, "Never mind, Lord. I’ve got it covered!"

Prayer is a critical component part of our Christianity. However, I know if I interviewed 10 people in this room, at 8 of them would express dissatisfaction with the way they pray, a sense that they do not pray well, and some confusion about what prayer means.

I was in a meeting not long ago when the leader asked a woman if she would offer the invocation. It was not a large gathering, so it wasn’t as though she was about to speak in front of hundreds. She was simply being invited to ask God’s presence to be in our gathering. But she looked stricken- her face a mask of embarrassment- and she said, “Oh, please, I’d rather not!” But, I don’t think she’s all that unusual!

See if you identify with this statement -

“We yearn for prayer, and hide from prayer. We are attracted to it and repelled by it. We believe it is something we should do, but it seems as though a chasm stands between us and real prayer.” (Foster, Prayer, Harper Collins)

Prayer defies the intellect, pokes at our pretensions, and requires child-like faith. The paradox is that children, because their simplicity, often pray with greater ease and faith than adults. Many Believers who pray with simple faith in the beginning of their Christianity, pray less and less, as they grow older in the faith. That is tragic. For, when we fail to pray, we fail — end of story!

As the Lord directs, I want to use the time you give me in this pulpit for several weeks talking about prayer - using some of the prayers we find in the Bible as the guide for our exploration! The goal is not to heap guilt on your head, nor is it to set some standard in terms of hours per day, with regard to prayer. My desire is that I will create a renewed desire in your heart to pray, and that the prayers you pray will be mature, effective, and empowered!

PRAYER –

Our Text: James 5:13-18

What does James teach us about prayer?

1. Prayer is the proper response to every event in life.

(v. 13) Is anyone of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray...

When do you pray? Too many of us have a tendency to use prayer only in panic situations. Seeking God comes so natural in times of terror and/or crisis, but. . . When the crisis goes away, so does the motivation to pray.

James makes the point here that prayer should be part of all of life— when we’re happy, sad, troubled, and sick. Prayer is not just entreaty for help! Prayer is a conversation with our Lord about life!

In Philippians 4:6 we are instructed similarly.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Paul urges us to - Always keep on praying. (1 Thessalonians 5:17 TLB)

- Pray all the time. Ask God for anything in line with the Holy Spirit’s wishes. Plead with him, reminding him of your needs, and keep praying earnestly for all Christians everywhere. (Ephesians 6:18 TLB)

Some of us worry about frivolous prayer... as though we ought not trouble God over certain details of our lives. I guess we think that He gets tired or cranky. But the Bible challenges us to think differently about prayer.

We are to pray FOR everything, and ABOUT everything.

Richard Foster, in a book called Prayer, Finding the Heart’s True Home, begins with a chapter headed: Simple Prayer. He observes this:

“In the same way that a small child cannot draw a bad picture so a child of God cannot offer a bad prayer... Like children before a loving father, we open our hearts and make our requests. We do not try to sort things out, the good from the bad. We simply and unpretentiously share our concerns and make our petitions... simple prayer is found throughout the Scripture... it is the beginning of prayer.”

As far as God is concerned, there are no unimportant parts of your life—everything about you is important to him, and the Bible urges you to pray about everything.

2. Prayer is not just a solitary act. Prayer is part of our community life as a Christian.

First of all, he tells believers who are overcome by needs (in context, those who are sick) to call upon the leadership of the church and have them pray specifically about the situation.

Secondly, he tells them to pray for each other, and with each other, and then he urges them to confess their sins to one another.

Prayer is a personal part of our lives, and there are some things that we pray about that we may not feel comfortable telling the whole world. There’s nothing wrong with that, but we must also be aware that God has called us to live transparent lives, and he wants us to move in that direction. The more we can overcome our sense of self-sufficiency and pride, the more of the power of God we can experience.

Jesus said, For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. Matthew 18:20)

He also said, “If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. (Matthew 18:19)

We read that, but casually disregard it so often, don’t we?

How many of you are involved in a prayer group that gets together expressly for the purpose of talking to God?

Ill. I am in a group called Pastors In Prayer - PIP, for short! Several of us get together a couple of times each month and we pray - about you, about ourselves, for our families. It is a great experience, sometimes it is better than other times, sometimes we fall into a rut. But I know that there is a kind of power released in my life as a result of these gatherings I would not otherwise xperience.

Here on Sunday mornings, a part of our worship is prayer time! We agree together. It’s not just a time to air our community needs or to experience a kind of group therapy! It’s time when we lay our needs before God with the expectation that He hears us. And we see some amazing things happen.

James said...(v. 16) Pray for each other so that you may be healed. It’s cliché to say there is strength in numbers—but it’s true! To the extent that we are willing to link our lives and our faith with others, we will experience God’s power in our lives. The best Christianity is not practiced alone. It is a community experience. The NT is quite clear about that fact. One of the Bible’s most descriptive passages about the nature of the Church is found in Romans 12:4-5 where we read:

4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

That’s why being involved in a vital church community on a regular weekly basis is so important. Certainly we need the accountability and support from a group of caring believers. However, even more importantly, we need to pray together!

3. Prayer makes a difference.

James asserts: (v. 16) ...the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

That’s a bold statement, and one that begs the question: then why isn’t every prayer answered in the way we desire?

To that question there are three bad answers. Unfortunately, these are often used to prevent someone from really having to struggle for the answer to this question. They are-

1.) It must not be God’s will.
2.) The person praying doesn’t have enough faith.
3.) God no longer acts on behalf of individuals.

The Bible disputes each of these arguments, but that doesn’t prevent people from using them in a pinch.

∙ We have a "need" to compartmentalize all aspects of life. We tend especially to do that in the area of religion. We like formulas, and guarantees, and instant results. We want to be able to explain the mysteries of the universe in a few short phrases.

But prayer carries us into a realm where God is totally in charge and often His ways are simply beyond our abilities to comprehend or even attempt to explain.

Also, when it comes to prayer, many of us would love to be able to tell God what to do at any given moment—and be assured that he will fulfill our bidding. Prayer is not a work-order for God, and he is not our errand boy. While the Bible makes bold promises regarding answered prayer, we mustn’t let ourselves give into the temptation of thinking that God has surrendered control of the universe to us!

James points to Elijah as an example, saying that Elijah was only human, yet when he prayed for it not to rain, it didn’t rain. And when he prayed for rain, it rained. The point that James makes is that when a good person prays—a person committed to doing God’s will and giving him glory in every aspect of his or her life—then God is inclined to move in answer to that prayer.

This is how I understand it. I love my children, and I want them to have every good thing that I can give them. Does that mean that when they were still at home and in my care that I gave them every thing they asked for?

No, of course not. Why not?

∙ Because some of the things they asked for would not have been good for them—and no matter how much they asked I wouldn’t give in!

∙ Some of things they asked for were good things, but they were not quite ready to receive them—and they had to wait until the time was right.

∙ Some of the things they asked for were good things for them individually, but in light of the family, they asked for sometime that was not what was best for everyone.

So, even though I was inclined to give my children all that they asked for, I didn’t. I loved them too much to do that. Still, they needed to ask. If they didn’t ask, how could I ever give them anything?

James makes this same point...You do not have because you do not ask God. (James 4:2)

Our relationship with God is the same as a father’s relationship with his child. When we pray, God wants to give us whatever it is we ask for. But some of the things we ask for simply are not good for us—and he will never give them to us. And some of the things we ask for are good, but we’re not quite ready for them—so he will wait until we’re ready. And some of the things we ask for may be good, but they don’t fit into the big picture.

Sometimes we pray and things don’t work out exactly the way we want. In those moments, our faith informs our mind to TRUST God.

When we cannot understand the work of God, let us love Him so deeply and know His love so deeply that we are willing to simply trust the love and wait for the understanding.

Remember this: Although prayer doesn’t give us the power to control God we are charged to pray; and we pray with complete confidence. We can ask for anything we want with the absolute assurance that he will only give us what is best.

When we pray, we know that he will not give us anything that isn’t good. And what’s more, we

have the assurance that he will give us every good thing we ask for!

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. (1John 5:14-15)

I propose to you that Prayer is the most important aspect of our Christianity, both individually and in the life of the church. What does mean? That I hope to help us define more clearly in the weeks ahead.

Meanwhile, realize this –

∙ Prayer is our declaration of dependence on God.

When you make every detail of your life a matter of prayer, you learn to depend on him.

∙ When you share your prayer life with others, and make your needs known to fellow believers, and open your heart in confession, you learn to depend on God as your Refuge!

∙ And when you ask him for miracles, (answers beyond your abilities to manipulate or produce) you really learn to depend on God. If your miracle comes, you experience glorious wonder. If your miracle does not come, you experience the grace to trust His love.

My friend, Pray!

Simply talk with God throughout your day.

Invite Him into your life and let Him help you to discover a rich a relationship with Him.

Amen

Washington Assembly of God