Andrew Fountain - Prayer in Practice

Full sermon notes - Prayer in Practice

One way of illustrating this is:

• Even though God has decided where things are going, you are not passive, but involoved.
• And then last week we looked at the strong connection between obedience and God hearing our prayers. E.g.:

John 15:5–17

5. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
6. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
7. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
8. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
9. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
10. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
11. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
12. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
13. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
14. You are my friends if you do what I command you.
15. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
16. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
17. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

based on NET Bible

• See how strong the connection is between obedience and our prayers being heard?
  • Is it all about our performance: the ones that perform best, get heard
  • God grades us as Christians
    A+ gets heard every time
    D —why bother even to pray?
• There is a very common idea that underneath amounts to this:

• Geoge Muller was a man who had a passion to learn God’s heart through the Scriptures
  • God revealed to him his will in many situations (breakfast prayer-miracle from last week)

• Another quick story from George Muller
  • There were two friends of his that were not Christians whom he prayed for constantly.
  • He never saw either of them saved: One was saved at his funeral! and the other a few months later

• It doesn’t mean simply tacking on the words “in Jesus name” onto the end of our prayers!
• What about all those references to “praying in Jesus’ name”?
  • A more meaningful phrase is “for Jesus’ sake”, but even then it should not be used as just words tacked onto our prayer
• “This prayer is not for my sake, it’s not about me and my agenda,
  It is so that the name of Jesus will be lifted up
  and it is in line with his plans, not just mine”
• Praying according to Jesus’ agenda, with his stamp of approval
  • example of a letter of authority from a military commander

Exodus 32:9–14

9. Then the Lord said to Moses: “I have seen this people. Look what a stiff-necked people they are!
10. So now, leave me alone so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make from you a great nation.”
11. But Moses sought the favour of the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your anger burn against your people, whom you have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
12. Why should the Egyptians say, ‘For evil he led them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger, and relent of this evil against your people.
13. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about I will give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever.’ ”
14. Then the Lord relented over the evil that he had said he would do to his people.

based on NET Bible

• See how he argued that it was all about God’s reputation
• See how forcefully he argues!

Numbers 14:13–21

13. Moses said to the Lord, “When the Egyptians hear it — for you brought up this people by your power from among them —
14. then they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night.
15. If you kill this entire people at once, then the nations that have heard of your fame will say,
16. ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.’
17. So now, let the power of my Lord be great, just as you have said,
18. ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in loyal love, forgiving iniquity and transgression…’
19. Please forgive the iniquity of this people according to your great loyal love, just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now.”
20. Then the Lord said, “I have forgiven them as you asked.
21. But truly, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.

based on NET Bible

• He had faith in God’s power.
  • He didn’t belief that Jesus would heal his son, but that he could by just saying the word.

• What was Peter doubting? —Jesus’s word “Come!”
• If Peter had said “I’m going to trust God that I can levitate today” —What would his faith be in?
• Jesus
  
  1. Was totally committed to doing the Father’s will
  2. So the Father always revealed more precisely what he was doing
  3. So Jesus’s prayers could be very specific (“Lazarus come forth”)
     And his faith could be very precise

Updated on 2014-08-24 by Andrew Fountain