Tag: prayer

How Not to Pray

One of the great joys of parenthood is praying with our children before bed. Their prayers are so honest! We could learn a thing or two by listening. For example, our son John used to thank God “for the friends I haven’t met yet.”

Of course kids can also teach us how not to pray! Sometimes people treat God as if He was a magic Genie that comes out of a lamp and grants us all our wishes. One little boy, on his way upstairs to bed, called over his shoulder, “I’m going to bed! I’m going to be praying! … Anybody want anything?”

Likewise, some people try to bargain with God in prayer. That’s almost like blackmail isn’t it? We tell God that if He answers our prayer, we’ll do some good work or change some bad habit. That’s a little like the boy who prayed, “I want a new BMX bicycle!”

His mother gently explained prayer shouldn’t be selfish. “Praying to God is no way to get a BMX bicycle.”

This happened during the Christmas season and the next morning as she came down the stairs she noticed something was wrong with the manger scene under the Christmas tree. The little figurine of Mary was gone and in its place was a note: “Dear Jesus, If you ever want to see Your mother again, You had better get me that BMX bicycle!”

Finally, Tony Campolo shares this story about prayer:

“An elderly missionary was discussing prayer at a women’s conference. To the small circle of women who gathered around her, she explained that when she first went to the mission field, more than fifty years earlier, she was extremely lonely. She saw that other missionaries were married and had families, and she bemoaned the feeling that she was all alone. In her loneliness, she begged God to pick out a husband for her. She told how she prayed and prayed and prayed, and was sure God would answer her prayer.

“One of the women in the group exclaimed, ‘But, you’ve never married! You’re still single!’

“The elderly missionary said, ‘You’re right! But somewhere out there is a seventy-four-year-old man who has been resisting God’s will for more than fifty years.’”

Tony concludes, “The story is not only funny, but it also drives home the point that we cannot expect Good to manipulate people to our own personal ends.”

When Words Run Out

John McKeel

By all accounts, Hannah was a good woman. She loved her husband – even though he had two wives. Hannah was long-suffering in the face of her sister-wife’s taunts and Hannah was deeply devoted to the Lord so why didn’t God do something to help her? You see, in those days, people took it as a sign of God’s blessings and approval when they had children so when Hannah couldn’t conceive; they took it as a sign of God’s disfavor.

Still Hannah tried to put on a happy face as Elkanah took his wives and children to Shiloh for a religious festival. It was clear to all that he loved Hannah best – after all he gave her a double portion of the feast. Unfortunately, that only angered her rival and led to a new round of taunts from Elkanah’s other wife.

Have you ever been so broken that you run out of words to describe your pain? While everyone else was celebrating, Hannah, totally broken, fell down in tears before the shrine of the Lord. It was an ancient tent – the original dated back to the Exodus and the days of Moses. It had entered the Promised Land carried by priests over the Jordan River but now it was nearly worn-out. While everyone else was celebrating by the fireside down in the valley, Hannah quietly climbed to the hilltop to visit the ancient shrine. She needed to talk to God. She needed to plead with him in private. She poured out her soul beside the gate of the shrine. Hannah fell to the ground and mouthed the words that would no longer sound. She was all alone in her pain save for a solitary figure watching from the shadows. It was Eli. He saw the woman writhing alone. It was such an unusual sight that the prophet jumped to the conclusion this woman was so drunk she had wandered off alone and now shamefully rolled in the dirt before the ancient tabernacle. He said:

14 “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” 15 But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. 16 Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation,” 1 Samuel 1:14 – 16.

What about you? Are there times when you don’t know how to pray or what to ask for? How do you talk to God? When you think about it, carrying on a conversation with the Almighty seems absurd. Maybe you’ve spent the night in prayer. You’ve prayed so hard, you started repeating yourself. Finally, like Hannah, the words ran out. There is good news! Don’t despair. As Christians, God’s Holy Spirit lives within us and one of the Spirit’s blessings is to carry our prayers to God when words run out:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express,” Romans 8:26.

Our formal month of prayer is about to end but it’s our prayer that you have learned the value of having a conversation with God and made prayer a daily part of your life as a Christian. God answered Hannah’s prayer and the powerful prophet Samuel was born. God’s Holy Spirit is waiting to take the prayers of your heart to our Heavenly Father. How can God help you?

Learning to Listen

October — A Month of Prayer

Sunday Morning Sermon
October 15, 2017
Mark 4:35 – 41; 1 Timothy 2:1, 2
John McKeel

 “Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10

“The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.” — Habakkuk 2:20

All Pervasive NOISE

We might chuckle at the phrase “noise pollution,” but it is all around us. Who hasn’t been woken in the middle of the night by somebody on a motorcycle? Stop for just a moment and listen. We are surrounded by noise, but it is nothing compared to the noise that goes on inside of our heads!

Sleeping in the Back of the Boat

Jesus was exhausted. It was the end of a very long day of teaching and preaching and he just needed to get away from it all. At evening, he got in a boat and told his disciples, “Let’s go across to the other side of the lake.” Then he fell asleep so soundly that even a hurricane[1] couldn’t wake him. Have you ever wondered how that was possible? (Mark 4:30-34)

Two Kinds of Quiet

Timothy was the Apostle Paul’s protégé (Acts 16:1-5) and when young Timothy became the new evangelist for the church in Ephesus, the apostle sent a letter to him and the church there explaining how Christians should behave as a church.

Prayer is so important, Paul told them to think about it “first of all,” but what should we pray for? Paul’s answer guides us too. “… that we may live peaceful and quiet lives.”

Peaceful Life

Let’s think about “peace.” In the Bible, peace doesn’t mean the absence of conflict. It means, God is in control. Do you really believe that?

God is in control and that’s how it should be. Smile quietly to yourself because you know, behind all the noise and chaos we call “life,” God is sitting on His throne and everything is going to be okay. That’s peace!”

Quiet Life

The second word Paul uses to describe what we should pray for is “quiet.” We need “peaceful and quiet lives.” Alas, this word has been sorely abused by English translations. For example, just a few verses later many translations announce women “must be silent,” but this is the very same word translated “quiet” in verses 2 and 11!

No, Paul isn’t commanding the women to “shut up” (see Mark 1:25 for that word), but he is agreeing with Peter who teaches that true beauty is a “gentle and quiet spirit” (1 Peter 3:4) – something God highly values in all of us.

You can’t make yourself be quiet any more than a gardener can make a plant grow or a sailor can call the wind. Quiet is something you cultivate or capture. For most people, it is a blessing that is just out of reach, but only because we don’t take the time to nurture this special virtue.

Putting It All Together

Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Focus on God and “count your many blessings.” God loves us – that never changes. Now we can pray – commune with our heavenly Father!

[1] Mark 4:37 “a furious squall” NIV, but lailaps literally refers to a hurricane or whirlwind.

Ask, Seek, Knock

Sunday Morning Sermon
August 27, 2017
Matthew 7:7 – 11
John McKeel

Did you ever play the “wishes game” when you were a child? You know it. You pretend you are walking along the beach and find a bottle with a magic genie. He pops out of the bottle and grants you three wishes. What would you wish for?

When we listen to Jesus’ promise in Matthew 7:7, is that too a fairy tale? Does God really answer prayer?

When God says, “No.”

The fact of the matter is, sometimes God says “No.”

  • Does that mean He doesn’t exist?
  • Or worse, does that mean He doesn’t care?
  • Or does God expect us to beg? Luke 18:1 – 4.

Why does God say “No”?

  • Sometimes our requests would hurt us.
  • Sometimes we just want an easy way out.
  • Sometimes there is a greater purpose at stake.

Five Prayer Principles

  1. God knows best. The purpose of prayer is not to change God but to change ourselves – to align our wills with the will of God. Do you remember the first part of Jesus’ model prayer?

Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven,” (Matthew 6:9, 10).

  1. God will not do for us what we can do for ourselves. Don’t pray for enlightenment in order to skip the hard work of study. Rather, as you study ask God for understanding (James 1:5).
  2. Prayer moves within the natural laws that govern life. Bad things do happen to good people. Prayer gives us the power to thrive in the midst of adversity (Romans 5:3 ff.).
  3. We must be definite in prayer. Jesus warned us to avoid meaningless phrases and endless repetition (Matthew 6:7, 8). Prayer is not a mantra!
  4. We must be honest in prayer. We can’t lie to God and we shouldn’t lie to ourselves. That’s why confession is such a critical part of prayer.

Ask

The promise is, God will give us what we ask for.

  1. Some people look around for the hidden camera, laugh and walk away!
  2. Some people foolishly wish for more stuff to clutter their already busy lives.
  3. God is not a «Cosmic Vending Machine»! Do you remember the old Janis Joplin song «Mercedes Bentz»?
  4. So what would you ask for? What should you ask for? Consider the example of Solomon (1 Kings chapter 3).

Seek

A great deal of our literature and mythology is devoted to the “Quest” – knights set out on noble missions. Are you ready to begin your quest?

  1. Some people sit around the living room and dream about going on a quest. They might read about it. They might get out the maps and plan routes and draw up lists of the things they would need, but they never actually set out.
  2. Other people give up too soon. These words are present imperatives. That simply means we need to “keep on asking … keep on seeking … keep on knocking.” (See the International Standard Bible among others.)
  3. Perhaps what hinders us is just knowing where to begin. Jesus told us what to “seek first …” (Matthew 6:33)

Knock

How many people miss out because they don’t have the courage to go knock on the door? How many opportunities are missed because it just seems too good to be true.

Conclusion

Matthew 7:7 is a beautiful promise, so what is required to make it come true?

  1. Lord help me see your purpose.
  2. Lord, you are Lord!
  3. Rejoice, even in the face of suffering.
    • Our joy doesn’t depend on our circumstances.
    • Hebrews 12:2
    • James 1:2, 3

Asking means admitting we need help. Seeking means asking plus effort. Knocking means asking plus effort plus persistence and it all starts with a step.

Some Things to Think About

Knowledge

  1. “Ask and you will receive” … Is that always true? (Think about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. What did he ask for and what did he receive?)
  2. “Seek and you will find” … What should we be seeking?
  3. “Knock and the door will be opened” … What door is Jesus talking about?
  4. What do these three actions (ask, seek, knock) have in common?

 Attitude

  1. What are some of the reasons people don’t ask, seek, or knock?
  2. God knows what we need, and, as a good Father he provides what we need, so why does God want us to ask?
  3. What will move us from thinking about going on a quest (seeking) and actually going?
  4. Grammatically, the three verbs (ask, seek, knock) are present imperatives. That means we are to “keep on asking, seeking and knocking.” Why do some people give up early?
  5. How will asking, seeking, and knocking, change us?

Action

  • Write a list of five things to ask God for. Pray over this list every day.