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September 27, 2009
“Prayer Connections”
Matthew 6: 5-13/James 5: 13-20
Sunday, September 27, 2009
It is wonderful to be the Pastor of a church where prayer is given a high priority. In our weekly order of Worship, prayer is given a place of honor, just before the last hymn. Before we pray we have a time to present items we need to pray about, not only needs, but also causes of Thanksgiving.
We also have a midweek prayer service where sometimes 10 percent of our members gather to spend 20 minutes in prayer at 7:00 in the morning. And we have people who keep our needs in their prayers and pray for all of us daily, especially when they hear that we might have special needs.
Each weekday our Administrative Assistant sends a daily prayer out to all of those on our e-mail list to assist us in our prayers.
So why would the pastor of Faith church feel the need to preach a sermon about prayer? Because prayer is one of the most important duties of all Christians. Why would I say such a thing? Because of the references to prayer in our Holy Scriptures.
In the Old Testament there are directions for prayers. In the New Testament there are several references to prayer, including the information that the Apostles, when they were in Jerusalem often went up to the temple for the prayers which were offered three times daily.
In the Gospels we also have the many references to the prayer life of Jesus. Prayer was a regular part of his life, especially as He faced his times of trials. We know from the Gospels that Jesus often went off alone to pray to His Father. I have often argued that if Jesus, the divine son of God needed to pray to stay in close fellowship with His Father, how much more do we, who are far from being divine need to pray?
But before I go any further, I want to correct what I think is a common misunderstanding about prayer. While it is important that we communicate with God in prayer, it is not necessary that we communicate everything to God in our prayers. God does not need us to tell him in our prayers how things are going down here on earth. He does not need our prayers to be informed about all that he needs to do.
In the passage Glenn read from Matthew, Jesus in telling the apostles not to throw multiple meaningless phrases at God in their prayers to impress God with the length of their prayers gave as a reason the following phrase “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Prayer is not for us to keep God fully informed of our needs, it is a forum for us to communicate with God. It is a channel through which we can relate to God as his children who need his loving care. Prayer is a conduit through which we can talk to our Father in heaven.
When we talk to people on the phone or in person our conversations are not always really about telling and hearing the latest events in our lives. It is a way of letting the other person know that we care about them and about what happens to them. That is what prayer is all about, and that is what Jesus wanted us to understand primarily about prayer. That is why the example he gave us in the Lord’s Prayer begins with the Words, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name”. Our prayers are messages addressed to Almighty God whose name is most Hallowed or Holy, but they are addressed to him as Father by his children. We are in the Holy family of God. We are to remember who our father is, but we are privileged to speak to him as his children.
While I was in college living away from home my father was pastor of a church in New Jersey. I would often return home for weekends and summers. The manse where we lived was next to the church and we usually parked our cars in the church parking lot instead of the street. One night I had some friends in my car and we were in conversation when we arrived home so we stayed in the car to finish our conversation before we went in the house. After a few minutes the police arrived. The police asked what we were doing in the parking lot. I said that we were just sitting in my car talking before we went inside. He asked “Inside where” I said “inside the house”. He said “inside what house?” Getting a little bit upset I pointed to the manse and said “That house”. The policeman asked why I was going into that house and I said “because I live there”. The police-man said “You live in Pastor Horner’s house?” and I said, “yes, I am his son.” The officer then knew that It was OK for me to be in the parking lot because of who my father was. Sometimes in life it makes a big difference who your father is. Jesus wanted us to remember that God is our father and prayer is a channel through which we can touch base with our Dad, the Almighty God.
This past week the phone rang at 1:45 in the morning. It was my father. He often goes to bed at 8:00 and by midnight is tired of lying flat in bed, so he asks the nursing home staff to get him up and dressed and put him in his lounge chair where he sleeps comfortably for the rest of the night. Sometimes.
Sometimes he wakes up and because he is up and dressed, he thinks others are too. When he called me at 1:45 this past week he asked “Are you up?” I said “I am now”. For the next few minutes we talked in the middle of the night about ordinary things. My Sister Connie was going to visit him the next day and we talked about that and a few other normal things. All in all it was a delightful conversation with my dad.
It is that kind of conversation that God wants us to have with him in our prayers. And yes, sometimes God seems to want to have those conversations in the middle of the night. When He calls by waking you up for no reason, pray to him until He allows you to go back to sleep.
But now I want to turn your attention to the passage I read from James because I want you to see some connections he makes to Jesus’ instruction about prayer and to some other areas of the Christian life.
In verse 13 James wrote “Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.” Here we have two categories of people who should pray.
Those who are suffering need to pray, not so God will be made aware of their suffering, but so the suffering person will be made aware that God cares about their suffering and be reminded that their Father can end their suffering.
Those who are cheerful should also pray, although in our text it says that they should sing songs of praise. For the Jews and the early Christians there was not much difference between songs and prayers. If you look at many of the songs that are in the book of Psalms, you will notice that many of them are prayers. Our prayers should always contain our praise of God for answered prayers and our thanksgiving for all that makes us cheerful.
In verse 14 we see two more categories of those who should pray. “Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.”
Those who are sick should pray for healing. And they should ask others to pray for them. Here the Church Elders are specifically mentioned. The elders where to pray over them and to anoint them with oil. Scholars disagree as to the purpose of the anointing. Some think it has to do with the use of oils as medicine. If so, we have a reference here to people not only praying for the sick, but also encouraging them to take their medicine. Are you thankful to God for your doctors and the medicines they prescribe for you? Do you see them as gifts from God for your healing and good health? You should.
In verse 15 and 16 there is another connection made. “The prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another so that you may be healed”.
I hope you noticed that in this passage and in the Lord’s Prayer, forgiveness of sins and of sinners is one of the topics they have in common. We are to pray for forgiveness for sick people and all people. We are to confess our sins to God in prayer and to other Christians so they can pray for our forgiveness. We should also pray for others to become aware of their sins so they can repent. And we are especially to pray that God will forgive our own sins.
Then there is a reminder of how powerful our prayers can be. We are told that Elijah by his fervent prayers stopped it from raining in Palestine for 3 1/2 years. We are told that “the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.” When you need help, pray and ask other Christians to pray for you.
And in verses 19 & 20 I think there is another category of people who need to be mentioned in our prayers. Those who have wandered from the truth. Those we thought had believed and those who never have. Pray for them. Pray that they will be forgiven and that they will believe in Jesus. Whatever you do to help an unbeliever or wanderer, whether it be prayers that they receive faith and salvation, or a word or deed that reminds them of the love of God, or perhaps a subtle and kind reminder that they are not pleasing God, Anything that helps a lost one come to Jesus is a wonderful thing the helps God cover the multitude of their sins.
So my friends, in all things pray. Pray when you suffer, pray when you are happy, pray for God’s forgiveness for yourself and for others, pray for healing for yourself and others, and above all, pray to your Father in Heaven, knowing that He loves you and that He can answer your prayers in mighty ways.
Pastor David Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Posted by faithpres at September 27, 2009 02:08 PM