Sermon Series: “The A.C.T.S. of Prayer”
(Inspired by a short book by E.W. Price Jr.)
Sermon #3: “S – Seeking God’s Will”
Series Text: Acts 1:14
Today’s Text: Philippians 4:6-7
OPENING JOKE: “A prayer for patience from a new wife”
Lord, I pray for Wisdom – to understand my husband;
Love – to forgive him;
Patience – to survive his moods;
Because, Lord if I pray for Strength, I’ll beat him to death. Amen.
INTRODUCTION: This is the final week of our series entitled, “The ACTS of Prayer”. You will remember that the word ACTS is an acrostic, with each letter giving us a deeper insight into our devotional prayer life:
A – Affirmation of God’s Presence; Adoration of God’s Person
C – Confession
T – Thanksgiving
We have learned that it is by affirmation and adoration that we move into the presence of God – and by confession of sin and thanksgiving that we renew the bond of fellowship with Him.
This week we are going to finish the acrostic with the letter ‘S’ which stands for “Seeking God’s Will”.
Now for many, this part of prayer is greatly misunderstood.
Some think that prayer is all about asking God for what we desire, and the only time a prayer comes forth is when a need or want is not being met.
(Forget Adoration, Confession or Thanksgiving – they go right to Seeking… and then they don’t seek God’s will, but their own!)
And others think that God will always answer their requests in the ‘affirmative’ because they have taken a verse or two from scripture that seem to imply this and have not looked at the Bible as a whole to see how God answers prayer.
Now, I will admit that some Scripture seems to indicate that God always answers in the affirmative:
John 16:23 “Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.”
Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
But when we look at the Scripture as a whole we get the picture of what Jesus was saying here
1 John 5:14 “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”
o Now I think this is the better understanding of what Christ said in John 16:23 – Jesus said “ask in my name” John said, “according to His will”
o I understand both to be saying that ultimately our desires shouldn’t contradict God’s desires and if they do we shouldn’t expect an affirmative response.
James 4:3 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”
o This basically tells us that when we ask and do not receive, it is because we are asking for the wrong thing
o This doesn’t mean that you are a terrible or selfish person; it just means that God is not going to grant you the request at that time because it does not line up with His ultimate will for you.
But what about the Psalm 37?
Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.”
o Again I encourage you to look at the whole verse. It says to ‘delight yourself… in the Lord’
o Let me ask you: If you delight yourself in the Lord, will not the desire of your heart be His will carried out in your life?
REMEMBER: Even the Apostles did not get everything they asked for:
Mark 10:35-38 “Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask. And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you? They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory. But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
o Jesus basically said, “you really don’t understand what you are asking for”
o Jesus didn’t answer in the affirmative because they were asking “amiss”
o The Apostles weren’t perfect, as we sometimes see them in our pictures and stained glass with halos
o I went by a church the other day called, “St. John the Divine”, and I thought, ‘John wasn’t divine’ he was a man – Christ was divine
o The apostles were regular men, with regular shortcomings, and they asked for regular things that did not always line up with God’s plan
o And in those cases Jesus told them so – and in those cases He denied their requests
Quote: Basically, when it comes to seeking, we should remember that ultimately we are seeking God’s Will, even if it doesn’t line up with ours at that time, because He knows best
With this in mind concerning how God receives our requests, let us look today at the two ways we should be seeking God’s will:
I. For Others (Intercession)
a. Intercessory prayer is not a phrase used much, but it has a special meaning to me
i. This basically means we are ‘asking on their behalf’ or ‘pleading in their place’
ii. Quote: “We are attempting to focus the power of God on another person in a special situation”
b. The Bible gives countless illustrations of people interceding for others
i. Moses interceded for the Israelites and said he was willing to be eternally lost if it meant salvation for the Hebrew people (Ex 32:32)
ii. Paul said something similar in Romans concerning the fate our those Jews who denied Jesus Christ (Romans 9:3)
iii. The church interceded for Peter in prison and God sent His angel to rescue Him and set him free (Acts 12:5)
c. Quote: The Christian intercessor is a lot like the telephone operator
i. They connect God to people in need of Him
ii. The word intercede actually means to ‘go between’
d. A beautiful thing about intercessory prayer is the person doesn’t even need to hear it for God to answer it
i. Someone might say, “Stop talking to me about all that God stuff”?
ii. They can stop your voice, they can stop your preaching, but they can’t stop your prayers
e. Another beautiful thing is through intercessory prayer we can pray for people we will never meet
i. With intercessory prayer, we can go into prisons, foreign countries and even the White House
ii. We can unleash the Spirit of God any place on earth for many different people
f. The problem is we are often unwilling to be intercessors
i. Illustration: “Most will learn, few will do” A minister began an intercessory prayer meeting after his Wednesday evening services in a Sunday School room. People began showing up saying, “Is this where you are teaching on intercessory prayer?” He said, “No, I am not teaching, we are actually going to pray.” One by one the people left.
ii. All were willing to learn about intercessory prayer, but few were willing to actually do it!
g. I encourage you all today to begin interceding with God for your family and friends, our church and our nation, our world and those in it who are lost
i. Things we should seek are:
1. God’s Salvation on the lost
2. God’s Blessings on the brethren
3. God’s Healing on the sick or have some debilitating addiction or disease
h. Quote: “The scope of intercessory prayer is boundless and it is a work in which God has called us all to do.”
II. For Ourselves (Petition)
a. You yourself, know better the trials and temptations you face on a daily bases than any other person
i. Who better to take them before the Lord?
ii. Remember: Any area of your life is within the scope of prayer
iii. God is a loving Father who wants you to come to Him about your problems, your shortcomings, your needs as well as your joys and thanksgivings
1. This is why the Bible says, “Pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:17)
2. What this verse means is ‘pray about everything’
b. Some specific prayers for yourself could be:
i. Taking up the armor of God
1. Ephesians 6 tells us about the spiritual armor God gives the believer
2. We should pray daily that God keeps our armor intact and without compromise
3. Maybe say something like, “Lord, I am putting on the helmet of salvation, Protect my mind from any attack by the devil”
ii. Crucifying the flesh
1. One of the hindrances to living a dynamic Christian life is our fleshly nature
2. And though we were redeemed in our conversion experience, our old ways do not die easily
3. So we have to daily crucify our flesh, basically meaning we must make a conscious effort to stand against temptation to sin
4. So you might pray, “Lord, today I nail my sins to the cross – I nail worry, fear, doubt, lust, selfish ambition…” and include anything you are fighting against in your own life
iii. To be fruitful
1. Not only should we pray that we do not rebel against God through sin, but also that we do bring glory to Him by bearing fruit
2. These fruits of course include, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faith, humility, etc.”
3. So we might pray something like, “Lord, I ask that, by the power of your spirit, you flood my life now and take charge of my mind, my will and my emotions. Use me today to bring fruit in your kingdom!”
c. Of course, we also have personal and private petitions I have not mentioned
i. The important thing is that we see God as accessible through Jesus Christ who is our High Priest
ii. We don’t need any person or minister to take our prayers to God because we have Jesus, our High Priest who forever makes intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25)
iii. Just like I explain that we can intercede for others, Christ intercedes for us
d. And because we know He does, we know we can go to God unafraid with our own personal petitions and intercessions
CONCLUSION: I said in the beginning of this series that I wanted these lessons to inspire us to go deeper in our prayer life as a congregation.
Quote: “The highest calling of Christians is the ministry of prayer.” —Max Lucado
Illustration: “Strong prayer, strong church” Charles Spurgeon, one of the great preachers of history, attributed his success not to his abilities to read and deliver powerful messages, but to the few in his congregation who gathered weekly and prayed for him and the church.
The greatest revivals in history have come as a result of prayer
If we expect God to do great things in our church and in our lives, we need to know that His most choice blessing come as a result of fervent prayer
I would like to end with these words by Alfred Lord Tennyson:
More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
For what are men better than sheep or goats
That nourish a blind life within the brain.
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
Both for themselves and those who call them friend?”
