"Persistent Prayer"
Luke 18:1-8 1Thessalonians 5:11-24
May 24, 2009
"However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth (Lu.18:8b)?"
Jesus' parable about the widow seeking justice is pretty easy to understand. Luke even tells us what the Master was driving at in the first verse. Keep on praying and never give up! Then Jesus ends with a penetrating question. Will the Son of Man find faith on the earth?
If the answer to that question is to be "yes," prayer will be convincing evidence that people continue to trust in God. THE MOST BASIC EXPRESSION OF FAITH IS PRAYER!
That brings us to that little command in 1 Thessalonians 5: 17; "Pray continually." Jesus' parable about a justice-starved widow banging down the door of an uncaring judge is relevant. Won't God will be more responsive than the judge? Jesus' main point is that we should pray. Pray about what? Anything and everything! When? Always!
How do we do that -- really? I've told the story about the wrecker driver I ran into who took this literally; bowing to pray while he drove me back to the garage. That would have been wonderful if he hadn't had his eyes closed! Well, I admit that it got me to praying too! Yet in all honesty, I think the key to praying constantly is to understand in your bones that God is concerned about everything! Nothing is too big or too small. Not one person is outside the circle when it comes to being a legitimate object of prayer.
Roberta Hromas wrote one of the best books I've ever read on prayer. Its title is 52 Ways to Teach Your Child to Pray. It's good for adults too. She tells about watching a girl on a bike shout out a prayer as she was chased by a dog. "Lord, I need your help now!" That's as a good model for prayer as you'll find in a time of need. God is acknowledged as Master. The prayer is personal and acknowledges dependence on God. It asks for help and it's very time specific.
Our days are filled with opportunities to think and converse with God. We wake up, wash, and dress. We eat and travel to work, school, or business. We return home to eat and share the day. We go to bed. Are there not opportunities to pray in each of these? When we watch the news or read the paper are there not concerns that can move us to pray? God wants us to voice our cares by prayer.
How do we pray? In our own words! When do we pray? Whenever something comes up!
But what should we say? The Scriptures give us all sorts of helpful insight. Jesus gave us the Lord's Prayer. Many of the Psalms are written as prayers. They make a good primer for prayer. Take a look at the context of today's passage from 1 Thessalonians 5. There are all sort of positive qualities that we can ask God to create and bring forth in us. Since this is the context of the command to pray continually, it stands to reason that these are some of the things God wants to see in us. Indeed, one of the most important things about prayer is the way it unites our hearts and minds with God.
The call to "pray constantly" is given in the context of a wider call to Christian living. This constitutes a healthy seedbed for a life of prayer. Look at the imperatives and think about the lifestyle they suggest.
· Encourage one another (v.10).
· Respect those who work hard over you for the Lord and admonish you (v.11-12).
· Live in peace with each other. (v.13).
· Warn the idle and encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone (v.14).
· Be kind to each other and don't pay back wrong for wrong (v.15).
· Be joyful always (v.16).
· Pray continually (v.17).
· Give thanks in all circumstances (v.18). This is God's will!
· Do not put out the Spirit's fire (v.19).
· Don't treat prophecies with contempt (v.20).
· Test everything - hold on to what is good (v.21).
· Avoid evil (v.22).
HERE IS A
Look around! There are people sitting right here who could benefit from your prayer! Look in the mirror and you'll find another. In truth there's no end of the opportunities to bring something or someone to mind before God. Constant prayer is comprehensive prayer in this sense. The content is found in God's revealed will. We discover God's design as we face life and pray like this. The clear and positive answers - the non-answers - and the silences; they all bring us along in this relationship. Paul gets at this in verse 23 when he asks God to sanctify the Thessalonians "through and through."
To summarize; how do we pray constantly?
1. By being awake to the world around us -- everything is "fair game!"
Come to recognize how it all belongs to God.
2. By being attentive to God's priorities as found in scripture.
It's far better to pray than to talk about prayer. So we will end our time with a five or six minute quietly to do a prayer exercise. Use the "Take It Home" outline you have in your bulletin insert. We'll abbreviate it this morning. I hope you will try this at home in the longer form. If time permits and if you feel open to share how this experience affects you in the coming minutes, we'll discuss how this went.
Let us pray.
TAKING IT HOME: A LIFE OF PERSISTENT PRAYER
To experience a more comprehensive life in prayer try utilizing this pattern of practice suggested by Thomas Kelly. This could be used or modified for a time of focused prayer during a quiet time. Portions of the pattern might fit well at various times during your day; thus helping you become alive to opportunities for persistent prayer.
PRAISE (three minutes) Mentally and verbally, honor God for what He has done.
WAITING (three minutes) Be still before the Lord. Ask the Spirit to guide your thoughts.
CONFESSION (three minutes) God seeks truth in the inward parts. Confess your sin or pray by reading Psalm 51.
SCRIPTURE PRAYER (two minutes) Read portions of the Bible prayerfully and ask God to apply them to your life.
WATCHING (two minutes) Be alert to what is going on around you in the spiritual and material world.
INTERCESSION (ten minutes) Lift up specific requests for self, family, friends, and others the Lord may put on your heart.
THANKSGIVING (two minutes) Thank the Triune God for being with you and for recent blessings.
