Good morning, church family. It is seriously
so exciting to be in front of you and just thank
you guys for all the encouragement and prayers.
They've just been such an encouragement to me.
So yeah, good morning. Welcome. And also, good
morning and welcome to any guests that we have
here today. It's holiday seasons. And just so
you know, obviously, I am not an elder here at
Oak Hill. But they approached me and gave me
this opportunity to preach, which I'm Super thankful
for. And finally, in the back, we say welcome
and good morning to the acorns back there. Do
I still have you guys? Are you already coloring
and eating snacks back there? So before I start,
good job singing, guys, as well. Let me ask you
a question. Did you guys get some good gifts
this Christmas? Some cool things, yeah? Or maybe
not some cool things like socks or clothes that
as you get older you will come to appreciate?
Well, let me ask you, did you guys say thank
you to your parents when they gave you those
gifts? Yeah, nice. Yeah, just like you should,
right? Thank you for the gifts that your parents
are giving to you. And really, there's so many
things that your parents do for you that you
can thank them for. The food that they provide,
inviting and hosting family and friends over
the holidays. Acorns, what if I told you that
maybe you've never thanked your parents for the
most important thing that they do for you? And
what is that? Have you ever, acorns, have you
ever thanked your parents for praying for you?
Have you ever said, mom, thank you for the ways
that you prayed for my salvation, the ways that
you prayed that I would grow up in wisdom and
understanding? And even thank you for the ways
that you prayed that you would be a good parent
to me. Man, that would mean so much to your parents
if you thanked them for praying. And even for
us older, have we thanked our parents for praying
for us as we've grown up? It's just something
that maybe we don't think about, but it is really
one of the most important things that our parents
have done for us. So obviously today, The message
is about prayer. I had a class on prayer recently,
and while it wasn't the most academic or structured
class in my schooling, it was easily one of my
favorites of just... had me thinking a lot about
prayer, convicting me about prayer, and also
encouraging and exciting me about prayer. So
I hope this morning to bring that and kind of
pass some of that along to you guys. And so there's
so many different ways and angles that you could
go about talking about prayer. So I want to just
up front get right to the point with my thesis,
what I want you guys to understand, what I want
you to take away, what I hope to persuade you
of. And that is this, that you ought to form
the biblical conviction that prayer is a vital
means of grace in the Christian life. And so
what do I mean by that? Well, as I go through
and explain, I hope that you'll really understand
what I'm saying here and the importance of it.
And so first we'll just kind of break it up and
say, initially, you ought to form the biblical
conviction. And as Jeff just prayed, right, the
new year is upon us. It's just around the corner.
And this is a time of reflecting on what just
happened. And even maybe for some of us, some
of you like doing New Year's resolutions or maybe
just goals, thinking about what did I do well
last year? What didn't I do well last year? And
so the question comes to mind, what makes a habit
stick? What makes a new year's resolution stick,
right? You have people coming into the gym January
and it's packed. And then as time goes, it kind
of fizzles out, right? And less and less people.
And then you just have the regular crowd. So
what really causes a habit to stick? And I think.
First, it's what we believe, what we think is
what really propels us to act. And so thinking
about prayer and how we can build better habits
of prayer is initially the first step is to build
a biblical conviction about prayer. And the analogy
that I kept thinking of along with the gym is
health fads. I remember growing up, the one that
we got into for a little bit was juicers. I don't
know if you guys remember that, but juicers,
I feel like there was just a time when they were
just a big thing, right? My mom got one and put
a bunch of carrots and other cursed fruit of
the earth just in there, and it was just nasty.
I'm sure it was probably good for me, right?
But mom, if you're listening, thank you for getting
over that health fad quickly, because man. But
right, with these health fads, maybe it's a commercial
or a YouTube video or something, but there's
someone trying to sell you on this health fad.
get this juicer. It's so easy. It's cheap. And
here are all the nutrition benefits. I sleep
better. Maybe they have the testimony of someone.
Oh, before this, I was all tired and didn't have
energy. And now that I'm doing this and all this
information to try to get you to believe that
this juicer is gonna be useful, is gonna be helpful
for you. And that's kind of my goal this morning
is to just like, let's look at scripture and
what God says about prayer and say, man, be convinced
that that this is worth my time, right? That,
oh, is it worth it to buy this juicer and use
it? Well, yes, it is worth it to pray, to spend
time in prayer. Now, of course, the analogy falls
apart because health fads are constantly changing,
constantly going around, but God's word is immutable
and it's inerrant, meaning it never changes and
there's no mistakes in it at all. So we can build
our thinking and our habits around God's word.
Now, that being said, the two analogies that
I've brought up so far of going to the gym and
health fads are fitting for prayer because prayer
is hard work. Prayer is really hard work. And
Martin Luther, who was, if you know about him,
before he was saved, he was a monk that was so
like asceticism to the max, right? Punishing
himself, just constantly self -disciplined. And
that changed when he became a Christian. But
at the same time, he was still such a disciplined
man of prayer. And listen to what he said about
prayer. He says that prayer is the hardest work
of all and a labor above all labors. And that's
coming from someone who probably prayed hours
daily. And so yeah, prayer is difficult work.
And it's something that when we hear about prayer,
all Christians should be like, man, I ought to
pray more than I do, right? Like if you found
a Christian that says, oh, I prayed enough last
year. You'd be like, you know, really? Like,
do you understand? All of us can pray more. So
just wherever you are, if you don't pray a lot,
and I think there is a lot of prayerlessness
in the church, or if you have good habits of
prayer, yeah, I hope that this message is encouraging
to you. So that's kind of the first part, that
first chunk of forming a biblical conviction.
about prayer and to kind of before getting into
the next part, let's just do that. And let's
look at explicit and implicit scriptures about
prayer and just see what the Bible says. And
there's so much to talk about, but I'm just going
to kind of rapid fire through these. Oh, and
I can't read it back there and I don't have it
written down. So I'm going to turn around. So
explicit scripture on prayer and there's just
so much here. And the first one, I mean, we should
all know this. 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 through
18, rejoice always, pray without ceasing and
everything gives thanks. And then for this is
God's will for you in Christ Jesus. It's almost
like we could just stop there, right? In an ideal
world, if we weren't struggling with sin, we
could just stop there and pray continuously.
This is God's will for your life. I mean, it's
just so clear. But just as Jesus said when he
was praying in the garden of Gethsemane and the
disciples are falling asleep, right? The spirit
is willing. Our spirits love to pray, but the
flesh is so weak. It's so weak. So let's keep
going and looking at more of these. And Philippians
4, 6, be anxious for nothing, but in everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known to God. Also
a very familiar one. There's so much more. Colossians
4 .2, devote yourself to prayer, keeping alert
within the attitude of thanksgiving. We're devoted
to prayer, Romans 12 .12, with all prayer and
petition at all times in the spirit. Ephesians
6 .18, 1 Timothy 2 .8, therefore I want the men
in every place to pray. more now he was telling
them a parable to show them at all times they
ought to pray and not lose heart all times they're
from the gospel of luke chapter 18 verse 1 and
then finally this one i think is really interesting
because um we might often see the command to
pray in scripture as kind of an encouragement
like yeah we should pray always but look at what
samuel says about prayer here he says in first
samuel 12 23 he says moreover as for me Far be
it from me that I should sin against the Lord
by ceasing to pray to you, but I will instruct
you in the good and right way. And wow, have
you ever thought about that, that not praying
is actually kind of a sin of omission? We should
be communing. We should be having an ongoing
prayerful relationship with God. And Samuel is
saying, I would be sinning against the Lord if
I'm just living in my own way. And so, yeah,
that's kind of shocking, right, to think about
that. that this is serious and it's actually
a sin, right, to not be praying. And wow, that's
kind of sobering. And just again, realize, wow,
how much of a sinner I am and how much I'm in
need of God's grace. So yeah, that's the end
of the explicit scripture that is just specifically
like prayers in there. It's talking about prayer.
And I also wanna look now at an implicit scripture
about prayer. And what I mean by that is it doesn't
mention prayer, but I think prayer is implied
in that scripture. And so... First off, I mean,
this should also be a familiar passage. John
15, abide in me and I in you, and the branches
cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides
in the vine. So in this whole concept, we can
do nothing. We can do no spiritual good. We can
bear no spiritual fruit apart from abiding in
Christ. How do we do that? without prayer, separate
from prayer. Also things like whether then you
eat or drink or whatever you do, do all things
to the glory of God. And what does that mean?
How do we do all things to the glory of God?
Isn't that such a, like the purpose of our life
now after we're saved? Well, I think 1 Timothy
4, 4 through 5 kind of helps explain how we do
that. It says, for everything created by God
is good and nothing is to be rejected if it was
received with gratitude. And then this part specifically,
For it is sanctified, made holy, made acceptable,
presentable to God by the means of the word of
God and prayer. So all things that God gives
us are good and they're made holy, they're sanctified
by prayer and then connecting that to doing all
things to the glory of God is just. Prayer is
implied there. And then three last ones. If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous
to forgive us our sins. Colossians 3, 2, set
your minds on the things above, which that's
just kind of one verse that is such a theme in
scripture of Romans 12, renewing of your mind.
Ephesians 4, put off the old man, be renewed
in your mind. And then Psalms 1, 2, his delight
is in the law of the Lord and in his law, he
meditates. day and night. So there's all these
things, abiding in Christ, confessing our sins,
meditating on God's word, being renewed in our
minds, that they're not a one -to -one correspondence
to prayer, right? It's not just like, if I prayed,
I've abided in Christ. But how could you say
that you've done any of these things without
prayer, right? How could a Christian say, oh,
I'm abiding in Christ, but... But yeah, I don't
really pray that often. Or how could you say
I'm being renewed in the spirit of my mind, but
I'm never really communing with God or I'm confessing
my sins or all these things is prayer is just
such a means of grace. And that's getting into
our second point, which is that prayer is a means
of grace. I don't know if you guys have heard
this language before. I think it's really helpful
and I wanna explain it this morning. And it might
be initially kind of scary to us as we see means
of grace and think, well, don't we already have
God's grace? Aren't we already saved by faith?
Yeah, through grace, we already have that. Well,
yeah, we're kind of scared of that because of
the Roman Catholic sacraments, right? Of where
they say, you know, you're okay with God and
then you sin and you actually, you go down and
you need to get God's grace to go back up and
be right with him again. And that is not what
this is talking about. This is not justifying
grace of us standing before God, but it is still
grace. The language of grace is still useful.
And let me... try to explain why. So just first
off, initially, like we, yeah, we are justified.
Our standing before God is right. And think of
Romans 8, 1. Therefore, there is now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus. It's just
so clear. There's no condemnation anymore for
those who in Christ Jesus and also Romans 8 .33
says that who can bring a charge against God's
elect for it is God who justifies, right? It's
so clear. But then think about back to Romans
8 .1. There is therefore no condemnation for
who? For everybody? No, for those who are. in
Christ Jesus, for those who are unified with
Christ Jesus. And think of the context of Romans,
of just Romans 6, we are unified in his death,
burial, and resurrection. And that's what saves
us, right? We're unified with him so that when
we stand before God on judgment day, he sees
Christ's life instead of ours. And that's what
allows him to accept us. So we have union with
Christ. But then another familiar passage, and
this is kind of the framework. So over there,
Romans 8, 1, and being in Christ, our union with
him, we're justified. And that's set, past tense,
it's done. That is justification. But then something
like Romans 8, 28 through 29, for all things
work together for good for those who love Christ
Jesus. And what is the good, right? This verse
should never be taken out of context. And it
so often is. It's not, what is working together
for your good? Well, verse 29, for those whom
he foreknew, he predestined to be conformed into
the image of Christ. So on one hand, we're already
identified with Christ, but on the other, are
we like Christ? Are we just like him? It's like,
no, right? We're so far away from him. from being
like him rather. And he predestined us to be
slowly by degrees conformed into Christ's image.
So at the same time, we're justified and we're
growing in sanctification. And so here's really
the point of all that. And that should be familiar
to you, but why would we call it a means of grace?
Why is prayer a means of grace? Are we changed?
Are we conformed into God's image after we're
saved by our own strength? It's like, no, absolutely
not, right? We're conformed into God's image
by his supernatural working in us and his grace
being poured out into us. And so that's why it's
still grace. That's why it's a means of grace
is we still need God's help to grow in these
ways. And then means of grace is God has given
us specific ways that his grace is kind of poured
out on us. And think of this example. If there
was a Christian who never went to church, never
read his Bible, he never prayed, is he going
to be growing in godliness and sanctification?
It's like, you might even question, is he really
a Christian in the first place? God has just
given us means by which he uses to grow us spiritually
and by which to conform us into the image of
Christ. And prayer, I think, is just one of the
most foundational ones. And just some quotes,
I should have put these on screen, but you'll
just have to listen. Thinking through this, the
Westminster Confession wrote this. It's answer
to question 88, and it says, the outward and
ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to
us the benefits of redemption are his ordinances,
especially the word, sacraments, and prayer.
So let me say that again, the outward and ordinary,
right? There's nothing super special about it,
just coming to church. That's just something
you do, praying. That's just something you do,
reading your Bible, right? We're not looking
for some mystical experience. It's outward, it's
an ordinary thing we do, but there are the means
whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits
of redemption. And that's just so good, the benefits
of the salvation that we've received. And I'll
get to an example of that here soon. But then
also Calvin wrote about this, Calvin's Institutes,
Book 3, Chapter 7, Section 1. or chapter 12,
sorry. And you can, if you're curious, I can
give you these later. But Calvin says, it is
by the benefit of prayer that we reach those
riches which the gospel of the Lord shows us.
And then similarly, Luther also said, we should
know that God insists on our praying to him,
not because he needs our prayers, but because
he wants to give us grace and blessing through
those prayers. So to go back to a biblical example
of this is think again of Romans 5 .1, which
says, having been justified, so past tense, we
now presently have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. We have peace with God, right?
And that's the justification area over here that
if we're saved, we have peace with God. But then
compare that to Philippians 4 that we looked
at earlier, which says Philippians 4, 6 through
7, be anxious for nothing, but in everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known to God. What
does God do if we obey that and we take our worries
to him and we pray to him? He says, and the peace
of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will
guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
So you see, we have peace with God, but then
as the Westminster Confession says, communicates
the benefits of our redemption, like we can experience
the peace we should have. feel because we have
peace with God through the means of coming to
God and praying and being faithful to pray and
bring our worries to Him. And that's just the
ordinary means of grace by which God blesses
us in our lives. And it's just, yeah, it's just
so important that we believe that and think through
that. And because, yeah, again, prayer is difficult.
But knowing that, man, God has given me this
way to experience the peace of God, right? Who
doesn't want more peace in their life, right?
More joy, more thanksgiving in their life. Man,
I wish I was more at peace. I wish I was more
thankful. God has explained the way to do that
is he's given us prayer. So just the question,
do you pray? How much do you pray? And do you
believe this, that prayer is a means of grace
that God has given us? So with that, yeah, yeah,
yeah. Do you believe that? Like the juicer, are
you buying into it? That this is good for you,
this is nutritional. Are you saying, yes, okay,
I'm gonna commit to this, I'm gonna spend time
in this. Then we'll transition to the third point,
which is the privilege of prayer. And this is
a little bit of a break, a little bit different,
kind of just a theological look at what prayer
is that I think is helpful for us thinking just
about prayer in general. And so let me just ask,
do you think, does God listen to and answer the
prayers of unbelievers? What do you think? Yes
or no, then that's kind of a tricky question.
But scripture is actually pretty clear about
it that the answer is no. God actually does not
listen to and he does not answer the prayer of
unbelievers. And so I have a lot of verses here
in Isaiah 115. This one's super clear. It says,
so when you spread out your hands in prayer,
I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, even though
you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your
hands are covered in blood. Wow. Well, thinking
multiplied your prayers, how many times in your
life could you say, like, I multiplied my prayer
about this? Like, I'm just praying and praying
and praying. And Israel, God's people, is multiplying
their prayers. And because their hands are covered
in blood, God says, I will not listen to you.
Keep going, Jeremiah 11, 10 through 11. This
is a long verse just talking about, How Israel
has broken God's covenants. They've broken God's
law. And there, just at the end of it, in the
quotes, behold, I am bringing disaster on them,
which they will not be able to escape. Though
they will cry to me, yet I will not listen to
them. Wow, wow. And more, Zechariah 7 .13, just
as we don't listen to God, God says, I will not
listen to you. Here's another one from Ezekiel
8, 17 through 18. I could read, they cry in my
ears, yet I will not listen to them. And then
here are two that are just really kind of summarize
this. Proverbs 28, 9, he who turns his ear from
listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination.
Wow, wow. Yeah, I didn't realize like how serious
God viewed prayer. Really, even before I started
looking more into this, but it says, if you don't
listen to God's law, your prayer. is an abomination
to God? That's crazy. And Isaiah 59, one through
two, which this is such just a good, even just
a verse for evangelism. Behold, the Lord's hand
is not so short that it cannot save, nor is his
ear so dull that it cannot hear. God's saying,
my ear isn't dull. I can hear everything. Of
course he can hear everything. He's God. He's
omniscient. He knows everything. He's everywhere
at all times. Yet he says, but your iniquities
have made a separation between you and your God
and your sins have hid his face from you so that
he does not hear. Wow, so this is a serious thing.
And I don't know, like there's a disaster on
social media, right, that goes up and people
are always posting, oh, thoughts and prayers,
thoughts and prayers going out. And if they're
unbelievers and really, if they're praying at
all in the first place, when they say thoughts
and prayers, God doesn't listen to those prayers.
He doesn't hear the prayers of unbelievers. And
that's kind of shocking. But let me say too,
when here's a place where I think the rubber
really meets the road in this is I've heard people
say, talking about the gospel and saying, and
they kind of get to a point of like, okay, I
understand the gospel. I understand God. But
there was one time when I was at the darkest
point in my life and I cried out to God and he
didn't answer me. And so I don't believe in God.
And you're going like, wow, what do I say to
them at this point? And actually how useful it
would be to know and to be able to say like,
actually, that's exactly what we expect. Unless
you repent and believe and turn to God. God will
not listen and not answer your prayers. So unbelievers,
if you're listening, don't be fooled by thinking
that God is buddy -buddy with you or that if
you just are in enough pain and suffering and
call out that he's just gonna lift you out of
that if you're not repenting and turning from
your sin and turning to him. There was a real
separation between us and God. And I think just
seeing that, that God does not listen to the
prayers of unbelievers. is shocking. It's shocking
to people. And wow, there really is a separation
between me and God. And you have to repent and
turn from your sins and turn to God. Because
God does not listen to the prayers of sinners.
But, but, Hebrews 4, 14 through 16. Therefore,
since we have a great high priest who has passed
through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let
us hold fast our confession. For we do not have
a high priest who cannot sympathize with our
weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all
things as we are yet without sin. And then here
it is, this high priestly work of Jesus right
now. He says, therefore, let us draw near with
confidence to the throne of grace. And then look
at this, so that we may receive mercy and find
grace, means of grace, draw near to the throne
to help in times of need. Again, prayer as a
means of grace. But think about this, that God
would not listen to the prayers of sinners, but
through the work of Jesus Christ, God delights.
to hear the prayers of his people. He wants you
to come boldly to his throne as a son or daughter
and talk about anything with him. He delights
in it. He loves it. And I just love how, yeah,
the high priestly work of Jesus sometimes is
a little vague to me of he's interceding and
okay, what does that mean? But this is something
that is so tangible that God does for us is.
God would not listen to our prayers before and
now through the work of Christ, he loves to hear
our prayers. He loves to hear the prayers of
his people. He wants us to come to him. And with
that, look at this Proverbs 15, eight, the sacrifice
of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,
but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
He delights in prayer. And then here's just an
amazing, passage from Revelation talking about
the prayers of the saints. And so a little bit
of a long section here, but we're getting a picture
of what's happening in heaven at the end of time.
And look, when he had taken the book, the four
living creatures and 24 elders fell down before
the lamb. And each one of them is holding a harp
and a golden bowl full of incense, which are
the prayers of the saints. And that's chapter
five. And then later in chapter eight, it says,
another angel came and stood at the altar holding
a golden censer and much incense was given to
him so that he might add it to the prayers of
all the saints on the golden altar, which was
before the throne. So picture this, the throne
of God in heaven and an altar before him. and
the incense, the prayers of the saints being
poured out before him. And I think of in Disneyland,
only been there a few times, but I've heard that
they pump the smell of the kitchen out into the
street, right, to try to get you there. And oh,
yeah, it does smell good. But I've never caved.
I've never caved. Or maybe you're in the mall,
right? And there's people there and they wanna
spray and give you a sample and here, smell this
to buy it. And so there's different smells for
different purposes. And here God is the creator
of all smells, right? The creator of all things.
And what does he choose? What does he choose
to burn as a pleasing aroma, a pleasing incense
before him? He chooses to burn the prayers of
his saints. He chooses the small, maybe even
weak prayers of God, help me with this, of God,
thank you for this. And that is such a delight
to him. And just, I mean, yeah, just reading
that and really picturing it and thinking about
it is just such a beautiful thing. So pray, right?
Pray, prayer is, there's something spiritually.
happening when we pray. It's not just a, you
know, rote kind of, we're just talking, but right,
we're spiritual people, right? And we should
believe in spiritual things happening. And prayer
is just such a way that God uses to strengthen
us and encourage us spiritually. And just think
of in, even in John four, when God says, or when
Jesus is talking to the woman and he says, God
is spirit and he is searching for people to worship
him in spirit. and truth, right? And then I had
another verse. Oh yeah, our 1 Corinthians 2,
talking about how the things of God, the gospel
even, is something that is spiritually appraised,
right? And so we are spiritual. And prayer is
just, I don't know, I just think it's cool to
kind of lift the curtain and see what is happening
in heaven when we pray. And hopefully that is
just still an encouragement to you to pray. This
is God's, yeah, there's something special about
prayer. So finally, going on to our last point
here of, so how do we pray well? How do we pray?
Yeah, how do we pray well? And I just have a
simple thing for you that I think is as effective
as it is simple. And there's just two ingredients
to praying well. All you need is time and scripture.
That's it. All you need is time and scripture.
And let me break it down. Time, we should, praying
continuously means in whatever we're doing, we
should be saying things like, Lord, help me with
this. Lord, thank you for this. But also, as
Christians, we really should be taking time out
of our schedule to pray. And I specifically intentionally
maybe use the word taking because if you just
say, oh, I'll just see what happens with my day
and see if I have time to pray, well, prayer
is gonna slip you by real fast. But if you take
time to schedule and say this is important enough
that I actually need to block out time in my
schedule intentionally, to pray, that is just
such an important thing for us to do. And in
whatever way that works for you. For me, I like
going on walks because I'm so easily distracted.
Leave everything behind and just going on a walk
is really nice and just calming and also just
a great time to pray. And do I, you know, go
on walks every day? No, no. And I could still
grow so much in this, but I can just say as from
this class and just thinking more about prayer,
like, I don't know. It's been such a blessing
to be in prayer more. It's feel like I have more
wisdom. I'm thinking through things well. My
mind is refocused. I'm more thankful for things
because I'm praying more. And yeah, that's what
prayer is. That means of grace. And secondly,
scripture, praying through scripture. I don't
know if you've ever heard of this. Super simple,
just. Read scripture, pray through it. It's so
simple, so easy, but there are practical and
spiritual benefits to this. Practically, it's
like you have something to read through so you're
not distracted, right? So you have something
to keep you on track and also that you get a
good variety of praying through things, right?
How often do we pray and we're saying the same
things over and over again, but just praying
through what you're reading in scripture gives
you that variety and that focus. practically.
And then just spiritually, Romans 8, like the
Spirit of God is in us, interceding when we don't
know what to say with groanings too deep for
words. The Spirit is working in us. And just
as Jeff talked about earlier, how God talks to
us through His Word, it's we're talking back
to God using His words. And that is just, it's
like those... Reading scripture and praying,
two means of grace that I just can't imagine
a more fruitful spiritual discipline. I mean,
if you find one, let me know, but I don't think
there's anything better for our souls than to
take time and pray through scripture. And even
just personally, the things that I spend time
to pray through in scripture are the things that
I find myself meditating on and actually thinking
about more. So yeah, those are the two simple
ingredients for how to pray well. If you are
a Christian, you have the spirit in you and you
just give it the time, God will grow you up in
praying well. And so finally, I'm gonna wrap
up. I wanted to go through a kind of tier list
or ranking or whatever you wanna call it of.
I don't know, holiness, or it doesn't sound right,
but let me just explain and kind of stack it
and say, okay, so maybe at the bottom, we have
a Christian who isn't praying at all, right?
And on top of that, you might even add, say,
an unbeliever who's praying. It might be better
to be an unbeliever who's praying, even though
God doesn't. hear their prayers than a believer
who's neglecting to talk to their heavenly father.
And J .C. Ryle in his book, Do You Pray? He was
talking about, he says, one of the main reasons
for our backsliding in our Christian lives is
prayerlessness. And I think just as we reflect
on that on our own lives, we find that to be
true. When we're backsliding, we're prayerless.
So there's that, there's an unbeliever who prays.
And then above that, maybe a believer who prays
a little bit here and there, just kind of simple
prayers. Above that is a believer who prays a
lot, but they're always praying about. like physical
and just selfish things. They're always asking
for things for themselves, always about them,
always just about like, oh, there's, and of course
those are things we should be praying. But I
think above that is maybe even a believer who
doesn't pray quite as much, but they're praying
for the spiritual growth of themselves and others.
They're focused on what really matters. They're
praying through scripture. They're thinking correctly
about God and it's not just always about themselves.
And then at the top is Jesus, right? Who in his
life, just as we see, and we'll only get there
in glorification, but in his life, he prayed
so much. And if there was anybody who didn't
need to pray, it was Jesus, God himself, right?
But Jesus still took time, praying before he
chose his disciples, his 12 disciples, which
he... probably already knew who they were. He
spent time to go and pray through that or even,
thank you to Josiah Garber for pointing this
out to me of when he prayed in Gethsemane, Lord,
let the cup pass from me. He knew, he knew he
was going to the cross, right? He knew for certain
that he was going to the cross and that was his
mission, but he still went to the Lord and prayed
and says, Lord, if you would take this cup from
me. Wow, wow. So yeah, Jesus is at the top and
our example. And he, yeah, it's just incredible
reading through the gospels how much he prayed.
And he, yeah, he was a busy man. And in Mark,
it talks about how he was so busy during his
ministry that he couldn't even have the chance
to eat, right? But he still found the time to
pray. So going back kind of to the distinction
between the Christian who prays a lot, but it's
always just kind of weak, kind of like, like
just selfish things. And then the Christian who
prays about more spiritual things. Just again,
what we just learned about the theology of prayer,
even our best prayers are filthy rags before
God. And so God delights in every prayer that
we pray. It's not like there's some that God
delights in more than others. But for our sake,
for the sake of our own growth, just thinking
about 1 Corinthians 3, when Paul's talking about
infants in Christ, right? Who are still fleshly
and they know the gospel, but they're just not
growing. They're just not, they can't have solid
food yet. And that is some Christians. in prayer
for years who just aren't really growing. And
it's best for us to say to them, like, for your
own good, like, grow up. Like, leave just the
milk of just asking for things in your life behind
and start praying through scriptural things.
And part of this that I want to point out to
kind of, I don't know, give an example of this
point is in 1 Thessalonians, there's two times
that God says, this is my will for you. The first
time we already saw pray without ceasing for
this is God's will for you. The second time he
says this is for this is the will of God, your
sanctification, right? And that's so clear of
sometimes people are always praying just about,
oh, I have this big decision in life and yes,
you should pray about it. And what does God want
me to do? What is God's will for my life? Well,
guess what? God's will for your life is your
sanctification. That's what he cares about so
much more than just the things that happen in
your life. And even all the introductory prayers
or a lot of the introductory prayers of Paul
talking about, I pray that you would know God
more, right? That we would have an understanding
and grow in our faith, not just have things in
life go our way. And so, yeah, so praying scripture,
I think, is just the easiest, simplest way that
we can have our hearts conformed and our lives
conformed to the image of God. And there's, again,
that book I referenced earlier, Do You Pray by
J .C. Ryle. Short book, super punchy, really,
really excellent book to read if you wanted to
read one on prayer. J .C. Ryle says this in the
book, which is just so good. He says, The way
to be happy is to always be opening our hearts
to him. And a little later he says, oh, that
men would understand that happiness does not
depend on outward circumstances, but on the state
of the heart. Let me say that again. Oh, that
men would understand that happiness does not
depend on outward circumstances, but on the state
of the heart. And again, thinking back earlier
to Philippians 4 of the peace of God, man, there
can be someone in life where everything is going
well for them and they should be happy, but inside
the state of their heart, the state of their
soul, life really isn't that good. And there
can be someone going through trials and difficulties,
but if they have the peace and the joy and the
thankfulness. in their heart, right? That is
really what gives us happiness in life. And it's
just, it's so easy to forget that, right? And
yeah, I just, I couldn't say it better than Raul
there. And again, great book on prayer if you
want to read and be challenged about that. And
so finally, yeah, yeah. Going back to the first
point of, do you believe that, do you have this
solid conviction that prayer is a vital means
of grace that God has given you in your life?
And then I guess the question is, what will you
do with that? As we're thinking about the new
year and whether that be setting a resolution
or goal, I usually don't, but whatever you like
to do, but just thinking about, man, prayer is
so important. And in that, I hope that maybe
we're convicted, but that we'd be more encouraged.
than convicted to think, wow, like God can, like
J .C. Ryle says, the state of my soul can be
one of joy, even though my outward circumstances
maybe aren't the best. And yeah, another thing
I want to say is, just, right, you just do it.
You're faithful to pray and taste and see that
the Lord is good, right? Experience the blessing
of that. But what if you say to me, like Elijah,
like I feel like I do pray a lot and I just don't
really delight in the Lord. I feel like it's
not doing anything for me. Well, I found this
that I just think is so helpful. And let me read
it to you. It's Isaiah 58, 13 through 14. There's
just a great principle in here. It says, If because
of the Sabbath you turn your foot from doing
your own pleasures on my holy day and call the
Sabbath a delight, a holy day of the Lord honorable
and honor it, desisting from your own ways and
seeking your own pleasures and speaking your
own word. And then look at this right here. It
says, then you will take delight in the Lord
and I will make you ride on the heights of heaven.
And I just love that. And the connection, of
course, talking about the Sabbath here, but in
the New Testament, in Hebrews 4, 9 through 10,
it talks about how Jesus is our Sabbath rest,
right? And there's no longer any day that's more
important than another, but we still should rest
in Christ. And that is our Sabbath rest here.
And just saying, stop making the Sabbath, stop
making this time about you, about speaking your
own words, about your own way, about your own
pleasures. And then just, and then what comes
out of that, if you stop making it all about
you, it says, then you will take delight in the
Lord. And I just love that. And again, that's
something that I think we as Christians find
true of when we stop making it about ourselves
and start making it about who God is. That's
when we really take delight in the Lord. And
so, yeah, hopefully that's, that's helpful to
you. to you again on the topic of how we pray
well. And yeah, that is it. And I would get kicked
out of seminary if I didn't have you guys at
least open your Bibles once. So we'll sneak it
in right here at the end. But yeah, if you have
a Bible or a phone, go ahead and open up to Isaiah
chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40. And what I'm gonna
do here is we're gonna close in prayer. And first,
I'm just gonna pray through, just going through
verses one through 11. And don't worry, I'm just
kind of skimming through and picking things out
and praying through this scripture. Maybe just
be an example of, yeah, yeah, thinking about
praying through scripture. Okay, let's actually
do it and pray through Isaiah 40. And so I'll
start. And I'll pray through these verses and
try to follow along with me. And then I'm gonna
give you guys some time. And maybe if you find
a verse in here that you think applies to you,
or you could even keep reading in verses 12 and
on is so great about just who God is. And just,
I'm gonna give you some time to just sit there
and kind of pray through some of this on your
own. And then I will close us in prayer. So,
all right, let's pray. Looking at Isaiah 40,
verse 1. Lord, thank you that you are the comforter,
Lord, of your people. You comfort us, God. And
there's just so many ways that we seek comfort
outside of you, Lord. And yeah. We seek for comfort
in all the right things, Lord, and thank you
that you are a God who seeks and delights to
give us comfort. And I pray that you would just
teach us to come to you for that comfort, Lord.
And thank you for removing the iniquity from
us, Lord, and your son, Jesus Christ. And you
are our only hope, Lord, of having a right relationship.
Jesus, you are our only hope and that you have
removed our iniquity from us, Lord. And then
in verse six, a voice calling out, then he answered,
what shall I call out? Lord, our flesh is like
grass, Lord, and our time on earth is just so
short. Lord, and it is lovely like a flower,
Lord. You've given us so many blessings and beautiful
things, but like the flower, the grass wither,
the flower fades. And surely people are grass,
Lord, and our lives are so short, and so I pray
that That we would just use the short time we
have here, Lord, well, Lord, and that we would
spend it in communion with you, Lord, and just
take delight in you and not be so distracted
by all the things of this world. And there at
the end of verse eight, Lord, your word stands
forever, Lord. So many things in this life are
passing and fading, but your word is a sure rock
and foundation to build our lives. And so now,
yeah, you guys just continue to read through
and pray through whatever you find in Isaiah
40 and I'll close us. Dear Lord, forgive us for
our prayerlessness, Lord, and yeah, just the
ways that we so often think of our own way, think
of our own pleasures, our own delights, Lord,
instead of coming to you, Lord, and boldly approaching
your throne because of the access that you have
given us through your son, Jesus, Lord. And just
thank you for this time in your word, Lord. I
pray that you would just be using your word to
conform us more into your image, Lord. I pray
that we would just be a people who prays to you,
Lord, who delights in spending time talking to
you. just that you would conform us more and
more into your image, Lord. And yeah, we thank
you for your patience. We thank you for the grace
that you give us through these things. And I
just pray that we would just form solid convictions
about these things and live our lives accordingly
and appropriately because of them, Father. And
yeah, we're thankful for... who you are, Lord.
Help us to correctly see who you are and correctly
see who we are in relation to you. Yeah, God,
thank you so much and just be with us the rest
of this week and the rest of this year and through
next year and say all these things in your name.
Amen.