Pray Without Ceasing

 Message by

John Piper

 Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:12–18 Topic: Prayer

But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and
have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, 13 and that you esteem them very
highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another. 14 We urge you, brethren,
admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 See
that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one
another and for all people. 16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give
thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Last week we ended abruptly in our exposition of Psalm 1 at the word "delight." So I would like
to go back there to deal with that, and then make a connection to today's text.

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of
sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law
he meditates day and night." (Psalm 1:1-2)

We talked about the blessedness that comes from meditating on the law of the Lord day and
night. It makes you like a tree planted by streams of water: 1) fruitful in ministry to others; 2)
durable, as your leaf remains green in the midst of dry blasts and seasons of drought; and 3)
prosperous, in that all the work of faith will have enduring significance even to eternity. Nothing
you do in dependence on God will be done in vain, even if it looks like a failure here.

We pointed out that meditating on the Word of God day and night probably requires memorizing
portions of Scripture so that they are there to ponder throughout the day or night without taking
the Bible in hand or even turning on the light. And I encouraged you to be a part of the Fighter
Verse strategy.

What If Meditating on God's Word Is Not a Pleasure?

Then, at the end, I said that the key to this kind of meditation is delight. The deepest mark of this
happy person in Psalm 1 is that he delights in the Word of God. Bible reading and Bible memory
and meditation are not a burden to him, but a pleasure. This is what we want. What a sadness
when Bible reading is just a drudgery. Something is wrong.

What shall we do? We struggle with Bible reading and memory and meditation because we don't
find pleasure in it. It feels like a burden and a mere duty that does not attract us. We have other
things we want to get to more. Breakfast or work or newspaper or computer or TV. Our hearts
incline to other things and do not incline to the Word. And so it is not our delight.

Did the psalmists ever struggle with this? Yes they did. Take heart. We all struggle with this.
There are seasons in the best saints' lives when spiritual hunger becomes weak. How shall this be
changed? The answer I want to give this morning is prayer. Delight in the Word of God is
created and sustained through prayer. So the outline I want to follow today is to address three
things: That we should pray, How we should pray, and What we should pray in order to delight
in the Word of God.

Be sure you see the order of the thought - the order of your
life:
1. Our aim is to be fruitful people of love whose lives are nourishing for others; we want to be
durable in that and not wither when the heat comes; and we want to be eternally significant or
prosperous. That's our goal, because when we are fruitful like that in the midst of the drought of
hardship, God will get the glory.

2. But the key to that kind of fruitfulness, we have seen in Psalm 1, is meditation on the Word of
God day and night. We must be a Word-saturated people.

3. And the key to continual meditation is memorizing portions of the Scriptures so that we can
keep them ever before us and savor them all the time.

4. And the key to memorizing and meditation is delighting in the Word of God. Such continual
meditation will not be sustained by mere duty. And if it is, the effect will probably be pride, not
humble fruitfulness for others. The soul that never gets beyond spiritual discipline to spiritual
delight will probably become a harsh and condemning soul. The sweetness and tenderness and
humility that come from the Word of God grow out of the delight and wonder of grace, that we
have been granted to know God.

Now I am turning to a fifth step in the order of thought: the key to delight is prayer. Or, more
accurately, the key to delight is God's omnipotent, transforming grace laid hold on by prayer.

So let me try to awaken your desires to pray by showing you that we should pray for delight and
how we should pray and what we should pray.

THAT We Should Pray for Delight

Now we turn for a moment to our text in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Here is a simple command: "Pray
without ceasing." You might ask, Why choose this verse from all the verses in the Bible that
command us to pray? Why use this one in answer to the question: What is the key to delighting
in the Word of God? The answer is the connection between 1 Thessalonians 5:17 and the flow of
thought leading up to it. It is substantially similar to Psalm 1.
1 Thessalonians 5:14-15 says, "We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the
fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil
for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people." Now that is
a very fruit-bearing life. He is telling us to be like trees planted by streams of water that bring
forth fruit. Look at all these needy people draining you: the "unruly" are challenging you; the
"fainthearted" are leaning on you; the "weak" are depleting you. But you are called to encourage
and help and be patient and not return evil for evil. In other words, you are called to have
spiritual resources that can be durable and fruitful and nourishing when others are unruly and
fainthearted and weak and mean-spirited.

How? Well, verse 16 says, "Rejoice always." That corresponds to "delight" in Psalm 1.
Presumably, this rejoicing is not primarily in circumstances, but in God and his promises,
because the people around you are unruly and fainthearted and weak and antagonistic. This
would make an ordinary person angry and sullen and discouraged. But you have your roots
planted somewhere else and are drawing up the sap of joy from a source that cannot be depleted -
the river of God and his Word.

What then is the key to this rejoicing, or this delight? Verse 17 says, "Pray without ceasing." And
verse 18 says, "In everything give thanks." So the answer seems to be that continual prayer and
thanksgiving is a key to the rejoicing or the delighting in God and his Word that makes a person
fruitful and durable and spiritually prosperous in relation to all kinds of people. (See in
Philippians 4:3-6 the same sequence of thought from fruitful people-helping that is rooted in joy
that is rooted in prayer.)

So I think it is fair to say that one Biblical key to maintaining delight or rejoicing in God and his
Word is prayer. Which leads to the second observation, namely, how to pray.

HOW to Pray for Delight

The one point to make here is that our praying should be "without ceasing." If you want to be
fruitful for people and not wither under the pressures of unruly, fainthearted, weak, and hurtful
people, then you must, as verse 16 says, "rejoice always" or "delight in the word of the Lord . . .
day and night" (Psalm 1:2). And to do that, as verse 17 says, we need to pray always -without
ceasing.

What does it mean to pray without ceasing?

I think it means three things. First, it means that there is a spirit of dependence that should
permeate all we do. This is the very spirit and essence of prayer. So, even when we are not
speaking consciously to God, there is a deep, abiding dependence on him that is woven into the
heart of faith. In that sense, we "pray" or have the spirit of prayer continuously.

Second - and I think this is what Paul has in mind most immediately - praying without ceasing
means praying repeatedly and often. I base this on the use of the word "without ceasing"
(adialeiptos) in Romans 1:9, where Paul says, "For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the
preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you."
Now we can be sure that Paul did not mention the Romans every minute of his prayers. He
prayed about many other things. But he mentioned them over and over and often. So "without
ceasing" doesn't mean that verbally or mentally we have to be speaking prayers every minute of
the day. But we should pray over and over and often. Our default mental state should be: "O God
. . ."

Third, I think praying without ceasing means not giving up on prayer. Don't ever come to a point
in your life where you cease to pray at all. Don't abandon the God of hope and say, "There's no
use praying." Go on praying. Don't cease.

So the key to delight in the Word of God is to pray continually - that is, to lean on God all the
time. Never give up looking to him for help, and come to him repeatedly during the day and
often. Make the default mental state a Godward longing.

I think it would be good to notice here that in real life some discipline in regular prayer times
helps keep this kind of spontaneity alive. In other words, if you want to have a vital hour-by-hour
spontaneous walk with God you must also have a disciplined regular meeting with God. Daniel
had some remarkable communion with God when it was critically needed. But look what it grew
out of. The decree was passed that no one could pray except to the king, under penalty of death.
But notice what Daniel does, according to Daniel 6:10. "Now when Daniel knew that the
document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open
toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving
thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously." The point here is that Daniel lived a
life that combined discipline (three times a day) with spontaneous encounters with God. So it
will be with us: if we hope to pray without ceasing day and night - enjoying a continual coming
and communion with God - we will need to develop disciplined times of prayer. Nobody
maintains pure spontaneity in this fallen world. (See Psalm 119:62; 55:17.)

Finally, then, what are we to pray in order to have the delight in God and his Word that will keep
us meditating and fruitful and durable and spiritually prosperous?

WHAT We Are to Pray

The psalmists point the way here. They struggled like you and I do with motivation and with
seasons of weak desires. What did they pray to keep the fires of delight in God's Word burning?
Three examples from the prayer life of the psalmists:

1. They prayed for the inclination to meditate on the Bible -for the "want to". If you lack desire,
don't just have a defeated attitude and say, "I can't enjoy it because I don't have the desire." That
is the way atheists talk. God is in the business of creating what is not. So the psalmist prays in
Psalm 119:36, "Incline my heart to Your testimonies and not to gain." We admit to God that our
hearts incline to the computer or the newspaper or the TV and we plead with him that he reach in
and change our inclinations so that we love to read and memorize and meditate on the
testimonies of God.
So few people deal with God at this level! We are psychological fatalists. "This is just the way I
am." The psalmists were not that way, and we should not be that way. They saw their stubborn
inclinations, and, instead of fatalistically giving up, they pleaded with God to change their
inclinations and make them want to meditate on the Bible.

2. Secondly, the psalmists prayed that they would have spiritual eyes to see great and wonderful
things in the Word, so that their desires and delights would be sustained by truth, by reality.
Psalm 119:18: "Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law." If we are
going to be inclined to the Word and stay with it and delight in it and memorize it and meditate
on it, we must see more than dull facts, we must see "wonderful things." That is not the function
of the natural mind alone. That is the work of the Spirit to give you a mind to see great things for
what they really are. Delight-giving Bible reading and Bible meditation is a work of God on our
hearts and minds. That is why we must pray continually for that divine work.

3. Finally, the psalmists prayed that the effect of their inclining to the Word and their seeing
wonderful things in the Word would be a profound heart-satisfaction that would sustain them
through droughts and make them fruitful for others. Psalm 90:14, "O satisfy us in the morning
with Your lovingkindness, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days."

We ask God to awaken the delight that Psalm 1 says we should have. Delight in God is a
miracle. This is what it means to be a Christian, and being a Christian is not a mere choice to
believe a fact. Being a Christian is believing the truth of God because there is a spiritual
apprehension of its beauty and glory. When that soul-satisfying glory starts to fade, we must
fight off the deadly effects of worldliness and immerse ourselves in the Word where his glory is
revealed, and then pray and pray and pray, "O satisfy me in the morning with Your
lovingkindness, that I may sing for joy and be glad all my days."

So you can see how prayer and the Word are tied together this week. The Word is the means God
uses to fill our minds and hearts with truth about himself that makes us fruitful and durable in
drought and prosperous into eternity. Nobody becomes like a tree planted by water by prayer
alone. It is by the delighting in the Word and meditating on it day and night.

But nobody is inclined to the Word, or sees spiritual wonders in the Word, or is satisfied with the
Word, who does not pray and pray and pray the way the psalmists did. So I plead with you to
pray without ceasing this year. And as an aid to that wonderful spontaneity of day and night
praying and meditation, build disciplined times of prayer and meditation into your life. Maybe
once or twice or three times or seven times a day (as the psalmist in Psalm 119:164, "Seven
times a day I praise You, because of Your righteous ordinances.")
Paul’s first letter to the Church at Thessalonica is filled with many relevant truths that are ripe
for application to our lives today. And in the very last chapter of this great letter, he succinctly
lists a series of instructions that are simple and yet powerful. Here is the list:

1 Thessalonians 5:14–22

14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted,
uphold the weak, be patient with all.

15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both
for yourselves and for all.

16 Rejoice always,

17 pray without ceasing,

18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

19 Do not quench the Spirit.

20 Do not despise prophecies.

21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.

22 Abstain from every form of evil.

There are certainly many vital points included in this short passage, but I would like to draw out
one important statement and then unpack that phrase just a bit.

In verse 17, Paul says that we are to pray without ceasing. Those are just three simple words,
and yet they carry a life-changing message—if we actually apply them.

What does it mean to “pray without ceasing,” then? Well, it does not mean that we spend the
entire day on our knees praying without engaging in any other activity. If we did that, we would
not be able to keep a job or pay our bills.

The directive to “pray without ceasing” means that we are ever present with God throughout the
entire day. We are continually interacting with Him in prayer as we move from task to task.
When we face a challenge, we ask for His assistance. As we experience a blessing, we thank
Him for His favor.

It’s sort of like being on the phone, and we never hang up. We acknowledge His presence
throughout every single day.

But we’re busy, right? And it’s easy to get distracted. So, we often forget to include Him in our
day, and we often fail to pray without ceasing.
In light of this, let me offer several simple things you can do that will help you to pray without
ceasing in your own life.

1. Walk with God.

By “walk with God,” I mean that you should consider going on regular walks each week in
which you pray while you are walking. Some people go for “prayer walks” around their
neighborhood for the purpose of praying for their neighbors. I personally like to walk on the
treadmill regularly, and I often spend that time praying while I’m walking. It’s a great way to go
deeper with God while you’re getting a bit of exercise.

2. Run with God.

And if you are into fitness, you may even consider praying while you are running or working
out. Focusing on your spiritual state while you are working on your physical growth is a
beautiful blending of those two aspects of your wholeness. Some people listen to music while
they work out. What if you used that time to listen to worship music and turned it into a
worship/prayer encounter? This can be a great opportunity to grow spiritually as you develop
physically.

3. Drive with God.

Most of us spend several hours driving each week. We drive to work. We drive to the store. We
drive to various events and on various tasks. Wouldn’t it be great if we turned those solo drive
times into a prayer event? It’s a pretty simple decision to make, and you can commit those drive
times to prayer any time you want.

In order to help you remember to use this time for prayer, you may want to put a sticky note on
your dashboard for a while that says, “Drive Time = Prayer Time,” or something like that. This
will help you develop a new habit of praying while driving. And I think you’ll be amazed at how
much less stress you experience when you get into heavy traffic. When you’re communing with
God, that time will become precious for you.

4. Wait with God.

How much time did you spend waiting this past week? We all end up waiting every week on one
thing or anther, but we don’t always have a plan in place to use that time for something
important. I would encourage you to be proactive and set up a plan to be able to pray whenever
you find yourself having to wait.

One thing I do is to keep prayer requests on the Evernote app on my smartphone. This app
allows me to record prayer requests throughout the week, and then I can pull those out and spend
time praying during times of waiting that hit me each week.
We wait on traffic, doctors, clients, bosses, family members, etc. every week. So, why not plan
ahead so that you can spend that time with God? You’ll find yourself no longer dreading those
times of waiting!

5. Hide out with God.

One of the most powerful experiences I’ve adopted in my Christian journey is to take time to get
away to places of solitude where I can spend a few hours at a time in prayer with the Creator.
Sometimes I’ll go to a community park, state park, or a national park. And I always have to
schedule these get-aways. I block out time on my schedule and make sure there’s nothing that
can interfere with this time with God.

In an age of technology and non-stop interruptions, the discipline of solitude is often sadly
missing from our lives. So, plan to hide out with God soon so that you can go deeper with Him in
prayer. If you’re looking for ideas on how to use this time, then check out this blog post I wrote a
while back: “How to Have a Half Day of Prayer with God.”

Growing Spiritually: Ceaseless Prayer

I Thessalonians 5:17
We have been looking at some important aspects of growing spiritually. This evening we want to
look at another important part of the process of growth as a believer. It has to do with prayer.
Our text is another one of God's little verses that is filled with power. Paul wrote to the church in
Thessalonica, 'Pray without ceasing.'

Once again we find that this is a command. Not an observation, nor is it simply a suggestion. It is
a clear command from the Word of God. So how are we doing with this one? Last week we
looked at the command to 'Rejoice evermore', but this one seems to be more difficult to obey.
What does this mean?

I. The Meaning of 'Pray Without Ceasing'.

A. What it doesn't mean…

1. It doesn't mean that our 'prayers' are never to have an ending.

2. If that were the case, we could do nothing else.

 3. If we are to literally never cease praying, then how could we work our jobs, eat,
sleep or communicate with others.

4. I cannot be preaching this message, and praying at the same time. (you cannot
be listening and praying either)

5. It just would be very practical to do nothing but pray 24hrs a day.

6. So the command to "pray without ceasing" must mean something else.

B. Is it a continual attitude of prayer?

1. That may be part of what Paul is talking about, but I don't think this is any
more practical than praying 24hrs a day!

2. For me to constantly be in an 'attitude of prayer' means I must have my brain

functioning like my computer.

3. With a computer, it is possible to do what is called 'multi-tasking'; doing

several things at the same time.

4. Unfortunately, it is easier for me to upgrade the memory in my computer than it

is to upgrade the memory in my brain!

5. I don't really multi-task well…do you?

6. I really believe that to "pray without ceasing" means more than trying to
maintain a constant attitude of prayer.

C. So what does it mean?

1. I believe the Word of God is practical, and I do not believe the Lord would
command us to do something that we were not equipped to do.

2. The Scripture reveals that "pray without ceasing" simply to continuing to pray.

3. Don't quit praying!

II. The Illustrations from the Parables.

(Luke 18:1) And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray,
and not to faint;

A. Jesus taught using parables.

1. The word means "to throw alongside."

 2. Most of the parables heavily use the words "like" or "as."

3. In parables the Lord would often compare the spiritual realm with something
familiar in the physical realm.

4. But there are a couple of parables that do not compare, but contrast.

5. Instead of showing us what God is like, they show us what He is not like.

6. These two parables have a direct bearing on the meaning of ceaseless prayer.
Let's examine them.

B. Note Luke 11:5-13

1. After giving the disciples the model prayer that is often misrepresented as the
Lord 's Prayer, He proceeds to illustrate using this parable.

2. He speaks of a "friend" who goes to another friend "at midnight" and says to
him, "Friend, lend me three loaves."

3. There were no 24hr convenience stores.

4. If you needed bread in the middle of the night, you had to get it from a friend.

5. This man had an unexpected guest and was embarrassed and in need.

6. His friend refuses to disrupt his family just to loan him some bread.

7. He finally gives in, not due to his friendship or his loyalty…but because of the
continual knocking!

8. Jesus illustrates that God is not like the reluctant friend.

a. He loves us, and will always meet our needs.

b. If persistence will work on a reluctant friend, how much more will

persistence in prayer touch the heart of a loving, gracious, giving God?

c. God responds to persistence.

d. So the idea is keep on asking, keep on seeking the Lord in prayer.

e. Pray and don't cease, don't stop, don't give up because our Heavenly
Father is far more loving, far more compassionate, far more merciful and
tender-hearted than any earthly father.
 C. Note: Luke 18:1-8.

1. Jesus wants us to learn to keep praying even when our prayers are not
immediately answered.

2. Again he gives a parable to illustrate and drive home this truth.

a. He describes a judge who "feared not God, neither regarded man."

b. He was unmerciful and had no sense of morality or justice.

c. Jesus said a "widow" came to Him seeking justice from an "adversary."

d. Someone had taken advantage of her and robbed her of what little she
had.

e. The judge initially wasn't interested in her case, but "because this
widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she
weary me."

f. What he would not do out of compassion, he did because of her

persistence.

3. Again we see the contrast.

a. God is not an unjust judge but a merciful Father.

b. If persistence brings a response from such a merciless man as this

judge, how much more will persistence touch the heart of a compassionate
God?

c. Note vs 7-8, "And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day
and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will
avenge them speedily…."

d. The point of both of these parables is to keep praying, keep seeking,

keep knocking because God loves persistence and will answer our prayers.

III. The Example of Jesus.

A. Jesus lived in total dependence on the Father.

1. As we read the Gospels, we constantly see Him praying.

2. Sometimes He rose up early to pray.

 3. Sometimes He prayed all night.

B. Note His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before His crucifixion.

1. Three times He went into the garden to pray.

2. He prayed long and hard because each time He returned He found the disciples
had fallen asleep.

3. He prayed so intensely and with such great agony, that His skin began to pour
blood through His sweat glands.

(Luke 22:44) `And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his
sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

4. The lesson is obvious; if Jesus, who is the Son of God, prayed like this, how
much more should we in our weakness "pray without ceasing"?

C. One more lesson to learn from Jesus' teaching on prayer.

(Matthew 6:7) But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for
they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

1. When we pray, we are not to say the same phrases over and over again,
thinking God is impressed with our "many words."

2. We don't memorize little prayers and repeat them time and time again.

3. When Jesus speaks of persistent, earnest prayer He means continuing to

lay our needs and desires before God and not giving up when at first they
don't seem to be answered.

IV. Why Should We Pray Without Ceasing?

A. Persistent Prayer Glorifies God.

(Luke 11:2a) "And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in
heaven, Hallowed be thy name..."

B. Persistent Prayer aligns Us with God's Will.

(Luke 11:3b) "... Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth."

C. Persistent Prayer depends on God to Meet our Needs.

(Luke 11:3) Give us day by day our daily bread.

 (James 1:17) Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh
down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of
turning.

D. Persistent Prayer Gives Us Cleansing from Sin.

(Luke 11:4a) And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is
indebted to us…

(1 John 1:9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

E. Persistent Prayer gives Us Victory over Evil.

(Luke 11:4b) "…And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil."

F. Persistent Prayer gives Us Fellowship with God.

(Psalms 63:1) O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth
for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

G. Persistent Prayer gives Us Wisdom from God.

(James 1:5) If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men
liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

H. Persistent Prayer brings Us Peace.

(Philippians 4:6-7) Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And
the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.

We could go on, but I think we are getting the point tonight. To "pray without ceasing" is to pray
persistently, earnestly and not lose heart. We have the instruction and the examples from God's
Word concerning the importance of this command. Our motivation is to glorify God, align
ourselves with His will, to have our needs met, to have our sins forgiven, to have victory over
Satan, to have intimate fellowship with the Lord, to find wisdom, and to be free from worry

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

 Dr. W. A. Criswell

1 Thessalonians 5:17

2-23-58 7:30 p.m.

Now after a glorious singing like that, we ought to read this Bible with love and
appreciation and especially my text tonight, the first Thessalonian letter, the fifth, the last
chapter, let us all turn to it. First Thessalonians, the fifth chapter, the last chapter, and let us read
beginning at the sixteenth verse and read to the end. We all have it? Now my text is the second
verse you will read, but I want to talk about all three of those little verses there, beginning at the
sixteenth verse. Let us all read them together clear to the end:

Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the
will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that
which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it. Brethren, pray for us.
Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss.

I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

[1 Thessalonians 5:16-28]

My text, Pray Without Ceasing; following immediately the text of this morning,
Rejoice Evermore, and my text followed by, “in everything give thanks.” Those three little
short words, but oh, how full of meaning they are. My text: Pray Without Ceasing. Look what
it follows: “Rejoice evermore,” as though a man would stagger at that commandment to rejoice
all the time. Then Paul appends a reply, "Pray without ceasing." The way to rejoice evermore is
to pray without ceasing: the more rejoicing, the more praying, the more praying, the more
rejoicing, as though our praying opened the channels of our hearts, and the sorrows and the
sadnesses and the despairs of our lives flowed away, and in their stead came the fullness of the
Spirit of God. Rejoice evermore by praying without ceasing. Then look what follows, "In every
thing give thanks." When rejoicing and praying are married, their firstborn child is gratitude.
“In every thing give thanks.” Isn't that a wonderful trio of texts? "Rejoice evermore. Pray
without ceasing. In every thing give thanks." Here we are borne up between rejoicing all the
time, giving thanks all the time, and praying all the time. And those three: never-ceasing praise,
and never-ceasing thanksgiving, and never-ceasing prayer are three pictures that represent the
whole Christian life. And they are representative of the life of our Savior in heaven, who ever
lives to pray for us. Truly the union between the vine and the Branch is to be found in this
never-ceasing prayer. Our Lord in heaven, praying, saving, keeping to the uttermost, and His
children down here in this earth, united to Him in never-ceasing supplication and intercession. It
was the example of our Savior's praying that caused the disciples to ask that He teach them how
to pray [Luke 11:1]. And it is the glorious ever-living presence of our Lord in the sanctuary of
heaven that encourages us to be in constant and daily communion with Him in prayerful
intercession. "Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks."

Now, that is first of all a wonderful privilege. The veil is rent in twain [Matthew 27:51];
entrance into the mercy seat is wide open. Come and welcome, any time, any day, any hour.
You can bow your head in prayer anyplace, anytime, anywhere, upon any occasion. In the story
of Queen Esther, when Mordecai encouraged her to go see King Ahasuerus, she replied, "One
who enters the presence of the king unbidden, is subject to death, except he extends the golden
scepter" [Esther 4:11]. To us, the golden scepter is always extended. Come any day, come any
hour, come any time, come any place. If it is midnight, it's not too late. If it is at the dawning of
the morning, it's not too early. If it's at midday, He is not too busy. If it's in the evening, He is
not too weary. The temple gates are never closed. Come and welcome; God bids us approach
the throne of grace boldly [Hebrews 4:16].

This is not only a wonderful privilege; it is also a precept, a commandment. "Pray

without ceasing" [1 Thessalonians 5:17]. We are never to turn aside from this appeal and this
commandment and this duty of praying. Never are we to abandon prayer. If I cease to breathe, I
die. When I am born into this world, I must breathe to live. When I am born into the kingdom
of God, I must pray to live. And when the heavens are brass and prayer seems unanswered, I am
to pray without ceasing. And when my heart is cold, and there is no interest and no fervor, I am
to pray without ceasing. If the iron is cold, I am to hammer it until it is heated and burning. If I
am puzzled and cannot understand and don't have an explanation, I am to pray without ceasing.
We are never to abandon our supplication. We are never to despair in our praying. When Elijah
said to his servant, "Go look." And the servant stood on the brow of Mount Carmel, looked out
over the Mediterranean Sea, came back and said, "There is nothing." Elijah prayed again, and
six times the servant came back from his lookout and said, "And there is nothing." And Elijah
prayed the seventh time, and the seventh time the servant came back and said, "I see a cloud the
size of a man's hand" [1 Kings 18:42-44]. And Elijah replied, "There is the sound of abundance of
rain." We are never to despair in our praying. We are to pray without ceasing. We are to pray
about all of the tasks and ministries of our life. All of it! All of it!

We are not to give ourselves to activity all the time. It's a wonderful thing to talk about
soulwinning, and visitation, and knocking at the door, and how little of it we do. And it's a
wonderful thing to prepare the lesson and to teach it and to go down to God's house. It's a great
thing to busy ourselves about the work of the Lord. But we go further on our knees than we do
in the swiftest running. We're to take time out to ask God's blessings upon the work of our
hands. "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it: and except the Lord
keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain" [Psalms 127:1]. We can teach and teach and teach,
and nobody ultimately learns. Preach and preach and preach, and nobody ultimately be saved.
We can come down here and go through the motions and the motions and the motions of worship
and our hearts never be moved toward God. These things are heavenly in origin, and they are
channeled to us through never ceasing prayer. We never get beyond it ourselves; there are
virtues to acquire, there are faults to correct, there are sins to confess, there are weaknesses to
admit. All through our lives there is that never ceasing need of dependence upon God. We
never quite arrive, never ever. And the need of these around us who are lost, and who are sick,
and who are dying, and who are heathens, and who are pagans, this whole world without Christ;
pray without ceasing.

Now, how would you implement that? Pray without ceasing: God knows we are
sensitive to the needs, how would you do it? "Pray without ceasing,” all right, this: all of us, all
of us ought to have seasons and times when we are alone. You can't be close to God and live all
of your life, and all of your time, and all of your hours in the presence of somebody else, in a
crowd, in a throng, where people are, or even in your family. There is such a thing as public
prayer, and we need it, to gather together for prayer; there's such a thing as family prayer. There
is also such a thing as talking to God in private, baring your soul before the Lord, alone, closet
prayer, when the door is shut and nobody knows and nobody sees; and everyone of us should
have, must have, a time to ourselves, alone. If you have a little house, and the houses Jesus knew
were little houses, He never lived in a palace. The only time He was ever in one was when He
was judged by Pontius Pilate. He called it going into a closet and shutting the door and being by
yourself, and talking to the Father who “seeth in secret and who knoweth all things” [Matthew 6:6-
8]. Every child of God should have a place of prayer, a time of prayer, where you can be to
yourself. That's one of the meanings of that text.

"Well," you say, "that's not praying without ceasing." That's the way we use the word.
When I go down Akard Street, there's a blind fellow there, and he sells pencils, and I can say
that fellow is on the street all the time, selling pencils. Well, I don't mean that every day and
every night, and all the twenty-four hours of every day and night he's there. “He’s there all the
time selling pencils,” that is, at stated intervals, you'll find him there selling pencils—a blind
man. That's the way this text partly means, “Praying without ceasing.” There is a place and a
time, all the time, every time, when it comes around, there you are, alone with God. And you'll
never find great fullness of soul and great witness of Christian life if you do not have a place to
yourself. Even your husband doesn't hear what you say to God, or your wife doesn't hear what
you say to God, or your family, or friends. Nobody knows. It's you and God—a place for you.

Then there is the stated time when family devotions are held; that's the hardest thing in
this earth that I know of. The tempo of our life is so ragged and jagged, it is almost impossible it
seems for a modern family to be like those country families that I knew as a boy and a young
preacher. So many of those godly country people, when the evening came and the chores were
done and the day's tasks were finished, after the supper would gather around, and the father
would read out of the Bible, and they would all kneel and have a prayer. We have lost
something of the virility of our Christian message and the strength of the Christian church in the
passing away of that evening family altar. Just once in a while will you ever see it anymore, but
there needs to be, there ought to be a prayer in which all of the family shares, and if possible,
each member of the family praying. How we need to be reminded, all of us, how we need to be
encouraged in this thing. These sermons need to be preached every hour on God's day; praying,
praying in a family circle.

I read this week, and I have forgotten the man's name, sitting here I was trying to think of
the man's name, he was made the Lord Mayor of London: a very famous man. And upon the
night of the banquet when they celebrated his appointment, when the hour came for family
devotions, that great, good man dismissed himself from the beautiful occasion, said he had a
most important engagement to keep, slipped away, conducted family devotion and came back
into the scintillating company and the brilliant feast. Why, he's one in a million! But if God had
people like that, I don't know what God could do with them.

Then it refers also to our lives being all given up in the spirit of prayer and intercession.
By that, I mean this: we can pray while our hands are busy: washing dishes, sweeping out the
house, punching a typewriter, riding to town, coming back from work, selling goods over the
counter, poring over these law books, out into the real estate world. All through the day we can
breathe a prayer. All these things that we can ask God for in behalf of our church, in behalf of
revival appeal, in behalf of the services, in behalf of the laws, in behalf of home and family, in
behalf of the pastor, in behalf of the work of God in the earth, in behalf of our hospitals, our
schools, our mission fields, our missionaries. How many times in the course of a day, while our
hands are busy, can we ask God's blessings? Praying without ceasing, our whole lives, a
continuous intercession. I have tried this thing.

There are people who provoke me, and that is a very mild word; they get under my skin,
they get in my hair, they greatly upset me. Some of them are dumb, and they can't ever learn.
Some of them are lazy, and they can't ever do. Some of them are stupid, and what they do, they
don't do right. And a thousand things, and then there are people you dislike, you just don't like
the way they do. And then there are people who stand in the way; and a thousand things that all
of us know. Well, I have tried it, and it works beyond anything, any magic you could ever
discover. You pray and ask God to bless, and to sanctify, and to help, and to be good to
somebody who provokes you, or stands in the way, or otherwise makes you unhappy, or you
don't like them. Pray! And see if the next time you meet them, there's not a soft glow, a
blessedness of understanding and fellowship. There is something between you that is sweet and
good when you pray.

For example, "God, take it out of my life to say things that are cutting, and bitter, and
highly critical, and damaging. When I see the fellow that I've talked about and against, when I
stand in his presence, he may be worthy of every cutting thing I could say about him, or he may
be in error, and I can easily point out such fault and such failure. And yet, when I expatiate upon
it and talk about it, then when I stand in his presence, there is a wall, there is a breaking, there is
a something in between. And my own heart, and my own hand, and my own life are weaker
because of what I've said and the spirit I've had in my heart. I can turn that thing around
gloriously; I can pray. I can ask God's blessings upon, I can ask God to direct, and forgive, and
overlook, and be good to, and then when I stand in his presence, I stand ten feet tall. I stand
strong and able; I stand mighty in the Lord.

There's hardly anyone that in prayer you cannot work with, hardly anyone. There comes
to the praying soul a certain turn of voice; a certain gesture of the hand; a certain look in the face
and the eye; a certain way that you couldn't describe, but it has in it the gentleness of Jesus and
the wonder of the dissolving of heaven. May I ask you to try it? Pick out somebody that you
don't like, pick out somebody that seems to provoke you or stand in the way. Pick out somebody
that you have cause to dislike, pray for them and ask God's blessings upon them and His
direction in their lives and His goodness to them. Try it and see if there is not a new sun in the
sky that shines and a new heart in your soul that responds. Try it, there's nothing in this world
that will work like praying. Praying! Praying! Infinite patience comes to you when you pray
for the people with whom you work and with whom you have to do, "Pray without ceasing."

Now look at this. In the parable of the importunate widow [Luke 18:1-8], she went to the
unjust judge and bothered him and bothered him and bothered him until he was so weary of her
he said, "I will do what this woman wants just to get rid of her." And He says that's the way we
ought to be in prayer. Well, that widow was after one blessing, one blessing.

Now the story of the friend at midnight: he came and wanted some bread for a guest who
had come at midnight, and he had nothing to lay before him. And he went to his friend's house
and knocked at the door. And the fellow stuck his head out from the loft up there and said,
"Who is that bothering me?" And the man said, "I have got a friend and he is hungry, I do not
have anything to eat, and I have come to borrow a loaf of bread." And the man said, "Listen, I
am in bed. And my children and my family are all asleep. Go away!" And he slams the window
up there. And the fellow keeps on a-knocking, and the fellow up there in that loft, he says, "If I
do not go down and give that fellow bread, he will keep me awake all night long." And he
comes down and gives him everything he wants [Luke 11:5-8].

And Jesus said that's the way we ought to be in prayer. Well, that's an importunate
illustration for one thing, one thing. What this appeal directed to us and made to us by the
apostle Paul is that our whole lives are to be importunate. Our whole lives are to flow toward
God. We are to pray without ceasing: a constant appeal to heaven in behalf of this work, and our
lives, and these tasks, “Pray without ceasing."

Now, how would you do that? How would you implement it? May I make some
observations? One: you don't need your voice to say it. You don't need words to pronounce it.
I suppose that the greatest prayer in your life will be one that you couldn't put in syllable and in
sentence—praying, agonizing, groaning—you couldn't say it. I remember reading here in the
Bible: the Lord said to Moses, "Moses, why criest thou unto Me?" And yet, it is not recorded
that Moses said anything to the Lord, he hadn't said a syllable, he hadn't uttered a sentence. And
yet, God says to Moses, "Moses, why criest thou unto Me?" [Exodus 14:15].

I remember reading here in the Bible where it describes Hannah. She was there in the
Lord's house. And she was praying for a great burden on her heart. Eli looked at her, and he
said to her, "Woman, put away thy wine and be no longer drunken." For it says that when
Hannah prayed, she didn't say anything. No words came out of her mouth, but she prayed in her
heart. And when old Eli looked at her and saw her there, and saw her there, and saw her there,
and thought she was drunken—“Put away your wine!" And she replied, "Thy handmaiden is not
drunken with wine, but I have a great burden on my heart" [1 Samuel 1:9-15].

You listen to me, one earnest groan in the soul is worth a thousand litanies, however
beautifully they are said or read. And one breathing of the soul upward to God is worth a
thousand collects. By that you could understand I don't believe in writ-out prayers, just say it to
God in the language of the heart and of the spirit and of the soul. In my humble persuasion, there
are thousands and thousands of people who gather every Lord's Day and read those prayers and
go through those collects and make responses in those litanies. And they are words and
syllables, beautiful, I know. Expressive, I know. But that's not praying. Praying is of the heart,
it's of the soul, it's not of the voice, nor is it of beautiful sentence.

When they dedicated Bunker Hill, Joseph Parker was there to lead the prayer of
dedication, and it was—and wait a minute, it was Theodore Parker. Theodore Parker was there
to lead the dedication, and he said the prayer beautifully and eloquently, magnificently. And the
newspaper author, in writing it up in the Boston pape,r said, “It was the most eloquent prayer
ever addressed to a Boston audience,” and never felt that he'd said anything or written anything
wrong. “The most eloquent prayer ever addressed to a Boston audience,” do you see anything
wrong with that? “Beautifully said, every sentence balanced, fine address, glorious
salutations,” but words, and sentence, and language! Real prayer of the heart and of the soul,
and I say one groan in the spirit is worth a thousand such. And one thirsting after God is worth a
whole book of them, “Praying without ceasing.”

Now, I can go on with that. You don't need your voice, you can pray in your heart. You
don't have to have a place; any place is a good place. A kitchen corner is just as good as the
most magnificent cathedral. Any time is a good time, while you're working over the sink, while
you're busy about the duties of the house, while you're on the way to work or back away from
work. Any time is a good time: early or late. Any hour, the door is open. We're not bound in
our praying to any stated habit, any stated way, any stated time, or any stated place. The only
reason for having our everyday prayer meeting all day Saturday is on account of God's Day,
Sunday. We could have that prayer just as well on Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday as we
could on Saturday. The only reason for having it on Saturday is to get us ready to ask God to
bless us on Sunday, on the Lord's Day. Anywhere, any time, any place, in any language is a
great time and a great place and a great hour for supplication. I must close.

"Pray without ceasing," we're to pray in faith, we're to pray in love, we're to pray in
humility. Don’t recount your virtues, not to Him who knows all about us. Like the Pharisee's
who commended himself to God, “Look what I do.” But the publican who beat on his breast and
wouldn't so much as lift up his face to God; he, God heard, and it was he that God justified [Luke
18:13-14]. In humility, we, who are but dust and ashes, we have taken upon ourselves to speak
unto Thee O God. And I cannot emphasize too much, that is for me, that this “old buddy-buddy
stuff” with God and this “pal, ol’ pal, stuff” with Jesus; I don't think any soul that ever
approached God and got close to God ever felt that way about Him. “We, who are but dust and
ashes, we have taken upon ourselves to speak unto Thee, O Thou Judge of the earth” [Genesis
18:25], humble, on our knees, on our face, and if not in actual posture, then in spirit, praying to
God.

While we sing this invitation hymn, somebody you give his heart to Jesus, a family you
put your life in the church. However God shall open the door and say the word, would you come
tonight, and stand by me? A prayer to Jesus will open the impossible, "I don't see how I could
follow the Lord. I don't see how I could take Jesus as my Savior tonight. With all that I have
against me and with so much to settle first, I couldn't come down that aisle." Yes, you can! Ask
Jesus to help you. Don't try to solve the problem and then come. Come, and ask Him to help
you solve the problem, and He will see you through. Just a prayer, just a looking up, just an
asking Jesus, He will open the door. He will lead in the way. He will make a miracle come to
pass if you will just ask Him. Why don't you try it? Why don't you try it? Sometime, someday,
we must meet God. That's why we must have a Savior and an Advocate, and that Savior is
Jesus. Would you try it?

Down that stairwell, from side to side, into this aisle and down here to the front, "Here I
am, preacher, and here I come. I'll take Jesus at His word. If I ask Him, He will help me. If I
confess to Him, He will forgive me. If I lay myself in His hands, He will direct my way." Try it
and see. There is heaven for the asking, there is all of glory for the having, and just to be humble
before the Lord and to ask for His help and for His forgiveness and for His salvation is to receive
it and have it forever. He will not take away what He has promised. He will not give and call it
back. It is yours for the asking, it is yours for the having, it is yours forever. Would you take it
graciously, humbly, believingly, lovingly?

"Lord, I lift up my hands, fill them. My heart, fill it, my life and soul." Try it and see.
However God shall say the word and open the way, while we sing this song, would you come?
While we stand and while we sing.

Sermon:
Pray Always!
Ephesians 6:18-24
Focus: Paul calls Christians to utilize the most powerful ‘weapon’ they possess: prayer . . .
ALWAYS!
Function: To encourage Christians to re-discover the power of prayer in their lives.

The War
Eph 6:12-17
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world
and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

The weapons of war . . .

13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able
to stand your ground, and after you have
done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,
with the breastplate of righteousness in
place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In
addition to all this, take up the
shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the
helmet of salvation and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God. (NIV)

Finally, the ultimate weapon . . .

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in
mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all
the saints. (NIV)

History records that on August 6, 1945 after four long years of war with the Axis of evil and
after years of research and development which took place not too far from here, President Harry
S. Truman gave the order. United States troops on board
the B-29 plane, the Enola Gay, dropped the Atomic Bomb, nicknamed “Little Boy”, on
Hiroshima, Japan. One minute after being dropped, the bomb exploded into a fireball with a
magnitude of which had never been seen before! That and the bomb dropped
on Nagasaki three days later brought a clear and decisive end to years of death and destruction
during the second world war.

Today in our current war in Iraq, I’ve heard a lot of talk about the M.O.A.B.- the Massive
Ordnance Air Burst Bomb. It’s the most powerful conventional (non-nuclear) bomb ever
developed and its being used right now in Iraq by Allied forces.

Sometimes in war, the situation calls for the most powerful weapon at your disposal. In this
battle against the spiritual forces of evil . . . in this battle for the souls of men and women- the
most powerful weapon at our disposal, SADLY, is often the weapon we pull out last . . . Prayer.

In the text that ______ just read to us, let’s notice Paul’s final prayer requests of the Ephesians.

1. Notice, Paul calls on Christians to pray ALWAYS!/ in EVERY SEASON!

Though Paul saves it for last in this list- I believe he does so because it is the MOST
IMPORTANT WEAPON of battle! Not that it should be used as the last resort, or when all else
fails! No! He says that Christians are to pray ON ALL OCCASIONS! And
to ALWAYS KEEP ON PRAYING! He had told the church at Thessolonica to ‘pray without
ceasing!’ (1 Thess. 5:17).
Why?
This is the foundational weapon of war!

Folks, to use the language I used last week, there’s a war on! It’s a serious war against a serious enemy,
but we have a secret weapon at our disposal! Like Special Operative troops I’ve read about. They aim
their sophisticated lasers at specific locales
and call down laser-guided missiles from fighter jets overhead to destroy specific targets! That’s how
prayer works. In prayer,we can call down power from on high and focus it in on a specific target! And it
makes a difference!
But, Paul is calling for more than specific prayers . . . he’s calling for a lifestyle of prayer! While there are
certainly times which
we are to go into our prayer closets and spend specific and pointed quiet time with God; this is a call to
see all of life as communion with God. I DO think that we should see prayer as a kind of ‘spiritual
breathing’, something we do naturally, almost without thinking about it.

2. Notice, too, Paul calls on Christians to pray IN THE SPIRIT.

What does it mean to pray, ‘in the Spirit’? Is this different from ‘just praying?’ According to a recent
survey almost 90% of Americans regularly ‘pray’ in some regard. But just because one says he is praying,
does that really mean that he is truly speaking to God?

To pray ‘in the Spirit’ is to pray ‘under the influence of the Spirit.’ Back in 5:18 Paul had exhorted his
readers ‘not to get drunk on
much wind, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.’ Christians are to live their lives
under the influence of the
Spirit, NOT anything or anyone else!

This is a call for Christians to be guided and led by the Holy Spirit of God in their prayers! That their
prayers & requests are not just some rote prayers memorized since youth or some ‘wish list’; “God,
please could you give me this, or that, and by the way . . .” NO! Our prayer is directed by the Holy
Spirit! How? How does this work? I’m not exactly sure, but I think Rom. 8:26,27 helps us out in
understanding this...
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 with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the
Spirit, because the Spirit
intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. (NIV)

The Spirit intercedes for us in prayer. When we don’t know what to say- the Spirit does. When we just
can’t find the words- the
Spirit does. When our souls are hurting and we don’t know why or what to ask- the Spirit does.

3. Notice WHO Christians are to pray FOR.

“For all the saints.” Christians are to pray for one another. Christians are to pray for the church.
Is this church on your prayer list? I’ve never been real disciplined about prayer– I always found time to
pray, but didn’t have to discipline myself like I do these days. I’ve started a list of prayer needs to help
me remember what and who I need to pray about. Have you done this? And I need to be reminded that
the church should be high up there on my list! We need to be in prayer over our Elders & leaders. We
need to be in prayer over our members– especially those hurting or unable to be with us.
We need to be in prayer over the ministry of this church; what we’re trying to do for God. I’m thankful
that our Capital Stewardship team has made prayer a high priority for our “Growing in Love for God’s
Glory” campaign. I don’t know about
you, but I’ve been challenged by the prayers offered in regards to that campaign that we not only grow
in the grace of giving, but also in our relationship to God. Folks, that is done through Prayer!
___________ is going to come now and lead us in a special
prayer over the ministry of this church and the incredible work God is doing here. . .
{Special Prayer}

4. Finally, Paul calls on the Christians there at Ephesus to pray for him.
I can understand that! Paul’s in quite a circumstance! Remember back in 3:1, he’s told us that he’s a
“prisoner of Christ
Jesus for the sake of you, Gentiles” and we noted that while he languishes in a Roman prison cell, he
doesn’t consider himself a prisoner of Rome or of Caesar, but of Christ! It is for the sake of Christ and
spreading the good news of Christ that he’s been thrown in jail! But, he doesn’t pray for what I’d expect
him to pray.. The images of our American POWs in Iraq are
still fresh on all of our minds. I cringe to think about what some of them have been going through these
last few days. News channels have interviewed former POWs and their tales are gruesome and
horrifying! I know that if I was in that circumstance
I’d be praying for release! I’d be praying for rescue! I’d be praying for protection, at least! I don’t know
how that situation compares to what Paul was dealing with, but I think its worth noting that the prayers
he requested were for NONE of those
things.
Eph 6:19-20
19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly
make known the mystery of the
gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. (NIV)

Paul’s request was for courage so that he might fearlessly continue preaching the gospel! Isn’t that
amazing? Paul is languishing in a prison cell as a direct result of his preaching the gospel and all he can
think about is preaching the gospel. He
doesn’t ask for prayers of protection or prayers of comfort or prayers for release, but prayers for the
courage to stand firm and continue preaching the good news!

That’s encouraging! How committed are WE to that task? What if we found ourselves imprisoned for
our beliefs? Would we still proclaim the good news? What if we found ourselves at the wrong end of a
revolver? Would we still proclaim the good news? What if we found ourselves beaten & tortured for the
sake of Christ? Would we still proclaim the good news?

Well, we catch a glimpse of the 1st century world in which Paul lived in his final greetings.
21 Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also
may know how I am and what I am
doing. 22 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he
may encourage you. 23 Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. 24 Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus
Christ with an undying love. (NIV)

Even the Apostle Paul needed friends. Tychicus is mentioned first in Acts as a friend of Paul’s and then
shows up again in four of Paul’s letters. Perhaps he is the courier for this letter, hand-delivering it to the
church at Ephesus. Paul wants him to convey
personally to them how he is doing and to encourage them. Again, even in prison, Paul’s concern isn’t
for himself, but how he might encourage others.

It’s a typical final greeting for Paul. ‘Peace’ literally ‘shalom’-- Paul wishes them the fullest blessings of
life & ‘Grace’ – to all who love Jesus “with an undying love.”

How would you describe your prayer life?

flourishing or floundering? always or almost never?
Constant or erratic?

Your car is hurtling on the rain slick road sideways toward the oncoming car at 50 mph! What do you
do? You pray! But what do you do when the weather is nice and the drive is peaceful?

The doctor comes into your exam room with the test results and a worried frown on his face. What do
you do? You pray! But what do you do when you’re sitting at your desk at work involved in the mundane
everyday responsibilities of your job?

You’re in the delivery room and the doctor looks at you and says, “It’s a boy!” or “It’s a girl!” What do
you do? You thank God! But what do you do when the diaper has to be changed or the little booger has
woken you up in the middle of the night?

I believe that so goes your prayer-life, so goes your relationship with God. How’s yours?

We have some wonderful opportunities coming up to deepen & strengthen your prayer life and I’d
encourage you to take advantage of them.
My class- “Lord, teach us to pray” on Wed. nights.
Others you’ll be hearing more about in the weeks to come.

This is a call to pray . . . to pray powerfully . . . to pray specifically and to pray constantly! Not just when
the chips are down; not just when all else fails; not just when you don’t have anywhere else to turn . . .
but pray always/ in every season. God is there listening . . . he has said that he will never leave us nor
forsake us!

My prayer today is that if you don’t know Christ, you won’t leave here without finding out more about
him.

And that if you are in need of prayer, that you’d let that be known so that your brothers & sisters in
Christ can be an encouragement to you through their prayers. Won’t you, during the singing of this next
invitation song?

Sermon:
Why Pray?

We have been in a study of Prayer. We were interrupted by Christmas and the New Year. I
believe that we need to learn how to pray so that we can see results.
Many Christians have prayed for years and cannot tell you for sure that “GOD ANSWERED
MY PRAYERS”.

Everyone prays, Christians pray, sinners pray, heathen pray but not many results are seen.
We want to learn to Pray and get Results.
The last time we talked about Prayer we discovered the PURPOSE OF PRAYER.

#1 The Purpose of Prayer is Fellowship and Relationship.

Many pray because they have a shopping list that need to be addressed.
The primary reason for prayer is fellowship and relationship.
Jesus prayed all night several times and it was not because He was in want or need. Jesus wanted
fellowship and relationship with His Father.

#2 The Way to Receive from God.

James 4: 2 Ye lust and have not: ye kill and desire to have and cannot obtain ye fight and war yet
ye have not, because ye ask not.
3 Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
James says we fight and scratch and struggle to get things but that is not the way to get it.
PRAYER is the way our needs are met.
James said that if you don’t ask you will not get it.

Then he identifies 2 Reasons that prayers are not answered.

1. Ask amiss = asking for the wrong things. God will not let you have a great successful
Robbery. GOD WILL NOT ANSWER A PRAYER THAT GOES AGAINST HIS NATURE.
2. Consume it upon your lusts = God does not answer selfish prayers. God will not make you
rich so you can show your kinfolk you are special. God will make you rich if your desire is to
help God’s Kingdom.
God knows what you have need of and he wants you to have it.
John 16:24: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

#3 The way God’s Kingdom is established in the earth is prayer.

Matt. 6:10 Thy kingdom come Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
We are to pray for God’s Kingdom and righteous rule be established in the earth.
I believe if the Church and Christians would pray for this kind of thing rather than the silly
selfish things that we pray that God would hear us and heal our land and we would bring this
nation back to God.

This is WHY we pray.

This is HOW we pray:

1Th 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
The last time we talked about Prayer it was called PRESISTENT PRAYER

Don’t give up in prayer, don’t give out in prayer, and don’t give in, in prayer.

Delay is not Denial.

1. Some delay is because of DEMONS
Daniel prayed for 21 days and found out it was demons that delayed the answer.
2. Some delays are DIVINE.
1. Time to focus on God and not man to supply the need.
2. Time to refine our request and see if it is a desire or a wish.
3. Test of Faith. Abraham waited 25 years
Ga 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

How to Pray
John 16: 20 Verily,

Steps to Effective Prayer

A Sermon by Coty Pinckney, Community Bible Church, Williamstown, MA 3/1/98

Please turn in your Bibles with me to Ephesians 6:18; we will read the next 3 verses:

18 With all types of prayer and petition pray in every season in the Spirit, and with this in
view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 19 and [pray] on my
behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with
boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in
[proclaiming] it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. (NAS)

Last week: we asked the question, "Does prayer work? Does prayer make any difference?" We
noted that prayer works in at least two ways: First of all, prayer changes us. As we pray, as we
turn our thoughts toward God -- his power, his majesty, his faithfulness, his accomplishments --
our perspective changes. So that as we pray, God joins our heart to his, he gives us grace to help
in our time of need, he changes our thoughts and our attitudes.

In addition, prayer changes the world around us, not because our prayers change God, but
because God has ordained that he will work through our prayers. And I suggested that the way
God works through prayer is not fundamentally different from the way God works through
preaching, or witnessing, or service: in each case, we could accomplish nothing unless the Holy
Spirit works in the hearts of those we serve.

So what kind of prayer works? As we thought about these words of Paul, we noted that this
passage provides us with seven lessons for effective prayer, seven lessons that we need to take to
heart if our prayers are to work.

1. Put on the armor of God (verses 10-17) before you pray;

 2. Use all types of prayer -- especially, I encouraged you to pray through the Scriptures;
3. Pray at all times, in all seasons of your life;
4. Pray in the Spirit;
5. Be watchful and alert, looking out for each other;
6. Be perseverant, be devoted to prayer;
7. Pray in accord with God's promises and gifts.

This morning, we will elaborate on these lessons for effective prayer, particularly the second:
using all types of prayer. I'll mention seven types of prayer that we might use. In addition, we'll
discuss using all four parts of prayer: Adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and petition. Like last
week, some of these points I will emphasize while others only mention; please note them all
down, and try to put them into practice this week.

So let us begin by examining our use of the four parts of prayer.

(1) USE ALL PARTS OF PRAYER

Many of us have profited from using the acronym ACTS for the parts of prayer: Adoration,
Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication (or, as I prefer, Petition -- but ACTP is hard to
pronounce!). Let us consider these in turn:

Adoration

I well remember my first week teaching secondary school in Kenya in 1977. My 2nd or 3rd day
at the school, I had some business with the headmaster. I walked into his office, saw that he was
busy, so just blurted out my request for additional math books for my students. The headmaster
looked slightly pained, then asked me, "So how are you this morning? Are you settling in well?
And your parents, have you heard from your parents? How are they?

Those questions were a polite reprimand to me. You see, in most of Africa it is exceptionally
rude to make a request of a person as soon as you enter their presence. You must first greet the
person, ask about their family and children (and their grandparents and their neighbors!) and
only after all these preliminaries make any request. The idea behind this custom is that the two of
you have a relationship, and that relationship is more important than any use you might have for
each other. You care about each other, you are concerned for each other first and foremost. Once
you have established that through your greeting, then you can make a request.

Our prayers should follow a similar custom. We should not approach God immediately making
requests, but our prayers should begin with adoration and praise. This pattern is apparent in the
Bible. Indeed, almost every one of the prayers of great men of faith recorded in the Bible begins
with invocation. For example:

 When Daniel prays to God out of concern for his nation, he begins: Alas, O Lord, the great
and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His
commandments
 When Hezekiah confronts the likely destruction of his nation, as the most powerful
military force in the world is about to attack, he begins his prayer: O LORD, the God of
 Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You
have made heaven and earth.

These prayers do not have 10 minute long invocations. But they do begin by acknowledging who
God is, they begin by reminding the speaker of some of the characteristics of the God whom we
address. They also, like the African custom, establish the relationship between the speaker and
God. Our prayers should do the same.

Although all our prayers should begin with adoration, at times we should focus longer prayers
solely on adoring the God who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. These
prayers may focus on one characteristic of God, such as:

 His faithfulness -- think of God's revelation of his faithfulness as recorded in the Bible,
and then of examples in biblical history, national history, and your personal history;
 His creative power -- think through the mighty power of God as evidenced by his
creation. My oldest son, Jonathan, gave me a good example of this last week: Given
present estimates, if all the stars were divided up among all the people on earth, how
many stars do you think each of us would receive? Ten? A hundred? No: Two Trillion.
Two trillion stars for every man, woman, and child. That is the kind of God we have -- a
God of unimaginable power, a God who has created unimaginable wealth.

Confession

Let us now briefly consider confession. When we praise God, we are remembering who God is;
when we confess, we are remembering who we are, how weak we are; we are agreeing with God
concerning his statements about our actions.

Our confession should first and foremost include acknowledging our specific failures to live a
life worthy of our calling. But there are two other aspects of confession I would like to point out:

 Group confession: In addition to our personal sins, we need to confess sins committed by
groups with which we are identified. If you continue reading Daniel's prayer, you find
that he is confessing the sins of the Jewish people, even though he was not personally
guilty of those sins. We too need to be cognizant of the sins committed by our families,
our nation, our race, our church.
 Second, while most confession has to do with sin, we also need to confess before God our
inability to accomplish anything without him, our lack of power to accomplish anything
of eternal significance. This, again, is agreeing with God concerning his statements about
us, and thus is logically a part of confession.

Thanksgiving:

The third part of prayer is thanksgiving. Here, we usually think of the blessings God has given
us: our salvation, our families, our friends, our material possessions, etc. And, of course, we
should thank God for all of these. But according to the Bible we should also thank God for the
trials and difficulties we face. Remember the beginning of the book of James:
 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the
testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, that
you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4, NAS)

Consider it all joy, or "pure joy" as some translations put it, when you face trials. Do you
consider trials to be a joy? James is not saying here that we should jump up and down, saying,
"Oh, Goody! A Trial!" Rather, he is saying that we should have a quiet confidence that God will
use these trials for our benefit, and the benefit of others who see us encounter trials with this
attitude. Anyone can be thankful and joyful when things are going well; when we are thankful
and joyful even in the midst of trials and difficulties, we stand out from the world around us, we
are letting our light shine.

Let me challenge you: Commit yourself right now to thanking God for the next five disagreeable
things that happen to you. And let me know how it goes . . .

Petition

The last part of prayer is petition. Most of our prayers are dominated by petition; we don't need a
lot of instruction concerning this form of prayer. But let me make three suggestions for you to
keep in mind concerning your prayers of petition:

First, acknowledge that "No" is the best answer for some of our petitions. Amy Carmichael, who
spent over fifty years as a missionary to India, told the story of her earliest memory. Amy's
mother taught her about prayer when she was three. And Amy believed with a child's simple
faith that all her prayers would be answered. Now, the desire of her heart was to have beautiful
blue eyes instead of her own deep brown eyes. So she prayed one night, "Oh, Lord, please, make
my eyes blue tonight!" And she went to sleep with full confidence that her eyes would be blue in
the morning. When she woke up, she immediately ran to the mirror to look at her pretty blue
eyes. She looked -- and was devastated. God had let her down.

Now, in many cases we never know why God says, "No." But sometimes we find out. Amy
believed in her later years that she knew why she had to have a dark complexion and the
accompanying brown eyes. In India, she was able to dress like the locals and walk through the
city streets without calling attention to herself. That would have been impossible had she been
blonde-headed and blue-eyed. So when we get no for an answer, we should thank God, and
believe that he is working all things together for the good of those who love him.

Second, we can be confident that the answer will be "Yes" if our petitions are based on the
promises of God. This is why Scripture prayers can be so effective -- we are basing our requests
on God's explicit promises. Now, it is ok to pray for cares for which we have no specific
promises -- we are instructed to take our concerns to God, whatever they may be. For those
requests, however, we need to be ready to acknowledge no for an answer. But when we pray
based on a specific promise, we can KNOW that God will answer in the affirmative. For
example, when we are suffering through a trial, we can pray that God would use this testing of
our faith to produce endurance in us, to perfect us, to make us complete, so that we would
become like him. And we can know that God will do so.
Finally, our petitions should include asking that God would be recognized as holy and just,
praying that God's will would be done in this world and that the world would acknowledge him.
This, of course, is part of the Lord's Prayer: "hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your
will be done on earth as it is in heaven" -- but how often do we pray about this topic other than
when we recite that prayer? I encourage you to include this most important petition in your
prayers this week.

So we have considered Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Petition. I encourage you to

use all of the parts of prayer. Now let us turn our thoughts to different types of prayer.

(2) USE ALL TYPES OF PRAYER

I will mention seven types of prayer, discussing only the first in any detail.

(a) Pray through the Scriptures

As we mentioned last week, praying by using the Scriptures is an important step toward effective
prayer. There are at least three reasons for this:

 First, to learn how to praise God. Praise is usually the weakest part of our prayers. Asking
God for things we think we need is relatively easy. We may not like to confess our sins,
but we can always think of what we have done wrong. And we may not have a thankful
heart, but with some reflection we can readily think of things for which we should thank
God. But praise is more difficult for most of us. The Bible is full of wonderful examples
of praise; praying through these examples serves as effective praise while we do it, and
teaches us how to praise God when we don't have a Bible in front of us.
 Second, using Scripture gives us examples of how to pray for others. Last week in
Sunday School we used Paul's prayers in Ephesians 1 and 3 to pray for others -- this is a
particularly powerful way to pray.
 Third, God speaks to us through his written word. By praying through the Scriptures, by
knowing the Scriptures and having them right on our lips, we put ourselves in a position
to hear God as he speaks through his word.

There are different ways that we can use the Scriptures in our prayers. We can simply read a
passage prayerfully. Alternately, we can change the pronouns or the names so that the Scripture
is specifically relevant for the case we are concerned about. Third, we can use the Scripture as a
starting point, and elaborate on the points brought out as we pray.

Let us actually do that now. I would like us to pray together using Psalm 23 as the base. I will
pray, and expand on the thoughts in the passage:

O Lord, my shepherd, our guide, our protector: Because we belong to you, we

will never lack anything we need. Lord, help us to believe this and act upon it
when the circumstances of our lives seem to indicate otherwise. My Shepherd,
you make us lie down in green pastures, in places of abundant nourishment; you
provide us with safe and quiet places to rest, so that we might be restored. Thank
 you, Lord, for guiding us in your paths of righteousness. Lord, without your
guidance we would constantly be losing the path. Keep us on your paths, O Lord.
Father, here is a mystery: we can ask "For your name's sake!" Lord, thank you
that you choose to glorify your name through such weak and unworthy vessels as
those of us worshiping you here this morning.

Lord you are our shepherd even when -- especially when -- we are in frightening
situations, when it appears that everything we depend upon is falling apart. But
Lord, we will not fear if we draw close to you, if we acknowledge that you are
with us, armed to defend us from every evil attack and equipped to keep us on the
path. Your discipline and protection comfort us, O Lord.

Lord, we know that you will honor us in front of those who have opposed us, that
you will lift us up and exalt us, providing us with riches that we cannot imagine
and do not deserve. You have given us a foretaste of this by the gift of your Spirit,
as you have anointed us; the riches that you give us are worth more than we can
imagine; we have a superabundance of good things.

Our shepherd, your goodness and your lovingkindness, your covenant love, will
follow us and accompany us every minute of every day of this life on earth. And,
praise you my Lord, each person here who knows you as Savior and Lord will
delight in you for all eternity in your presence. Thank you, our Father. Amen.

I heartily commend this form of prayer to you. Commit yourself to taking a block of time and
praying ONLY this way. I believe it will open the Scriptures to you, help you to hear God, and
make your other prayers that much more effective.

(b) Pray through the Writings of Others

While the Scriptures are the best tool to use in our prayers, other writings by Christians can be
helpful also. In the book A Life of Prayer Edith Schaeffer gives numerous examples of her own
use of the Scriptures for prayer, along with examples of prayers of other Christians that she has
used. Using such prayers once a week or so can help us to get out of the rut of offering similar
prayers every day.

One resource that I have found helpful as a prayer-starter is the small book by Pamela Reeve
entitled Faith Is . . . The author meditates on the meaning of faith, offering dozens of one
sentence definitions. Here are some of them:

 Faith is cooperating with God in changing me rather than taking refuge in piously
berating myself.
 Faith is refusing to feel guilty over past confessed sin, when God, the Judge, has
sovereignly declared me pardoned.
 Faith is accepting the ordinary as God's best for me when I want to be special.
 Faith is accepting the truth that despite the wreckage I've caused and grieved over, God
who has wiped the slate clean delights in me.
  Faith is having the confidence that God will take the bad choices others have made that
affect me and use them for my ultimate good.
 Faith is taking my eyes off my good self, or my bad self, or my wounded self, and
keeping them on Himself.

Taking one of these sentences, meditating on it, and praying to God concerning our own need for
this type of faith can be deeply rewarding. We can also pray for others to have this type of faith. I
commend that to you.

(c) Pray out loud

Has your mind ever wandered while praying? You are saying in your mind, "Oh, God, I praise
you for your mercy and your lovingkindness . . . now how did the Celtics blow that game last
night? I just don't understand how professional basketball players . . . Oh, Lord, sorry, I praise
you . . ."

God is the only person we try to address in our heads; we have little practice in speaking this
way, making it is easy to lose focus. Silent prayers are often appropriate when we are in the
presence of others, but when alone I suggest that you pray aloud. One author has stated, "Praying
out loud controls 90% of mind wandering." I do not believe that Daniel would have prayed what
is recorded for us in Daniel 9 silently; though he was alone at the time, this is a spoken prayer.
So I encourage you this week to try saying all your solitary prayers out loud.

(d) Write your prayers

Daniel eventually wrote down his prayer in chapter 9. I have been writing many of my prayers
for the last three years, and I would have to say that this is the single most helpful change in my
prayer life. Now, I write professionally, so when I am positioned in front of a computer with my
hands on the keyboard, it is natural for me to be focussed on my work. I think simply assuming
the position is helpful to me, in keeping me from allowing my mind to wander. In addition, I
have found that writing especially helps my praise time. Typing slows me down just enough that
I can't simply rattle off fifteen attributes of God in a few seconds and go on to another part of
prayer.

In his book Too Busy Not to Pray, Bill Hybels suggests writing your prayers and then reading
them aloud. I rarely do this, praying instead as I type. Try it both ways at least once this week,
and see how this affects your prayer time.

(e) Offer songs as prayers

Singing during a prayer time can be quite effective, especially as a form of praise. And there is
clear biblical precedence, as the Psalms and other parts of the Old Testament (such as Habakkuk
3) were originally written to be sung. Make use of the praise songs we sing in church, make use
of hymns, offer up your own creations. Your voice doesn't have to be good, and your songs don't
have to be great pieces of music. God is delighted when our hearts are turned to him in prayer,
and singing adds another dimension to our prayer life that is especially helpful at turning our
hearts to him.

In addition, singing as part of a performance of a great work of Christian music can be a deeply
prayerful experience. Many of you know that God turned my life around while we were living in
Kenya in the early 1980's. During the fall of 1984 I was practicing Handel's Messiah with the
Nairobi Music Society, an excellent 100-voice choir. Unfortunately, the concert was to be
performed on a Friday night, the very night of our departure for the States. Nevertheless, I
participated in the practices all fall because of the joy of singing this great piece of music. In
mid-November, the airline on which we were flying changed its flight schedule, forcing us to
delay our departure until Saturday night -- and allowing me to spend my last night in Nairobi
singing praises to God. For me, that night was incredibly meaningful -- feeling that God as a
special gift had made the arrangements so that I could sing, thinking of all that He had
accomplished during my three years in Kenya, and ending with the most glorious chorus ever
written: "Worthy is the lamb that was slain and hath redeemed us to God by his blood to receive
power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing! Blessing and
honor, glory, and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the lamb forever and
ever! Amen! Amen!" The entire 2 1/2 hour concert was one long prayer for me.

(f) Pray through your creativity

In addition to praying through songs written by others, we can effectively pray to God through
our own creative expressions. This can include our own musical compositions, our artwork, our
writings -- praising God, bringing glory to him through our creativity can be one effective
method of prayer. Clearly masterpieces bring glory to God, but our own songs written to express
our thoughts to Him can also please Him, just as three-year-old Joel's music and drawings which
he offers to me bring me pleasure.

(g) Pray through our excellent work

Finally, I would like to suggest that we also effectively praise God when we honor him through
excelling in areas in which he has gifted us. This can be in our ministry, in our work -- as Doug
discussed a few weeks ago when preaching on the first part of Ephesians 6:5-9 -- or in athletic
endeavors. One of my favorite expressions of this idea comes out in the Academy Award
winning film, Chariots of Fire. The film tells the story of Eric Liddell, who won the 400 meters
at the 1924 Olympic games. Eric was born in China, where his parents were missionaries, and
knew he was called to missionary service in China. In the film, Eric's sister Jenny confronts him
concerning the amount of time and energy he is expending on his running, as she suggests that he
is forgetting his calling. Eric replies, "Jenny, I believe God made me for the purpose of serving
in China, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure."

When we work to the best of our abilities by God's power in whatever we do, when we give Him
all the glory for whatever we accomplish, we are praising Him in a most effective way. And this
also is a type of prayer.

CONCLUSION
So in the last two weeks we have learned much about prayer. The question now is: What will
you do? Will you put these truths into practice?

In Psalm 27, David tells us that the Lord said to him, "Seek My face." And David's heart replied,
"Your face, O LORD, I shall seek." Seek his face! Will you seek the face of the Lord?

My three-year-old Joel will sit on Beth's lap, reach up with his hands, put one on each of her
cheeks, turn her face toward him, look dreamily into her eyes and say, "I wuv you Mommy." He
seeks her face, he longs to stare one on one into her eyes. We are to do the same with God.

God commands us to seek his face, and tells us that we cannot live the Christian life or
experience true joy unless we do so. And he promises that persistence in prayer will change both
us and the world around us.

In Psalm 34 David writes,

O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

We must taste in order to see, we must reach out to him in prayer -- regularly, persistently -- and
then we will see that the Lord indeed is good. There is true joy to be found in tasting the Lord's
goodness.

So I hold out to you that promise of God: If you persevere in prayer, you WILL see that the Lord
is good, you will see the impact on yourself and others of your prayer.

But I warn you: it won't be easy. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, "Everything we do in the Christian
life is easier than prayer." We are in a war, and prayer is one of our most effective weapons. So
Satan will fight us every step of the way. But because we are in a war, because the body of Christ
depends on each one of us holding up our part of the front line, we need to strengthen our feeble
arms and weak knees, we need to discipline ourselves so that we regularly, continually turn in
active dependence to the Lord.

So I encourage you: Taste and see that the Lord is good. Commit yourself to using at least one of
these types of prayer today, and another this week; commit yourself to using all parts of prayer.
Seek his face.

Let us pray:

Our Lord and Father, you who have reached out to us and given us such great and
precious promises, you have told us that we have the tremendous privilege of
approaching your throne of grace boldly, with confidence because of the blood of
Jesus shed for us. Our God, we confess that we have neglected to do so, that we
have allowed the Enemy to divert us from this most important task. Lord, may we
believe that you have ordained to work through prayer; may we then act on that
belief even today. And may Community Bible Church become a community of
 believers who are devoted to prayer, so that we might be effective ambassadors
for you in this hurting world.

24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the
presence of His glory blameless with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus
Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and
forever. Amen. (Jude 24,25, NAS)

Addendum added 5/28/01: Another suggestion for prayer, which God has used mightily in my
life since I preached this sermon: Try to find an isolated spot that you really love, and regularly
go there to pray. I fought this for many years: "I should be able to pray anywhere! I'm just giving
in to weakness if I have to go some place special to pray effectively." But that thinking is
wrongheaded. For I could say the same thing about my relationship with my wife, Beth: "We
don't need to go anywhere special; if our relationship is good, we can talk fine at home." Of
course we can talk fine at home. But our relationship benefits from regular special occasions
when we go somewhere we both enjoy, and relate to each other in that special context. Just so,
your relationship with God will benefit if you take the time to go some place you particularly
enjoy (God enjoys all places!) and spend time with Him.

January 10, 1999

Bethlehem Baptist Church
End of Prayer Week
John Piper, Pastor

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

(1 Thessalonians 5:12-18)

But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and
have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, 13 and that you esteem them very
highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another. 14 We urge you, brethren,
admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 See
that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one
another and for all people. 16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give
thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Last week we ended abruptly in our exposition of Psalm 1 at the word "delight." So I would like
to go back there to deal with that, and then make a connection to today's text.

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of
sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law
he meditates day and night." (Psalm 1:1-2)

We talked about the blessedness that comes from meditating on the law of the Lord day and
night. It makes you like a tree planted by streams of water: 1) fruitful in ministry to others; 2)
durable, as your leaf remains green in the midst of dry blasts and seasons of drought; and 3)
prosperous, in that all the work of faith will have enduring significance even to eternity. Nothing
you do in dependence on God will be done in vain, even if it looks like a failure here.
We pointed out that meditating on the Word of God day and night probably requires memorizing
portions of Scripture so that they are there to ponder throughout the day or night without taking
the Bible in hand or even turning on the light. And I encouraged you to be a part of the Fighter
Verse strategy.

What If Meditating on God's Word Is Not a Pleasure?

Then, at the end, I said that the key to this kind of meditation is delight. The deepest mark of this
happy person in Psalm 1 is that he delights in the Word of God. Bible reading and Bible memory
and meditation are not a burden to him, but a pleasure. This is what we want. What a sadness
when Bible reading is just a drudgery. Something is wrong.

What shall we do? We struggle with Bible reading and memory and meditation because we don't
find pleasure in it. It feels like a burden and a mere duty that does not attract us. We have other
things we want to get to more. Breakfast or work or newspaper or computer or TV. Our hearts
incline to other things and do not incline to the Word. And so it is not our delight.

Did the psalmists ever struggle with this? Yes they did. Take heart. We all struggle with this.
There are seasons in the best saints' lives when spiritual hunger becomes weak. How shall this be
changed? The answer I want to give this morning is prayer. Delight in the Word of God is
created and sustained through prayer. So the outline I want to follow today is to address three
things: That we should pray, How we should pray, and What we should pray in order to delight
in the Word of God.

Be sure you see the order of the thought - the order of your life:

1. Our aim is to be fruitful people of love whose lives are nourishing for others; we want to be
durable in that and not wither when the heat comes; and we want to be eternally significant or
prosperous. That's our goal, because when we are fruitful like that in the midst of the drought of
hardship, God will get the glory.

2. But the key to that kind of fruitfulness, we have seen in Psalm 1, is meditation on the Word of
God day and night. We must be a Word-saturated people.

3. And the key to continual meditation is memorizing portions of the Scriptures so that we can
keep them ever before us and savor them all the time.

4. And the key to memorizing and meditation is delighting in the Word of God. Such continual
meditation will not be sustained by mere duty. And if it is, the effect will probably be pride, not
humble fruitfulness for others. The soul that never gets beyond spiritual discipline to spiritual
delight will probably become a harsh and condemning soul. The sweetness and tenderness and
humility that come from the Word of God grow out of the delight and wonder of grace, that we
have been granted to know God.

Now I am turning to a fifth step in the order of thought: the key to delight is prayer. Or, more
accurately, the key to delight is God's omnipotent, transforming grace laid hold on by prayer.
So let me try to awaken your desires to pray by showing you that we should pray for delight and
how we should pray and what we should pray.

THAT We Should Pray for Delight

Now we turn for a moment to our text in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Here is a simple command: "Pray
without ceasing." You might ask, Why choose this verse from all the verses in the Bible that
command us to pray? Why use this one in answer to the question: What is the key to delighting
in the Word of God? The answer is the connection between 1 Thessalonians 5:17 and the flow of
thought leading up to it. It is substantially similar to Psalm 1.

1 Thessalonians 5:14-15 says, "We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the
fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil
for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people." Now that is
a very fruit-bearing life. He is telling us to be like trees planted by streams of water that bring
forth fruit. Look at all these needy people draining you: the "unruly" are challenging you; the
"fainthearted" are leaning on you; the "weak" are depleting you. But you are called to encourage
and help and be patient and not return evil for evil. In other words, you are called to have
spiritual resources that can be durable and fruitful and nourishing when others are unruly and
fainthearted and weak and mean-spirited.

How? Well, verse 16 says, "Rejoice always." That corresponds to "delight" in Psalm 1.
Presumably, this rejoicing is not primarily in circumstances, but in God and his promises,
because the people around you are unruly and fainthearted and weak and antagonistic. This
would make an ordinary person angry and sullen and discouraged. But you have your roots
planted somewhere else and are drawing up the sap of joy from a source that cannot be depleted -
the river of God and his Word.

What then is the key to this rejoicing, or this delight? Verse 17 says, "Pray without ceasing." And
verse 18 says, "In everything give thanks." So the answer seems to be that continual prayer and
thanksgiving is a key to the rejoicing or the delighting in God and his Word that makes a person
fruitful and durable and spiritually prosperous in relation to all kinds of people. (See in
Philippians 4:3-6 the same sequence of thought from fruitful people-helping that is rooted in joy
that is rooted in prayer.)

So I think it is fair to say that one Biblical key to maintaining delight or rejoicing in God and his
Word is prayer. Which leads to the second observation, namely, how to pray.

HOW to Pray for Delight

The one point to make here is that our praying should be "without ceasing." If you want to be
fruitful for people and not wither under the pressures of unruly, fainthearted, weak, and hurtful
people, then you must, as verse 16 says, "rejoice always" or "delight in the word of the Lord . . .
day and night" (Psalm 1:2). And to do that, as verse 17 says, we need to pray always -without
ceasing.
What does it mean to pray without ceasing?

I think it means three things. First, it means that there is a spirit of dependence that should
permeate all we do. This is the very spirit and essence of prayer. So, even when we are not
speaking consciously to God, there is a deep, abiding dependence on him that is woven into the
heart of faith. In that sense, we "pray" or have the spirit of prayer continuously.

Second - and I think this is what Paul has in mind most immediately - praying without ceasing
means praying repeatedly and often. I base this on the use of the word "without ceasing"
(adialeiptos) in Romans 1:9, where Paul says, "For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the
preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you."
Now we can be sure that Paul did not mention the Romans every minute of his prayers. He
prayed about many other things. But he mentioned them over and over and often. So "without
ceasing" doesn't mean that verbally or mentally we have to be speaking prayers every minute of
the day. But we should pray over and over and often. Our default mental state should be: "O God
. . ."

Third, I think praying without ceasing means not giving up on prayer. Don't ever come to a point
in your life where you cease to pray at all. Don't abandon the God of hope and say, "There's no
use praying." Go on praying. Don't cease.

So the key to delight in the Word of God is to pray continually - that is, to lean on God all the
time. Never give up looking to him for help, and come to him repeatedly during the day and
often. Make the default mental state a Godward longing.

I think it would be good to notice here that in real life some discipline in regular prayer times
helps keep this kind of spontaneity alive. In other words, if you want to have a vital hour-by-hour
spontaneous walk with God you must also have a disciplined regular meeting with God. Daniel
had some remarkable communion with God when it was critically needed. But look what it grew
out of. The decree was passed that no one could pray except to the king, under penalty of death.
But notice what Daniel does, according to Daniel 6:10. "Now when Daniel knew that the
document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open
toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving
thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously." The point here is that Daniel lived a
life that combined discipline (three times a day) with spontaneous encounters with God. So it
will be with us: if we hope to pray without ceasing day and night - enjoying a continual coming
and communion with God - we will need to develop disciplined times of prayer. Nobody
maintains pure spontaneity in this fallen world. (See Psalm 119:62; 55:17.)

Finally, then, what are we to pray in order to have the delight in God and his Word that will keep
us meditating and fruitful and durable and spiritually prosperous?

WHAT We Are to Pray

The psalmists point the way here. They struggled like you and I do with motivation and with
seasons of weak desires. What did they pray to keep the fires of delight in God's Word burning?
Three examples from the prayer life of the psalmists:

1. They prayed for the inclination to meditate on the Bible -for the "want to". If you lack desire,
don't just have a defeated attitude and say, "I can't enjoy it because I don't have the desire." That
is the way atheists talk. God is in the business of creating what is not. So the psalmist prays in
Psalm 119:36, "Incline my heart to Your testimonies and not to gain." We admit to God that our
hearts incline to the computer or the newspaper or the TV and we plead with him that he reach in
and change our inclinations so that we love to read and memorize and meditate on the
testimonies of God.

So few people deal with God at this level! We are psychological fatalists. "This is just the way I
am." The psalmists were not that way, and we should not be that way. They saw their stubborn
inclinations, and, instead of fatalistically giving up, they pleaded with God to change their
inclinations and make them want to meditate on the Bible.

2. Secondly, the psalmists prayed that they would have spiritual eyes to see great and wonderful
things in the Word, so that their desires and delights would be sustained by truth, by reality.
Psalm 119:18: "Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law." If we are
going to be inclined to the Word and stay with it and delight in it and memorize it and meditate
on it, we must see more than dull facts, we must see "wonderful things." That is not the function
of the natural mind alone. That is the work of the Spirit to give you a mind to see great things for
what they really are. Delight-giving Bible reading and Bible meditation is a work of God on our
hearts and minds. That is why we must pray continually for that divine work.

3. Finally, the psalmists prayed that the effect of their inclining to the Word and their seeing
wonderful things in the Word would be a profound heart-satisfaction that would sustain them
through droughts and make them fruitful for others. Psalm 90:14, "O satisfy us in the morning
with Your lovingkindness, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days."

We ask God to awaken the delight that Psalm 1 says we should have. Delight in God is a
miracle. This is what it means to be a Christian, and being a Christian is not a mere choice to
believe a fact. Being a Christian is believing the truth of God because there is a spiritual
apprehension of its beauty and glory. When that soul-satisfying glory starts to fade, we must
fight off the deadly effects of worldliness and immerse ourselves in the Word where his glory is
revealed, and then pray and pray and pray, "O satisfy me in the morning with Your
lovingkindness, that I may sing for joy and be glad all my days."

So you can see how prayer and the Word are tied together this week. The Word is the means God
uses to fill our minds and hearts with truth about himself that makes us fruitful and durable in
drought and prosperous into eternity. Nobody becomes like a tree planted by water by prayer
alone. It is by the delighting in the Word and meditating on it day and night.

But nobody is inclined to the Word, or sees spiritual wonders in the Word, or is satisfied with the
Word, who does not pray and pray and pray the way the psalmists did. So I plead with you to
pray without ceasing this year. And as an aid to that wonderful spontaneity of day and night
praying and meditation, build disciplined times of prayer and meditation into your life. Maybe
once or twice or three times or seven times a day (as the psalmist in Psalm 119:164, "Seven
times a day I praise You, because of Your righteous ordinances.")

Question: "What does it mean to pray without ceasing?"

Answer: Paul’s command in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray without ceasing,” can be confusing.
Obviously, it cannot mean we are to be in a head-bowed, eyes-closed posture all day long. Paul is not
referring to non-stop talking, but rather an attitude of God-consciousness and God-surrender that we
carry with us all the time. Every waking moment is to be lived in an awareness that God is with us and
that He is actively involved and engaged in our thoughts and actions.

When our thoughts turn to worry, fear, discouragement, and anger, we are to consciously and quickly
turn every thought into prayer and every prayer into thanksgiving. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul
commands us to stop being anxious and instead, “in everything, by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6). He taught the believers at Colossae to
devote themselves “to prayer, being watchful and thankful” (Colossians 4:2). Paul exhorted the Ephesian
believers to see prayer as a weapon to use in fighting spiritual battles (Ephesians 6:18). As we go
through the day, prayer should be our first response to every fearful situation, every anxious thought,
and every undesired task that God commands. A lack of prayer will cause us to depend on ourselves
instead of depending on God's grace. Unceasing prayer is, in essence, continual dependence upon and
communion with the Father.

For Christians, prayer should be like breathing. You do not have to think to breathe because the
atmosphere exerts pressure on your lungs and essentially forces you to breathe. That is why it is more
difficult to hold your breath than it is to breathe. Similarly, when we are born into the family of God, we
enter into a spiritual atmosphere where God's presence and grace exert pressure, or influence, on our
lives. Prayer is the normal response to that pressure. As believers, we have all entered the divine
atmosphere to breathe the air of prayer.

Unfortunately, many believers hold their “spiritual breath” for long periods, thinking brief moments with
God are sufficient to allow them to survive. But such restricting of their spiritual intake is caused by
sinful desires. The fact is that every believer must be continually in the presence of God, constantly
breathing in His truths, to be fully functional.

It is easier for Christians to feel secure by presuming on—instead of depending on—God's grace. Too
many believers become satisfied with physical blessings and have little desire for spiritual ones. When
programs, methods, and money produce impressive results, there is an inclination to confuse human
success with divine blessing. When that happens, passionate longing for God and yearning for His help
will be missing. Continual, persistent, incessant prayer is an essential part of Christian living and flows
out of humility and dependence on God.
3 Things About Praying Without Ceasing
02/21/2014 ~ 0 comments
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus
for you.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16 – 18

When I was a new believer this passage was always strange to me. I understood what it meant to rejoice always, and
to give thanks regardless of my current life situation. I knew that I could constantly experience joy for what Jesus had
achieved for me on the cross, and that no matter where life would take me I would always be grateful for how he
brought me out of slavery to sin, but I still could not really get my head around praying without end. I mean I can
always rejoice and always be thankful, but if I am always praying then how am I going to get through the day
accomplishing what needs to be done? Seriously, how am I to do anything without getting off my knees and face and
stop praying? Maybe you are thinking the same thing I used to think. Well hopefully we can discover what Paul means
when he says, “pray without ceasing.”

Spirit Dependence
One of my mentors would always say that one of the most important aspects of our faith is Spirit dependence. It is
this continualknowledge of our need for a Savior, and for God’s redeeming work in our lives. When we are continually
dependent upon the Spirit then we don’t necessarily have to be in audible communication with God to have a spirit of
prayer continuously.

Keep Praying and Pray Often

Now I know it sounds strange to pray without ceasing, but it’s clear that Paul is calling the church to keep praying and
pray often. He says,

“I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers
night and day” (2 Timothy 1:3).

We know that Paul could not be praying for Timothy here in every moment of his life, night and day. Paul must have
had a considerably large amount of things to pray for through out his ministry, but Paul also mentioned Timothy, the
Roman believers, the Philippian believers, and many others in his prayers daily and consistently. It is impossible to be
on our face in communication with God every minute of our day, but we must keep a spirit of prayer throughout the
day. We must remain in a humble state that cries out for the work of God in our day.

Do Not Lose Heart

Lastly, there will be days when we do not want to continue, and prayer will seem pointless. Things will get hard and
some days we may think, “God, do you not hear my cries!” Let me assure you that our prayers are heard, and that our
all-knowing God is doing something even in our suffering. Do NOT stop praying. Paul says,

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by
day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix
our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2
Corinthians 4:16 – 18).
In this passage Paul wants us to know that even our suffering is for a purpose. God is giving us what is sufficient for us
to get through each day, and that the troubles we are experiencing are tiny compared to the joy that is coming in
eternity spent with Christ. This is the unseen Paul is referring to in the verse above. We must keep praying and keep
looking to the face of Jesus with the hope that soon we will be with Him in the heavenly places. So finally my brothers
and sisters let us all, together, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is
the will of God in Christ Jesus for our lives” (1 Thessalonians 5:16 – 18).

What Does Praying Without Ceasing Mean

in the Bible?
May 22, 2014 by Jack Wellman 0 Comments

Paul speaks about praying without ceasing or stopping? How is this possible in the life of the
Christian? Let’s examine from the Bible what it means to pray without ceasing.

What is Prayer?
I know this sounds like a question that is obvious, but permit me to go a bit deeper on what the
word prayer means. Prayer is not repeating a bunch of words using language that goes over
certain words to make them sound grand. Prayer is really just talking to God. It is speaking with
God, reverently of course, but it is simply pouring out your heart to God Who loves you. Just
tell Him what you feel and what burdens you carry. He wants to hear your genuine, sincere,
heartfelt concerns. As a father and grandfather, I want my children and grandchildren to
communicate to me just what they are feeling and what weighs heavily on their minds. It’s
about abandoning all pride, admitting our weaknesses, displaying our needs to Him verbally (if
possible), and doing so with the full realization that He is there and He is listening. There is one
problem; our prayers can be blocked or hindered when we have unconfessed sin or when we
have something against someone and have refused to forgive them. We must first be able to
clear our conscience of anything that we have done wrong and anyone that we have wronged.

If you are a child of God and have been born again (John 3:3) which means that at one point in
your life you have repented and trusted in Christ, then you know He will hear your prayers and
He will answer them. Sometimes the prayers are answered like this; “No, not yet, or I have
something better for you” but He does answer them. Even Jesus, when He prayed three times in
the Garden was told no in His desire to “have this cup pass from” Him because Jesus knew that
the will of the Father supersedes what we want or think we need (Luke 22:39-46). Paul also
prayed three times, pleading (or begging) Him to have this thorn in the flesh removed but God
told him “my grace is sufficient” (2 Cor 12:7-10) because in Paul’s weaknesses, the strength of
God could be revealed and when we are weak, we are really strong (2 Cor 12:10).

Praying at all Times

Ephesians 6:18-20 “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end
keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that
words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the
gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to
speak.”

Paul commands the church at Ephesus to be “praying at all times” and to do this in the Spirit or
in the power of the Holy Spirit for the “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. 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” (Rom 8:26-27). Paul requested the prayers
of the saints and especially for his boldness in what he “ought to speak” because he was called to
proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles, even thou he frequently did to the Jews as well.

Praying Without Ceasing

First Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all
circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

It is God’s will that we give thanks. It is God’s will that we give thanks no matter what our
circumstances are. It is God’s will for us to rejoice in Christ. And it is also God’s will that we
“pray without ceasing.” This doesn’t mean that we quit our jobs and ignore our family and
friends so that we can pray continuously. What this means is that we are to pray as often as we
can. We can pray during times where we are driving, when we are waiting for something, when
we are in between jobs, when we are at lunch but it also clearly means that we should be praying
first thing in the morning and just before bedtime. If a person prays before they begin their day
and praying for God’ will to be done and that He is glorified in what we do, say, or think, we
know God will hear and answer this prayer. Yes, we can pray for our own needs but we need to
be on our face before God to pray for the church, the pastor, our friends who don’t know Christ,
and for anyone that we might come into contact with that we would have the opportunity to
proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Prayer Changes Things, and You, Not God
Prayer never changes God but it does change us and it changes things. It teaches us to align our
will with the Father’s for we must always pray for God’s will to be done (Rom 8:27; Col 1:9;
Luke 22:39-46). We know the obvious will of God, like in Romans 12:1-3 you (and me) are
commanded to “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is
your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of
your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable
and perfect.” To have our minds renewed we need to be in prayer as often as possible, we need
to transform our minds by staying in the Word of God daily, and by this we can test and “discern
what is the will of God [and] what is good and acceptable and perfect” to the Father.

Conclusion
If you are not a child of God, He will not answer your prayers (John 9:31) but if you are a child
of God, all we have to do is “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and
it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to
the one who knocks it will be opened [because]which one of you, if his son asks him for bread,
will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven
give good things to those who ask him” (Matt 7:7-11). God will hear and answer your prayers
but sometimes we don’t get what we need or desire because we simply don’t ask or we don’t ask
the right thing, which must be in accord with God’s will. James wrote that “You do not have,
because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on
your passions” (James 4:2b-3). Pray big time prayers too that we know are God’s will because if
your earthly father gave you things that you asked for, “how much more will your Father who is
in heaven give good things to those who ask him” (Matt 7:11b)!

ermon:
“The Cure for the Common Cold” part 2 (Getting warm with your prayer life)
Brian A. Moon

Story – Testimony of healing from prayer by Doug Gates

Last week we began a new series called “The Cure for the Common Cold” which is looking into
a cure for those times that we lose our passion for God. Most of us have had those times when
we are “on fire” for God, only to be back to normal in few short weeks just like this church in
this verse from Revelation.

Revelation 2:4-5 “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
Remember then from what you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.” NRSV

The cure we found out were what are known as spiritual disciplines, or spiritual training
exercises you could say. The first one was getting aquatinted with, and reading, our Bibles. The
most important things were to get a good version of the Bible like the NRSV or the NIV, find the
place and time to read it, and then to make our reading meaningful we should:

Start with books like 1 John and James instead of

Genesis
Pray and ask God to speak to you
Don’t read a lot at a time, slow down and enjoy it
Find a verse that jumps off the page and write it
down

When we do these things we are opening ourselves up to the very words of God and opening
ourselves up to connecting with God in fresh and powerful new ways.
But reading our Bibles is only part of the equation…
It would be like only exercising your arms and never working out the rest of your body, you
would look a lot like Popeye, but your body would be missing out on its full potential. There are
many other ways to work out our spiritual muscles and tonight we are going to look at prayer.

Prayer has always been a vital part of the Christian faith. And not long and lengthy prayers like
you might here in a church today, but simply prayers. Early Christian monks from the 2nd and
3rd centuries would take short verses of scripture and make them into prayers that they would
repeat all day long. The most famous of these early monastic prayers was the Jesus Prayer and it
goes like this:

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”

They would take that short little prayer and repeat it all day long as a way to stay in constant
contact with God. The reason I share that prayer is because it illustrates the simplicity of prayer.
Prayer is one of the most misunderstood things today in the church.
People think they have to be well educated and able to come up with poetic prayers that last for
10 minutes, but in all reality prayer is a simple heart felt conversation with God. Before we go on
tonight, I want to take a few minutes and talk about our first topic:

What is prayer?

Just what to I mean when I talk about prayer? We all come up with different pictures in our
heads when we mention the word prayer, from sitting Indian style with our palms up to
Gregorian chants filling a huge athedral in Europe, just what are we talking about here? Take a look
at this clip… (SCENE FROM “THE APOSTLE” CHALLENGING THE MAN IN THE BULLDOZER)
Now most of us have never had a face down with a bulldozer, but we all face times when we are up
against something that is too big for us to handle.
This is just one of the times we should stop and have a conversation with God, or pray! Prayer is also
misunderstood today because of the prevailing attitude that it is asking God for favors. The idea is that
we ask God to bless us here, and bless us there, bless us everywhere…

Recently, my wife and I went on vacation to Palm Beach and stayed in a really nice hotel, we were
waited on hand and foot. All you had to do was make a quick phone call and you could have your
breakfast in bed, clothes brought up to you from your car, things washed and ironed for you, afternoon
tea at your favorite spot and so on and so on…

And many people have been taught that prayer is like that, But prayer is not supposed to make God into
a “cosmic bellhop” Prayer is to accomplish God’s plans here on earth, not to accomplish our plans. That
does not mean that we should not pray when we have a hurt or need, but we are not to view prayer as a
means to a new car or whatever we need God to do at that moment.
So just what is prayer? Simply put: prayer is conversing, or communicating with God in which we align
ourselves with God purposes. When we pray we are talking with the creator of the universe, sharing our
thoughts and feelings both out loud, and in our minds.
It is a dialogue, or a two-way conversation in which we talk and listen to God. And prayer is a tool we
can use to further know the heart and mind of God.

My printer at the office recently had to have a new cartridge placed in it, after the new one was in I then
had to go through an aligning process with the printer.

The same could be said of prayer, we live our lives day to day constantly bombarded by the influences of
the world, We are pulled this way, and pushed that way, and we find ourselves used up and dry. This is
why God gave us the gift of conversation with himself, so that we can get refilled and then be aligned
properly again with where he wants us to be. He wants us to be lined up with his purposes so that we
can live productive, meaningful, and fulfilled lives. That is what prayer is! This brings up another
question though, how do we pray?

Different approaches to prayer

Before we look at some different approaches to prayer there are some things we should do before we
pray.

I am a man so of course I love to grill. To me there is nothing better than a juicy steak hot off the grill.
But before I can enjoy that meat to its fullest I have to first take some time preparing it. I have to thaw
the meat, and season the meat, and marinate the meat a few hours before I ever place it on the grill,
and when I do place it on the grill I have to make sure the temperature is really hot which all takes time.

If I did not do all of this, would I still have a steak to eat? Well, I would but it would not be very good!
The steak would not be at its best! The same is true with prayer, we can rush into it and it can be a very
boring and tasteless experience or, we can marinate ourselves so to speak and it can be a rewarding
experience full of flavor. So before we pray we should do these three things right out of God’s word, the
Bible.

1. Pray Clean

Proverbs 15:29 “The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.” NRSV

Throughout the Bible it is clear that the prayers of certain people are heard loud and clear by God, and
they all happen to people who are walking in God’s forgiveness. We all mess up from time to time and
sin, but making sure that we confess these things to God and come before him dressed in white
garments of forgiveness is a must for our prayers to be effective.
Often times when we pray and pray and pray for something and it seems like God is on break, we should
look in the mirror of our lives and see if there is some unconfessed sin that needs to be dealt with. Jesus
has already forgiven every sin, past, present and future, all we must do is recognize that we blew it.

Proverbs 15:8 “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is
his delight.” NRSV

2. Pray in Faith

Have you ever had a time in your life when you asked someone for something but you were almost sure
that they would never do it, or could not do it? When we pray we should not be like this, we should not
have the attitude that God will never do this, or he is not able to do this. When we pray we should pray
in faith, or we should believe that with God all things are possible!

James 1: 6 – 8 But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven
and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not
expect to receive anything from the Lord. NRSV (italics mine)

3. Pray Constantly

One of the reasons that the early Christian monks prayed short prayers like the one I shared in the
opening was so that they could remember them and recite them all day long! God honors the prayer
that is important enough to us to ask him repeatedly. He may not always answer that prayer the way we
want just because we pray it many times, but he will always use that process to bring us closer to him
and closer to his heart and desires for this situation.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing” NRSV

Everyone relax, this verse does not mean that we are to always have a prayer on our lips, But the
original wording of this verse means that we are to have constantly recurring prayers.

Picture a phone conversation that even when you are done, you do not hang up the phone, but instead
you leave it off the hook so that the conversation could begin again at any time.

That is the idea here, we are to repeat our prayers, we are to listen to God, and repeat that prayer
again, and listen to God on and on. Now that we have some of the basics out of the way lets look at 5
common approaches to prayer:

INTERCESSION

That is a big word that simply means to pray on behalf of. When someone is sick and you go to God and
ask him to heal that person, you are interceding for them, or you are praying on their behalf.
Intercessory prayers are concerns we have for other people, or things that are going on in the world. We
are asking God to come and help, heal, or hurry a situation. How is this prayer done? When you feel
compelled to pray for someone or something the best way of doing this is to remember that you are not
changing God’s mind about anything, What you are doing is again aligning yourself with the plans and
purposes of God.

You should:

Ask God to show you how to pray

Yield your will to God’s
Listen to that still small voice inside of you
Trust in God’s Holy Spirit to guide you in your
prayer
Pray in bold faith
Thank God for listening

The next approach to prayer is:

REPENTANCE

God knew that we were going to sin and one of the reasons he gave us the gift of prayer was to say,
“God I am sorry.” Repentance is simply a “180” or an “about face” it is turning from that particular sin
and running back to God. You could also call this form of prayer confession, it is admitting to God the
things you have done that are not in his plan for your life.

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from
all unrighteousness.” NRSV

For this prayer you should:

Ask God to search your life for any sin
When he reveals it to you, admit to God that it was
wrong
Ask God to help you in the future
Receive his forgiveness and don’t dwell on the
mistake

The third approach to prayer is:

GUIDANCE

Many times in life we are faced with tough decisions, and we need guidance to make the best choice.
When we are faced with one of these times we should ask God for guidance and wisdom. In the book of
James it says that God gives to all who ask, graciously and without finding fault. The key is we must ask!
For this prayer you should:

Thank God for giving you help in this decision

Ask him to give you guidance in what choice is his
will for your life
Ask God to make your desires his desires, ask him to
make you desire the right choice
Trust that God will speak to you

The next approach is:

CHANGE OF HEART

I have had many times in my life when I knew the right thing to do, but I really did not want to do it! All
of us have been in these situations and what we need is a change of heart. God often challenges us with
things that seem to hard, or to big of a sacrifice and we are left grumbling and complaining needing God
to come and change our will.

Philippians 2:13 “For it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good
pleasure.” NRSV

This prayer should be done like this:

Release yourself to God, don’t fight him

Ask God to come and change your heart
Seek him to see if there is any action you need to
take to accomplish this
Thank him for working in your life

And finally the last prayer that we will look at is:

PETITION
Matthew 7:7-8 “Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will
find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone, who
seeks, finds. And the door will be opened to everyone who knocks.” NLT

When we have a need, a hurt, or even a desire of our heart this is where we would pray a prayer of
petition. God loves to give us the desires of our hearts, and praying for God to bless us with something is
ok. BUT, remember what prayer is, it is a tool to align us with the awesome plan of God. When we have
an active prayer life our desires are those that God desires and when we pray we pray the will of God.
That is why Jesus says here to ask and you shall receive!

This prayer can be done like this:

Ask God to give you the right desires

Give your request over to God
Believe that he can give this to you
Receive and thank God for the results

So there they are 5 common approaches to prayer.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of all that prayer can be, it is simply an appetizer to get you to see
the wonderful blessing that the gift of prayer can be if we use it. If we apply these prayers to our lives
we will find that our love and closeness to God will be ever growing. Also remember that prayer is a
conversation with God, meaning that two people are talking. Take time when you pray and sit and listen
to God, sit in the silence and wait upon God to come and touch your heart and mind. In closing I would
like to look at one last thing:

Praying from example

I think there is a lot than can be learned from studying the prayers of others, particularly the prayers of
people in the Bible. So quickly I would like to look at a few prayers that will give you a jump-start into
your own prayers.

Jesus Prayer in the Garden:

Mark 14:36 “He said, ‘Abba Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet not
what I want, but what you want.” NRSV

David’s Prayer for Forgiveness:

Psalm 51:1 – 10 “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your
abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me
from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you alone, have I
sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless
when you pass judgment. Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me. You desire
truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I
shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones
that you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a
clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” NRSV

Abraham’s prayer for Sodom:

Genesis 18:27 – 28 “Abraham answered, "Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but
dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of
five?" And he said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there."

Jonah’s prayer in the great fish:

Jonah 2:1 – 10 “Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, saying, "I called to the
LORD out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.
You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and
your billows passed over me. Then I said, ’I am driven away from your sight; how shall I look again upon
your holy temple?’ The waters closed in over me; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped
around my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me
forever; yet you brought up my life from the Pit, O LORD my God. As my life was ebbing away, I
remembered the LORD; and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Those who worship vain
idols forsake their true loyalty. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have
vowed I will pay. Deliverance belongs to the LORD!" Then the LORD spoke to the fish, and it spewed
Jonah out upon the dry land.” NRSV

I hope that after tonight you will have learned what a great privilege and blessing prayer can be, and
that it is a lot simpler than we make it out to be many times. Remember to pray clean, pray in faith, and
pray constantly. If you have never prayed before, or you are just out of the habit I leave you with this
quote from Thomas Merton:

“The great thing is prayer. Prayer itself. If you want a life of prayer, the way to get it is by praying… You
start where you are and you deepen what you already have.”

Prayer Time ----------------

God we thank you for the chance to talk with you. May we never take the awesome privilege for
granted. Tonight we ask that you turn each of us into person of prayer. Give us the desire to pray and
give us guidance for what to pray for. Help us to be able to listen and hear you clearly. We love you God.
Amen

Improving Your Personal Prayer Life

 Summary: If you are reading this message, it is very likely that you are seeking to have a
more effective prayer life. Let's turn to the Lord and His Word for His help in that noble
endeavor.

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Psalm 6:9 ...the Lord accepts my prayer.

•• Pray with the assurance that God accepts your prayers.

•• This keeps prayer personal, not detached.

Psalm 32:5-6a Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I
will confess my transgressions to the LORD” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. [6a] Therefore
let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found.

•• Clear your heart of the guilt of sin before praying.

•• Acknowledge your sin, confess your transgressions.

•• God will forgive you. Then verse 6a (“godly”) will describe you. And you’ll pray with
the confidence of a clear conscience.

Psalm 109:2-4 For wicked and deceitful men ... have spoken against me with lying tongues. [3]
With words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause. [4] In return for my
friendship they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.

James 5:13a Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray.

•• Under attack by someone? Someone hate you? speaking against you?

• That’s not the time to retaliate.

• That’s the time to be a “man [woman] of prayer.”

•• Are you “in trouble? [You] should pray.”

Romans 1:9-10a God is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times.

•• Pray for others! – “remember” people, by name and need, in your prayers.
• I pray for my elderly Dad and Mom, for my wife, and for all my children and my
grandchildren every night ... every “give us this day...”

• It only takes seconds to remember individuals before God in your prayers.

Luke 22:31-32a “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. [32a] But I have prayed
for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.”
 •• You can offer prayers for those under Satanic attack.
• “Deliver us” includes more than me!

• Colossians 4:12 Epaphras ... is always wrestling in prayer for you.

Romans 10:1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may
be saved.

•• You can pray for specific people to be saved.

• In the church that I pastored in New York, we prayed for the unsaved wife of one of the
members. She did not attend the church, but we kept praying until she did indeed get
saved.

Matthew 21:22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.

•• Be honest: how often do you ask for something in prayer and have very little
confidence that you’ll receive it?
• That describes many of us! Often!

• Why shouldn’t we believe for a faithful God to be true to His promises?

1 Corinthians 14:14-15 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.
[15] So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing
with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.

•• Vary your personal prayer life — in tongues ... in English ... in the spirit ... with your
mind/understanding.

•• praying ... also singing — both with our understanding and “in the spirit”.

Acts 28:7-8 ...[8] His father was sick in bed ... Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed
his hands on him and healed him.

•• “After prayer ... [he] healed him.”

• Prayer, including prayers for healing, opens the door to spiritual gifts.

• That’s one reason that preservice prayer is so important — that is, to prepare our
hearts before God to be used in spiritual gifts during the church service.

Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [7] And the peace of God, which transcends all
understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

•• Personal prayer is a great way to cast off anxiety.

• Include petition – specific, targeted requests.
 • Cast your cares on the Lord in prayer.

• Be sure to thank God for the expected answers.

•• You’ll find your heart will go from anxiety to peace.

Psalm 6:9 ...the Lord accepts my prayer.

•• You may approach God in prayer with that confidence — that He accepts that which
you bring to Him in prayer.

•• So determine to be a man or woman of prayer!

Ask God and See Your Prayers Answered

Summary: There is great power in asking God. The bible gives us helpful keys to
answered prayer when we ask God His way.

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James 4:2d-3 [2d] You do not have, because you do not ask God. [3] When you ask, you do not
receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your
pleasures.

•• A simple statement, but a profound revelation! —

• “You do not have, because you do NOT ASK God”!

• You think: “God is too busy with bigger things.”

• Or: “My request is too insignificant.”

• Or: “I don’t know if God will answer this request.”

• But the Bible says, “Ye have not, because ye ask not.”
•• When motives are proper, there is great power in asking God.
• It is normal and right for children to ask things of their natural fathers and their
heavenly Father.

• Answered prayers should be the regular experience of the family of God.

1 John 5:14-15 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything
according to his will, he hears us. [15] And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask —
we know that we have what we asked of him.
 •• Key #1 — Determine the WILL OF GOD, then ASK for that.
• Pray and search the Scriptures for God’s will. Ask God for wisdom (James 1:5) to
understand His will.

• There’s great confidence in prayer once you have discerned God’s will.

• You know that He hears you.

• You know that you have what you’ve asked. You believe God that your prayers will be
answered.

1 John 3:21-22 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God
[22] and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what
pleases him.

•• Key #2 — OBEY God’s commands, then ASK your petitions of God.

• John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

• 1 John 5:3 This is love for God: to obey his commands.

• There is a direct, cause-and-effect link between obedience and answered prayers.

• “We receive from Him anything we ask, BECAUSE we OBEY His commands” —
cause and effect.
•• Key #3 — Live a life PLEASING TO GOD, then ASK your petitions of God.
• Jesus Himself said, (John 8:29) “...I do always those things that please him.”

• There is great power in petitions to God that originate from a life that pleases God.

• And the opposite — for example, 1 Peter 3:7 = Dishonor your wife, and your prayers
will be hindered.

John 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will
be given you.

•• Key #4 — Walk CLOSE TO JESUS (“remain in me”), then “ASK ... and it will be
given you.”
• For example, imagine asking God for help with His Son Jesus standing at your side and
saying the "amen" to your prayer. Christ's presence will give you great confidence.
•• Key #5 — Be FULL OF THE WORD of God, then ASK of God from that
knowledge.
• “If...my words remain in you, ask...and it will be given you.”

• Full of God’s Word, your faith to ask will be strong.

• Full of God’s Word, your confidence will be strong.

James 1:5-6 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without
finding fault, and it will be given to him. [6] But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt,
because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

Matthew 21:21-22 ...[22] If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.

•• Key #6 — We bring our LACKS and NEEDS before God and ASK accordingly.
• “Lord, I lack wisdom for this situation. Please grant it.”

• “Lord, I lack finances for necessary expenses. Please help me.”

• “Lord, my body is in need of healing. Please touch me.”

•• Key #7 — “ASK IN FAITH, nothing wavering” (KJV).
• Why not! Jesus promised: “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in
prayer.”

• Ask God ... Believe God —> Answered Prayers!

Matthew 18:19-20 Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask
for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. [20] For where two or three come together
in my name, there am I with them.

•• Key #8 — It can be helpful to have a trusted PRAYER PARTNER, someone who

will agree with you in prayer.
• Do this on the personal level — your spouse, a believing relative, a close friend (of the
same sex).

• This is one of the great benefits of the assembled church! You can have other believers
agree with you in prayer for your needs.

Matthew 7:7-8 Ask [“KEEP ON asking” — Amplified Bible] and it will be given to you; seek
and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. [8] For everyone who asks
receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

•• Key #9 — “KEEP ON asking.” Be importunate! Don't give up.

• Jesus illustrated this with the man at night persistently asking for bread and the woman
insistently pleading her case before the unjust judge.

Summary: Asking God and Experiencing Answered Prayers

1. Determine God’s will, then ask for that.

2. Obey God’s commands, then ask...

3. Live a life pleasing to God, then ask...

4. Walk close to Jesus, then ask...

5. Be full of the Word of God, then ask according to that knowledge.

6. Acknowledge your lacks and needs to God, then ask of Him concerning them.

7. Ask in faith, nothing wavering.

8. Find a fellow believer to be a prayer partner with you.

9. Ask and keep on asking and see your prayers answered!

Change Your Life with Seven Words From

the "Our Father" (the Lord's Prayer)
Summary: Jesus spoke seven simple words that have the potential of changing your life.
They will bring you into line with His plans and purposes for you on this earth.

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Deuteronomy 30:19-20 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set
before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now CHOOSE life....

•• God offers us choices — life or death, blessings or curses, heaven or hell — and He
says, “You choose.” Of course He does not approve of every choice, but He does allow
us to make the choices.
• God allows us to use our free will.
•• Some Bible illustrations:
• Joshua: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” He chose God, blessings,
and life.

• The rich young ruler chose his wealth over following Jesus (Matthew 19:21-23). And
Jesus did not try to coerce him to change his mind.

• Paul wrote: (2 Timothy 4:10) “...Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted
me.” Demas chose the world over serving the Lord.
•• We face similar, freewill choices every day:
• We can choose to pray or not. God won’t force us.

• We can choose to live holy lives or not.

• We can choose to share our faith with others or just to be secret Christians.
 • We can choose to be law-abiding, honest citizens, or we can choose to walk the edge
and push the limits.
•• In these and thousands of other choices, the Bible gives us wisdom to make right
choices, but God does not force us. He grants us free will to choose.

•• In this context (free will to choose) I’m going to share with you seven words that will
CHANGE YOUR LIFE — “Not My Will, But Thine Be Done”.

Matthew 6:9-13 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be
your name, [10] your kingdom come, YOUR WILL BE DONE on earth as it is in heaven....’ ”

10, KJV “...THY WILL BE DONE...”

•• “Thy will be done.” If said sincerely to God daily, choice by choice, this can change
your life!

•• But this can get scary —

• I’ve heard some say, “But God might call me to the mission field!”

• Or...God might have me go up to that homeless person and offer a kind word and share
my faith.

• Or...God might not let me keep dating this person.

• Or...“Lord, I might lose control of my life if I say to you, ‘Thy will be done.’ ” That’s
correct!

# Remember, these words will CHANGE your life.

•• But think about it: What could be safer than to be in the will of God?
• What could be more fulfilling than to be exactly in the center of His will?

Luke 22:41-42 [Jesus] withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed,
[42] “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet NOT MY will, but YOURS be done.”

42, KJV “Not my will, but thine, be done.”

•• This scene describes it perfectly:

• Jesus had His own will: “...remove this cup from me.”

• “YET NOT MY will, but YOURS be done.”

•• Was Jesus’ will here sinful? No; He never sinned.
• But if He had followed His desire to escape the cross, we would not be saved!

• So it’s possible for our will to desire things that are not necessarily sinful, but are not
the RIGHT CHOICES.
 • For example, is it a sin to get very busy and go several days without spending time in
prayer and the Word?

• Probably not, but is that God’s will? No.

• Stopping what you are doing and saying, “THY will be done” would certainly bring
changed conduct.

Philippians 2:12-13 ...[13] for it is GOD who works in you TO WILL and to act according to
HIS good purpose.

13, KJV For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

•• This is a major truth. God works in us “to WILL ... HIS good pleasure.”

•• You may have many legitimate desires, but they’re not all the will of God. Remember
Jesus in the Garden? Remember Paul's two sincere false starts before receiving the
Macedonian vision? (Acts 16:7-10)

•• Here’s how I believe God wants it to work:

1) Recognize that not all apparently wholesome inclinations are the will of God. Some are,
some aren’t.

2) Determine to surrender to GOD CONTROL of your life — “NOT MY will be done.”

3) Determine to ASK Him daily: “THY will be done.”

4) With your heart open and obedient to God like that, watch Him work in your heart “TO
WILL and to do of HIS good pleasure.”

So...seven life-changing words from the Lord's Prayer that can alter the course of your life:

“Not my will, but thine, be done.”

A Key to Answered Prayers?

Obeying God and Pleasing God
Summary: This brief devotional reveals two keys to answered prayer requests: obeying
God and pleasing Him.

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1 John 3:21-22 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God
and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases
him.

•• In approaching God in prayer, it is important that our hearts be right before Him —
“if our hearts do not condemn us” (vs. 21).

•• Be sure to maintain an upright walk before the Lord. If you detect sin in your life,
repent of it before God, and receive His forgiveness. Return to a place where your heart is
not condemning you over unrepented sin.

•• From the secure standpoint of a heart right before God, then bring to Him your prayer
requests concerning your legitimate needs. You will “receive from Him anything [you]
ask, because...”
• ...because “[you] obey His commands and do what pleases Him”. We are given here
two keys to answered prayer:
•• 1) God answers our prayers “because we obey His commands”.
• Fill your heart with the wonderful Word of God from the Bible. Learn its truths, its
principles, its commands, and simply obey them.

• This obedience to God’s Word will open the door to answered prayer requests for you,
along with reason #2 (below):
•• 2) God answers our prayers “because we ... do what pleases Him”.
• Let your heart’s determination be that of Jesus, who said, “I always do what pleases
Him [God the Father]” (John 8:29).

• Let your attitude be that of Jesus: “Not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

• As Jesus taught in the Lord’s Prayer, let your prayer life be dominated by “Thy will be
done!” (Matthew 6:10). Seek to please God, not yourself.

•• In sum:

• Keep your heart free of unrepented sin, thereby securing confidence in your heart before
God.

• Consistently walk in obedience to His commands.

• Strive to do always that which is pleasing in His sight.

• And you will consistently find your prayers answered by God.

1 John 3:23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to
love one another as he commanded us.

•• In closing, let us look at one illustration John gives of how to obey God’s command:
 • Believing in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. Answered prayer involves our relating
to God, through Jesus Christ, in faith.

• Loving one another. Answered prayer is experienced by those who genuinely follow
Jesus’ “second commandment” (Matthew 22:29) by loving our neighbor as we love
ourselves.

Pray Without Ceasing

Before we can understand what it means to “pray without ceasing,” we must first understand
what it does not mean. It does not mean that we have to be on our knees with our hands in a
certain position and our eyes closed. One of my friend’s fathers once told us a story from his
childhood in relation to this verse. He said that he was riding his bike as he thought about this
verse. He thought that he had to close his eyes and fold his hands to start praying as he rode his
book. As one can imagine, the situation did not end well.

“First Thessalonians says, ‘Pray without ceasing.’ What does that mean? Let me give you a
simple definition. Basically what it means is simply to be God-conscious and see everything in
reference to Him. Unceasing prayer is communion with God… unceasing communion with God.
It isn’t necessarily to stop and formally go into an act or a posture of prayer but it’s to always be
conscious of everything in relation to God. It’s to see something happen and relate it to God.”
(http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons/2132). “Unceasing prayer refers more to prayer as an
attitude and not just to prayer as an activity.” (http://www.preceptaustin.org/colossians_19-
10.htm#1:9)

John MacArthur also compares prayer to breathing. Prayer should occur throughout our entire
day and be so ingrained in our system that we begin to pray without even realizing it. We inhale
and exhale the presence of God through prayer, and when we fail to pray, we do not receive the
oxygen of His life in our spiritual lives. Prayer sustains us as it connects us with God.

“Now, desire is the essence of prayer. In fact, desire is the kernel of prayer. The vocal
expressions which we call by the name of prayer are often but its shell—inward desire is the life,
the heart, the reality of prayer! Though you cannot always be speaking in prayer, you can always
be desiring in prayer. The miser is always desiring riches, though he is not always talking about
his gold and silver. And the man who loves his fellow men and desires their profit is really
always praying for their benefit, though he is not always lifting up his voice in supplication”
(Spurgeon, Spiritual Knowledge and It’s Practical Knowledge).

To “pray without ceasing” does not mean that we must always be using an audible voice. Some
of our deepest prayers come from within when no words can be expressed. On other occasions
when our voices are raised in prayer, our hearts remain silent. It is possible to speak with our lips
to God but not be in prayer. There is also no mention for a proper place, posture, or time of
prayer.

What about the times that we don’t have any words to pray? There are times that I have been in
deep pain, and I didn’t know what I was supposed to pray. Romans 8:26 says, “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.” The Spirit is there to guide us and
speak for us when we cannot. The way the Spirit speaks for us is through “groanings”, which
means that we won’t always have elegant, well-spoken prayers but mumblings.

The working out of our prayers is a continuation of our prayers. I may pray that this sermon is
faithful to God’s word, but I will also study in order to achieve this. When we begin to work that
which we pray for, we have not left a state of prayer but have entered a new stage of it.

We must also understand our condition in order to “pray without ceasing.” Without God we
would cease to exist and without His grace we would be His enemies. Many of us do not pray
without ceasing because we do not feel that we have great need. Great need brings forth great
prayer. Realizing that we are in constant need because we can do absolutely nothing without God
will give us both the desire to pray without ceasing and the knowledge that we need to do so. We
must also guard against the idea that once we have gained much we no longer need prayer. We
are constantly in need.

In understanding our condition, we also understand the nature of prayer. When talking about the
nature of prayer, I mean to say that prayer is a gift from God. Paul is not only commanding us to
“pray without ceasing,” but he is also saying that God allows us to pray without ceasing. This
means that God is constantly listening as we constantly prayer. God does not say that He will
only listen to prayers at certain times but that He is always listening. Praying with no end implies
that there is one that listens to no end.

Prayer is found between rejoicing and thanksgiving. “The way to rejoice evermore is to pray
without ceasing. We should rejoice more if we prayed more.”
(http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/1-
thessalonians/5.html). Prayer is in the center of rejoicing and giving thanks because prayer leads
to both. Prayer reminds us of the wonderful things God has done for us, which brings forth a
sense of thanksgiving and rejoicing.

Many of us will often say a short prayer before we go to bed at night. We may kneel at the side
of our bed or silently talk to God as we fall asleep. I once heard a man say that it was
disrespectful for us to fall asleep when we pray to God. He said that any other person would be
annoyed if you fell asleep when talking to them. I agree with him in part but not in whole. I think
the prayer he speaks of is a deep petition of God, but what about just talking with God. I do not
mean saying anything elaborate or even asking for anything but just telling God about your day.
I have found that if I start to recount my day to God at night I begin to truly discover how much
he works within my life and how much good he has brought about. I will realize that even
waking up that morning was a precious gift from him. As I begin to tell God more of my day, I
may slowly start to fall into a slumber. Now, instead of being a disrespectful friend, I fall asleep
in communion with God.

If we are to “pray without ceasing,” wouldn’t this include our sleeping? How can we pray as we
sleep? I think there needs to be two things noted about praying in our sleep. First, we cannot pray
to God in our sleep but God can communicate with us. I’m not sure if God still speaks to us
through dreams anymore but that is not what I mean. Prayer is communion with God. It is to be
in His presence. A child that sleeps in his father’s arms is just as much in the father’s arms when
he is awake as when he is asleep. The child does nothing though. It is completely the strength of
the Father that upholds the child. Even though we fail to communicate with God, He never
ceases to sustain us.

Upon realizing that it is impossible for us to pray to God in our sleep and that He can only
uphold us, we should realize that we should not devote to much time to sleep. Proverbs 6:9-11
says, “How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little
sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a
robber, and want like an armed man.” We should not be lazy or sluggards that sleep all day but
should seek to talk to God through all areas and times in our life.

Sleep may not be the only distraction we face. Our American culture is constantly active and
many of us do not think we have time to pray, but prayer is what enriches the time we are given.
We do not have to stop working or spending time with our families because we can pray as we
do these things. Luther said “I have so much to do today that I shall never get through it with less
than three hours’ prayer.” Prayer does not give us less free time but enriches and fulfills the time
we are given.

There is no specific place where we must pray, but there are places that would make it hard for
prayer. How can we pray if we are engaged in a sinful lifestyle? Though there is no limitation to
where we can pray, it should be noted that we should avoid any place that renders it nearly
impossible to pray. We should seek to avoid all sin because it brings us out of a state of prayer.
There are many places and things that may not be evil in and of themselves, but if they distract
us from prayer, then we should seek to avoid them.

I often try to pray when people come to me for advice. I’m not very good at multitasking, so it’s
hard for me to talk with both the person and God. During one discussion I was having with a
friend, I remember trying to think of any relevant scripture I could tell her that would help.
Trying to think of scripture, praying to God, and talking with her was difficult, until I realized
that they were all types of prayer. When I think of prayer, I often think of me saying something
to God, but prayer is a two-way conversation. He has given us the answers to our questions
through His word, and as I searched for scripture, God was speaking to me. There have been
many time people have said that they don’t know what God wants them to do or they feel that
God is silent. I usually ask them when the last time they read their Bible was, and they realize
that God has not been silent but that they have not read His word.

The church is the body of Christ, which means that God will speak through His people as part of
His answer to prayers. I do not mean to say that they receive new revelations that supersede the
Bible but what God has revealed to His people through the Bible. There will be times that a
brother or sister in Christ will be able to point us to a scripture passage we need or to reveal the
truth of a passage, and this is God talking back to us, which is the other side of prayer.

The more we know of God’s word the better we will be able to pray. Scripture gives us the
prayers of past saints that we can use, and it also tells us the answers to those prayers. Scripture
reveals what attitude to have in prayer and how to approach God when we talk to him. The key
to being in a state of continual prayer is to have a deep knowledge and desire for God’s word.

There are many times when I will be praying to God, and I will not know what to say. I will
reach a point of utter desperation and my prayers seem to fail me. It is during these times that I
begin to read Scripture. I will read until I find a passage that describes the way I am feeling and
then pray that passage to God. I have heard of many people opening their Bibles to a random
portion of Scripture and God talking to them through that, but the more we know about the
Bible, the easier it will be for us to find what we are looking for.

Supplication, or praying for one’s needs, is the thing most commonly associated with prayed. We
cannot forget the other aspects of prayer as well such as praise and adoration. Paul and Peter
start many of their prayers by praising or blessing God. Ephesians 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing.”
2 Corinthians 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
mercies and God of all comfort.” 1 Peter 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” When we praise God even through
music, we are in a state of prayer.

Praying for our needs reveals something about prayer as well. We will often pray for gifts from
God but how often do we pray for God Himself? We should find contentment with the gifts God
has given us, but we should never be content with our relationship with God. We should
constantly hunger and desire and thirst for more of God. Since he is infinitely great, He will
always be able to give more and more of Himself to us. When prayers for supplication of gifts
rather than God dominate our prayer life, we should reevaluate our desires and pray for God to
awaken new passions within us.

We will talk to other people to learn more about them. We should talk to God with this same
intention of getting to know God better. Spending time with Him in deep prayer and meditation,
builds our love and relationship with Him. There is not always a goal we must accomplish or
something we must do in our prayer times but sometimes prayer is just a way to get closer to
God.
The answer to our prayers is often prayer itself. It is during time spent in prayer with God that we
are replenished. We are not restored because of the things He gives us but because we are in His
presence. Prayer itself is the way God responds to us and enriches our lives with Him.

Prayer is not just for getting closer to God and supplication but for defense against the fiery darts
of the evil one as well. Spurgeon said, “As you are tempted without ceasing, so pray without
ceasing.” When we are confronted by temptation, we should go to the Lord in prayer and ask for
the strength to overcome. If we are constantly facing temptation, then we should constantly pray
to fight it.

Praying without end will put us into a constant state of walking with God. We will be patient,
loving, and joyful in all situations because we are continually talking with God, and He is
showing us the path to take. Praying for others even increases our readiness to forgive those we
pray for. “The man who will truly pray for me will certainly readily forgive me if I offend him.
He will relieve me if I am in need and He will be prepared to assist me if I am engaged in a
service too hard for me” (Spurgeon, Spiritual Knowledge and It’s practical knowledge)

Give Thanks In All Circumstances

Verse 18 tells us to “give thanks in all circumstances.” No matter what is going on in our lives
we are to continue to thank God for what He has done, is doing, and will continue to do. Just as it
is hard not to rejoice knowing that God has already sent His son, it is also hard not to always be
thankful having this same knowledge. He has already done the greatest thing possible for you, so
why would you not be in a constant state of thanksgiving?

We should not only seek to thank God in the circumstance but for the circumstance as well.
Ephesians 5:20, “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ.” Giving thanks to God for everything includes the times of suffering and pain.
Thanking God for providing for our needs is not hard, but it is hard to thank Him for the situation
that put us in need. We give thanks for being unhealthy or being poor just as we give thanks for
God healing us and providing for us. Even if we don’t see how, He is working all of these things
for good, and we should treat them as good gifts from God.

Our prayer lives are to be guided by thanksgiving. Colossians 4:2 says, “Continue steadfastly in
prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” In C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, the
demon Screwtape advises his nephew Wormwood to make the prayers of the man he is tempting
more into insults than prayers. As the man prays for his mother, Wormwood is to remind the
man of all the little things that annoy the man about his mother. Instead of praying for patience
with her, the man is supposed to start thinking of all the things she does that makes him
impatient. When we do not let our prayer lives be filled with thanksgiving, we make the same
mistakes. We do not thank God for what He has done and given us but begin to think of how we
would like things to be. When praying for others, we begin to think of all the little details that
annoy us about them instead of building them up.

Thanksgiving in our prayer lives keeps us centered on positive prayers since they are centered on
what God has done for us rather than what we think we do for Him. When you begin to thank
someone for what they have done, you are admitting that you owe them something and that they
did something that you could not. We are greatly glorifying God with prayers of thanksgiving
because we make ourselves humble and admit His magnificence.

Thanksgiving also reminds us what God has done for us. When we pray to God for our needs, we
may have the temptation to say that God never answers our prayers, but when our prayers are
filled with thanksgiving, we are reminded of all that God has done for us.

We are truly a blessed people. If we began to thank God for everything He has done for us and
given us, then we would never stop giving thanks and be in a constant state of prayer. Paul tells
us to “give thanks in all circumstances” and to give thanks “for everything” because it will lead
us to “pray without ceasing.” Praying throughout our entire lives becomes less difficult when we
begin to rejoice in God for who He is and thank Him for what He has done.
Philippians 4:6, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” We are to pray to God and ask God
for everything, but this prayer is to be done “with thanksgiving.” We may pray for healing or for
God to provide with our needs while thanking Him for the health and materials He has given us
already.

The Will of God

Notice that the will of God is for you to rejoice always, pray always, and give thanks always.
This last part most likely refers to all of verses 12-18. The will of God is not for you to be
unsatisfied or without joy in your life but in a constant state of praise. How can we say that God
is an unloving God when His will for our lives is that we should always be in a joyful state?

How is this joyful state obtained? It is not obtained by pursuing any earthly pleasures but in
pursuing God Himself. You are to rejoice IN CHRIST always, pray IN CHRIST always, and
give thanks IN CHRIST always.

Psalm 69:30-31, “I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with
thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs.” Praising
God and being in a state of thanksgiving are pleasing to Him. He delights for us to praise His
name and to thank Him for what He has done for us. He delights in this more than sacrifices and
good works.

How can we do any of these if we have not first been made alive? It is God’s will for us to
rejoice, pray, and give thanks always, but it is also His will for us to be saved. We will not be
able to rejoice, pray, or give thanks unless we have first been made live in Christ. Let us thank
Christ for his sacrifice on the cross that we may rejoice, pray, and be thankful for all situations.