Review
So far we have looked at threequestions about prayer, "What is Prayer?," "Whydoes prayer matter?," and "Where should wepray?"
In looking at what is prayer we found two waysthe Bible defines prayer for us. The first is as a memorial ora remembrance of what God has done; not for God to remember but useto remember. The second was a incense before God's throne. We looked at the very specific rules God set down for the use ofincense in the Old Testament, the formula was given by and was notallowed to used for personal use, the incense had to burn 24 hours aday, 7 days a week, and we even saw how God took the lives of two menwho offered burned incense that was not done the way God required it,and indication that the attitude of the offer-er is more importantthat the offering.
Next we looked at the question "Whydoes prayer matter?" and we found three reason thatprayer matters. First, we are commanded to pray, so is is anact of obedience to God. A second reason was because God isnear us when we pray (Deu 4:7). Lastly, Jesus said to "watchand pray so that you will not fall into temptation," soprayer is a defense against giving into the temptations we allface.
Last week we looked at the question, "Whereshould we pray?" We discussed whether our locationaffects God's ability to hear us pray and all agreed it did not. We focused Matthew 6:6 where Jesus said to "go into your room,close the door and pray..." and asked if that meant that weshould only pray in private. We saw that Jesus many time wentoff alone, without even His disciples to pray. We also saw thaton some occasions He did pray in public and looked at the differencesin the prayer times. We also read a portion of the prayers ofJesus in Gethsemane as an example of a private prayer time Jesushad. What we determined was that we all need to set aside timethat is only dedicated to God and nothing else, where we are able tobe open and transparent with Him and God is able to truly reveal Hisheart to us. It again is more about our attitude in approachingGod than our location, but if we really want to know God's heart, wehave to give Him our full attention.
When Should we Pray?
So let's start out with that questionfor this this week, When should we pray? What do you think?
Continually
I am sure this is one of the firstthings that came to your mind. After all it has been mentionedfor three weeks now. We have talked about it already, so let'slook at the verse we have used so often before.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 NIV (17) pray continually;
Now,let me ask a few question of you to see if we can understand thisverse more thoroughly. This is going to seem a bit like anEnglish lesson so hang on here OK?
-
In this sentence what is the subject? (You)
-
What is the verb/action? (pray)
-
And what does the work "continually" refer to or modify in this sentence? (modifies pray)
Let's look at the originallanguage here to try to understand this verse better. In theoriginal Greek, this verse only has two Greek wordalso.
Pray
G4336
προσεύχομαι
proseuchomai
pros-yoo'-khom-ahee
FromG4314 and G2172; to pray to God, that is, supplicate,worship: - pray (X earnestly, for), make prayer.
supplicate\SUP-luh-kayt\, intransitive verb:
1. To make ahumble and earnest petition; to pray humbly.
G5737
Tense-Present-The present tense represents a simple statement of fact or realityviewed as occurring in actual time
Voice-Middle or PassiveDeponent (Active) - The active voice represents the subject as thedoer or performer of the action
Mood -Imperative - The imperativemood corresponds to the English imperative, and expresses a commandto the hearer to perform a certain action by the order and authorityof the one commanding. Thus, Jesus' phrase, "Repent ye,and believe the gospel" Mr 1:15 is not at all an "invitation," but an absolute command requiring full obedience on the partof allhearers.
Continually
G89
ἀδιαλείπτως
adialeiptōs
ad-ee-al-ipe'-toce
Adverbfrom G88; uninterruptedly, that is, without omission(on an appropriate occasion): - without ceasing.
Ok, so let'sgo through this verse slowly and deliberately. Now who is thesubject of this verse? You, that is you and me, the person thespeaker is talking to. What is the verb/action of the verse? Pray, and how is it stated? As a command requiring obedience. The last word modifies "pray" and what does it modify, orhow is "pray" being modified in this case? By beinggiven a time frame of without ceasing.
So to put the verseinto our own "interpretation" we would say, "You and Imust humbling be praying without ceasing!" Ok, sowho is praying right now (and not for this class to end)? Anyone?
Let look at another verse about this to see if thereis maybe a clearer understanding to be gained.
Colossians 4:2NIV Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful andthankful.
So let's look at the first part of the verse,"Devote yourselves to prayer." We already see thesubject, yourselves, and the verb, devote, and the modifier to theverb, prayer. Let's look at the Greek again and see what itsays.
Devote
G4342
προσκαρτερέω
proskartereō
pros-kar-ter-eh'-o
FromG4314 and G2594; to be earnest towards, that is, (to a thing)to persevere, be constantly diligent, or (in a place)to attend assiduously all the exercises, or (to a person) toadhere closely to (as a servitor): - attend (give self)continually (upon), continue (in, instant in, with), wait on(continually).
G5720
Tense-Present - The presenttense represents a simple statement of fact or reality viewed asoccurring in actual time
Voice-Active - The active voicerepresents the subject as the doer or performer of the action
Mood-Imperative- The imperative mood corresponds to the Englishimperative, and expresses a command to the hearer to perform acertain action by the order and authority of the one commanding. Thus, Jesus' phrase, "Repent ye, and believe the gospel" Mr1:15 is not at all an "invitation, " but an absolutecommand requiring full obedience on the part of allhearers.
Prayer
G4335
προσευχή
proseuchē
pros-yoo-khay'
FromG4336; prayer (worship); by implication an oratory (chapel): - X prayearnestly, prayer.
Again we see a command (devote) to prayer. The command is to be constantly diligent in our prayer. Thisseem very similar to 1 Thes. It would seem that prayer issuppose to be a constant dialog with God at all times that we are notonly command to do but to also be diligent in practating.
Thisquestion seems like a very simple questions, but after looking atthese two verses, it looks like this prayer thing is a lot of work? I think that we can all agree that we need to always be praying,always have God on our minds, so I want to look at a more specificquestion. When are we instructed to pray? Specifically,are there specific times and situations what we are instructed topray?
When are we instructed to pray?
When there is sin.
Let's talk about the biggy first. When there is sin involved, we are instructed to pray, and I seethree different types of examples of sin being prayed for.
PersonalSin
I want to read just three verses about this, one maybe an unusual example.
Luke 18:10-13 NIV "Twomen went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a taxcollector. (11) The Phariseestood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am notlike other men-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this taxcollector. (12) I fast twicea week and give a tenth of all I get.' (13) "Butthe tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up toheaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, asinner.'
2 Chronicles 6:24 NIV "When your peopleIsrael have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinnedagainst you and when they turn back and confess your name, prayingand making supplication before you in this temple,
2 Chronicles6:26 NIV "When the heavens are shut up and there is norain because your people have sinned against you, and when they praytoward this place and confess your name and turn from their sinbecause you have afflicted them,
When we have committedpersonal sins, we need to pray to God for forgiveness. We readin 1 John 1:8-10
1 John 1:8-10 NIV If we claim to bewithout sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and willforgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (10) If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be aliar and his word has no place in our lives.
Failure toconfess leaves the sin unforgiven, and if we try to deny it, we arelying to ourselves and actually saying by our denial that God is alier. How many people want to call God a lier?
GroupSin
For the second prayer for sin let me ask you aquestion? Can a Godly person suffer because of the sins ofothers (his own family, group or even nation)? Let's read inDaniel.
Daniel 9:1-6 NIV In the first year of Darius sonof Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babyloniankingdom- (2) in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel,understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORDgiven to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem wouldlast seventy years. (3) So I turned to the Lord God andpleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackclothand ashes. (4) I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed:"O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant oflove with all who love him and obey his commands, (5) wehave sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; wehave turned away from your commands and laws. (6) We havenot listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name toour kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of theland.
Daniel 9:20 NIV While I was speaking and praying,confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making myrequest to the LORD my God for his holy hill-
Who is Danielpraying for? Was Daniel a Godly man? Well, let's look athis early life. Daniel was taken away from Jerusalem byNebuchadnezzar after God allowed him to attack Jerusalem. Hewas chosen from the others as one of the "Daniel 1:4 NIV young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude forevery kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, andqualified to serve in the king's palace..."
What didDaniel do though even after this "great honor" he had beenchosen for.
Daniel 1:8 NIV But Daniel resolved not todefile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chiefofficial for permission not to defile himself this way.
Danielchose to take a stand for what was right in God's eyes, at a youngage and against a conquering foreign power. The King could haveeasily just had him killed because of his decision, but the Biblesays:
Daniel 1:9 NIV Now God had caused the official toshow favor and sympathy to Daniel,
Daniel chose to honor Godand God handled the rest. Yet, Daniel prayed for sins of hispeople that he had not committed. I wonder how God viewsAmerica and what we should do about that?
OthersSin
Lastly let's look at this verse.
1 John 5:16 NIV If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that doesnot lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I referto those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leadsto death. I am not saying that he should pray about that.
Now I am not going to try to talk about "sin that leads to death ornot." I think that may be a multi-week study by itself,but look at the first part. If anyone see his brother commit asin.... he should tell all his friends about it right? Call up the prayer chain and let everyone know what's going on,correct? Nope, what does it say, he should pray. Do youknow anyone that is involved in sin? Pray for them. Godloves them and they need to confess that sin, but only the HolySpirit can bring conviction. Does that mean you should notconfront them? That is really something that is between you andGod. There is Biblical precedent to confront a believer whenthey are in sin, but that should only be done after much prayer anddirection from God and frankly the pastor.
Other Times we are Instructed to Pray
I just want to look at a couple moretimes we have instructions to pray in the Bible.
When there's trouble
James 5:13 NIV Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.
I think this one is pretty simple actually. Are you in trouble, then pray. The word "trouble" here implies difficulties that are not of your own making. The word actually means to undergo hardship or be afflicted by something outside yourself. If you are suffering the affects of sin you need to pray also, but for forgiveness. This is a prayer to God, I believe, of simply pouring out your heart to Him and letting Him pour into you His own heart. This is like the prayer of Jesus in the Garden. Jesus was certainly troubled, and He told God He wanted to skip this trouble (let this cup pass), but ultimately He said, Not my will but your be done. That's the prayer of the heart and life troubled by external things.
Here are some examples of prayer in a time of trouble from outside influences.
Acts 12:5 NIV So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
Acts 16:25 NIV About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
Acts 7:59 NIV While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
When thing's go good
Lastly, we need to pray when things are good also. Let's look at a story from Acts. I am going to skip around in chapters 3 and 4 just to get the outline of the story.
Acts 3:6 NIV Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk."
We all know this story, it is a favorite of mine personally, but do you remember the results of this miracle later?
Acts 4:1 NIV The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people.
Acts 4:3 NIV They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day.
So, Peter and John were arrested for healing someone right? Well, sort of. Let me state it better this way, Peter and John were arrested because the were obedient to God and because the were obedient, God healed a crippled man. See the difference. Peter and John really did nothing except be obedient. Let's read on.
Acts 4:18-24 NIV Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. (19) But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. (20) For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." (21) After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. (22) For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old. (23) On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. (24) When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
Now, you could say that they were praying because of the trouble they were in, but verse 21-23 says they could not decide how to punish them and let them go. There was no punishment this time. What was the people response to the miraculous healing of the man and the threats given by the Sadducees, prayer. Things weren't hard yet, Peter and John weren't beaten or jailed yet, the persecution had not started yet. A man had been healed and Peter and John were given a "talking to." That's all. God was moving and getting glory, and the people were praying as a result. I wonder what was God response was? Want to know?
Acts 4:31 NIV After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
It seems to me God approved of the prayer!
Closing
So, do we have an answer to Whenshould we pray, beside "always?"
We saw threeexamples of times to pray.