When Paul says we should pray in the Spirit it means we need
to pray in line with God’s will and believing in God’s ability. Let’s start with the second part of that
first: do we believe that God has the ability to answer our prayers? Do we believe God can do the things we ask Him
to do? If we don’t really believe God
can do anything about our situation then we aren’t praying with conviction or
power and we aren’t praying in the Spirit.
Praying in the spirit begins by believing that God is able to do more
than we ever thought or imagined and if we need to grow in this belief, then we
need to turn to the Bible because it is filled of stories about God’s power.
When the Red Sea needed to part in order to save God’s
people, God parted the Red Sea. When
water was needed in the desert – God brought water from a rock. When the city of Jericho looked too strong to
overcome – God tore down the walls. When
the giant Goliath looked like the winner - God took him out with one rock. When storms looked like they would sink the
disciples, Jesus silenced the wind and the waves. When death looked like it had the final word
– God brought forth Jesus from the grave and gave us all a resurrection. God can do all things.
God can step into a specific time and place to do anything
that needs to be done so we need to pray with conviction and trust that God is
able. Sometimes the challenge for us
isn’t thinking that God is able, it’s wondering whether God is willing. We wrestle with the question - does God want
to help us? Does God care enough about us
to answer our prayers? This is where the
absolute truths we mentioned last week need to be remembered. Last week we learned 2 absolute truths, the
first is that there is a God who created us in his imagine and the second one is…God
Loves Us.
If we aren’t praying with passion and power because we don’t
think God wants to answer our prayer then we need go back and remember this
truth. God loves us. God loves us unconditionally. God loves us eternally. God’s love is deeper, higher, wider and
strong than we can possibly imagine.
Once we accept this truth and begin to experience God’s love, we will
pray with conviction and power knowing that God’s will and desire is to help
us. It doesn’t mean everything we pray
for will happen, but it means we can pray with confidence and in the Spirit.
Praying in the spirit also means being willing to pray in
line with God’s will. While we can ask
God for anything and God is willing to listen, He will only give us what is in
line with His will which means it’s helpful for us to be living and praying in
line with God’s will. Jesus teaches us
how to do this when he prayed on the night before his crucifixion. Jesus didn’t want to carry a cross, and he
didn’t want to be nailed to a cross, so Jesus asked God if it was possible –
then help him find another way. Three
times Jesus prayed this prayer but each time he ended it with these words, not
my will be thy will be done. That’s how
we need to end our prayers. We can share
with God what is on our hearts and be honest with Him about our deepest desires
but then we need to be willing to pray, not my will but thy will be done.
So praying in the spirit means praying in line with God’s
will and believing in God’s ability and this needs to be the foundation of our
prayer life – but then Paul says we should pray with all kinds of prayers. Too often I think we become focused on only
one kind of prayer and that is asking God for help or asking God for what we want
or need. Our prayer turns into a list of
things and while I don’t think God minds this, we are limiting our experience
of God and the power of prayer. So let’s
look at some other kinds of prayers that can broaden our experiences and to do
this we are going to look at the ACTS of prayer.
“A” stands for Adoration and it is always the best place to
start because this helps remind us exactly who God is and what God is capable
of doing. Adoration reminds us that God
loves us and God is able to do all things.
We can find many examples of these prayers in the book of psalms and in
fact, since many psalms are written as prayers to God we can simply use them as
our prayers For example, look at Psalm 8,
and then my personal favorite is Psalm 18:1-6.
I often read this as a prayer to God and it is my favorite because it
reminds me of a time in my life when God delivered me and it reminds me that
God loves me. My fear is that we don’t
spend enough time in prayers of adoration which means we aren’t really focused
on the power and strength and love and will of God which means we aren’t
praying boldly in the spirit. To stand
strong we really need to focus on prayers of Adoration.
From there we move on to “C” which stands for prayers of Confession. In many ways, these prayers will naturally
flow from our prayers of adoration because when we understand how great and
loving God is we immediately begin to see our own sin and weakness. In fact, we just heard that in Psalm 8:3-4. Prayers of confession are important for 2
reasons, they humble us before God and humility is required for a strong
relationship with God, and it is only by confessing our sin that God is able to
then turn and forgive us our sin, look at 1 John 1:8-10.
So it is important to confess our sin but prayers of
confession can not turn into times of self loathing. Confession needs to lead to forgiveness, once
we confess our sin we need to accept God’s grace and forgiveness and then move
forward in life and when we do this it naturally leads to the “T” – Thanksgiving. While God’s forgiveness might be the first
thing we need to be thankful for – it should not be the last. Our prayers should be filled with giving
thanks to God for all that we have and what’s important to know is that these
prayers not only honor God but they actually help us experience lasting
joy.
Dr. Brene Brown, who will be speaking at the Leadership
Summit in a few weeks, says that all of her research showed her that being
thankful led to lasting joy. In her book
Daring Greatly, Dr. Brown said that EVERY participant in her study who talked
about staying open to joy also talked about the importance of practicing
gratitude. The pattern of association
is so strong and prevalent that she has made the commitment as a researcher to never
talk about joy without talking about gratitude.
Prayers of thanksgiving not only help us see who God is and deepen our
relationship with God but they help us experience the fullness of joy – who
wouldn’t want that?
These three types of prayers: adoration, confession and
thanksgiving, are some of the prayers we need to be praying if we want to stand
strong in our faith and they tend to be the prayers we often neglect. We tend to focus all our prayers on the “S” -
Supplication which means asking God for what we want or need. I found this really interesting; Wikipedia
says that supplication is the most common form of prayer and it is
where a person asks God to provide something, either for the person who is
doing the praying or on behalf of someone else.
Sometime what we find on the internet is true. I believe supplication, or asking God for
what we want or need, is the most common form of prayer and yet it shouldn’t
be. It should be just one form of
prayer.
Now don’t misunderstand, supplication is an important form
of prayer and God does want to hear our concerns, wants and needs – but is that
all God wants to hear all the time? For
those of you who are parents – do you only want to hear what your children want
and need from you? How does it feel at
work when all our boss tells us is what she wants from us, or all our customers
tell is what they need? Isn’t it nice to
get some affirmation and thanks? Isn’t
it nice when people actually humble themselves in relationships instead of just
asking for more? I think the same is
true with God. God loves us
unconditionally, but I think it brings God joy when we spend as much time
thanking him and adoring him as we do asking him for what we need. So let’s strive for balance. This week take as much time adoring God in
prayer as you do giving thanks and confessing sin and asking for what you
need. We have included in the next steps
some practical ways to do this.
And then finally, Paul says this in Ephesians 6:19-20. Paul was a missionary doing the work of God
and he wanted and needed the church to pray for him and his ministry. There were times Paul got weary and needed
boldness. There were times Paul faced
huge obstacles and needed the power of God to break through. There were times Paul faced opposition and
persecution and needed God to intervene.
Paul needed the prayers of the church and missionaries today need the
prayers of the church. We are honored to
have Mark here today and we actually get the opportunity to live out God’s word
by praying that Mark and all those he ministers with will have the boldness to
proclaim the power of the gospel in a hurting nation.
We are going to close by asking Mark to come forward so we
can live out this passage and another one where the leaders of the church laid
hands on those they set aside for ministry.
In Acts 6:6 it says, they had these men stand before the apostles, who
prayed for them and laid hands on them.
Let us pray.
Next Steps
Standing Strong in Prayer
Monday – Pray In The Spirit
Take time to tell God that you believe in His power and that
you desire to be in line with His will.
Read and reflect on Jesus prayer in Mark 14:32-42.
Tuesday – Adoration
Take time in adore God; affirm God’s goodness, strength and
love.
Pray these scriptures: Psalm 8, 18, 19, 23, 46, 95, 100,
121, 148
Wednesday – Confession
Take time to confess your sin to God. Confess the things that are easy and those
things you don’t want acknowledge or admit.
Read and reflect on: Psalm 51, 103:12 and 1 John 1:5-10
Thursday – Thanksgiving
Take time to give thanks to God for all you have, make a
list and add to it throughout the day.
Pray it at night.
Pray this scripture: Psalm 103:2
Friday – Supplication
Take time to ask God for what you need and what needs you
see in others.
Read and reflect on: James 1:5, Luke9-13
The Weekend – ACTS: putting it all together.
Divide your prayer time into 4 sections and spend equal
amounts of time in the ACTS of prayer.
All week – Pray for Mark Abbott and the Church in Spain.
