308 E. Main Street, Lexington, SC 29072 lexingtonbaptist.org Copyright 2014 by Lexington Baptist Church, Lexington, South Carolina. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Some Scripture quotations are from the The Message translation by J. B. Phillips, The New Testament in Mod- ern English, 1962 edition, published and copyrighted by HarperCollins. Chapter One: Characteristics of Prayer In this book, Prayer: Your Comfort & Your Strength, we will unpack much of the Bibles teaching on prayer. It is not my in- tention to give you more head knowledge of prayer, but sim- ply to give you the opportunity to learn more how to pray. As we start talking about prayer, I want to tell you a little of my personal journey in order to set a framework for this se- ries on prayer. Prayer for me as a man, a husband, a dad, someone trying to do right by my family and live life as Je- sus wants, prayer has been a journey. The journey for me has been one from my head to my heart. This may resonate with some of you. I think this is a key issue for many peo- ple. What I knew in my head, I did not grasp in my heart. My dissertation for my doctorate was on intercessory prayer. It is in a nice, thick, green binder in my offce right now. I went through the Bible and exposited the Hebrew and the Greek of the great prayers of the Bible. I fnished the dissertation after one year, completed the statistical work and taught the material to people in my church. Even though my dissertation was on intercessory prayer, I can tell you what the Bible says about intercessory prayer and what the great fgures of the Bible help us to see about intercessory prayer (fgures like Samuel and Paul), even though I had the knowledge, I did not get what it meant to pray for someone else. There was a disconnect between my head and my heart. Really, much of my walk with Jesus has been about getting out of my head to my heart; prayer is certainly about that. Prayer is less about knowledge and more about knowing your Abba Father, know- ing how to be still in the presence of the Lord, knowing how to listen to the voice of the Spirit of God, knowing how to speak and how to be silent. So out of this journey between head and heart, let me tell you what I have learned and believe about prayer. First, I believe prayer makes a difference. There is a differ- ence in the lives of people who pray. This is not in the sense of the billboards I see that say prayer works. To say that prayer works implies that prayer is a tool we can use to get God to do our bidding, in order to get our circumstances as we want them. Prayer is not a tool used to manipulate or co- erce God at our own discretion, but prayer does make a dif- ference in the way we live and in what directions our lives take. Here is how prayer makes a difference. When you pray, you have more peace. As we learn to live less out of the fesh and focus more on the Spirit of God, prayer is absolutely es- sential. Romans 8:9 says, Those who are in the fesh cannot please God. If you are in the fesh, you cannot please God. If you are in the fesh, you are not going to pray, but living and praying in the Spirit brings peace. Secondly, to be a praying person makes a difference not only in terms of peace, but also in maturity. Mature believers are mature because they pray. People who dont pray, dont grow to be mature believers. A lot of people are very active, say the right things, have a lot of head knowledge, are very visi- ble, but if they are not praying, they are not mature. Heres another way prayer makes a difference. Prayer makes a difference because it brings you more authority. I do not mean authority in the sense of getting people to do what you want, but in the sense that when a mature, humble, godly person prays according to the promises of God, that moves God. I dont know of any more authority than that. Also, prayer makes a difference by giving you more Jesus. Prayer gives you more Jesus. The more you pray, the more Jesus you have. I do not know that I can defend this state- ment theologically, but I know that people who pray are closer to Jesus, and people who do not pray are distant to Jesus. Another way prayer makes a difference is prayer makes you more useful for the Kingdom. You can do a lot of good church stuff without praying, but you will not do much for the good of the Kingdom without praying. Usefulness for the Kingdom does not come from activity, it comes from prayer. Only God can do, in peoples lives and in the world, what needs to be done. So, prayer makes a difference. Thats the frst thing I believe about prayer. The second thing I believe about prayer is we talk about prayer more than we pray. We talk about prayer, we ask others to pray, we read books on prayer, listen to teaching on prayer, but actually praying is not a natural act for most people. We must talk less about prayer, and pray more. The third thing I believe about prayer is that the purity of our hearts determines the quality of our prayers. In other words, when we do not seek purity of heart it will affect our rela- tionship with Jesus and will diminish our prayers. Now, God is sovereign and will answer prayer for His own purposes, but the purity of our hearts affects the quality of our prayers. Where our hearts are impure, there is an interference that keeps us from where God wants us to be. Here is a fourth thing I believe about prayer. The best prayer is hidden. We live in such a social media driven age in which everybody knows everything within minutes of an event. In this age, the thought that something needs to be hidden, that you do not have to share everything with everybody, that much of our relationship with God needs to stay between us and God, is rare. We need to be vulnerable with each other, especially in our marriages, but we connect with God in deep ways which do not necessarily lend themselves to public dis- closure. In fact, the more you disclose some things publicly, the less valuable they become. I am not talking about public witness, I am talking about the deep true place in your life in which you are connecting with Jesus. Just think for a moment about Jesus in the Garden at Gethsemane. That was a mo- ment of quietness and stillness and hiddenness that He had with the Father, and we see this throughout the Gospels. He spent all night in prayer, alone, before choosing His disciples (Matthew 14). There is a hiddenness to His prayer life. For many of us, we do so much publicly that there is no depth to us. Psalm 62:1 says, My soul waits in silence for God only. Heres a ffth thing that Ive learned about prayer. Prayer is both a discipline and a gift. I mentioned that prayer is not a natural act for most. Instead, prayer is a discipline in that you have to set a time and a place to pray. It does not have to be the same every day, but if you are not disciplined, and stra- tegic and intentional about praying, you will not pray. Prayer is also a gift. You cannot psych yourself up for a special rev- elation from God. Special revelation is a gift of the Holy Spir- it, and there will be times in your discipline of prayer that the Holy Spirit will gift you with a revelation and a presence that He otherwise would not do. Prayer is a gift, and prayer as a gift and a discipline absolutely work together. Here is a sixth thing I believe about prayer. Prayer chang- es things. It changes us, it changes our life circumstances. I absolutely believe in a miracle-working God who works mir- acles in response to our praying. Prayer changes the world, and prayer changes the way the Kingdom of God impacts the world. Thats why great revivals are always preceded by great prayer, because prayer changes the way Gods King- dom impacts the world. And then fnally, prayer moves God to act. Dont ask me to theologically explain that to you; Im not sure I can. God is sovereign, I get that. God doesnt change, I get that. But God has so set up our souls as such that there are things He will not give to us, except when we ask. That is what I mean by saying that prayer moves God to act. Prayer is what moves a Church into revival, because God acts in response to prayer. Prayer is what moves our families into a new season of spiri- tual life, because God acts in response to our prayers. So these seven things are the framework for where Im com- ing from when I speak to you and try to teach and demon Chapter Two: When You Pray Now, lets look at our scripture in Matthew chapter 6, vers- es 5-15. This is a great passage of Scripture. Some of you know and have studied it. I hope to pull out some things that will be a real encouragement to you. Matthew 6:5-15: 5 And when you pray, you must not be like the hyp- ocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the syna- gogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Fa- ther knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heaven- ly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. This passage from Matthew 6 is part of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), the basic teaching of the normative Christian life. In the middle of this sermon, we fnd this teach- ing on prayer. Notice in Matthew 6:2, Jesus assumes three disciplines that will be practiced among His followers: when you give, when you pray, when you fast. These three dis- ciplines are assumed to be a part of the normative Christian life. Now, I am not preaching right now about fasting, but fasting is assumed to be part of our lifestyles. Giving is, praying is, and fasting is. Fasting is an extremely valuable spiritual disci- pline. The Daniel Fast, especially, is one I commend to you. In Daniel 1 and 10, he lays out a fast that is doable and has great impact in the lives of believers. So, lets look in verses 5-15 of Matthew chapter 6. Matthew 6:5, when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites Now, I mentioned that in verse 5 it says, when you pray. We talked about the three spiritual disciplines of giving, praying and fasting, but here in verses 5-7, it says when you pray three times. Notice frst of all it says, you must not be like the hypocrites. Hypocrite, in the Greek language of the New Testament, means a stage actor, particularly someone who assumed a role for the sake of the drama they are perform- ing. My sons wife has a degree in theatre. We saw her in her frst production. She had the role of Shelby in the play, Steel Magnolias. Shelby is a bouncy, fighty, southern gal and my daughter-in-law is none of those things, but she played the role perfectly. However, I know this young woman, and thats not her. She put on a mask for the sake of the role. The text says when we pray, we must not be like the hypocrites. You cannot put on a mask before God. You cant play a role be- fore God. You cant pretend to be more spiritual than you are. You cant pretend that you hurt less than you really do. You cant pretend that you dont feel betrayed, or angry, or hurt, or disappointed when you really feel that way. We are so busy trying to appear before God like we think He wants us to ap- pear, as though there is some sort of artifcial performance standard we are trying to maintain. It is no wonder prayers are not answered. When we are playing a role, we are start- ing from a posture of dishonesty. You dont have to play a role before God. When you pray, you must not be a hypocrite. By the way, the word prayer is mentioned in verse 5 three times. There are three different words in Greek for prayer in the New Testament. The use of prayer in Matthew 6:5 is a combined word, meaning to move in a direction and to be near. So in combination, these two smaller Greek words mean to move in the direction of nearness. So prayer is to move into the direction of where Jesus is. Matthew 6:6, your Father who sees in secret will reward you So the hypocrites stand in the synagogues and street cor- ners and are seen by others, and there is a reward for being a hypocrite. There is a reward for others thinking more of you than is really there. The reward is that others look up to us and think we are important, and we think we are important, too. We are convinced if others think we are spiritual, God thinks we are spiritual. So, mark that word reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. I dont know about you, but I dont want the reward of the hypocrite. I have had that reward in the past, and it means nothing. I want the re- ward that God gives. The Father who sees in secret will re- ward you. Now heres the question, what is the reward? It is not to build your self-esteem; it is not to build your image in front of other people. What is the reward that God gives? The reward God gives is Himself. The reward is intimacy with the Father. The deepest, truest part of prayer, my friends, is when you rest in His presence and your heart simply calls out, Abba, Father. Thats the place of rest. Thats the place of truth. Thats the place of peace. That is the reward He gives. Now the partic- ular things pressing on your heart, mind and life, He invites us to bring that to Him. But the real reward is God. He is your inheritance. Hes your reward. So, dont be like the hypocrites. They have their reward in full, but we have our reward. Now, lets look at the next verse. Matthew 6:7-8, And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. I dont know how you pray, you dont know how I pray. Ev- eryone has his own style and rhythm. (By the way, have you read The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson? If you havent, you need to get it. Best book on prayer Ive read in a long time.) Prayer comes in many different ways. Dont try to nar- rowly defne prayer. Sometimes, prayer is sitting still, reading your Bible, folding your hands and saying words. Sometimes prayer is fat on your face weeping before the Lord. Some- times prayer is kneeling. Sometimes prayer is walking. Some- times prayer is holding your hands up. Sometimes prayer is being still. Sometimes prayer is being active. The point is not what your body is doing but how your heart is opened. How- ever, do not underestimate what you do with your body in prayer. We see in Daniel 10 that Daniel prayed for 21 days to break through demonic opposition. When the angel appears to Daniel, he falls on his face before the Lord. Then the angel reaches down and touches Daniel, and Daniel comes to his knees; then the angel touches him again, and Daniel rises to his feet. The posture of his body refects the attitude of his heart. Many of us are so programmed as to how we should pray, that the thought of being spontaneous even when we are alone is foreign. There are times for all of us when we should be on our knees and times we should be on our faces. So, now we are into the Lords Prayer, itself. We also fnd a fuller description of the circumstances of the Lords prayer in Luke 11:1, when the disciples ask Jesus how to pray. We also see it here in Matthew 6. Matthew 6:9, Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Jesus teaches that there are six petitions in this particular prayer that form a template for prayer. The frst petition is that Gods name be hallowed or glorifed. The second petition is that He will bring His Kingdom. The third petition is that He will do His will. Now you may ask, Why should we pray for these things, wont God do it anyway? My friends, you and I have authority, and there are many things God will not do until and unless we ask. So as we align our hearts with the heart of God and ask Him passionately, fervently and humbly, Honor Your name, bring your Kingdom and do your will, this becomes part of the miraculous, mysterious, powerful, au- thoritative position you and I are in because of Jesus. You are precious to God because you are in Jesus. Notice, all three of these positions (honor Your name, bring Your Kingdom and do Your will), are vertical, between God and man. The next three petitions are more horizontal, how we connect with one another: give us what we need to live, forgive us and lead us. So these six petitions form the template for prayer in two ways: First, it aligns us properly. Prayer begins by looking up, by our connection with God, our desire for His glory, His will, His Kingdom. Prayer begins not with us, but with God. Sec- ond, we see the major things for which we must pray: give us what we need, forgive us for our sins and lead us through this diffcult, treacherous world. So that is the template for prayer. But there is one other thing we see in verse 14, For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Now this builds off of what He just said in the Lords prayer in verse 12 (forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors). This is the hardest part of our prayers, I know. But God hears our prayer according to how willing we are to forgive people who harmed us. In real prayer, effective prayer, prayer that moves God, there is a price to be paid. According to our willingness to forgive oth- ers, to that degree, God is willing to hear our prayers. Earli- er, in Chapter 5 of Matthew, Jesus says the same thing. He says when you bring a gift to the altar (that gift is prayer), and you remember your brother has something against you, dont make the offering; frst, go get it straight with him before you come back to the altar. So, thats the basic explanation of what prayer is. Let me fn- ish with three defnitions of prayer. First, prayer is communication with God. This is communica- tion, not in the sense of talking on the phone, but more in a military sense. Communication with units in the feld is much deeper and more important than just picking up a phone and calling someone. If there is a platoon leader who has to com- municate with his company offcer, and then the company offcer back to his battalion, that line of communication is ab- solutely crucial. According to that communication, they know where they are in terms of the grand battle plan, they know who to call when they need resources, it is how they stay in touch to know what is safe and what is not, where the ene- my is and is not. Communication makes all the difference in the world. When we say prayer is communication, it is not like picking up the phone and calling someone. Prayer is how Gods resources become available to you, and how you stay in touch to receive them. Secondly, prayer is our authority with God. God, in this in- credible, uncondescending, humble way, gives you authority to pray. Your prayers move God. And third, prayer is our intimacy with God. It is in prayer that we call out, Abba, Father. Beyond all communication, be- yond all resources, beyond all authority, it is the intimacy with the Father that our hearts yearn for more than anything else. Chapter 3: What Does Prayer Accomplish? There are those who think that prayer doesnt really change anything except the one who prays; that prayer doesnt change the way the world is, the way that God is responding to your situation, but prayer is just a way to help you feel bet- ter. I reject that completely. Now prayer does have an impact on us, but prayer is much more than that. What we said is that prayer accomplishes four things. First, prayer aligns you with Gods purposes. When I come to prayer, I am placing myself under Gods authority and align- ing myself with Gods purposes. Second, prayer confrms your new identity in Christ. Colos- sians 3 refers to the new birth. When you come to Christ, a new self is birthed within you. Its the new birth. There is a newness to your life, a new identity, a new self. And the Christian life is receiving more and more the fullness of that new self that God has birthed within you. Until we go through that new birth, we dont really know Jesus. We know about Jesus, but we dont know Him personally. o prayer confrms that new identity in you. The more you pray, the more you connect with God in prayer, the more that new self has the fullness, the expansiveness, the reach and the impact that it can have. Third, prayer connects you with Gods power. A prayer-less life, is a powerless life. To pray is to be connected with Gods power. Fourth, prayer permits you to be audacious with God. There is an audacity to God. Its never irreverent. Theres a marvel- ous passage in the Gospel of Luke of the persistent woman, who was not a nice woman, but she got what she needed from the judge because she was audacious in how she ap- proached the one able to grant her what she needed. Thats what prayer is. There is an audacity to God. Again, not irrev- erent, not commanding God in any sense Hes still God and were still human. And yet, there is granted to us the permis- sion to be audacious with God. Chapter Four: What Matters When You Pray In these chapters, were talking about Prayer: Your Comfort & Your Strength. What we are doing is giving you a practi- cal guide to prayer. We are focusing less on the doctrine of prayer although thats important and really trying to focus on the practical ways in which we pray. I know many of you are faithful in prayer and have been for many years, but my aim for you after reading this book, is that you will be person- ally more engaged in prayer. Im not saying that you should be praying ten more hours a week, but I am saying that you will have a greater understanding not so much of the theolo- gy of prayer, but the practical way in which you pray. I am try- ing to equip you in these pages to be praying people. Its hard to teach about prayer. We can see what the Bible says, and what the Bible says is true. But it is hard to teach people how to pray. You really have to experience prayer. The best way that I have understood and grown in praying is by praying with people who pray better than I do. Does that make sense? Ive learned so much that way. You have to connect with that. Learning to be a praying person, you have to be coached, you almost have to be mentored. My wife, Pams, Grandmother was called Grandmother Irby. She was from Anderson, SC. She was a godly woman, a praying woman. She didnt put up with anybodys foolishness, I want you to know. Grandmother Irby had tiny feet. Because of her tiny feet, it was hard for her to walk. So whenever she went into town, she prayed to fnd the closest parking space to the store, and God answered that prayer. That commit- ment to prayer, and that model of prayer, impacted Pam and the whole family. You have to be in the presence of someone who understands how prayer works, for it to rub off. You can study it, you can learn about it, you can sit in church prayer meetings, but, my friends, youd better fnd a way and a place to dive into the water, as that is the only way you really learn how to pray. So now, we are going to look at the practical way to do that. The coach we will look to in the next chapter is Hannah, in 1 Samuel, chapter 1. Now I do a bit of wandering around when I preach, as you may be well aware, so were going to do a bit of wandering before we get there. I want to talk to you frst about six things that dont matter when you pray, but you think they do. And secondly, I want to talk to you about six things that do matter, but you think they dont. Six Things That Dont Matter When You Pray First of all, when you pray, it doesnt matter how much knowl- edge you have. Let me just add this caveat: the more of Gods word you know, the better youre going to pray. But God is going to hear your prayers whether youre a PhD or high school drop-out. Look with me in Matthew 6:7-8. I love this passage. Jesus says, And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. I have been in prayer meetings where I wanted to run out the back door because people were praying so long with such fowery language. And Ive been in prayer meetings where people wanted to run out the back door while I prayed so long with such fowery phrases. Its not how much you know. Its a matter of your heart. Secondly, your location doesnt matter. It just doesnt matter. You dont just pray in church. You dont just pray at the din- ner table. You dont just pray in some religious location that somehow resonates with you. The place where you are sim- ply doesnt matter. In 2 Chronicles 6, we fnd Solomons mar- velous prayer of dedication for the temple. You may know the story, God did not permit his father, David, to build the great temple, but Solomon built it. And upon the dedication of the temple, Solomon prays. And this is what he says in 2 Chron- icles 6:18, But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You. How much less this house that I have built? Heaven itself cannot contain God, why do we think church can? Now its good to have places to pray, where you can be quiet and still before the Lord, but lets not make any mistake about it. There is no specifcity, no location: God is everywhere. Next, your posture doesnt matter. It just doesnt matter what you do when you pray. You dont have to sit still with your eyes closed, your head bowed and your hands folded in front of your face. You dont have to stand up and hold your hands up. You dont have to lie on your face. Now there are times and moods and seasons where youre doing some of those things, but my point is, there is no holy position. Prayer is a matter of your heart. My best praying is done while walk- ing around my neighborhood with my eyes wide open, pray- ing before daylight. Thats my style, I dont know what youre style is. Heres something else, and this is going to blow your mind. It doesnt matter about your level of spiritual maturity. Hear what Im saying. Some of us think that when were more spir- itually mature, thats when well pray. If thats your thought, you are confusing cause and effect. The fact is, praying is what leads you into maturity. You dont have to wait until you reach some kind of level of spiritual maturity- this is a lie of Satan to keep you from praying. Pray where you are, and God will then through your prayers, lead you to where you need to be. Heres something else that youre not going to like. It doesnt matter your level of perfection. It doesnt matter if your life is broken and a train wreck or if you are a shining example of godliness. Now, the more you are pursuing God with your life and your life is conforming to what God wants you to be, your prayers are going to have a different tenor to them. And yet, if we wait until we are where we think we ought to be in terms of our lives being organized and well-lived, perfect, moral, if you wait for that, youre never going to pray. Let me show you something in Psalm 51. This is where Davids life totally falls apart - immorality, adultery, Bathsheba - and this is his prayer in response to that. Psalm 51:1, Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy. Verses 10-12, Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from Your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. There is no greater prayer than that, and it was prayed at a moment of total failure. Again, its a lie of Satan to keep you and me in bondage, if we think that because our lives are messed up at a particular moment, we shouldnt be praying. Another thing that doesnt matter is time. I simply mean that the common response for many people is I dont have time to pray. Youve got the same 24 hours everybody else does. Time, by itself, isnt a limitation to our praying. Our problem, of course, is discipline and desire. Its not time. Six Things That Do Matter When You Pray So those are the things we think matter, but really dont. Now lets look at things that do matter, but were not convinced they really should. Look with me over in Luke, chapter 18. This is another great prayer in Scripture. Heres Luke 18:9- 14: Jesus told this parable: Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax col- lector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: God I thank you that I am not like other people robbers, evil- doers, adulterers or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. But the tax col- lector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, God have mercy on me, a sinner. Verse 14, Jesus says, I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justifed be- fore God. For all those who exalt themselves will be hum- bled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. There are six things here you have to know about prayer, that matter. First, authenticity matters. You cant play games with God. He knows. You have to be honest before God. You cant pre- tend before God and expect it to mean anything. You have to be authentic. Secondly, intentionality matters. You have to be intention- al when you pray. Prayer does not happen by accident. If youre waiting until you wake up one morning and say, Im going to pray today, it wont strike you like that. You have to be intentional and make a choice to pray. We have a group that meets at our church on Sunday afternoons to pray. The group is called Praying for Prodigals These are folks whose grown children have left their faith behind and are living some of the most damaging kinds of lives. These grieving parents meet once a week to pray for their prodigal children, that the Lord would lead them to repentance and bring them back. They meet every Sunday and pray. Theyve had one or two victories through this, amazing miracles. But folks, thats not by accident. They choose to pray. They are intentional in prayer. Intentionality matters. Third, humility matters. We learned towards the beginning of this book that the basic position of prayer is this: You ask, God responds. This is, essentially, humility, isnt it? We hum- bly understand that in prayer, I am placing myself at the dis- cretion and under the prerogative of God. Its not about me, its about Him. I ask, He responds. So what we see in the sto- ry here in Luke 18 is this kind of humility. Fourth, desperation matters. Desperation matters a lot. Prayer is a matter of desperation. We turn to God in prayer when we have nowhere else to go. In Mark 10, Jesus is leav- ing Jericho, moving to Jerusalem, heading toward the cross; and as He leaves the city gates of Jericho, theres a blind beggar named Bartimaeus sitting by the side of the road. The blind beggar has no other recourse and is dependent upon the kindness of people throwing him coins to live. As Jesus and the crowd leave, the blind beggar hears the crowd going by and hears that its Jesus, and do you remember what he does? He starts crying out, Lord Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me! How awkward is that? Pam and I were visiting a church recently in downtown Columbia. Were sitting there, one of the few times were able to sit in church together and have the Lords supper together, and this guy from the street just wanders in. He sits down and starts moving around. It was kind of awkward in the middle of the service. The sermon was kind of boring, so I found it interesting to watch the guy. And I was thinking, if I were the preacher right then, my anxi- ety would go sky high. This preacher handled it very well, but you wonder what the deal is. The church apparently knew the guy and embraced him, and it was pretty cool the way it worked out. But it was just something that kind of jars you, and we fnd this same sort of thing in Mark 10 that this blind beggar cries out to Jesus. But it was the desperation in his heart that Jesus responds to. Jesus heard him, stopped and healed him because the guy was desperate. Fifth, is persistence. That matters. Again, in Luke 18, the tax collector is crying to God to have mercy on him. The Lord responds to persistence in prayer. In, The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson makes a great point- what if God is waiting on you to pray about a matter a certain number of times and you stop before you get to where He wants you to be? What if you stop one day too soon? What if you stop one hour too soon? And one more hour, one more cry out to God, one more model of persistence in you and the answer would have been given. You see, persistence matters. And fnally, faith matters. Lets look in Hebrews 11:6. This is a well-known passage that says so much to us. 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. Chapter Five: Ways to Pray In this chapter, were going to look to our coach, Hannah, and dig deep into her fervent prayers. From her example, well better learn how to pray. Then, we will take a look at six prac- tical ways to pray. Hannah Now, lets look at our coach for this chapter and see what we can learn. In 1 Samuel, chapter 1, we see these practical things played out in the life of Hannah. This is a rich passage of scripture. Follow with me in the frst few verses of Samuel, There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite.He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Pen- innah had children, but Hannah had no children. This is setting the stage for us. Elkanah has two wives, and you no- tice Hannah has no children. This story, like so many others weve talked about recently, starts with barrenness. Remem- ber the scriptures, weve encountered this with Sarai, Abra- hams wife, and others. Its not only the physical barrenness, but also the spiritual barrenness that goes with it. Certainly, in Hannahs case, the nation of Israel was barren, dry and empty spiritually. Samuels miraculous birth that was about to happen, responds not just to Hannahs plea, but also to the plea of all of Gods people in Israel. Verse 3, Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifce to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. On the day when Elkanah sacrifced, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. Now we saw earlier that Peninnah had children, but now she has a bunch of children. But notice the contrast. Verses 5 and 6, But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the LORD had closed her womb. And her rival used to provoke her grievously to ir- ritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb. This is a painful and broken situation. There is woundedness in Hannahs heart already because she cant bear children, but then the rivalry provoked by the other wife toward her just re- inforces that pain. Verse 7, So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. Year by year. Dont gloss over that. Some things just dont end quick- ly. Some pain doesnt resolve as soon as we think it should. There are some of you who have been going through circum- stances not just for months, but for years. Maybe some of you for decades. Maybe its a health situation, maybe its a family situation, whatever it might be, things dont resolve as quickly as we wish they would. So this continues on for Han- nah. This is the circumstance out of which were going to see prayer growing. This is not clean cut, is it? This is not some- body sitting down, kneeling, closing their eyes, folding their hands and praying a nice little sweet prayer to God. This is something that is birthed in pain. This is a desperate moment. Verse 8, And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, Han- nah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons? I cannot read past that without noting, thats just the stupidest thing he could have said. Would that have made you feel any better? No! You shouldnt be upset, look at me. Im much better than ten sons. No, you arent! This is like the sorry comforters of Job, isnt it? What is it about us that we get in a circumstance and feel a need to speak? Sometimes, we just have to blurt out something. Im a preacher, and Im supposed to know something. But Ive been in way too many pastoral situations where Ive just blurted out something, and I think, Lord, just shut my mouth! Verses 9-11, After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the LORD.
She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affiction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head. This is similar to the Nazarite vow. Im not here to defend the theology of this. This is kind of like a bargain that Hannah makes with God. You dont bargain with God. Im just reporting what she does. And yet, here, it does refect that she is deeply distressed. She weeps bitterly. This is a desper- ate woman. And desperation is going to reach an even deep- er level in just a moment. Verses 12-15, As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. And Eli said to her, How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you. But Hannah answered, No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. She is brutally honest with herself and with God. And Verse 16, to me, is the most painful in the passage, Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman. She cant have children. Already, as a woman, she is powerless in that age. She is vulnerable, feeling worthless. And she goes on to say, All along I have been speaking out of my anxiety and vexation. I want you to look at something here. Were seeing the birth of prayer, the practical way in which prayer is birthed within us. Its messy, its painful, its conficted, its full of stops and starts, it goes on for a long time. But dont miss this crucial point: it occurs in an environment of wor- ship. Worship and prayer are absolutely linked. When you worship well, you are praying well. When you pray well, you are in worship. Prayer is not just getting God to do something for you. Prayer is when you pour out your heart before God, which is worship. Dont miss the link between worship and prayer. They go absolutely together. When we separate them, we reduce prayer to nothing more than a mechanical device to manipulate God. Verse, 17, Then Eli answered, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him. And she said, Let your servant fnd favor in your eyes. Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad. Have you all read this? This is an incredible moment, in this account. This is the moment when everything changes. Not at the birth of Samuel, but when Gods prophet spoke the prophetic promise to Hannah and said, Your prayers are going to be answered. This is uncom- fortable for Baptists, right? Here is a prophet who says to a praying person, God told me to tell you your prayer is about to be answered. That is a matter of great spiritual authority that the prophet has. But dont miss that in an environment of worship when there is a relationship, in this case between Eli and Hannah, the Spirit speaks to Eli and gives him the word to tell her. This is something beyond Hannah praying, this is the interjection of the Holy Spirit in the whole process, speak- ing through His prophet to this woman. This is hugely import- ant. This is the moment when Hannahs faith changes. Verse 19, They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. And in due time Hannah con- ceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, I have asked for him from the Lord. Let me fnish up this chapter with six practical things for you to use in your prayer life. Six Practical Ways to Pray Here is the frst one: if youre going to see impact from your prayer, you have to start where you are. If youre in pain, start where you are. You have to begin at the place where you are. Dont wait until that day when you feel youre adequately mature, or your life is in perfect shape, or all the forces come together so that now you can pray. Hannah prayed out of her vexation; so however messy or conficted, start where you are. Secondly, be intentional. Hannah chose to pray. She didnt stumble into it by accident. She chose to pray. Third, learn as you go. When I was in Central Asia, I talked to several missionaries who have teenage children and want- ed to talk to me about raising teenage children. I dont have a clue! I dont know how to do it. You fy by the seat of your pants. You learn as you go. Its not easy and you do the best you can, but you learn as you go. Prayer is like that, too. Fourth, prayer and worship go together. Hannah didnt just pray by herself. She was in an environment and context of worship. She and Elkanah continued to go to the place of worship. It was in the attitude of worship that her prayer took place. Fifth, do whatever you need to do to be honest with God. Hannah wept, Job complained, David danced, others knelt, some fasted. Whatever you need to do to be honest with God, you have to do that. And sixth, accept the prophetic word from people around you. You have to be careful with this. There are some who will say, I have a word for you, and theyll speak a word for you and its the craziest thing youve ever heard. You still have to respond and make a determination whether you will receive that word or not. But then, there are some people who will speak a word of encouragement, a prophetic word as the Spirit leads them that really brings a special sense of encouragement that Gods answer is on the way. Be open to receiving that. As a word of caution, be careful with this, it can get out of control easily. But when you are in relationship with somebody, when you are in a community of faith, and someone you are in journey with speaks to you, you should be open. If you know them and know where their heart is and that they are trusting God, when the Lord speaks to them to speak to you, you should be open to receiving that. That can be a very powerful incentive and a very powerful way to pray. So those are your six practical ways of praying. Start where you are, be intentional, learn as you go, prayer and worship go together, do whatever you need to do to be honest with God and accept the prophetic word from people around you, but with care. Chapter Six: The Holy Spirit and Prayer Let me tell you upfront, this is going to be something that I hope will be very useful to you, and very inspirational to you, but were going to go into some deep waters. I want to take you to some deep places as we talk about the Holy Spirit and prayer. First, were going to explore general New Testa- ment teaching on who the Spirit is and how He operates in our lives. Then, were going to look at a fabulous passage of Scripture in Romans 8 that takes us into the Spirits operation and the dynamics He brings into our prayer lives. Then were going to fnish by pointing out the different kinds of praying we can do. But the Spirit-driven prayer is by far, the deepest, truest way we can engage with prayer. The Holy Spirit and His Role in Our Lives So lets begin by looking at John 16:7-15, and begin talking in general about the Holy Spirit and His role in our lives. He is the third Person of the Trinity, so lets look at how He op- erates in our lives. Lets look at John 16, in which Jesus is speaking to His disciples the night before He is crucifed. John 16:7-15 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world con- cerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concern- ing sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the rul- er of this world is judged. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear themnow. When the Spir- it of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. Now there are a couple of things immediately that we notice in Verse 7 that really lay out for us in brief, an entire under- standing of who the Holy Spirit is. First, is in the name Jesus gives Him. He calls Him the Helper. Some of you know that word is literally rendered, paraclete. It comes from a very particular Greek verb that means to comfort, encourage, cheer up; an advocate, an intercessor, or a helper. Thats what the word paraclete means. Now something else youll notice about the way Jesus phrases this, the word paraclete means someone called alongside to help. That verb is in the passive voice. In other words, the Spirit does not act on His own initiative. The Spirit is sent by the Father to bring glory to Jesus. You need to get that very clearly because that makes a huge difference in how we go about connecting with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third member of the Trinity. He is fully God, just as is Jesus and the Father God. One tri- une God in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And there is a passiveness and submissiveness to the Holy Spirit in that, He does not act on His own initiative, but only by the initiative of the Father as He sends Him to move and bring witness to the Son. Now youll notice further in Verse 8 of John 16, and when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. The Spirits work is the work of conversion. We dont win anybody to Jesus Christ. We present the Gospel. Were faithful to the call to offer tes- timony. But we cant change anybodys heart. Only the Spirit of God can do that. He brings conviction to people, to bring power to the Gospel. Im going to read a little further in verse 9, concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; this is the convic- tion that the Spirit brings. Verse 10-12, concerning righ- teousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; con- cerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. And verse 13, When the Spir- it of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. So He not only convicts, but He guides into righteousness. When we read the Word of God, we read it with our minds, and it perhaps can even elicit certain kinds of emotional responses in us. But in the fnal analysis, it is the Spirit of God, the third Person of the Trinity, who dwells within the believers life, it is the Spirit of God who illuminates, who reveals the truth of Gods word. The Spirit never acts in contradictory ways to the Word of God. He only reveals the truth of the Word of God. And then notice with me in verse 14 and 15, He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. The Spirit of God revels Jesus to us, He flls the believers heart with eth power and glory of God. Indeed, apart from His work within us, we will not know what Gods will is. Again, in con- junction with His Word, the Spirit and the Word work togeth- er. His task is to glorify Jesus. So, thats the word that Jesus speaks to His followers just before His crucifxion. And really, this is much of the fundamental truth of who the Spirit of God is in our world. He is still the same Spirit operating today as He did then. Now, when we turn over to Acts 2, we see the action of the Spirit of God in even a more dramatic way. You know this passage well, but Im going to pull something out of it thats very important for us. Following Jesus crucifxion and res- urrection, Jesus has ascended into Heaven. In response to that ascension, the Spirit of God comes fulflling Jesus prom- ise that we just read in John 16. Jesus says, when I go away, Im going to send you the paraclete, the Helper. Now we see how that happens. Acts 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it flled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fre appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all flled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now were not going to unpack all of this right now, but let me point your attention to chapter 16 of the Gospel of John, where Jesus is speaking personally to the disciples, say- ing He will send them the Holy Spirit. But in addition to that, there is a corporate way in which the Spirit comes. The Spir- its action is both individual and personal, and corporate or Church. And what we see in Acts 2, is the Spirit coming to the Church as a whole, who was welcoming to the Spirit, looking for the Spirit, and ready to receive the Spirit of God when He came. Now what I want you to see in Acts 2 is this connec- tion to the Church and the Spirit of God. There would be no Church apart from the Holy Spirit. Its the Spirit who created the Church in obedience to Jesus, glorifying Jesus. Its the Spirit who descended, leading the Church into worship: its the Spirit who moves among Gods people to call us to wor- ship. He is leading the Church into fellowship: we cannot love each other, we cannot be unifed, apart from the Spirit of God doing this divine work within us. And He is leading the Church into mission: they spoke the Gospel in different tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. This is the miracle of the Spirit leading them to present the Gospel to all the nations repre- sented there at the Jewish feast of Pentecost. So I want you to get into your head that what Jesus said in John 16, now is fulflled on a corporate level in Acts 2, where the Church is now the result of the Spirit of God in worship, in fellowship, and in mission. I appreciate you hanging with me so far. Were not done yet. Weve got a little bit further to go. Its almost like when we talk about these things, we see the Spirit of God as this im- personal divine force that falls on Gods people. Thats not the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is personal. He has per- sonality, just as the Father and the Son do. In fact, through- out Scripture, we see how the Spirit of God responds to and reacts to situations and circumstances in our lives. Look with me in Ephesians 4:30, Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were concealed for the day of redemption. In other words, the Spirit is not a personal force, He is a person who can be grieved. When we are disobedient, we can grieve the Holy Spirit. Look with me in Matthew 12:31-32. Here, we fnd another kind of emotional response from the Spirit of God. Verse 32, Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. And verse 31 explains that, Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven peo- ple, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be for- given. Blasphemy against the Spirit of God, the unforgive- able sin, is when we have persistent unbelief toward Jesus. Thats a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Look with me in Hebrews 10:29. This is another kind of emotional reaction or response of Gods Spirit, How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled un- derfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctifed, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? Im reading from the English Standard Ver- sion, some of your Bibles may read insulted, but insulted or outraged, thats a deeply personal response. He can be grieved, He can be insulted, He can be blasphemed. Look with me in Acts 5:3. This is the story of Ananias and Sapphi- ra, But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan flled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? You can lie to the Holy Spirit. And the last one in Acts 7:51, Peter tells us, You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. Blaspheme, lie against, grieve, insult, outrage. Im not trying to scare you off here. Im just saying the Holy Spirit in your life wants to be welcome. The New Testament compares the Holy Spirit to a dove, doesnt it? And doves are easily frightened away. The Spirit of God has to be welcomed, listened to, obeyed, cherished, nurtured. The Holy Spirit has a personality. Now, one other thing and then were going to talk about prayer. Look with me in Ephesians 1:13-14. The Holy Spir- it comes into our lives when we come to faith in Jesus. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gos- pel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our in- heritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. At the moment we receive Christ, the Holy Spirit comes into our lives. Now we dont always yield all that is in us to His indwelling presence. We often shield parts of our lives from him, we try to hide parts of our lives from him, we dont submit parts of our lives to him, but the Spirit of God is in the believers heart. It is our great joy to more and more yield our lives to him. The Holy Spirits Action in Our Lives Now with all of that said, lets turn to what I really want to talk to you about. And I appreciate your patience with my long in- troduction, again. Lets look now at the Holy Spirits action in our lives. Romans 8:4-8, [we] who walk not according to the fesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live accord- ing to the fesh set their minds on the things of the fesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the fesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the fesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to Gods law; indeed, it can- not. 8 Those who are in the fesh cannot please God. Ive got to tell you, I read that last verse (verse 8) a few months ago, and it was almost like the frst time. Ive read it for years, and it just caught my attention in a new way a few months ago. What those verses tell us is that there are two ways you can live, and really only two ways. You can either live according to the fesh, your old nature, your sinful nature; or you can live according to the Spirit. You can be a believer and still be living according to the fesh. Indeed, that happens all the time. You can be saved, you can be on your way to heaven now your trip there is going to be pretty miserable, let me tell you but you can get there. In fact 1 Corinthians, in the J.D. Phillips translation, I love it when it says people living in the fesh will get into heaven but with their tail feath- ers singed. Thats a great translation, isnt it? We make the choice whether to live in the fesh or in the Spirit. We choose whether we will live in our own minds, our own thinking, ac- cording to our own efforts, according to our own energy; or if we will instead obey the promptings of the Spirit of God, yielding ourselves more and more to his indwelling presence in our lives. This is well and good, and Im not trying to paint a rosy picture here, but what catches your attention is verse 8 of Romans 4. Look what verse 8 says: if youre in the fesh, you cant please God. Not that its unlikely that youll please God, it doesnt say if youre in the fesh youll have to work harder to please God. It doesnt say if youre in the fesh may- be things will work out. No, it says you cannot please God in the fesh. So the choice before us really is will we live in the Spirit, welcoming the Holy Spirit into our hearts and lives, obeying him, listening to his voice; or will we try to strive in our own fesh and live in a way that we think is religious and we think is good, but essentially is driven by our own ego and energy. Romans 8:9-11 You, however, are not in the fesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Any- one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not be- long to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righ- teousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. We talk about this a lot. The life of God that He wants to pour into your life comes only from His Spirit. Apart from His Spirit, were dead. Romans 8:12-13, So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the fesh, to live according to the fesh.
For if you live according to the fesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Those two verses tell us the Spirit of God is bringing us life as we obey him and welcome him. But the Spirit of God also is what makes us holy. The Spirit of God sanctifes us. Indeed, the only way to defeat the old man, to die to the old man, to change from the inside, is not from resolutions. By March, how many of us have kept our New Years resolutions? Reso- lutions are just an empty way to try to do it. But what happens is the Spirit of God makes us holy from the inside, out. Apart from an active, vital pursuit of Gods Spirit in our lives, we will not be holy. Now, Romans 4:14 says, For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. We can add that to the list of person- al things that we said dont offend him, dont lie to him, dont grieve him, but we are instead to be lead by him. Romans 8:14-17 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have re- ceived the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba! Father! 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if chil- dren, then heirsheirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorifed with him. The Spirit of God adopts you into Gods family. Through the cross of Jesus Christ, to the resurrection of Jesus, the Spirit of God now descending unto Gods people, is what brings us in. Its a deeply spiritual issue. Chapter Seven: The Spirit-Driven Prayer Now, heres where weve been going. We had to walk through some of Romans 8, because the verses Im about show you, we know them but we dont know them. This is because we read them separated from the larger teaching of who the Spirit of God is, how he reacts, how he relates to us in our lives and how we respond to him. Its only in the larger context that we really can grasp what verses 26 and 27 really speak to us about. Romans 8: 26-27:
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Has everybody read this? Some of you know this verse. We could spend a long time here, but it fts exactly into what weve been talking about with the work of the Spirit of God. Now we come to this work of prayer that the Spirit of God does in your life. Weve been talking these last chapters about prayer in a number of ways, but I want us to really drill down right now into the Spirit-driven prayer. Theres so much more to prayer than what we sometimes think about. Dr. Greg Frizzell has talked about this, and I love how he says it. Many of us are caught up in a devotional approach to prayer, as he called it. The devotional prayers we pray at meals, the devotion- al prayers we pray perhaps as we read a quick devotional with a prayer printed at the bottom of the page, the devo- tional prayers we read sometimes about a circumstance we want God to fx. And theres nothing wrong with devotional prayers, unless you just stay at that level. There is something real about it, God invites us to pray, but at the end of the day, if thats all youre doing, there is something deeply unsatisfy- ing about it. Maybe you dont know how to articulate that, but the reality is if thats the only way were praying, were miss- ing the fullness of what prayer is about. Theres another level of prayer we can talk about. We can talk about contemplative prayer. Thats a formal way that some denominations talk of contemplative prayer in a mys- tical sense. You can read Catholic writers about contempla- tive prayer, where you let your mind go and link up mystically and spiritually with God. You can fnd some evidence of some of this in Scripture, but contemplative prayer by itself is not strictly Biblical. Theres more to prayer than just resting in Gods presence. Resting in Gods presence is very important, but the fullness of prayer is more than that. We can talk about liturgical prayer, or formalized prayer, print- ed prayers. You know, I sometimes fnd printed prayers that really, deeply move me. You can fnd some printed prayers that express some things that are superior in terms of their terminology and the way they approach God. Yet, while pray- ing someone elses voice may help sometimes, thats not my voice. So, beyond devotional, beyond contemplative, beyond li- turgical or formal prayers, we enter now into a deeply, Holy Spirit-driven, intercessory kind of prayer, unlike anything else. What these verses (Romans 8:26-27) tell us, is that in the deepest part of your spirit, there is a way to pray, there is an engagement with prayer, that is certainly mental to a degree and a matter of your heart, but deep into your spirit, the Holy Spirit himself, dwelling in your heart through faith, comes alongside. Weve already seen what paraclete is: He comes alongside to help, to encourage, to intercede, to be an advocate for you. What greater time do we need an advo- cate, but in those times of prayer when we dont know what to say? Something in our heart is stirring to cry out to God, but we dont know what to pray for. Yet, at that moment, if were listening and paying attention, we are told the Spirit of God comes alongside, calls out for us, intercedes for us. The verbiage here in the text used is in groanings too deep for words, he calls out in language to God that we might not be able to put our fnger on, and yet, God hears and responds to it. That is some deep, powerful truth. He intercedes for us. This kind of Spirit comes alongside us, only if we welcome him, only if we dont grieve him, only if we dont run him off, only if we are seeking the heart of the Father through His Spirit, the Holy Spirit comes alongside us in prayer. So there are three things I want you to get in Romans 8:26-27. First, it is a deeply sanctifying experience. To pray in this way makes us holy (not perfect). The Spirits work is to sanctify us. So the more we connect with prayer in this way, the more like Jesus were going to become. Secondly, its a secret kind of prayer. It says here you cant put it into words. What God is doing deep in our spirits, were not always able to articulate that to other people, nor should we be trying to articulate that to other people. You dont have to explain or apologize for it. You just have to obey it and welcome the Spirit of God in your life. Weve talked a couple times through these pages about what public lives we lead right now through Facebook and Twitter and all the other stuff. Everything we think about and talk about is already out there for everybody to connect with. But there is something secret in prayer. If you really want to go further with the Spirit, a lot of it is going to be in your own heart, and you have to be willing to be silent. Silence is gold- en a lot of times. Theres this thing that happens in our spirits sometimes, that the more we talk about it, the less real it be- comes. Its almost as if weve diluted it somehow. You have to be careful. And then third, this prayer is deeply supernat- ural. Isnt that what it says? This is God praying in you, to God. There is just something by defnition supernatural about it. This is beyond our capacity, this is beyond our ability, that God Himself steps in and takes a hand in our prayer life. Now, fnally, lets look over at 1 Corinthians 2 and we see more of the dynamic of how this kind of praying operates. In this context, we gain a broader understanding. 1 Corinthians 2:9-16: But, as it is written, What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
For who knows a persons thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, inter- preting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to un- derstand them because they are spiritually discerned.
The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. Final thought. Something Dr. Greg Frizzell has said, and per- haps youve heard this in other venues as well, is of a kind of prayer in which you are seeking Gods heart, and He gives you a promise from His word. And you pray that word in faith and you hold God to it until He brings it to pass. Now, that may sound like magic to you, or holding God hostage. Thats not what it is at all. The spiritual process by which that kind of prayer operates is what we just read, when the Spirit of God reveals to you the promise of God that is for you, for your circumstance, from His word. We dont get to choose that at random. We dont get to pretend that God gives us a word when He doesnt. When youre acquainted with the Spirit of God and praying through something, when He brings you a word, you can pray that with confdence. Thats a powerful, intercessory-tupe prayer that shakes things up in some dra- matic ways. In these pages, weve talked about what prayer is, what it accomplishes, how you pray and fnally, the Holy Spirit in prayer. I pray this has touched your heart and will help you pray.