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A little sample of what we'll look at tonight when he comes.

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Roger Nelson.

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Thank you, Paul.

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Greetings from Pasadena, California and my church, which is Lake Avenue Congregational

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Church.

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Those of you that know about Lake Avenue know that it's a church not unlike this one.

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It's a large Christ-centered church.

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And it's a real privilege to be here today and to participate in your service, which

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I have enjoyed very much, by the way.

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I would like to ask a question.

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How many here have heard of Charles Wesley?

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Please raise your hand.

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Well that's very good.

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Charles Wesley will not be here this evening.

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However, you sang a hymn written by Charles Wesley this morning, and can it be?

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Charles also wrote, Hark the herald angels sing, Christ the Lord has risen today, oh

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for a thousand tongues, Jesus lover of my soul, love divine, all love excelling, and

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many, many other hymns of the Christian faith.

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And he was John Wesley's Cliff Barrows.

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John Wesley was the Billy Graham of his day.

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And this was exciting to me to find out as an actor in New York because I was in New

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York for seven years.

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And in my last year there, my pastor came to me one day and he said, I dreamed you were

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John Wesley.

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Why don't you put together a one-man play and travel around as John Wesley?

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And I said, John who?

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I thought he played second base for the Mets.

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I wasn't really sure who he was.

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But I did some research and was excited about doing a presentation on John Wesley.

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And I prayed about a writer and the Lord brought along a playwright that did a great job in

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writing the script.

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Well, let me just do a brief excerpt from the play for you.

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First I should mention that that dream was 900 performances ago from this time.

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The Lord has opened doors in 30 countries and all six continents.

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And it's been my privilege to give the man from Aldersgate some 900 times.

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So I would encourage you to invite friends to come out.

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The play has a good track record.

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I gave a performance at Carnegie Hall once and the Stratford Festival Theater in Canada

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and Stratford-upon-Avon-England and the Edinburgh Festival and many places that the Lord has

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opened doors for a hearing of the gospel.

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John Wesley kept a journal.

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And in his journal he wrote about being held up by a highwayman at gunpoint.

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And now you'll have to imagine that it's after two hours of makeup and this little blue insert

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in your bulletin gives you an idea of what John Wesley will look like when he appears

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here this evening.

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He wrote, I parted with my purse rather abruptly one time at the hands of a highwayman.

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Now understand me, money and I have never been the closest of friends.

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In fact, if the truth were known, we are scarcely pausing acquaintances.

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But this particular day my contributions were anything but voluntary.

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The man relieved me of every shilling I possessed upon the threat of your money or your life.

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Now I did not press the point that what is mine actually belongs to the Lord.

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The finer aspects of theology are often lost to one at the point of a gun.

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But one verse did come to mind.

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So as the cowl stranger lifted my purse, I said to him, let me speak one word to you.

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The time may come when you will regret the course of life in which you are now engaged.

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Remember this, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin.

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No more was said and we parted.

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I to go my way and I much feared he to go his.

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I feared for him because I knew that his way could only lead to the scaffolds at Tyburn

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and the pits of hell.

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But many years later I was leaving a church in which I had just preached when a stranger

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stopped me and introduced himself in a most peculiar manner.

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Now to find out who that stranger was and what he had to say to John Wesley, you'll

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have to come back here at 6 o'clock this evening.

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Thank you very much.

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Thanks Roger.

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We look forward to the presentation tonight.

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I hope that you'll bring someone along with you for it.

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One of the things that made John Wesley the man that he was was a praying mother.

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She devoted herself to raising her children, which were many, and also to praying for them,

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often with each one daily.

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Today we want to talk about the important matter of prayer as we think about the church

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as a community of prayer.

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I invite you to take your Bible and open it with me to Ephesians chapter 6.

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There may well be more verses in the book of Ephesians dealing with the issue of prayer

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than any other single subject.

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For example, in chapter 1 verses 15 through 19 there is a prayer for enlightenment to

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spiritual truth.

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In chapter 2 verse 18, an assurance of our access to God the Father in the Spirit and

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through Jesus Christ.

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In chapter 3 verse 12, a reminder of the confidence and freedom of speech that we enjoy before

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God through our faith in Christ.

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In chapter 3 again, verses 14 through 19, another prayer, this time a prayer for spiritual

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power and fullness.

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And then in our text for today, chapter 6 verses 18 through 20, there is a command to

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enter into prayer as a result of the spiritual combat in which we are engaged.

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With all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit and with this in view,

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be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints and pray on my

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behalf that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known with

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boldness the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains.

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That in proclaiming it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.

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There may be nothing the church gives more lip service to and less practice to than prayer.

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Why is that?

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It is because we Christians don't really believe in the power of prayer.

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If we did, I'm sure we would practice it more.

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Somehow we think that praying is ineffective when in fact it is the most powerful act that

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we can do.

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A small boy grasped that truth.

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He said to his parents, I'm going to pray now, do you need anything?

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In his simple faith he grasped that prayer gets results and it does.

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Prayer is not our last resort, it is our first resource.

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God commands us in this text and in others to be a community of prayer.

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Let's examine what that means in the context of Ephesians 6.

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First let's look at the context of prayer.

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Pray at all times he says.

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Now when someone mentions prayer perhaps you think in your mind of a monastic order where

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you might be separated from the world and all of its stress and enjoy leisure hours

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of contemplation and quietness.

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Is that what you think of when you think of prayer?

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Of course that can be prayer, but not in the context of Ephesians 6.

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Rather here we need to imagine an army that is at war.

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An army with its soldiers possessing the most sophisticated communication gear available.

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In order to talk to the commander, to receive orders and to obtain necessary cover from

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airstrikes to accomplish the mission.

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When we think of prayer here we ought to think of engaging the enemy with weaponry that hits

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the target every time.

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That is why we are commanded pray.

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Prayer is in the context of spiritual warfare.

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I've heard it said that Satan fears nothing more than a Christian on his knees.

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I don't agree with that.

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I believe there is one thing at least that he does fear more and that is a church on

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its knees.

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Let's gather together in corporate prayer.

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That is the context of Ephesians 6.

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He is writing to a body of people, to a community of saints.

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He says to them and to us, pray because you are at war.

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The protection for the soldier is found in the strength of the Lord's might and in the

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armor that is available which he describes earlier in this very paragraph.

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What does he mean when he says be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might?

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If you turn back to chapter 1 verse 19, Paul uses that same phrase again.

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When he is praying for his readers and he says I pray that you may understand what is

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the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe.

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These are in accordance with the working of the strength of his might.

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Notice that same phrase.

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Which he brought about in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his own

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right hand in the heavenly places.

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Paul in chapter 6 concludes the book by using the same phrase and saying be strong in the

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Lord and in the strength of his might.

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He is referring to the strength that is demonstrated in the resurrection and the exaltation of

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Jesus Christ.

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What is the soldier's strength?

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It is the fact that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead and stands at the right

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hand of God on his behalf.

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The soldier's strength is the victory of Jesus Christ over sin, over Satan, over the world.

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We can be strong in that strength and then we must put on the armor which refers to godly

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character and godly lifestyle in the scene.

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We find here the soldier's provision and resource in the end is prayer.

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Prayer is used here in the context of a battle between good and evil, between God and Satan,

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between the angelic forces of the Lord of hosts and the fallen demons of the God of

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this world.

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Prayer is used in that context for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against demonic

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powers as he describes in verse 12.

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Now what is the content of our prayer to be?

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Well, we all know that when we pray we can use the acrostic acts, adoration, confession,

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thanksgiving and supplication.

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That's a wonderful way to remember the content of prayer.

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Some of us like to use what is called the Lord's Prayer, better the disciples prayer

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as an outline for our praying and work through the subjects and issues at hand by that.

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Paul in this particular context uses just two words.

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He says the content of our prayers should be prayer and petitions.

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The word prayer is the most general word for prayer.

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It embraces adoration and thanksgiving to God.

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Confession of sin is a very broad word.

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It means to have a conversation with God.

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The word petition is more narrow.

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It refers to the specific needs that we have, our requests for particular benefit from God.

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The content of our prayer should be the general conversation with God and then narrowing it

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down to those things that we specifically are asking God for, both broad praying and specific petitions

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should be included in the content of prayer.

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What about the character of our praying?

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Well, at least five phrases are used here to modify His command to us to pray.

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It helps us understand the character of our praying.

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First of all, our prayer is to be at all times.

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In other words, at every opportunity we are to pray, we must learn to relate every part

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of our daily experience to God, to develop a God awareness so that whatever our experience

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may be at the moment, we are including Him and conversing with Him.

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Pray at all times, says the apostle.

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Secondly we are to pray in the Spirit.

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It means in the sphere of the Spirit or in the atmosphere of the Spirit.

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The idea means that we are to depend upon the Holy Spirit for our enablement in prayer.

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We are not to pray merely in our own strength and wisdom, but we are to come before Him

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with the Holy Spirit energizing us.

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We are to pray in the Spirit.

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Third, he says, pray being on the alert.

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In other words, we must be vigilant, watchful.

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The word here means to pass a sleepless night on guard at the duty post.

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It is true that we have the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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We are more than conquerors through Him.

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It is true that Satan and his hosts are already defeated and have been led in an open display

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of defeat by our Lord at the cross.

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Praise the Lord for that.

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But it's also true that we must be on the alert.

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We must be vigilant.

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Not to gain the victory.

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That's been done, but to enforce the victory on the kingdom of darkness.

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To claim the ground from the enemy that He still hangs onto as a squatter.

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We are to be vigilant in our praying, not to go to sleep.

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We are to pray with all perseverance.

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The word literally means holding out.

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It was used in papyri, that is some ancient documents from this time, in the context of

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waiting for a court hearing.

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You think the legal system is bad just today, it's always been slow.

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And in that day they used this word to describe waiting on your hearing in court.

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It was also used in the sense of remaining diligent at your work.

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So he says that we are to pray that way, with diligence.

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Waiting, holding on in prayer.

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And finally, we are to pray with petition for all saints.

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In other words, we are to look beyond our own personal concerns and needs, not forgetting

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them of course, but to look beyond them eventually, so that we incorporate a kingdom mentality.

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So that we understand God's work is going on in other places than in just our own lives

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and our own church.

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That we pray for all the saints with specific petitions.

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It is a marvelous thing to consider that this morning in this service, we can pray for John

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and Terri Nanda and know that that fast there is result in India where they are ministering.

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What a marvelous powerful privilege is prayer.

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You need to understand that every word you speak in prayer, believing God, that there

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is impact from that.

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You cannot see it perhaps.

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You cannot measure it.

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But every word you speak in believing prayer has impact that is dynamic and powerful.

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And the first place it impacts is in the spiritual realm, in the heavenlies, where our warfare

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is.

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The consequence of prayer is that there is victory over spiritual forces, opposing the

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community of the saints.

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That's why he tells them here to pray.

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Go back and look at the context of the city of Ephesus in Acts.

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It is a city where there is magic, where there is black magic, where there are drugs, there

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are demons, where there is idolatry, where there is paganism.

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No, I'm not talking about the Twin Cities today.

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I could be.

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I'm talking about Ephesus of old.

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And he says that we need to understand that when we pray there are consequences.

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What the consequences are include victory over spiritual forces that are in opposition

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to the local church.

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He also says, pray for me that I can speak the gospel boldly.

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Another result of our praying, another consequence is that the gospel advances.

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The gospel advances into new territory.

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God's kingdom is extended into lives when we pray.

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That's why he says to us, we must be a community of prayer.

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The tragedy of our day is not unanswered prayer but unoffered prayer.

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Perhaps the most grievous sin of which the broad community of the saints needs to repent

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of is that of prayerlessness.

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It is one thing to say our prayers.

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It is another thing to pray.

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That's what we're talking about today.

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John has captured the power of prayer in these verses.

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Moses prayed, his prayer did save a nation from death and grave.

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Joshua prayed, the sun stood still, his enemies fell in veil and hill.

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Hannah prayed, God gave a son, a nation back to the Lord he won.

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Solomon prayed for wisdom, then God established his kingdom.

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Elijah prayed with great desire, God gave him rain and sent the fire.

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Jonah prayed, God heard his whale and then delivered him from the whale.

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Three Hebrews prayed, through flames they trod, they had as a companion the son of God.

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Elisha prayed with strong emotion, he got the mantle and a double portion.

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Daniel prayed.

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The lion's claws were held by the angel who locked their jaws.

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Ten lepers prayed, the priests were sent, glory to God they were healed as they went.

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Peter prayed, and Dorcas arose to life again from death's repose.

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The thief who prayed for mercy cried, he went with Christ to paradise.

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The church, it prayed.

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Men got a shock when Peter answered his prayer with a knock.

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Abram stopped praying, cities fell with all their sins into hell.

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The disciples kept praying, the spirit came with cloven tongue and revival flame.

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Conviction filled the hearts of men, 3,000 souls were born again.

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When Christians pray, as they prayed of Yor.

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In one accord, united stand, revival fire shall sweep the land and sinners shall converted

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be and all the world God's glory see.

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There is power in prayer.

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Martin Luther said, none can believe how powerful prayer is and what it is able to effect but

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those who have learned it by experience.

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I want to call upon you to be a person of prayer.

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But beyond that I want to call upon us to be a people of prayer.

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To be a community of prayer as God commands us to be.

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And to learn by experience prayer's power.

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And to see with our own eyes what God will do when people pray.

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Would you bow with me please?

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In just a moment we're going to have a song that reminds us of the importance of prayer

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and the life of another person.

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Before we close this part of the service I want us with bowed heads to think together

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regarding our own personal prayer experience.

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Are you a praying child of God?

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Have you entered into the resource of prayer?

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Can you begin to grasp today what it would mean to you, to your church, to the kingdom

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of God if you would enter into the practice, the discipline of prayer?

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And I wonder if where you're seated in the quietness of this moment as we allow the Spirit

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of God to work, if you would be willing to say to God something like this, Heavenly Father,

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I desire to be a person of prayer.

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And I want our church to be a community of prayer.

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Teach me to pray.

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I commit myself to discipline to that end.

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And as I learn that discipline and as you train me to pray, I pray that your kingdom

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will be advanced in the Twin Cities and around the world.

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If there are 25 people in this congregation this morning who prayed that or something

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like that from their hearts, it's going to make a difference.

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Can you imagine what would happen if all 300 or 350 of us were to make that same commitment?

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God, I pray that you will cause us this morning deeply in our spirits to understand that prayer

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is vital to our lives, that we will be defeated on the spiritual battlefield of life unless

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we learn to take up and enter into this resource that you have made available to us.

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So impress that in our hearts that we cannot go away from here, the same people as we came

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in, and that our lives will be different next Sunday and a year from now and when we stand

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before you because of the new understanding of prayer that we have committed ourselves

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to this day.

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In Jesus' name, amen.

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Somebody's praying, I can feel it.

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Somebody's praying for me.

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Lady hands are guiding me to protect me from what I can't see.

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Lord, I believe.

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Lord, I believe.

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Somebody's praying for me.

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I can feel it.

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Angels are watching over me.

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There's many miles ahead till I get home.

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Still I'm safely kept before your throne.

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Lord, I believe.

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Lord, I believe.

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Angels are watching over me.

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Well, I've walked the barren wilderness where my pillow was a stone.

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And I've been through the darkest caverns where no light had ever shone.

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Still I went on, cause there was someone who was down on their knees.

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And Lord, I thank you for those people praying all this time for me.

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Somebody's praying, I can feel it.

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Somebody's praying for me.

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Mighty hands are guiding me to protect me from what I can't see.

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Lord, I believe.

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Lord, I believe.

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Somebody's praying for me.

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Somebody's praying for me.

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Thank you.