“My heart rejoices in the Lord; My horn is exalted in the Lord. I smile at my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation.” 1 Samuel 2.1
We’re going to talk today about prayer. It is a very vital subject for every one of us. The old hymn said ‘Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath, the Christian’s native air, his watch word at the gates of death, he enters heaven with prayer’.
And we read that the disciples asked Jesus ‘to teach us to pray’.
Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1
So, we’re going to look at the relevant passages in the scriptures first of all, and then consider them.
Matthew chapter 6 verse 5,
5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matthew 6:5-15
We’ll look in more detail at those words in a moment but, before that, let’s just read another couple of passages from the scriptures relating to prayer.
Luke 18 verse 1,
Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ”
6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:1-8
And, continuing in verse 9
9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18:9-14
And finally, from James chapter 5 and verse 13:
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. James 5:13-18
So, what is prayer? Why should you pray? Does it make any difference? What does it achieve?
People often ask me to pray for them after the service. They often have legitimate needs. They pray for health, pray for situations in their jobs and their accommodation and all these things are right to pray for.
But I was struck the other week when brother Alan was praying and he said about praying for wisdom. Do we ask God to actually change us to make us into new people?
Really, those are the things which God wants us to pray about. He wants us to pray for God to change us in our lives.
When I was at the baptism last week, we had lunch with family and with a couple of Sam’s friends who came along. One of them found out I was a pastor and they said: ‘As a pastor, what question would you like people to ask you?‘
I thought about it and I said, ‘The first question is, ask me ‘What must I do to be saved? The second question: how do I grow as a Christian? how do I grow to become more like Jesus?’
Probably, most of us here have the answer to the first question:
To repent, believe the Gospel, that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again from the dead and through faith receive the Holy Spirit into our lives to make us new people in Jesus.
Maybe you’ve already done that like I did it over 50 years ago. Maybe you did it recently. It makes no difference. Jesus said, you must be born again. There must be a point in your life where you come to repent, believe the Gospel, believe Jesus and invite Jesus to come into your life by faith.
Next week, we’re going to have baptisms in which three people from the fellowship are going to testify publicly to their faith by going through the waters of baptism. That, in itself, doesn’t make you a Christian, but it is a statement of your faith, it’s a confession of faith, a public confession of what we believe.
Romans chapter 10 it says if we
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:9-13
God wants us all to come to that point of believing in our hearts and confessing with our mouth the Lord Jesus. So, I’m probably preaching to the converted on this one but if you haven’t done that, now is the day of salvation, now is the day to accept Jesus as Saviour.
But we’re going to concentrate on the second question. How to grow as a Christian. And I want to look at these passages we’ve just read in the light of scripture and of prayer.
Of course, one of the ways in which we grow as a Christian is through prayer. There’s an old chorus which says:
‘Read your Bible, pray every day if you want to grow …’
Do you know that one?
Amen. Praise the Lord!