Spiritual Disciplines: Prayer
Last week I began a six week blog series in which I am summarizing the six spiritual disciplines we recently covered in a sermon series entitled Freedom. If you did not read last week's blog post, I recommend starting there. I also suggest listening to the sermons. The summaries I am posting are simply...summaries. Listening to the specific messages, whether for the first time or as a reminder, should help you to better understand and apply the spiritual disciplines into your daily life. To listen to our sermons, click here: Freedom.
The second spiritual discipline we discussed in our sermon series was prayer. What is prayer? I personally find prayer to be a mystery. A child can do it yet adults stumble over it. It's simple yet profound. It's the easiest thing in the world to do yet the hardest thing to do. It's very practical yet very theological. Anyone can do it yet many don't. Prayer is a mystery.
So what is prayer? I'm not sure that's the right question. Perhaps a more helpful question is: What is prayer for? If we can answer that question and embrace the answer, then we'll be well on our way to practicing the discipline of prayer.
What is prayer for? Psalm 50:15 says, "And call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you shall glorify Me." That verse teaches us that the purpose of prayer is twofold. We have a share in prayer and God has a share in prayer. We call. God delivers. We get what we need. God gets what He deserves. In other words, the purpose is grace and glory. Grace is our share - what we need. Glory is God's share - what He deserves.
In John 16:24 Jesus said, "Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that you joy may be full." That' our portion. That's our share. We get joy. We get what we need. We receive grace. In John 14:13 Jesus said, "Whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." That's God's portion. That's His share. He gets what He deserves. He receives glory.
The purpose of prayer is that we become people who live fully in the grace of God and live fully for the glory of God. The purpose of prayer is that we become people who live in need of God and who live for God. The kind of prayer that enables us to enjoy the freedom that Jesus won for us is the kind of prayer that voices our dependence on the goodness of God and voices our awe in the greatness of God.
Pastor-Theologian John Piper wrote: "Life is war. That's not all it is. But it is always that. Our weakness in prayer is owing largely to our neglect of this truth. Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief. It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den. God has given us prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie so that we can call headquarters for everything we need as the kingdom of Christ advances in the world."
Piper's point is simple: For many of us prayer is meaningless and fruitless because we don't know what it's for and therefore don't know what to pray for. The purpose of prayer isn't give me, give me, give me, bless me, bless me, bless me, protect me, protect me, protect me. The purpose is bigger and greater than that. The purpose is that we ask for the grace of God that we may live for the glory of God. The purpose is that we may be actively involved in the advancement of the gospel in our own hearts and in the hearts of the people around us. Real, sound, proper, mountain moving prayer is prayer that says, "Lord provide me with what I am lacking, help me and guide me, that You may be honored in and through my life."
So what does this kind prayer look like? Take some time to read slowly through Psalm 86. That Psalm describes six characteristics of prayer: 1) pray with humility, 2) pray with boldness, 3) pray with desperation, 4) pray with faith, 5) pray with understanding, and 6) pray with purpose. Evaluate how closely your prayer life embodies these six characteristics.
Prayer is to be a consistent, regular, unceasing practice in the life of a follower of Jesus. I pray that you will grow in your commitment to this discipline so that you may live fully in the grace of God and live fully for the glory of God.
In awe of Jesus,
Pastor Rick
The second spiritual discipline we discussed in our sermon series was prayer. What is prayer? I personally find prayer to be a mystery. A child can do it yet adults stumble over it. It's simple yet profound. It's the easiest thing in the world to do yet the hardest thing to do. It's very practical yet very theological. Anyone can do it yet many don't. Prayer is a mystery.
So what is prayer? I'm not sure that's the right question. Perhaps a more helpful question is: What is prayer for? If we can answer that question and embrace the answer, then we'll be well on our way to practicing the discipline of prayer.
What is prayer for? Psalm 50:15 says, "And call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you shall glorify Me." That verse teaches us that the purpose of prayer is twofold. We have a share in prayer and God has a share in prayer. We call. God delivers. We get what we need. God gets what He deserves. In other words, the purpose is grace and glory. Grace is our share - what we need. Glory is God's share - what He deserves.
In John 16:24 Jesus said, "Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that you joy may be full." That' our portion. That's our share. We get joy. We get what we need. We receive grace. In John 14:13 Jesus said, "Whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." That's God's portion. That's His share. He gets what He deserves. He receives glory.
The purpose of prayer is that we become people who live fully in the grace of God and live fully for the glory of God. The purpose of prayer is that we become people who live in need of God and who live for God. The kind of prayer that enables us to enjoy the freedom that Jesus won for us is the kind of prayer that voices our dependence on the goodness of God and voices our awe in the greatness of God.
Pastor-Theologian John Piper wrote: "Life is war. That's not all it is. But it is always that. Our weakness in prayer is owing largely to our neglect of this truth. Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief. It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den. God has given us prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie so that we can call headquarters for everything we need as the kingdom of Christ advances in the world."
Piper's point is simple: For many of us prayer is meaningless and fruitless because we don't know what it's for and therefore don't know what to pray for. The purpose of prayer isn't give me, give me, give me, bless me, bless me, bless me, protect me, protect me, protect me. The purpose is bigger and greater than that. The purpose is that we ask for the grace of God that we may live for the glory of God. The purpose is that we may be actively involved in the advancement of the gospel in our own hearts and in the hearts of the people around us. Real, sound, proper, mountain moving prayer is prayer that says, "Lord provide me with what I am lacking, help me and guide me, that You may be honored in and through my life."
So what does this kind prayer look like? Take some time to read slowly through Psalm 86. That Psalm describes six characteristics of prayer: 1) pray with humility, 2) pray with boldness, 3) pray with desperation, 4) pray with faith, 5) pray with understanding, and 6) pray with purpose. Evaluate how closely your prayer life embodies these six characteristics.
Prayer is to be a consistent, regular, unceasing practice in the life of a follower of Jesus. I pray that you will grow in your commitment to this discipline so that you may live fully in the grace of God and live fully for the glory of God.
In awe of Jesus,
Pastor Rick
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