My goal this morning is very simple: to persuade you to pray. Not to persuade you that you ought to pray, or to convince you that prayer is a good thing. That’s not enough. No, what I want is to motivate you to actually do it. So if you leave here today agreeing with everything I said, and if you remark on the way home what an inspiring sermon it was, but don’t pray, then I will have failed. What I want to do is encourage you to pray, not just once or twice, but as a regular part of your life.
I am under no illusions that this is an easy task. First of all, no subject is more certain to produce guilt in a Christian than prayer. Very few of us feel that we pray as often, or as fervently, as we should. So when the subject of prayer comes up, we smile and nod and hope that no one asks us about our own puny prayer life. We extol the virtues of prayer; we agree wholeheartedly when anyone talks about how important it is. But often we simply fail to do it. And so we feel guilty. That presents a problem, because when people feel guilty, their defense mechanisms kick in and they stop listening. So let me tell you right now that this message will be a guilt-free zone. I can make that promise because I believe the blessings and benefits of prayer are more than sufficient to supply all the motivation we need.
Another difficulty in promoting this spiritual habit is that many people have misconceptions about prayer. For some, it’s a life jacket, to be used only in an emergency. We saw this in the clip from "It’s a Wonderful Life." When the bottom is falling out, when they’ve come to the end of their rope, when they have no other option, then they pray. They see prayer as a last resort. [I said, "they", but this attitude probably describes many of us more than we would like to admit]. Others see prayer as a crutch for the weak, something for children and old people. And still others view prayer as simply pointless. For them, prayer is at best a harmless bit of self-delusion, like sending letters to Santa Claus at Christmas. But prayer isn’t just a duty, or a religious obligation. Prayer isn’t a life jacket, to be used only in emergencies. It’s not a crutch for the weak. It’s not a foolish self-delusion. Prayer isn’t even primarily a way of getting things from God. What is it, then? Prayer is one of the main ways we have of experiencing God.
This is the second week in our five-part series on Seeking God. You may remember that on December 31st, I issued a challenge to the church to make one resolution for the year 2001 -- that this year, each of us would seek to know Christ more deeply than ever before. The purpose of this series is to give you a set of tools to help you do that. Because as I mentioned last week, knowing God isn’t something that just happens. A vital, growing relationship with Christ is like anything else worth having. It takes work. It requires sustained effort. Good intentions aren’t enough. In order to know God, we have to use of the means He’s given us.
Is it worth it? Is knowing God worth the effort?
"And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks." -- Luke 11:9-10 (NLT)
I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. -- Proverbs 8:17 (NIV)
"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." -- Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)
If we keep seeking God, He promises we will find what we’re looking for. If we earnestly seek Him (not half-heartedly, but earnestly), He will reward us. And God’s rewards are always worth the cost.
So let’s begin with a simple question. Why pray? After all, it takes time, it takes concentration. It doesn’t come easily for most people. It certainly doesn’t appear to be a very productive activity. How can we possibly justify time devoted to prayer, when we have so many other urgent tasks screaming for our attention?
Well, you might suggest that prayer has health benefits. And that would be true. Prayer has been shown to lower blood pressure and reduce stress. People who pray live longer, healthier lives. They have fewer heart attacks. They have an enhanced sense of well-being. But if that’s what you want, you don’t need to talk to God. You just need to talk to the pharmacist. And he’ll fix you up with some colored pills that will accomplish the same thing. Or, you could try yoga, or transcendental meditation, or psychotherapy; or you could start jogging, or take up needlepoint. The point is that prayer has unique value only because it is a real, live connection with a real, live God. A God who not only tolerates, but actually welcomes and invites, our prayers. A God who is listening. And even more, a God who answers. Let me say that again -- a God who answers. Not just on special occasions. Not just for a few select individuals. But all the time, and every day, and for anyone who comes to Him in faith through Christ. God is in the prayer-answering business.
Sometimes we get the idea that God dispenses his blessings reluctantly. That He holds on to them tightly, like a two-year old holding a piece of candy, or a miser holding a fifty-dollar bill. And we think of prayer as our way of prying loose God’s blessings from His clenched fingers. So we think that we have to pray and pray, and plead and cajole, until finally, God gives in and grudgingly gives us what we want. But nothing could be further from the truth. God loves to bless us. He delights in giving us good things, if we will only ask.
"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" -- Matthew 7:9-11 (NIV)
The key here is the phrase "how much more". However willing we are to respond to our own children’s needs, God is even more eager to bless us and meet our needs. Let me ask you: Don’t you want to give your children all the good things you possibly can? Of course you do. We all do. If your daughter has a talent for music, you want to give her music lessons. If your son is sick, you want to get him the best medical care available. If your teenagers are going to college, you want them to attend the best school you can afford. We parents, without a second thought, will scrimp and save, take a second job, put off retirement, sell the family silver -- anything to give good things to our children. It’s not just out of a sense of obligation. It’s because we love them. Yet, as much as you and I delight in caring for our children’s needs, God delights even more in giving us the good things we request from Him. So what are we waiting for?
"I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul." -- Jeremiah 32:40-41 (NIV)
God doesn’t answer our prayers because He has to. He does it because He enjoys it. It gives Him pleasure. He likes it. If that’s true, then what is the dumbest thing we can do? Not ask.
"You do not have, because you do not ask God." -- James 4:2 (NIV)
Very often, it’s just that simple. God wants nothing more than to bless us, but often the reason that we do not have what we want is that we simply fail to ask. [Illustration: fanciful story of an angel showing a man who just arrived in heaven a warehouse full of gifts that God had wanted to give him, but for which he had failed to ask.]
Here’s a question for you. If God knows everything, and knows what we need (which He does), and if God loves to meet our needs (which He does), then why does He require us to pray? Doesn’t this just add an unnecessary step to the process? Couldn’t God just see the need and meet it, without us having to recognize the need, and formulate a prayer, and pray the prayer, and then wait for the response? Wouldn’t it be more efficient for God just to give us the good things right away, without waiting on us to pray for them? Or why not just pray one blanket prayer -- "God, if you happen to think of any good things you want to give me, you have my permission to lay ’em on me. Just go right ahead; no need to wait for a specific request. I trust your judgement."
That’s a very good question. And it gets to the heart of what prayer is all about. The primary purpose of prayer is not to get stuff from God. He could bless us without any action on our part. And in fact, He does, every day. Because every good thing we have comes from Him.
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." -- James 1:17 (NIV)
God is blessing us every day, even without a specific request from us. If that’s so, then why why does He want us to pray? Why do we have to pray, in order to receive all that God desires to give us? Here’s the answer: prayer builds faith. Faith is how we come to know God. And that’s what God wants -- a relationship with us. When good things just drop in our laps, we’re not likely to see them as coming from God. Our paycheck comes twice a month, so we don’t view it as coming from God; we view it as coming from the company we work for. We view our health as coming from our genes, our diet, our environment, maybe exercise. And the things we’ve acomplished -- those come from hard work and luck (we think). Of course, ultimately, they all come from God, but we forget that.
However, when we pray and ask God for something, we’re exercising faith. We’re saying, "God, I know that if I’m going to have this good thing, it has to come from you. I’m dependent on you to provide it. Please be gracious to me and grant what I request." It’s an act of faith. Then, as we wait for the answer, our faith is tested. Is God really there? Did he hear me? Is He able to answer my prayer? Will He answer my prayer? And the longer the answer is delayed, the more our faith is tested. Until finally the answer comes. Let’s say we receive what we asked for. Then, we have to decide whether we’re going to believe that it came from God, in response to our prayer, or whether it would have happened anyway, and God had nothing to do with it. And our faith is tested again. And hopefully, we choose to give thanks to God and acknowledge Him as the source of the blessing. Do you understand? When we pray, the whole process from beginning to end tests and strengthens our faith. And that’s how we come to know God. God delights in giving us the things we ask for, because that process of asking and receiving strengthens our faith and draws us closer to Him. Prayer isn’t just about getting stuff. It’s about drawing near to God.
Of course, we don’t always get what we ask for. Sometimes we ask for things that aren’t according to His will. They may be inherently bad, things that are never good for anybody. Or they may just not be a part of God’s plan for us. Not bad per se, but not what’s best for us at this time. And sometimes our heart isn’t right and we ask for the wrong reasons -- greed, or envy, or pride. Again, James tells us,
"When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." -- James 4:3 (NIV)
And John also,
"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us." -- 1 John 5:14 (NIV)
So what do these verses have to do with seeking and knowing God? Here it is: prayer changes us more than it changes God. Prayer isn’t just talking. It’s an encounter with God, and no one encounters God and goes away unchanged. So the more we pray to God, the more we become like Him. The more we think like Him. The more we desire what He desires. The more we love what he loves and value what He values. Our wrong motives are purified. Our understanding of God’s will becomes clearer, because we know Him better. And eventually, we end up praying that God will do the things He already wants to do, because now we want those same things ourselves. Through prayer, we not only come to know God, but we also become more like Him. Instead of conforming God to our will, we become conformed to His. That’s when we begin to see answered prayer after answered prayer -- when our will is so much in concert with God’s that the things we ask for are the things He already wants to give us. Then we will truly be praying, "Thy will be done," instead of, "My will be done".
In closing, let me give you a few practical suggestions for the practice of prayer:
1. Don’t bite off too much at once. Don’t try to go from nothing to half an hour a day.
2. Set a specific time and place when you are unlikely to be disturbed.
3. Make a prayer list. This will help you stay focused, and will help you match answers to requests.
4. Don’t just pray for yourself and your family. Pray also for the church and for other people.
5. Pray with someone else.
My final question is this: Not, "Do you agree with the things I’ve been saying," but "Will you pray?" Some of the spiritual habits are more important than others. This one is critical. If you don’t pray, your spiritual life will be stunted. You just won’t grow very much. But if you do pray, I promise that you will come to know Christ more deeply than ever before.
(For an .rtf file of this and other sermons, see www.journeychurchonline.org/messages.htm)
