Prayer

Now could we return to our subject from last evening of prayer and turn please to Matthew chapter 6 Matthew's gospel and chapter 6 Matthew chapter 6 in verse number 5 and when thou prayest They shall not be as the hypocrites are For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets That they may be seen of men Matthew chapter 23, please Matthew 23 Verse 14 Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for ye devour widows houses and for a pretense make long prayer Therefore he shall receive the greater damnation the greater condemnation Words of the Lord Jesus Christ on prayer We find here that here are the hypocrites and they're not praying to be heard of God but to be seen of men and The Lord Jesus it is who first of all here in chapter 6 When he draws comparisons between indeed men doing things in secret to be seen of their father That indeed here on the contrary of those who do everything just to be seen of men just for public observation And so we find there is non-reality in prayer first chapter 23 here the Lord Jesus Christ in his eightfold denunciation of those Scribes and Pharisees and the woes he pronounces on them here Indeed is that second that for a pretense make long prayer There's no reality in this prayer and indeed however long it is doesn't make up for the lack of reality You know, there are some very short prayers that are so real Thinking of Nehemiah there. He is the most powerful man in the world said to him. What do you want? What do you want? For what does thou make request? What a tremendous question what a tremendous opportunity? What a life-giving opportunity life-changing opportunity What did he do about it? So I prayed to the God of heaven and I said and to the king here indeed was prayer and it was instinctive It wasn't needed of any long prayer, but it's something he did Something indeed.

He just did it so that in it was just a reaction to this situation There was nothing better could be done. There was nothing else could be done. He just had to do it He prayed to the God of heaven Here he was on earth But he was in touch with the God of heaven and he wanted the God of heaven to control things down here So he prayed an instant prayer He was instant in every situation there in prayer Well, I want us to turn again, please to think about the kind of prayer that the Apostle Paul learned to pray Here he was previously a hypocrite.

No doubt. He was here a Pharisee of the Pharisees And I want us to turn to the Acts of the Apostles chapter 9 Once again, the Lord Jesus Christ is passing comment on a Pharisee's prayer Oh, should we say an old Pharisee? Here he is. It's what he's been The Apostle Paul.

Yeah, sorry Saul here on the road to Damascus He's got all the accreditation that the world can give him He's on his way with all the force he needs and then here he is eventually on the ground He can't see and he's taken into Damascus and it says here verse number 11 of Acts chapter 9 and The Lord said unto him that's Ananias Arise and go into the street, which is called straight and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus for behold He prayeth Go Arise and go for behold He prayeth Here once again the personal observations of the Lord Jesus Christ on a man who had been a Pharisee He's praying and Now this prayer is real. There's no pretense in prayer now. It's real and he was a man.

He couldn't see He couldn't eat He couldn't get up you find all these instances if you just take out the details of this particular passage And you find a man who's doing nothing else but pray and the Lord Jesus Christ takes personal attention to that and he says to Ananias arise and go for behold Look Ananias You pay special attention to the fact that this man is praying And the Lord Jesus Christ who previously Indeed Pete pronounced woe on such people Now he's telling Ananias to take special attention to this man. He's praying For the first time in his life He's praying real prayers and the Lord takes note and we think of the prayer exercise of this man And as we go through his life, we find Important points at which he's praying last year. We were there up there At La Crosse speaking about the prison prayers of the Apostle last evening We looked at the other end as it were of the situation and he's not his own prayers for those assemblies But his instruction to those assemblies to pray And we picked up the particular attention there for Ephesus.

We were in 1 Timothy chapter 2 first of all Supplication prayer intercession giving a thanks be made for all men And then we came back into Ephesus Ephesians chapter 6 and there it was the request of the Apostle for for prayer for all saints Well now please could we go back and think of that other prison prayer Philippians and chapter 4 Here is a man who had really learned to pray He prayed long prayers before he paid prayers that weren't real before but now the Lord Jesus there he's noted the reality of his prayer and Drawn special attention to it. Now. We hear the instruction of this man to others to pray Philippians chapter 4 and verse number 6 Be careful for nothing But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving Let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God which passeth all understanding Shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus finally brethren Whatsoever things are true honest just pure lovely of good report any virtue any praise Think on these things Those things which have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do and the God of peace shall be with you Here the man who learned to pray the hard way Yes, long prayers were well known.

No doubt. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees It was there passed down to him in the family But now came the reality of prayer when he's there Divert divert divested of any strength He's here at the very lowest time of his life there in Damascus and he's praying the one thing he learns to do at that moment Now he's passing on instruction to others who themselves might feel really down They might feel moments indeed when they can't do anything. They feel helpless and hopeless But there's always prayer and the Lord Jesus surely is looking for us today want to say look behold he or she they're praying and the Lord Jesus takes special attention of this and So indeed for us to understand the instruction of the Apostle Paul.

It's a very telling thing very telling thing So here now we find in Philippians Philippians is indeed a an epistle that gave him no problems to write For he says to write the same things and to me to me a deed is not grievous. It's not irksome It's not wearisome. Not at all.

It was delight to write this epistle for him. Oh There were problems and we've just indeed if we'd spent a few moments in chapter 4 previously we could find them but put that aside and Understand that otherwise it was a delight to write this epistle irrespective of his own situation Irrespective of the difficulties he had to explain about in chapter 1 difficult circumstances difficult Christians and now indeed He's happily directing the Saints to their prayer life as an assembly So he will say immediately verse 6 be careful for nothing Here are those words again that echo the thoughts of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew's gospel And the Lord Jesus Christ had already said in chapter 5 He told us the attitude of one trusting in the Father and he would say there about not being anxious About things and not in without that anxiety and it says indeed. Yes, here's one therefore chapter 6 of Matthew earlier on verse 25 therefore I say unto you take no thought take no anxious thought for your life and Then directing to the fact that it's it's that relationship with a Heavenly Father that makes things different for after all these things The things that the Lord Jesus Christ is telling the disciples not to be concerned about after all these things to the Gentiles see But you have a Heavenly Father and your Heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of these things But seek ye first the kingdom of heaven Priority in life is indeed seeking the things of God keeping keeping on seeking the things of God and Indeed not to be seeking the things that Gentiles seek So number one in this list this prayer list be careful for nothing Don't let anxiety rob you of indeed your spiritual strength Don't let it need take away that peace of God in your life.

Be careful for nothing number one on the other hand, whereas it's nothing to be anxious about number two, but in everything in everything by prayer and Supplication now last evening. We thought about the the fourfold nature of prayer as displayed in 1 Timothy chapter 2 supplication prayer Intercession giving of thanks here. We've got two and in these two slightly different order prayer and supplication Prayer would remind us that we're coming to God indeed who's gone unlimited power But we come with supplication We've got our urgent needs and we bring our urgent needs To a father who knows and cares and a father with unlimited power So it's but in everything in nothing careful in everything by prayer and supplication But you know There's such a reality of this prayer and such a realization that we're in touch with the father that we are indeed in this situation That this Thanksgiving Thanksgiving always looks backwards at answered prayer of ourselves and other people at the blessings that we've enjoyed So there's Thanksgiving and it says let your requests be made known unto God So here are things in general Prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving those three aspects But here it's broken down now into individual requests There are certain things that we're very concerned about.

So here it is. Keep on Letting your requests be made known and to God Very often sadly, you know, there are those who make their requests known and to the brethren The things that's all they do and there aren't they seem unable by the prayer of faith to turn it into this situation Make your requests be made known and to God and keep doing it let your requests be made known and to God and as if an outcome and a consequence naturally of this of this kind of prayer life and the peace of God Which passes which? Surpasses all Understanding shall God shall God and keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus Indeed, there's there's this feedback effect of prayer And you know some might say well, yes, here's praying and I don't seem to be changing the mind of God for me But listen true prayer is patient and it will pray indeed has an effect But first of all, it has an effect on us prayer changes me or should do and here indeed is that assurance that Come coming from this this prayer is the peace of God Peace of God which garrisons our hearts Which keeps them in a dark and dangerous world as we've been hearing and indeed here it is It's guarding our hearts and minds. This is important We've heard already this morning about give me thy heart We've heard about minds this afternoon minds being influenced believers minds being influenced by the wrong things hearts and minds My mind goes back to the the phylacteries of the Old Testament and here they were these little leather box New Testament the little leather boxes and here were the Pharisees and they were making wide The bands around their phylacteries and here they were little scriptures inside leather boxes put on your heart your mind Wrapped around your left arm near your heart a matter of heart and mind and the Word of God affecting mind and heart and here it's prayer and the consequence of prayer is that peace of God understood and enjoy and Influencing and guarding my heart and mind From all that we've heard today all the warnings It's a matter of heart and mind and it's our hearts and minds being guarded from evil and from illful infiltration and it's all I take it here I take it it here is a Feedback of prayer into my life and the person who's praying is the person whose heart and mind is being kept through Christ Jesus Now your own DL Moody he summarized this in a very simple but succinct way He said now for us for this to be ours for the peace of God to be ours He said we should be worrying about nothing Praying about everything and thanking God for anything that he says Worrying about nothing Praying about everything and Thanking God for anything that he says that's how we can enjoy the peace of God That's how we can indeed know that our hearts and minds are being guarded in the day the dangerous dark days in which we live and then please just to finish off these Thoughts chapter 4 of Colossians chapter 4 of Colossians once again Teaching to these their assemblies from the Apostle Paul in prison there in chapter 4 verse 2 continue in prayer Watching the same with thanksgiving with all praying also for us that God would open unto us a door of utterance To speak the mystery of the gospel for which I am also in bonds that I may Manifest as I ought to speak and those of us here last evening We'll hear that these almost are the identical thoughts and desires of the Apostle in Ephesians 6 So that's nothing new But you know, what's new in this chapter is verse 12 Because it's not now the requests for prayer, but the example of prayer chapter 4 and verse 12 Epaphras who's one of you a servant of Christ Salute if you always laboring fervently for you in prayers That ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God For I bear him record that he hath a great zeal for you and them in Laodicea and them in Hierapolis here.

He says look he's one of you. He's a paphras. He's not an apostle He's one of you and yet he's an example of prayer if you're wondering what kind of Activity prayer should be if you want to know what effort goes in Let me tell you about dear a paphras you heard the Word of God from him the gospel there It is in chapter 1. He says with regard to that gospel He's a dear fellow servant and a faithful minister of Christ He indeed he passed on to you the word of truth in the gospel.

That was good But listen now in another context because you're under attack Because indeed you've been infiltrated by error this man is praying for you He's done all he can in the gospel and he's come to an end of his activity He doesn't know the answers to all these difficult questions. That's why he's come to Rome But let me tell you this and assure you he's praying He's praying for you and how important prayer he saluted you always Laboring fervently for you in prayers in order that you might stand perfect and complete in all the will of God Here's a man who's got persistent and purposeful prayer Here indeed is the one who knows all about prayer. He's a preacher But he's a prayer He's not saying his prayers.

He's praying and indeed he's doing it as it says laboring fervently he's striving Same thought in chapter 2 when the Apostle Paul assures them of his own interest in them says up there In verse number one, I would I wish that you knew what great conflict I have for you and for them at Laodicea and for as many as have never seen my face in the flesh He says look, this is my Activity. I'm in great conflict. I'm in agony for you Almost exactly the same word as a paphras and I'm sure that's what Paul was doing his conflict for them his interest his agony for that was in prayer and so it was here in a paphras Always laboring fervently.

It was persistent. He didn't give up It was purposeful in order that you might stand perfect and complete in all the will of God Please don't let anyone tell you that prayer is easy Prayer is not easy here a great demands on a person who really prays. It's a matter of agony It's purposeful.

You've got to keep at it and indeed those disciples that came to the Lord Jesus with failure The Lord would say well now prayer and fasting fasting indicating that here is Reality is striving in prayer and so dear brother a paphras Certainly indeed he he didn't know all the answers but he was a man of prayer and I believe his prayer was working and as the letter here was delivered to Colossae and Heracles and Laodicea and I believe the errors were sorted out and The action was taken and indeed the truth reestablished. So here the prayer of a paphras was answered Now he is therefore the the instruction by the Apostle Paul For him previously prayer had been a matter of pretense however long the prayer But here he would learn indeed the truth of these things and the Lord Jesus taking special note of his prayer So the one eventually was in a position to encourage and instruct others to pray He does it for the Ephesians. He does it for the Philippians.

He does it here for the Colossians and even more than that He's able to show them a good example That's what we need good examples. Here's Paul. He's a good example.

Here's a paphras. He also is a good example laboring fervent for you in prayers Purposeful and persistent pray may we indeed learn these things as assemblies and as individuals That we might be prayer warriors that we might indeed be those who are looking to the one who listens And what we indeed might bring our requests to the God who not only listens But the God who answers our prayers according to his will and in his power