Faithful in Prayer 8/3/2014 Romans 12:11-12……11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Two men took their boats out to sea to fish. After a very good catch, they rowed their two boats back toward the shore only to discover that while they were fishing the tide had gone out, leaving their cars quite a distance from the water. The first man decided to wait for the tide to turn and started cleaning his fish. However, the second man became very frustrated because he had many things to do and didn’t have time to wait for the tide. So he jumped out of his boat and started dragging it over the long stretch of beach. It was exhausting work. His boat was very heavy and laden with fish and fishing gear, but being a stubborn man he was not easily deterred. Well it soon became clear he was getting nowhere fast, so he decided to lighten his load. He threw out his oars, lines, nets and all the fish, and kept on dragging his boat. Step by agonizing step he advanced. Every few yards his boat would get caught in the sand or wedged on a rock. In anger he would lift it free then heave it further up the beach. Ever so slowly he advanced closer to his car. Finally, with the last of his strength, he dragged his boat to the top of the beach. He laughed in exhilaration and shook his fist defiantly at heaven. Then, to his complete surprise, he noticed the tide had come in behind him. He was totally speechless as he watched the other man row his boat effortlessly to his car, place his oars, nets and cleaned fish into the back, and then lift his boat onto the top of his car and drive away. The impatient stubborn man at that point fell down exhausted - he didn’t even have any strength left to lift his boat onto his car. You know with this story in mind, God has told us in His word that there is a time for everything. And so when the answers to our prayers are delayed we should be patient and wait on Him. We should do the things that are within our reach and relax about the things that aren’t, because if we truly trust in God He will turn the tide at exactly the right time. Realize that all our stubborn efforts, worries and fears are just a waste of energy and will leave us frustrated, discouraged and exhausted. Isaiah 40:31 says “Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary. This morning the title of the sermon is Faithful in Prayer. Again in going back to our scripture reading from Romans chapter 12 verses 11&12 Paul says11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Question-Do you ever feel impatient with God? Does He at times seem late in answering your requests and meeting your needs? Certainly all of us as believers have had these questions concerning prayer at some point in our Christian life. But the question is “Why are we to continue to pray for something after we have already prayed and we are “believing” that God will answer it? Isn’t that unbelief? What are we to do when we place all of our confidence in Gods will but nothing immediately happens? Those times when we pray and we are certain of an answer, and yet no answer is forthcoming? What are we to do then? Well in Luke chapter 11 verses 1-4, in an answer to the disciples’ request of “Lord, teach us to pray,” Jesus gave them a prayer that we have deemed “The Lord’s Prayer.” Now realize that this prayer was more than just a prayer to be repeated. No, it was to serve as a blueprint for the kind of prayer that would be acceptable to God our father. And while it is not wrong to recite the prayer, it is more important to understand its principles. You see after having given the disciples a pattern for prayer, the Lord continues his instruction by telling them a parable. Now the question is; why does he give them this parable? Well in our text we are going to see three principles about prayer. And so if you would please turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 11, beginning in verse 5. 5 Then he said to them, Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,6because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.7Then the one inside answers, Dont bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I cant get up and give you anything.8I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the mans boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.9So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.11Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?12Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?13If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! Now the first thing I want to point out is that when it comes to praying to God-WE ARE TO PRAY BOLDLY Again verses 5-8 reads 5 Then he said to them, Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,6because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.7Then the one inside answers, Dont bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I cant get up and give you anything.8I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the mans boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.….” Now in order to better understand this parable we need to understand a few things about first century culture. First of all, food was not as readily available as it is today. There were of course, no 24 hour 7-11 convenience food stores on each corner. Therefore enough bread was baked each day for the needs of the family. Secondly, hospitality was held in high regard and was seen almost as a duty. In other words a visitor was welcomed and cared for, regardless of the hour of his arrival. You see oftentimes in order to avoid the intense midday heat, people would traveled in the evening. And so a traveler arriving near midnight was not uncommon. And so herein lies the dilemma in our story. The poor unprepared host has a late arriving guest who is hungry after a long and exhausting journey and it is his duty as a host to provide a meal, but he has no bread. Now not being able to provide for his guest’s needs would not only bring shame upon himself and his family but to the village as a whole. So what is he to do? Well being that this man cannot supply the need himself he knows of another who can and will hopefully supply this need. So he goes to his friend’s house in the middle of the night to ask for his help. And so in a sense Jesus is asking each of his listeners, “which of you has the nerve to wake up his friend (and possible his family as well) in the middle of the night to ask for bread?” Well the rest of the story speaks of this tension, notice again as Jesus continues the story in verse seven, “… and he will answer from within and say, Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? (8) I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.” Now even for us today it is easy to understand this man’s reluctance to provide for his friend’s need. No doubt anyone who has ever wrestled to get children into bed, understand this man’s unwillingness to do anything to arouse his children. You see since the whole family slept in the same room, and even with some of the smaller livestock in there as well, to get up and meet this man’s needs meant considerable inconvenience. And as we just read the man inside the house initially refused his friends request; in other words friendship alone was not a sufficient enough reason to upset the whole household. And so Jesus in effect is saying to His listeners, “Can you imagine a friend who would react in such a way?” and of course in so doing, he expected a negative reply. “No of course not!” Because ultimately, the reluctant friend got up and gave his neighbor what he needed for one reason only, to give his persistent friend what he wanted so he could go back to sleep. Now realize that Jesus is not comparing God to a sleepy angry neighbor. No He is contrasting the two; He is telling the disciples that if this annoyed sleepy neighbor can on the basis of mere friendship and his friends persistence be persuaded to meet his needs how much more will your Father in heaven meet the needs of his children. Now oftentimes we think that the reason for our failure in prayer is that we have not been persistent enough. We sometimes say to ourselves, “I know that if I had prayed more, more things would happen,” And that is because we have convinced ourselves that we must keep beating on God ‘s door until we overcome God’s unwillingness to act. Now is that what verse eight is teaching us about prayer? Yes and no. You see the meaning of the Greek word (anaideian) translated in your bible as “importunity”or “persistence” or “boldness” is the key to understanding the lesson that Jesus is teaching here. Circle whatever word is used in your Bible because this is the only time this word anaideian appears in the entire New Testament. You this Greek word also carries with it the idea of “shamelessness,” And the question is, which of the two men in this story is shameless? Now some point to the neighbor who arose and gave his friend bread, saying that he did so to avoid bringing shame to the village by breaking the rules of hospitality. But the context seems to suggest that it refers to the man who came making the request. Because he was the one who was shameless in his persistence, he was the one who continued his pleading until his friend responded. Now the question is-What gives us the right to come boldly or shamelessly to God with our needs? Well the story is told of a Roman emperor in his chariot as a part of a parade, Cheering people lined the streets while the Roman soldiers were stationed to keep the people at a safe distance. The emperor’s family sat on a platform to watch him go by in all the pride of his position. Well as the emperor came near the place where his family was stationed, a young boy jumped from the platform, burrowed through the crowd, and tried to dodge a soldier so he could run to the emperor’s chariot. The soldier stopped him and said, “You cannot go near him.” The boy laughed, then said; “He may be your emperor but he is my father.” Then he ran into his fathers’ open arms.” The writer of Hebrew reminds us that as believer’s, that because our high priest Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the father in heaven, we too can “come boldly before the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16). Realize, that when it comes to us petitioning God we have no need to fear and that we can boldly come before Him, because after all we are children of the king. Now the second thing I want to point out when it comes to prayer is that WE ARE TO PRAY PERSISTANTLY. Again verses 9-10 Jesus says So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Now realize, that each of these three actions, asking, seeking and knocking occurs in the present tense in the original Greek language. And so Jesus is literally saying; “Keep Asking, Keep Seeking and Keep Knocking.” Notice that there is a progression in this persistence, first you ask, than you seek and then you knock. Do yourself a favor and circle these three levels of prayer in your Bible, Ask, Seek and Knock. Now let’s consider their meaning, “asking means making a simple request, while seeking implies a stronger desire and a more definite kind of request. It is something that takes some time. It implies a greater sense of urgency. Now lastly, knocking shows determination to get an answer. Well Jesus is saying here that there are some situations that require more than merely just asking something from God, and that we must do some seeking. Now again this seeking is not a simple act, it is a process, it is a series of acts. It requires some effort on our part. Likewise this knocking is not a single rap but is a series of raps. It is a persistent request for admission and it is repeated if necessary. You’re all familiar with the phrase “How bad do you want it?” Well there are those times where God wants to see just how bad you want it. Again in verse ten we are told, “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Realize the answer to each of the actions is in the present tense, ask and receive, seek and find, knock and it will be opened. Yes; all three of these principles are imperatives in which our heavenly Father not only hears our prayers but promises to answer each and every prayer, in his time, to his honor and to our joy and amazement. You see here’s Jesus point in all this. By the continued practice of asking, seeking and knocking we break the habit where prayer is just an option, where it’s just for emergency use only. Listen! Don’t just come to God with your midnight emergencies, instead make it a habit to keep an open line of communication with your Him 24/7 and pray with persistence. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Paul says 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; why? For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Yes the point Jesus is making in all of this is that as we are to keep on asking, keep on seeking, and a part of this seeking is in seeking to discover what the will of God is in this matter that we are praying about. In other words it’s all about “Thy will be done” Realize that God cannot put things into our hands until he first prepares our hearts. Realize that the greatest blessing of prayer is not just getting an answer but being the kind of person that God can trust with the answer. Now last when it comes to prayer WE ARE TO PRAY EXPECTANTLY. Again verses 11-13 reads “If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? (12) Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? Now from our story we’ve learned that God does indeed answer prayer, and we also have learned that His answers are always good ones. And that’s because God is good. He’s a good and loving heavenly father. A father who can be expected not only to answer our prayers, but answer them in such a way that it is for our highest good. You see the bottom line of the whole matter is now given in verse thirteen, which says “If you then,(you earthly fathers) being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him! You know I consider myself to be a pretty good father in that I always try to be there for my kids when they need me or need something. Yes like many of you fathers in here I strive to do my best as a father. But here’s the thing, even the best of fathers have their flaws and their limitations as to how much they can and will do for their kids. Yes we do the best we can, but sometimes our best is just not good enough because we don’t always make the best decisions when it comes to meeting the needs of our kids. Well unlike us, our heavenly father knows no such limits. In other words, God will always answer every one of our prayers in His time and again will answer them in such a way that it is for our highest good. Yes, He will in His time and in accordance with His will answer every one of our prayers. Now granted at times He might not give us what it is we ask for, but just remember that even a denial is an answered prayer. Now I want to just briefly touch on the promise found in the latter part of verse thirteen which says that the “heavenly Father (will) give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. Now what is Jesus saying here? Well this speaks to the fact that God loves for his children to develop the habit of asking for His help and that He does not leave us trapped by our own limited physical abilities, but makes the Holy Spirit available to us in order that we may be able to present our needs to Him. I think this may have been what Paul had in mind when he says to the Romans in chapter 8 verse 26.”In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. Simply put; God our father is not only there at the ready to hear all our prayers. And not only is He willing to give us what we need, but he also supplies with the means, that being the Holy Spirit, to intercede on our behalf when we just can’t put into words what it is we need from Him. In conclusion let me just say that unlike the annoyed neighbor in Jesus story who reluctantly helped out his friend. And unlike even the best of fathers here on earth, God our father who art in heaven is always eager to respond to his children who unashamedly ask, persistently seek and expectantly knock at His door with their needs and requests. An unknown poet said it best in a poem entitled “Into the Day.” I got up this morning And rushed into the day; I had so much to accomplish I didn’t have time to pray Troubles just tumbled about me And heavier came each task. Why doesn’t God help me I wondered, He answered, “You didn’t ask.” I tried to come into God’s presence, I used all my keys at the lock, God gently and lovingly chided “Why child, you didn’t knock.” I wanted to see joy and beauty, But the day toiled on gray and bleak, I called on the Lord for the reason, He said, “You did not seek.” I woke up early this morning And I paused before entering the day. I had so much to accomplish That I just had to take time to pray.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 23:31:36 +0000
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