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Below is my monthly article for the Harvey Oaks Baptist Church. The focus of the article is on the fact that the average Christian falls way short of what expects in our prayer life…
I read recently that the average Christian prays three to four minutes per day. And most of that takes place at praying at meal times. The prayer life of the “average” Christian is quite different for the prayer life of “normal” Christian found in the Bible. The “normal” Christian according to 1 Thessalonians 5:17 will pray without ceasing. In other words, a “normal” Christian will experience a constant fellowship with God that is accompanied with a prayerful attitude.
The “normal” Christian is to be like Jesus in Luke 5:16 who would withdraw to desolate places and pray. The construction of this verse in the Greek indicates that it was a continual practice of Jesus to find some lonely place so that he could pray. This goes along with the command of Jesus in Matthew 6:6…But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.
The “normal” Christian will also be devoted to corporate prayer. Acts 2:42 points out that the early Christians in Jerusalem were devoted the fellowship and to the prayers. They were committed to gathering with one another for fellowship and for the prayer times. Fellowship and prayer go hand in hand because the more we pray together, the more intimate our relationships become.
The “normal” Christian will have a lifestyle characterized by prayer. Colossians 4:2 says Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thankfulness. Thus, we can see that the “normal” Christian will pray much than the “average” American Christian. In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus told the Parable of the Persistent Widow:
18:1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
The point of the parable was to encourage the disciples of Jesus to pray persistently. If the unrighteous judge finally and reluctantly gave in to the constant pleas of the widow, how much more will the righteous God answer those who cry out to him, in pray, day and night?
In the last verse, Jesus asked if he will find faith on the earth when he returns. In other words, when Jesus Christ comes back a second time, will he find his people praying? May we continue to become a house of prayer at Harvey Oaks Baptist Church. May we pray much in private and together so that the Kingdom of God will expand greatly through us.
Pastor Bryan
That is exactly what Asaph prayed in Psalm 80, verse 3…
Restore us, O God;
Let you face shine, that we may be saved!
Yes, heavenly Father, restore us and shine on us!
I am often asked, “If you believe God works all things according to the counsel of his will (Ephesians 1:11) and that his knowledge of all things past, present, and future is infallible, then what is the point of praying that anything happen?” Usually this question is asked in relation to human decision: “If God has predestined some to be his sons and chosen them before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4,5), then what’s the point in praying for anyone’s conversion?”
The implicit argument here is that if prayer is to be possible at all man must have the power of self-determination. That is, all man’s decisions must ultimately belong to himself, not God. For otherwise he is determined by God and all his decisions are really fixed in God’s eternal counsel. Let’s examine the reasonableness of this argument by reflecting on the example cited above.
1. “Why pray for anyone’s conversion if God has chosen before the foundation of the world who will be his sons?” A person in need of conversion is “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1); he is “enslaved to sin” (Romans 6:17; John 8:34); “the god of this world has blinded his mind that he might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (II Corinthians. 4:4); his heart is hardened against God (Ephesians 4:18) so that he is hostile to God and in rebellion against God’s will (Romans 8:7).
Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to write the foreword for a book by R. T. Kendall entitled The Lord’s Prayer. I was glad to write it, not only because R. T. is a friend of mine, but also because it is a great book. I went back and adapted it to share some of my thoughts on prayer here at the blog.
Praying to Speak and Listen
We live in a world where communication feels like a pandemic at times. Words, ideas, and even emotions move about with unstoppable velocity. The human race has honed the science and art of transporting our content to one another. But I fear that we are at the mercy of the mediums and are losing our own messages.
A century ago, people communicated through a limited number of methods. Primarily, we spoke to one another. Over the last few decades, all of that has changed. Mobile phones, email, blogging on the Internet, and a myriad of instant messaging options has transformed our communication methods. In the current technology available, Twitter is the most popular form of communication. To participate, you “tweet” your message for the entire world to read via the Internet. But there is one caveat–your message must be less than 140 characters. Even with this required limitation, many people willingly use Twitter as a primary form of communication to give and receive information. Correspondence is occurring more frequently and at a faster pace, but possibly with an atrophying impact.
We dance along a tightrope of increased communication lacking any depth or significance. With such self-imposed limitations placed on our communications to one another, there must be a spiritual consequence. It cannot be denied that in a time when the tools for communication are growing more powerful, our ability to relate is weakening. In speaking more rapidly, we are listening less intently.
But by God’s blessing, there is an answer to such a predicament. He has endowed us with a form of communication which can be ignored by man but never loses its power with God: Prayer. It remains the ever-present answer to our communication weakness. It requires no great skill of oratory. Prayer humbles us before God and emboldens us before man. Prayer can be as short as an Internet instant message or as long as a great work of literature. Whether brief or lengthy, God is awaiting our response to His initiatives through prayer.
One of the great lessons we learn about prayer is that though it is a form of communication between God and His people, it is not merely for communication. Prayer is one of the primary vehicles by which God delivers us into the middle of His plan and purposes. As Jesus taught His disciples to pray, it was to show them how to both speak and listen to the Father. Whereas we live in a world where it is easy to make our declarations in a one-way fashion, prayer demands a listening ear as well. Prayer is, after all, not just our opportunity to speak. It is a sacred moment in which to listen as well.
Pastors often hear the question: “How can I know God’s will for my life?”
I returned home to Omaha from the annual Pastor’s Prayer Gathering in Sioux Falls, SD around 3:00 PM on Wednesday. I cleaned up and went to Harvey Oaks Baptist Church to get ready for a dinner to raise funds for a mission’s trip to Haiti this summer.
Then I led the mid-week Bible study on Jesus’ parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8…
The Parable of the Persistent Widow 
1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Will Jesus find faith, that is, persistent prayer on earth?
bryanaloha
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