#5
(The Church’s Stance While Awaiting Christ’s Return
Series)
"BE PRAYERFUL!"
TEXTS: 1 Thess.
5:17 Col. 4:2 Psm. 119:164 Dan. 6:3-28 Eph. 6:18
INTRO: A young boy
once made a point on the importance of praying with a family who had invited him
to dinner. The boy at age six had
been taught that it was important to give thanks to God before each meal. As the host family sat at the dinner
table and was about to dig in and eat he interrupted and asked, “Don’t you say
any prayer before you eat?” The
host was embarrassed by the question and mumbled in return, “No, we don't take
time for that.” The boy sat silent
for a minute and then said, “Oh, I see, you eat like my dog does; he just starts
right in too!”
To
this little boy prayer was important ... it should also be to every believer!
One of the most neglected parts of
being a Christian is often our prayer life, yet it is one of the most critical
parts. God has ordained that prayer
be foundation for much of what He does in this world! We can miss out on a great deal of what
God has for us if we neglect prayer.
YET,
prayer is much more than just saying words to God with your eyes closed! Paul admonishes the church in
Thessalonica to "PRAY CONTINUALLY!" But how is this possible, how can someone
pray continually?
PROP.
SENT:
The Bible will teach us that
our prayer life consists not only of times of speaking to the Lord in prayer but
also in communing with the Lord throughout the entire day ... to be in touch
with God all the time. Prayer is
being in contact with the Lord as well as speaking to him, in this way we can
pray continuously!
I. NECESSITY OF PRAYER 1 Thess. 5:17a
A. Command!
1 Thess. 5:17a Col. 4:2
1. Once again Paul uses the IMPERATIVE
in Greek ... thus indicating a command.
a. Prayer is not an option for the
believer, it is imperative!
b. The first century church had its
problems but it was a praying church, thus the Lord was able to work in great
ways among them!
2. Every time we peek into the New
Testament churches we find them praying, each time we read about the great men
and women of the Bible we find them praying!
a. It is impossible to think about
having a healthy relationship with God without prayer!
b. Just like it would be impossible to
have a relationship with someone on earth without speaking to them it is
impossible to have a healthy relationship with God without
praying!
ILLUS: For
the Christian, praying should be like breathing ... just as breathing is the
response of physical life to the presence of air so prayer should be the
response of spiritual life to the presence of God!
– Source Unknown
3. Prayer is communication, it is the
basic way we build and maintain relationships!
a. Since God is without needs, we are
the biggest loser when we fail to pray!
b. God desires our fellowship, prayer
is the contact mechanism!
c. Praying is the only universal 1-800
number! It is free and the lines
are always open, there are no busy signals or answering machines! The line is always static free and it is
better than cellular, call anytime even without a hands free unit! (1-800-THE
LORD)
B. Critical
1 Thess. 5:17a Psm.
119:164 Dan.
6:3-28
1. For those men and women who
overcame great odds or sin in the Bible, praying was critical to that
success!
a. David mentions in Psm. 119:164 that he prayed 7 times a day! (Probably the use of "7" simply meant
"complete" as the "7 spirits before the throne of God" in
Revelation meant the complete or perfect "Holy
Spirit")
b. David's point was that prayer was
important to him, for his daily life with God to be complete he was in constant
communion with the Lord!
c. DANIEL is a good example of how
critical prayer was to his life with God, in Dan.
6:3-28 it is stated that it was his usual practice to pray 3 times a day
... to Daniel a normal day was one where he was in contact with God at regular
intervals! The day was not complete
without it!
d. The story of Daniel's testimony and
the victory in the lion's den could not have happened without his prayer
life! NOTE: It was his faithful prayer life that
caused the whole incident of the lion's den ... he was trapped by laws
forbidding praying to any other God other than the king and those who laid the
trap knew they could count on him praying to his God faithfully 3 times a day,
they knew he was as good as guilty!
How many Christians today would be convicted by the evidence if they were
taken to court for praying?
2. PRAYER is critical for the
Christian and the church!
ILLUS: A
tavern was being built in a small town where no bar had ever existed
before. A group of Christians in
one of the local evangelical churches opposed this and they held prayer meetings
to pray against this bar, asking God to intervene. A terrible storm came shortly after a
prayer meeting and lightning struck the new tavern, burning it to the ground!
The owner brought a lawsuit against
the church, claiming they were responsible. The Christians hired a lawyer, claiming
they were NOT responsible! At the
trial the judge said, "No matter how this case comes out, one thing is
clear: THE TAVERN OWNER believes in
the power of PRAYER, but evidently the Christians DO NOT!" PRAYER IS CRITICAL!
– Source Unknown
3. We must not claim the importance of
prayer and ignore it in our practice or we will never know its power in our
lives and others won't know it either!
ILLUS: Richard
Halverson (Pastored 4th Presbyterian in
4. Prayer is critical; it is our
lifeline to God! It is our
communication network with God, it cannot be optional! IT IS A
NECESSITY!'
II. NATURE OF PRAYER 1 Thess. 5:17b Eph. 6:18
A. Communion
1. Prayer is much more than just
verbalizing to God at select moments of time!
a. If prayer was only verbal this
command of Paul's would be impossible ... and
ludicrous!
b. To pray continually would mean to
ignore everything else if it meant only verbal
prayers.
c. Like locking ourselves up in a
monastery and doing nothing but praying!
2. Prayer is much more than just
verbal communication ... it is communion of our mind and heart with God at all
times, being in contact in with God.
a. Having our heart and mind on Him
all through the day, being conscious of His presence and being in "TUNE" with
Him at all times!
b. It is therefore not only what we
say at scheduled times of prayer but the constant sense of communion with the
Lord throughout our waking hours!
3. Like those moments when you are
trying to decide what the right thing to do is and you stop to inwardly say, "How do you feel
about this Lord?"
a. It is that sense of God's presence
and our communing with Him all through the day that gives "PRAYING
CONTINUALLY" a reality!
b. It is like the awareness of God's
presence being in touch with your life at all times!
c. This results in spontaneous prayers
at a moment’s notice from your heart to God's heart all through the
day!
4. Therefore it is that constant sense
of communion with the Lord that Paul has in mind when he commands the Christians
in this text to “PRAY CONTINUALLY!”
a. Never be without that contact with
the Lord throughout the day.
b. This constant sense of contact will
be the thing that will help you overcome temptation and give a steady sense of
victory over sin!
c. With the communion of the Lord as a
steady aspect of daily life God's power will manifest itself in great ways in
your life, and the other aspect of prayer which is the verbal momentary times
will also be there as the natural expression of an attitude of prayer all
day!
5. It is more important this communion
of the heart with God as prayer than just the mere words we might
speak!
ILLUS: The
elders of a certain church once came to a young man to criticize some of the
theology and vocabulary the young man had used in his prayers when he prayed
publicly in the church. After they
had laid their load on him he turned to them and said, "Are you gentlemen
finished? I have just one thing to
say, I wasn't speaking to you!" The
vocabulary didn't matter, his heart did!
Too often we focus on just the words, God looks on the
heart!
– Source Unknown
6. Anyone can pray, you don't have to
know the right expressions or the correct format, new baby Christians can pray
and pray effectively because it is the communion of the heart that is the
substance of prayer. This communion
can be constant!
ILLUS: Like
a couple in love, many times when they are together nothing is said but their
hearts are one, their thoughts are always on one another, they can communicate
with each other without saying a word, just a look, a certain gesture, so much
is communicated without words ... their hearts are united, yes, there will be
verbal expressions as well, but they commune with each other all the time
because of the love they have for one another!
– Source Unknown
7. When we are really in love with the
Lord that same kind of communion with Him takes place, there are certainly those
moments when we verbalize our prayers to Him ... but all day we can be in
communion (prayer) with Him, our thoughts, our gestures, our every activity is
"prayerful!"
B. Continual
1 Thess. 5:17b Eph. 6:18
1. Interestingly, the word translated
here in 1 Thess. 5:17 "CONTINUALLY" was the same word used in secular
writings of Paul's day for "HACKING COUGH!"
a. Like something that just doesn't
let up or go away!
b. Like something that cannot be
controlled, it becomes a reflex action.
c. This is the idea of this kind of
prayer life; it doesn't let up or go away, it is more like a reflex ...
something that cannot be stopped in the heart of a real
Christian!
2. It took a prayer to get us into the
a. Jesus was continually in prayer and
if He needed it when He was perfect how much more do we who are not perfect need
it!
b. Prayer is one discipline that
should not be ignored in the Christian life!
3. God is not looking for people who
pray perfectly, or those who know the proper Christian phrases, or the exact
theology of prayer, God simply desires communion with us as His Children! This is what prayer is ... COMMUNION
WITH GOD!
4. Your prayer life will grow and
mature as you engage in prayer more and more! As I said, it is not just the words, it
is the relationship of prayer that Jesus is interested
in!
ILLUS: When
children first start to color they have two problems; first, they might choose
colors that are inappropriate, second, once those colors are chosen they have a
difficult time keeping the colors within the boundary lines. As they mature and keep on coloring they
learn to keep within the guidelines and to choose the appropriate colors,
resulting in a satisfying picture.
As children of our Heavenly Father our prayer life often resembles a
child's coloring. At first we don't
know what to pray for nor do our prayers stay within the guidelines of His
will. As we mature and continue
praying we pray for the right things and stay within His will, resulting in a
satisfying prayer life! Give
yourself time and allow for growth! God loves the prayers of baby Christians
just a much as mature saints, just as parents love the pictures their children
first drew in love for them as well as the more developed art they may do later!
–
Source Unknown
5. A healthy prayer life will give you
so much joy and fulfillment, the contact and communion with God will give you
strength you never thought possible!
6. Praying continually is not
impossible when prayer is understood in its fullest
dimensions!
a. Communion with the Lord can happen
all during your waking hours!
b. When this communion exists it
sparks the verbal times of prayer ... and even creates those times of
spontaneous prayer throughout the day!
7. Our Lord loves to be in contact
with us, this is what prayer is, our communication link with our
God!
a. Don't miss out on a wonderful
lifetime experience!
b. God desires your fellowship, your
thoughts, your heart, and your expressions in words!
8. Why not do yourself a favor and
bless the Lord your God by developing your prayer
life!
CONCLUSION:
Prayer is far more than just saying words to God with your eyes
shut! It is both the conscious
moments of saying prayers with our mouths and the conscious and unconscious
communion we have with God throughout the day. Neither one should be ignored! Prayer is vital to the believer and the
church while it awaits the return of
Christ.