God Urges Me to Devote Myself to Praying to Him
Colossians 4:2
Part of your ministry that God uses you to accomplish is to help other ministers to accomplish their ministry. If you are not doing this ministry, then the question is; "Why?"Trusting God in Making Me to Make Ministries More Effective in One Easy Step
Colossians 4:2-4 · Ephesians 6:18-19
(Children's Sheet for Sermon Interaction is at bottom. Notes are throughout sermon)
Please turn to Colossians 4:2-4. You can also turn to Ephesians 6:18-19. Ephesians 6:18-19 is the parallel to Colossians 4:2-4. As we are turning there, I want to remind us of an important fact: It is an amazing grace-privilege to be talked to by the Spirit, through the Scriptures, by the God of the universe. Likewise, it is also an amazing grace-privilege for God to urge us to devote ourselves to the amazing grace-privilege of talking to Him. We know for a fact that not only can we talk to God and petition Him for things, and intercede for others in seeking miraculous provisions, but we should do this with full assurance that God hears us with keen interest. He does this because we saved people are the ones who pray "in the Spirit," Ephesians 6:18. We also know that when we pray, we are doing what God wants us to do. On the other hand, there are multitudes of people who are immersed in false religions and various other superstitions. They think they are talking to a deity in a kind of prayer. Many of these people are not really sure if they are being heard. Some are not really sure whether they are praying in the right method that is supposed to get their deity's attention; or they don't really know for sure whether there really is a god listening to them. They do not pray like we do. They are lost in spiritual darkness. Their prayers go out into the empty darkness to dissipate into nothingness. They need to be saved by God's Spirit in a miraculous recognition of the One true God of the universe. Only in that process, will anyone pray a real prayer of communication to the real God in the spiritual rescue from the darkness. It is the prayer that God hears because it is "in the Spirit." In recognizing this, we also recognize that in the New Covenant age, both prayer and salvation are intimately married to one another in an unbreakable holy matrimony. What we take for granted as God's children, the lost are ignorant about. The lost are ignorant of these things, but this does not mean that the Holy Spirit will not choose to enlighten them at some point. The way God creates more of His children into spiritually saved beings that will be with Him forever in reconciliation is, by grace, through faith in Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior. In thinking about these thing, I want us to also think about a certain aspect of this process that God has designed. In His process, God uses evangelism of the good news for the enlightenment. God does this through the ministry of Himself as the Holy Spirit. God also does this through the ministry of using His children who are created in Christ Jesus for good works that we should walk in them, Ephesians 2:10. Our primary ministry in salvation in Christ, is to take the good news of salvation in Christ, out to the world. It is our duty as God's church to spread God's word. This is ministry. It is mission. It is more. God has us communicating to others what He has communicated to us. I say all of this because I think it is very important for us recognize that part of this mission of communicating the gospel involves that amazing grace-privilege of talking to Him. It involves you and me, communicating back to God, by His own Spirit, to seek the provision of our Father specifically so that we can be effective missionaries of His word in the world. I want us to keep this in mind as we read our passages. Starting at Colossians 4:2,
"2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; 3 praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; 4 that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak." Colossians 4:2-4
The parallel at Ephesians 6,
"18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 19 and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel," Ephesians 6:18-19
Please prepare your heart, to learn along with me, in this sermon titled,
Trusting God in Making Me to Make Ministries More Effective in One Easy Step
[prayer]
It is apparent that God uses His people to minister. He uses me, and this becomes evident in what I am doing, like right now. But it is important to recognize that God uses all of his children to minister. To minister is to serve Him in the Spirit. It is also to serve others in the same Spirit. This means that God uses people like you. You are minister. What I am wanting to bring out strongly this morning is that part of the ministry that God uses His people to accomplish is to help other ministers to accomplish their ministry work for the Lord. This is how the Lord has the body of Christ operating like a real body. God did not design the body to be segmented by amputation. He designed each member to exist together, and function together, as one organism. Think about this; because there are many ways that God uses all of us to help other ministers to accomplish their ministry work for the Lord. One way is through the biblical means of support through financial giving to meet ministry needs. For a lot of us, this is the one easy step that we trust God for in making us to be makers of ministries to be more effective. It is an easy step, and it is a Scriptural step. But, this morning, the Spirit is indicating, from our passage, that there is another easy step that is far more valuable than money. It is one of the most important, and effective, practices that a Christian can do for any ministry anywhere; but also, it is one of the most effective, and important, practices that Christians can do as ministry. The amazing part about this ministry is not just its incredible effectiveness, but the fact that it really is an easy step for you to do--that is, if you will do it. This morning I want us to glean four principles from our text in respect to trusting God in making me to make ministries more effective in one easy step.
/1/
The first principle I want to cover, is the easy to remember fact of what that one easy step actually is:
"3 praying at the same time for us as well, ..." Colossians 4:3
"19 and pray on my behalf, ..." Ephesians 6:19
@1 God wants us to __________________ on behalf of others. Colossians 4:3, Ephesians 6:19
Prayer is the big ministry practice that we can all do. It is easy, but for it to be a step, you need to actually do it. We all know how easy it is to pray when we want something, right? Without hardly thinking about it, we start asking God to intervene into a situation that affects our lives in some personal way. We also see in the Scriptures (like what Paul says here) that prayer is commanded to do. Paul starts out this teaching as an imperative for us to be devoted to continuous, ongoing, repetitive, prayers and petitions to God as we keep alert for things to pray for. Prayer is easy to do, but prayer, on a regular basis for God's work through ministers, is also easy to neglect. Let's consider some reasons for the neglect. One reason why it is easy to neglect prayer for ministry effectiveness is because we are not being properly discipled in the fact of how much God wants us to do it. If we really understood how much God wants us to do something, it changes our perspective. If we approach the arena of prayer with the idea that we just happen to have a thought to pray, or we have decided to nurture a discipline to pray simply because we generally have a feeling that prayer is a spiritual thing to do, and so we do it thinking that it is optional, but yet, good, then we are in a way of thinking that can actually keep us from praying. Let me explain some more: If we approach the arena of prayer thinking that it is optional, but yet, good, then we may decide that even though it is good, it is not necessarily bad not to pray. So, in thinking this way, we make prayer an ambivalent option. When prayer is an ambivalent option, it only takes on seriousness as something to do when you feel like you want to do it based upon your own criteria. People may not say it outright with their mouths, but the underlying sense is,
"Prayer matters, but it doesn't really matter that much if I don't pray."
By the way, nobody is saying that it is good not to pray, right? They are thinking that it is not bad to not pray.
So what happens?
Prayer can easily be put on the shelf; and it often is.
This is where improper discipleship in prayer actually inhibits our prayer life even though we may have been discipled to recognize that prayer is good. Proper discipleship teaches the importance of prayer, the goodness of prayer, and the mandate to pray as God's imperative urging to you to pray. In Holy Spirit led discipleship, we notice how Paul continues to teach the responsibility to pray while urging it. Notice that directly after he prays for the Colossians specifically, Paul says for the Colossians to pray specifically. The point is that it is necessary that they pray. It does not matter how they feel. The fact that prayer is good is already a given. But the fact that Paul says that it is imperative for them to pray, and to do so on an ongoing, repetitive basis, means that it is not good for them not to pray.
Also, notice what Paul urges them to pray for. He teaches them to pray for the apostolic group (the ministers) and the ministry. The Spirit is revealing His method of ministry relationship here, where God uses all His people in concert with His Holy Spirit. The Spirit is showing us that He wants us to pray for His ministers as more than something good. The Spirit indicates that as the body is joined with, and working with, itself, in God's grand orchestration of all things, by the Spirit, that this prayer is necessary. This prayer must be done, and this is the point I am trying to press this morning. It is the point that Paul pressed to both the Colossians and The Ephesians. You say,
"But Kerry, God can, and will, do whatever He wants, and He will do it without my help."
Of course He will; but the answer to that kind of comment is:
"So what?"
God also demonstrates what else He wants you to do. He tells you to pray directly from His word, and that when you do pray, He will do things based upon the prayer that He sovereignly commands you to do.
You say,
"But, God is sovereign. God determines all things after the counsel of His will."
You are right; and good for you--you also seem to think you are a very deep thinker. But, really this leads me to ask you that fundamental question again:
"So what?"
God's sovereignty is what I have been talking about all morning. God is sovereign, and so you need to obey Him in His sovereignty and pray according to the way He tells you to do it. You need to expect Him to answer according to His sovereignty in concurrence with the practice of His command to you to pray. This is His relationship with you that He has determined in His sovereign design. This is what is good. So, this first principle is that prayer for ministry is the big ministry practice that we can all do. It is an easy ministry step. But for it to be a step, you need to actually do it. This means that you need to do it according to the mandate and discipleship of what to do from the word of God.
Over in Ephesians, Paul makes a similar request that he expects to be obeyed. Paul says to pray on his behalf. When we pray on behalf of a minister, we should be thinking of what the minister is doing. The word of God is showing us that Paul wants prayer for himself, but also for what he is doing. I want us to also think about the lasting value of this. Part of the alertness that God wants us to have in respect to ministry-prayer-needs, is concerning what God is doing in this world that has lasting value. Praying for ministers who are called and devoted to the task of spreading of the word, specifically, has lasting value. This is God's eternal Kingdom work, and such people are God's workers that we are talking about. Certainly each of us glorifies God in every pocket of our life, from our business place in the market world, to our politics, to our family. But, the mission of proclaiming God's word is the primary mission of the church. It means proclaiming the word to the body, from the body, for the body's edification. It also means proclaiming the word to the lost world culture in evangelism. This is God's mandate for the church that continually fulfills biblical prophecy. Paul proclaims our great commission as he quotes the Old Testament over and over again,
"8 But what does it say? 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart'--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, 'Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.' 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for 'Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.' 14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!' 16 However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, 'Lord, who has believed our report?' 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." Romans 10:8-17
@2 Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the _________________ of Christ. Romans 10:17
While on earth, this is the primary mission of the church in glorifying God among the nations. We preach the word to the lost, and then when they are saved, we ground them in the teaching of God's word. All of this is good. It has lasting value. It is ministry that we are all commissioned and gifted to take part in through prayer.
/2/
This brings us to a second principle to glean from our text in respect to trusting God in making me to make ministries more effective in one easy step. It is to pray for God to miraculously open doors for the word. Paul says,
"... that God will open up to us a door for the word, ... for which I have also been imprisoned;" Colossians 4:3
@3 God wants us to pray that He will open up a __________________ for the word of Christ to be spread to the lost. Colossians 4:3
Let's call this "the open door principle." We need to think about this. When Paul wrote these words, Paul was behind prison doors. To natural eyes, the doors of ministry seemed as locked as the prison doors that confined Paul. Knowing this as his experience, Paul does not deny his imprisoned condition. He is not positively confessing away the prison doors in some kind of fictional gimmick doctrine. He is not speaking forth open doors in the world as if his confession is going to make them come into being. Paul is a real Apostle with the real revelation of reality. He does not deny the locked doors, yet Paul also does not deny the One who unlocks doors in miraculous ways. Something else that Paul recognizes is the ministry of the whole body through the ministry of the Spirit. Paul could pray for himself, and he probably does. But Paul wants intercession from the same body that He intercedes for in His own prayers. His specific request is for the body to pray for the miracle to occur from the One Who miraculously opens doors. The open door principle is that God opens doors in ministry, and He does it in respect to the prayers of His people who recognize His sovereignty. By the way, Paul uses this image of God opening doors three other times in his writings. When it comes to prayer, the language of "the open door" is something that we should learn and begin using in our conversations, especially when it comes to the ministry of prayer for the advancement of ministry. In other words, a lot of times, we don't know exactly what to seek in our prayers though we know we should seek the advancement of the gospel, and the teaching of God's word. In helping us to pray for this, the Spirit shows us that the point is that the "open door" is a biblically tangible request for what we should seek. At the end of Paul's first missionary journey, he reported to the church in Antioch about what God had done. What did God do?
"They declared all that God had done with them, and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles." Acts 14:27
God opened a door for the mystery of Christ to be revealed to the non-Israelite ethnics. In 1 Corinthians, Paul explained his itinerary like this:
"I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries." 1 Corinthians 16:8-9
This open door that Paul looked forward to God opening was for circumstances that are miraculously primed by the Holy Spirit for work that is called "effective." Listen carefully, The open door principle is that God wants you and me to pray for locked doors to open up for effective, fruitful, ministry. But, you have to pray. We may see adversaries, hard hits, and all kinds of problems at every turn, but this is all the more reason, in our alertness, to pray for the open doors to come. In 2 Corinthians Paul says,
"When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, a door was opened for me in the Lord;" 2 Corinthians 2:12
Paul's mission was specifically to preach the gospel of Christ. Paul did not open the door. God did. Again, what we are praying for is for God to miraculously open specific doors so that the preaching of the mystery of Christ will advance to become effective and fruitful. We want more than just an opportunity to open our mouths. We want miraculous fruit, where God gives the words, and the words effect hearts, by His Spirit that produces faith among the hearers in the wide door of effective work. It works like this:
In the saving of souls, God is at work opening doors, and He is also the one who opens up the hearts to receive and believe.
Think about Paul's missionary move into Europe when God opened a door for Paul to go there and preach the gospel for the first time. In Acts 16, we read of how Paul went to Derbe and to Lystra. When Paul got to Lystra, he arrived at the place where he picked up Timothy to go along with him on his mission. According to the record, we read that the missionary group was passing through the Phrygian and Galatian region in Acts 16:6. All of a sudden, we notice that God had closed a door by His sovereign hand. We read,
"... having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia;" Acts 16:6
God opens doors for ministry, but God also closes doors for ministry. Next we read that God did it again,
"7 and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them;" Acts 16:7
But then next, we read about the open door for ministry.
"8 and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.' 10 When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them." Acts 16:8-10
This is what we are praying for--the open door of God's call to preach the gospel in a particular situation that has been prepared by Him. So, we see that God opens the door for effective ministry. But there is more here. I want us to see what happens next. It is where God opens the door of hearts for the effectiveness of the ministry to produce the life changing fruit that comes from the miracle of God,
"11 So putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis; 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled." Acts 16:11-13
The ministry door was opened, and so they spoke forth the word of God. What happens next is important. It is where God opens the human heart door,
"14 A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul." Acts 16:14
This is what we are looking for in our prayers for doors to be opened. We are praying for opportunities to develop, and unfold, for the gospel to go and be preached; for it to take root, and for it to grow. Sure the open door has to do with circumstances, and places, and things; but it also has to do with the most important aspect. It has to do with people. Ministry is about people. So, just like Paul, we might think we are behind prison doors, or that a ministry, or an area, or a people group, is behind prison doors; and so instead of thinking that things have been shut down, we pray for the doors to be opened. We may think that there is a person whose heart is hopelessly imprisoned, with no way out. In other words, to human eyes, they are so vile that they seem unsaveable. We can not presume that God will not open the door of their heart. We can only know that we must pray for their heart. Paul urged for prayers to be given for people to be saved in 2 Thessalonians 3:1. He urged the Thessalonian Christians to beseech God to make the gospel become effective in the place that Paul is going in the same way it was effective among them. In 1 Timothy 2:1-4, Paul urged entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all people; for kings and all who are in authority. Paul said that this kind of prayer is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people of every class, including the very authorities that opposed Christians, to be saved. But God opens the hearts of Kings, and so this is why Paul says to pray this prayer. This was Paul's prayer "wish to God," when standing before Agrippa. Paul's wish to God was that Agrippa and all who were listening, would become "Christians," Acts 26:28-29. This was Paul's prayer concerning lost Israelites, when Paul demonstrated plainly, that He relied on the miraculous door opener,
"1... my prayer to God for them is for their salvation." Romans 10:1
This is a robust understanding of our second principle: praying that God will miraculously open doors for the word to be effective.
/3/
Notice that Paul wants to minister the word of God by having more opportunities opened up to him to proclaim the word of God where the words of men have dominated. This leads to what the message is that the ministers are to speak which is the third principle to glean from our text in respect to trusting God in making me to make ministries more effective in one easy step.
"... so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ," Colossians 4:3
"... to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel," Ephesians 6:19
@4 God wants us to pray for people to share the good news by speaking the ______________________ of the gospel, which is the __________________________ of Christ. Colossians 4:3, Ephesians 6:19
What we are praying for is miraculous intervention by God for something to be proclaimed that is specific. This is important because there are a lot of truths that we can proclaim in ministry. This particular truth has to do with the good news of the mystery of Christ. This is the foundational message. It is the bread and butter of all ministry. The gospel is the good news of God that encompasses all the riches of Christ Jesus. The good news is what the lost have either never heard, or they have heard it but they do not understand. The message that we want to pray to go forth in the world, in productive fruit, is that the promised Messiah-King has come. The good news is that He came to announce who He is to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The good news is that He knew He would be rejected by them, according to prophecy, and in His rejection, He was crucified as the ultimate sacrifice for sins of both Jews and Gentiles of the world. The good news is that the sacrifice lives because He raised from the dead to triumph over death. The good news is that, in His death and resurrection, all who receive Him as Lord and Savior are saved spiritually by God's grace through faith. The good news is that this salvation means that we are reconciled to God in His great rescue where He transfers us out of the domain of darkness and places us in the kingdom of the King forever.
Notice that Paul wants prayer for God to miraculously supply the boldness for this proclamation. The easy step for any of us, is to pray for the steps of other ministers to go forth and proclaim the mystery of Christ with boldness. With the open door, boldness is necessary to take advantage of the opening. Evidently Paul recognizes that there are times when he is not bold, and there are times when he is bold. The times of not being bold are not what Paul recognizes are good. Again, Paul is the theologian. He not only knows what he needs, but he knows how to get it. On the other hand, we could be tempted to think,
"Paul, you have faith. You have been called. You have been gifted. So, what is the problem? Don't you have boldness already?"
We could even think,
"Isn't boldness a fruit of the Spirit, and aren't you full of the Spirit Paul?"
It is easy to say,
"Just go ahead and appropriate the boldness that is in you indicatively, and you will practice out of you the boldness of Christ that has already been given to you."
These are all thoughts that come from religious clichés of modern day theologians who think they understand the full counsel of God according to the riches of the mystery of Christ. But, contrary to what others think, Paul thinks, by the Spirit, that He needs the rest of the body to pray for Him to have boldness when the door is opened. Evidently, to Paul, it takes more than "appropriating" something that we supposedly already have in Christ. Evidently, to Paul, this is more than the kind of faith issue that "believes unto boldness." Nevertheless, this actually is a faith issue, where Paul is relying on the work of the Spirit through the prayers of the body for him to have boldness at the proper time. It is a faith issue for Paul to command this prayer for himself. It is a faith issue, but even in faith, apparently if the boldness is not there, then the boldness is not there. These kinds of statements in the Bible should wake up the so-called hyper-spiritually minded folks to the reality of not going beyond what is written. It will save you from wrong doctrine, which will save you from condemning yourself when you lack boldness at times, or it will keep you from judgmentally scrutinizing others when they lack boldness too. It will also keep you from idealistic beliefs about the Holy Spirit that are not the way God understands it all. It should also leads us to pray for ministers, who teach the truth, to have boldness. This leads us to also consider that with praying for the actual message, and the boldness to proclaim it, there is the fourth and last principle to pray.
/4/
It is for us to pray about the actual articulation of the message that is to come from the mouths of those who minister,
"4 that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak." Colossians 4:4
"... that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth," Ephesians 6:19
@5 God wants us to pray for people to share the good news by making it __________________ by giving utterance to their ___________________. Colossians 4:4, Ephesians 6:19
When we think about this prayer request from Paul, we surmise that Paul already knew what to speak, right?
Paul understands the gospel of the mystery of Christ pretty well. Further, Paul is already led by the Spirit when He speaks. He has been appointed, and anointed, to preach the gospel. By the time of this letter, Paul has already preached some of his most famous sermons. When we think about this, it seems that it would already be clear as to how Paul is to speak. Let's consider this:
Just like expecting Paul the apostle to have boldness when God opens the door for it, evidently Paul did not think it would always be clear to him how to speak, right?
Obviously, he did not think that he would necessarily have utterance given to him in the opening of his mouth without the prayer. This is an important fact for us to recognize. It is important because even though Paul knew the message, and even though he has been ministering all along, and even though Paul knows better than most people living at that time that the Holy Spirit leads Paul, Paul still thinks he needs prayer for knowing how he should speak in accuracy and clarity. But it is even deeper than this. Why? Because we know that Paul was more than likely praying for himself, right? But, Paul has the revelation. He knows the principle. Paul seeks prayer from other members of the body for what he evidently could pray for himself, because Paul knows that he "needs" those prayers. This has been the foundation of this whole sermon. God has designed ministry in this world as a "whole body" experience where all the members "need" one another as we find in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, Ephesians 5, and so many other places. Though we would expect certain ministers to already know what, and how, to speak, the Spirit is showing us, in a strong way, that this is not always the case. You, and I , and all members of the body, are needed to make ministers more effective in articulating truths with accuracy and clarity, and it is an easy step for us to take in doing this when we pray. When you pray for me, or for one of our missionaries we support, to make it clear in the way to speak, so that utterance may be given in the opening of our mouths, one area that this encompasses is so that the words would be as if they are the utterances of God. This is the substance of clarity and accuracy. Peter urges the great standard to which every Christian should seek to attain. It is especially important for ministry,
"11 Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ," 1 Peter 4:11
@6 God wants us to speak as if we are speaking the _______________________ of God. 1 Peter 4:11
When you pray for me (and other ministers too), pray that when I speak, I would do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God. Pray that my thoughts, and words, would line up with God's revealed word accurately and clearly. Pray that I would be a tool in God's hand who is like a mouth piece relaying the good news of the mystery of Christ, His kingdom, His doctrine, and His precepts. Pray that I would serve God and others in reliance upon the strength that God supplies instead of thinking it is my own strength that is supplying my ministry. Pray that I would speak the utterances of God in contrast to my own personal philosophies. Pray that the word of God will come out of my mouth and cut through the thick darkness, as the shining sword of the Spirit blinds men to the ground like Christ blinded Paul, while instantly opening their eyes to the things of the Spirit in the miraculous work of God where He raises them up to seat them at the right hand of the Father in Christ Jesus!
As I finish up this morning, let me give you four areas to pray for me (and our missionaries) to be clear in respect to the way I (we) ought to speak, concerning the utterance to be given to us in the opening of our mouths with the mystery of Christ. The first is that we will consistently use what God has given for true profit. Pray, pray, pray, that we will commit to sticking with Scripture for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and training in righteousness.
"16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17
@7 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for __________________, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be __________________, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
The second is pray, pray, pray, that we would be careful, and
"... not to go beyond what is written," 1 Corinthians 4:6
Pray that the subtle taint of personal philosophy, and doctrines of the world, will not creep into God's message. The third is, pray, pray, pray, that we would,
"Be ... accurately handling the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15
Pray that our interpretation, our understanding, and our application, will be accurate, and precise. The fourth is, pray, pray, pray, that we would focus upon Christ, and that our message will be Christ exalting. Paul said in Ephesians concerning the same mystery of Christ that he is asking prayer for proclaiming accurately and clearly,
"4 By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; 6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the good news, 7 of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. 8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things;" Ephesians 3:4-9
Christ Jesus is our all in all. The ultimate message to preach boldly is the unfathomable riches of Christ, but it must be preached accurately; it must be preached precisely, and it must be preached with clarity. These are the things that need to be proclaimed without compromise and watering down the truths of God's word in His New Covenant.
I strongly urge all of us to pray for ministers. We need to pray for ministries in general. Remember the easy step which is the first principle. Prayer is the big ministry practice that we can all do. It is easy, but for it to be your step, you need to actually do it. Start making it your step in your daily walk. Secondly, pray for the miracle of the open doors for the word. The open door principle is answered by God in amazing ways. But for us to see the answers, we must pray and ask in our intercessory ministry. Thirdly, remember that we are praying for something to be proclaimed that is specific. We are praying for the proclamation of the truths of the good news of the mystery of Christ. This is the foundational backbone of our message. It is the bread and butter of all ministry. Finally, remember that we must pray about the actual articulation of the message that is to come from our mouths. It must be accurate and clear. This means that it must be Scriptural. This means that we must not to go beyond what is written. We must accurately handle the word of truth. It must be clear. And this always means that that our message will be Christ exalting. When you do this, then you are trusting God in making you to make ministries more effective in one easy step of prayer. Amen.
@1 God wants us to __________________ on behalf of others. Colossians 4:3, Ephesians 6:19
@2 Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the _________________ of Christ. Romans 10:
@3 God wants us to pray that He will open up a __________________ for the word of Christ to be spread to the lost. Colossians 4:3
@4 God wants us to pray for people to share the good news by speaking the ______________________ of the gospel, which is the __________________________ of Christ. Colossians 4:3, Ephesians 6:19
@5 God wants us to pray for people to share the good news by making it __________________ by giving utterance to their ___________________. Colossians 4:4, Ephesians 6:19
@6 God wants us to speak as if we are speaking the _______________________ of God. 1 Peter 4:11
@7 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for __________________, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be __________________, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Please turn to Colossians 4:2. Colossians 4:2 is our primary text this morning. As you are turning there, I want us to think about the practice of prayer. If you look up "prayer" in a typical world-culture driven dictionary, (which is pretty much every contemporary dictionary) you will find a definition like I found:
Prayer, noun:
The act of communicating with a deity.
In a cursory reading, this may sound like a good definition, but this is not the definition of prayer that Christians utilize. To see what I mean, we need to also understand what these professional word-definer's of the lost world culture mean. Notice that part of their "prayer" definition is a reference to "a deity." Let's take a look at the dictionary definition of deity that I got from the same source:
Deity, noun:
Any supernatural being worshipped as controlling some part of the world or some aspect of life or who is the personification of a force.
Now we get a fuller understanding of what the world-culture thinks we Christians know about what we actually do that we call prayer. Our definition of prayer is different:
Prayer:
The act of communicating, in the Spirit, with 'the' One and only true God of the universe who is Yahweh, in the name of His Son, Christ Jesus.
Prayer is when you, me, or any of God's adopted children in Christ, speak to our Father in the rescue of our great adoption. Technically then, in a very important sense, the world's definition of prayer as "the act of communicating with a deity" is a false prayer. It is "false" because it is a futile attempt to communicate with false god's called "any deity." We Christians do not practice futile communication when we speak to the One true God. We are not mouthing off empty words into emptiness while claiming otherwise. We practice one of the greatest privileges that can be imagined. When we pray, we are talking to the One true God who made everyone come into existence. We are talking to Him in Christ where He listens to us in love. Considering these things, I have some questions I want us to ask ourselves at the outset:
"How Important is it to me to take advantage of this great privilege to talk to the One true God of the universe?"
"How important is it to me to do so when I know that God urges me to devote myself to praying to Him?"
I want us to consider these questions, as we glean some important principles from our text. I am focusing on verse 2. I plan on covering verses 3-4 next week. Please read the whole section with me now,
"2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; 3 praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; 4 that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak." Colossians 4:2-4
Please prepare your heart to learn, along with me, in this sermon, titled,
God Urges Me to Devote Myself to Praying to Him
[prayer]
This morning I am going to cover three principles from Colossians 4:2 that have to do with God's urging to prayer.
/1/
The first principle is essentially the title of this sermon. God urges;
"2 Devote yourselves to prayer, ..." Colossians 4:2
@1 God wants us to devote ourselves to _____________________. Colossians 4:2
What does it mean to devote yourself to prayer? In answering this question, I think it is important to realize that Paul's point is more than the fact that we are Christians, and so because we are Christians, we pray. The fact that we pray is already a given. Also, Paul's point is not that we need to muster up a lot of extra effort and pray more intensely like a physical workout. Paul is also not talking about working yourself up into some kind of groaning, moaning, emotional heave, when you pray, like I have seen some people do. Paul is not talking about some kind of dramatic kind of prayer technique either. There are all kinds of prayer techniques, and formulas being touted out there. Books are even written about learning the so-called "secrets" of "unlocking" these kinds of techniques for a "dynamic prayer life." People are "devoted" to doing all those kinds of things, and when they do them, they think their prayers are more effective. But, Paul is not urging anything like a prayer technique. Paul is not talking about a ritual that you perform. Paul is not talking about turning up the intensity. Paul's point is simple and straightforward:
We need to be committed to the practice of prayer by praying more often by doing it regularly on an ongoing, focused, basis.
Do it. Then do it again. Then do it again, and again. For us to be devoted to prayer, is to be doing so as a matter of enthusiasm because it is something that we are committed to as our spiritual ambition like we are devoted to God. You say,
"What do you mean, 'be devoted to prayer like you are devoted to God?"'
Prayer is communication with God in devotion to Him. So when you are devoted to prayer like you are devoted to God, then you are simply expressing your devotion to Him. Don't get me wrong. I did not say that you must pray "to be" devoted to God. I said that we should be devoted to prayer like we are devoted to God. This is the big thrust that I want to really press this morning in a very strong way.
Notice that Paul says, "yourselves." He says to devote yourselves to prayer. Paul is talking to all of us who are the body of Christ. He is talking to saved people. I want us to think about this in respect to the fact that prayer is a gift. I don't usually hear people talk about the gift of prayer; but that is exactly what it is.
How many of you have seen or heard of spiritual gift surveys that you can take?
They are questionnaires where you answer various questions, and when you are done, the survey will identify your spiritual gifts for you. Maybe you've taken one of these tests before--maybe not. The main reason why I am bringing these up, is because you will not typically find "the spiritual gift of prayer" listed as your spiritual gift. There is a reason for this. The reason is because all of us who have the Spirit of Christ in us, also have the spiritual gift of prayer. The Spirit is the person that empowers you to pray your gift, and makes you "hearable" in your gift. This is why Paul says in the parallel passage out of Ephesians,
"18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, ..." Ephesians 6:18
@2 God wants us to devote ourselves to praying at all times in the __________________________. Ephesians 6:18
"In the Spirit," is the only person-place we can truly pray an authentic God-connecting prayer according to the New Covenant privilege. The unsaved do not do this. Hindus, Muslims, Mormons, and Jehovah Witness cultist think they are praying, but the problem is that they don't have the gift. A lot of them are very, very, devoted to what they are doing. They are enthusiastically committed to it. They are devoted, on and ongoing basis, to do what I read earlier from the dictionary, "the act of communicating with a deity." In contrast, we are urged to be devoted because we are doing the real-deal in the real Spirit.
"However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him." Romans 8:9
@3 All Christians are indeed in the Spirit. The Spirit of _____________ dwells in them. If anyone does not have the Spirit of _____________________ he does not belong to Him. Romans 8:9
You and I are the ones who have received this Spirit Who is from God, 1 Corinthians 2:12. We are the ones who are the temples of this same Spirit, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19. We are the ones who were sealed by God where He gave us this same Spirit in our hearts as a pledge, 2 Corinthians 1:22, 5:5. We are the ones who are made by God to drink of this Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12:13. We are the only ones who live by this Spirit, Galatians 5:25, because we (who are saved by grace through faith in Christ's crucifixion for our sins, and resurrection from the dead) are the only ones who have life in Christ in salvation. So, when Paul says to pray at all times in the Spirit, he is not only talking about the devotion, he's also talking about the power source in the devotion.
The devotion of praying in the Spirit also means that we pray according to God's word, which is called "the sword of the Spirit." To devote ourselves to prayer in the Spirit is to pray according to the parameters of the actual revelations of the word of God. You and I have the privilege; we have the Spirit; we have the understanding that we are not to pray for sinful things, or according to sinful motivations. We pray in Spirit and in truth, and we should be enthusiastically devoted to it.
Think about your privilege some more. God really does have the time and attention to listen to you, all the time, at any time. Notice that the Spirit is not indicating that our problem is that we pray too much. The Spirit isn't saying that your prayers are somehow trivial to God, or that they are meaningless. The Spirit is indicating the opposite. The Spirit isn't saying that you are bothering God by praying a whole bunch of prayers. Listen to me:
You need to understand your own immense importance to the all-powerful and immense God, Who in His greater importance, considers you to be important to Himself.
If you do not, then you will drop the ball on His desire for you to be devoted to praying to Him.
Follow what I am saying; We are in the midst of over two billion Christians on this planet right now. Each of us is a molecule in the great ocean of the body of Christ. Knowing this, we might embrace deceptions of the world that would tend to make us think that since there are so many Christians, and so many people are praying at any given moment, (probably millions) then God is not as interested in our specific prayers coming from our tiny self. Folks, that kind of thinking is a sinful lie. Why? Because the exact opposite is the case. You are always of huge importance to the one who gave His hugely important life for you. So, right now, and any time, (even when you think you are just a number that is washing out in the giant waves of people, with millions upon millions of Christians praying to our wonderful Father each moment), your loving, caring, Lord is intently listening to your every prayer thought, and your every prayer word, with great interest in you as His dearly loved child. It is not that you have done something that makes you worthy to be listened to. It is not that you are more special than other Christians. We are all special. We are all the same spiritually. Your specialness is their specialness and my specialness, yet (and I really want us to grasp this) the specialness is because we are praying in the Spirit. We are praying in what God has done to us, and is doing in us. God hears every voice, and every thought of all people, but God listens to the prayers of each one of His people, in the Spirit, intently, with great loving-Father-interest; and you absolutely must understand that you are actually one of those people. This is why He is telling you to be devoted to more of it. This even goes for when you have failed, or are failing, God, and you are not doing everything perfectly. Why? Because God isn't listening to you as the failures that you just did. In other words, God is not counting up your sins for the day, or for the week, and then deciding whether He is going to listen to you based upon that. God already knows that there is nothing you can do to be perfect. God listens to you as the success that His Son has accomplished for you and in you. He listens to you each and every moment based upon what He is accomplishing in you each moment in the perfect Spirit. God isn't choosing to listen to you based upon the contingency of how good you have been, or are. He is listening to you with keen interest and love based upon how good His Son is in you.
There is something else we absolutely must realize about this too. The Spirit is indicating that God expects you to be praying to Him. Nowhere does the Bible ever indicate that prayer is a mere option. But, the Bible does tell you to be devoted to it without ceasing. Think about these things, because your loving heavenly Father really does want prayers from you specifically. He likes hearing your prayers. He likes to guide your prayers. He likes to answer your prayers with miraculous provisions.
By the way, God always answers every single one of your prayers. You know that don't you? He may answer you with a "no" answer, but it is still an answer to your prayer. If God answers you with a "no" answer, you can be assured that it is the wisest answer, it is the most loving answer, and it is the best answer. But in your special spiritual relationship with Him, where you pray in the Spirit, God may answer with a "yes" answer. God, in His wisdom, love, and glory, may answer with an alternate provision. God may have you wait patiently for one of those answers to come. Whatever it is, God always answers your prayers because He loves you and He is very interested in what you have to say, and what you ask Him for. The point is that you are His spiritual child in Christ. He really wants you to be devoted to the ongoing, continuous, practice of talking to Him. Let's all make an assessment of ourselves for a moment. Let's think about how much time we actually spend praying.
Can you truly say that you have been devoting yourself to prayer?
Now, think about other things you are devoted to doing. I am just wanting us to make some comparisons.
Don't you do mundane things in devotion, like every evening, you are devoted to getting ready for bed, and then going to sleep?
Every day, aren't you devoted to eating numerous meals?
Whenever you are thirsty, aren't you devoted to getting a drink?
The Spirit is urging you to be hungry for prayer to your Father all the time. You need to be thirsty for prayer all the time. The thirst is your want to pray, and the idea is that you do pray, but when you do, your thirst has still not been fully quenched yet. Maybe in your assessment, you think that you are praying already, and that you do it regularly enough. The urging is to pray more. Why would I say that? Because you can't pray too much, and you can always pray some more when you are in thirst. Again, devotion is where you set your thoughts aside on a regular basis to pursue this in a kind of thirst that you are trying to quench, but your ongoing devotion to prayer never really is quenched. Think of how David longed after the Lord,
"1 As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God?" Psalm 42:1-2
Paul speaks volumes, upon volumes on this where the Spirit guides Him to simply say,
"17 pray without ceasing;" 1 Thessalonians 5:17
So, poetically, we put these two together, and here is what we are looking for,
As the deer pants for the water brooks in devotion, so my soul pants for praying to You in devotion without ceasing, O God. My soul thirsts for praying to you God, for praying to you the living God; When shall I pray to my God?
The point is to pray as a spiritual habit that is part of your supernatural instincts in supernatural desire. Do this on an ongoing, continuous, basis of devotion. It can take on many forms. It can occur for many reasons. One primary reason, (which is seen in Paul's parallel epistle that has almost the same wording as this prayer urging), is to continuously pray petitions to God;
"18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints," Ephesians 6:18
Prayers, as petitions, are when we go to God with specific requests. What this means is that God wants you to be devoted to being open with Him, and don't hold back asking Him for things, knowing, in faith, that He is your provider. But, more than that, it is knowing in faith that He wants to provide for you. God wants us to ask for miraculous events to take place, and then expect miracles. You say,
"I don't usually see a lot of miracles take place. In fact, I'm not sure I have ever seen a miracle.'
Every salvation experience is a miracle of God where He calls, draws, and transforms people supernaturally. Salvation is a miracle that you quickly and readily recognize. But we must understand that any time that God actually intervenes and answers prayers where He grants the petition, then that is a miracle. It doesn't matter if you do not know for sure whether God actually answered a specific prayer in the way you want Him to. God's word proclaims that He answers prayers, and the miraculous way is a real way, and that is what matters. James explains it,
"16 ... pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit." James 5:16-18
@4 The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish ____________________. James 5:16
James is talking about trusting God in your devotion to prayer, recognizing and believing that God not only answers miraculously, but that you are someone who can pray for a miracle like Elijah did, and fully expect to see it happen. If you get a "no" answer, then there is a good reason why God is saying "no." James speaks to that too,
"1 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." James 4:1-3
@5 Sometimes we ask and do not receive because we ask with ________________ motives, so that we may spend it on our own pleasures. James 4:1-3
James is talking about why God will not answer this kind of prayer with a "yes" answer. It has to do with praying for personal pleasures (based upon hedonistic lusts) that are selfish and ungodly. God will know this, and when he answers, He says "no." It is easy to understand what this kind of prayer is. It is the kind of prayer request where you are praying about getting what you think is going to make you happy, but doing so in a sinful sense like in trying to boost your pride, or for the sake of simple materialism, or any of these kinds of things. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be happy. There is a lot wrong with sin. The point is that God is not going to answer you with a "yes" answer according to your request when you are praying from selfish, earthly, natural pleasures that come from wrong ambitions and desires. These pleasure are the source of the inner war that is against us and keeps us from being devoted to praying the right petitions and getting those kinds of answers. It might be manifested in being devoted to praying for a big house, or a better, faster, car, or more, and more, money, and these kinds of things. There is nothing wrong about praying for the provision of a house, or a car, and things like that--even financial provision. But, James is talking about a lust problem. It is a lust-devotion, and God knows it. So, this is one reason why you do not have your requests given from God. James is also talking about an envy problem. You pray because your devotion is founded in envying what others have, or what God has done for others, and so you beg God to appease your selfish, envious, lustful flesh. He isn't going to do it. You ask and do not receive, James says, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your own selfish, sinful, pleasures. There are other good reasons why God gives "no" answers to you when you pray. One of the primary ones is praying while asking for something in ignorance. This is why we must pray according to the word. This is also why we must trust God while we continue to devote ourselves to prayer. We don't understand everything like He does. God is the one Who understands it all, and so, even in our ignorance, God always answers the wisest way, the most loving way, and the best way. The principle, though, is to devote yourself to prayer no matter whether you think you have the perfectly informed, wisest, best, most loving request to make. Pray, and ask. Do it again. Keep on praying.
/2/
This leads to the second principle, and that is to be ready and aware of what to pray for,
Paul goes on and says to be,
"... keeping alert in it ..." Colossians 4:2
This word, "alert," means to be awake. It has the sense of a guard being watchful in his devotion to his task. The point is that to be devoted to prayer effectually, is to be alert, awake, and watchful, concerning everything. Certainly, if I tell you to be alert in prayer, it is possible that I could mean that I do not want you to go asleep when you are praying. But, this is not what Paul means. Being alert in your devotion to prayer, means to consider the events on the grand scale concerning governments, nations, and world events--all the way down to the minutest details of life, like something as small as asking God to help you find where you last set your Bible down. This means that part of nurturing our devotion, is that we must be looking for things to ask God to miraculously move His sovereign hand (concurrently in His sovereign determination) in respect to our prayers. In respect to this, I think of something that happened a few months ago with one of our children. I was giving a dad-lecture about one of the consequences of lying. In the process, I was making a point about how God, in the grace of Christ, forgives us of our sins. The point of the explanation had to do with the consequences of sin in light of the forgiveness. As I talked to my youngest son, who is 9, I explained that though God forgives us of our sins, sometimes there are physical consequences that continue to go on and haunt us because of the sin. I gave some examples. I explained that "trust" gets hurt, and so people may no longer trust us. I also explained that sometimes others get hurt, and that hurt is real, and the effects of the hurt continue on for some time. As I was explaining these things, I thought I would use an illustration I had heard before. I asked my son whether he can put an egg back together again to fix it once he drops it on the floor? When you drop an egg, what happens? Splatter--all over the floor. You know; I am the wise dad, right? This is when my son hit me with profound wisdom that left me momentarily silent in the immensity of the revelation. It is an example of where wisdom comes from the mouth of babes that ministers truth to the hearts of men. Instantly he answered,
"No, but Jesus can fix it."
Think about that statement:
"No, but Jesus can fix it."
Later that day, I used the illustration when I was hit with a tragedy that had occurred among some families that absolutely devastated everyone involved. As I spoke to each family concerning the sordid details, I kept bringing up the conversation that I had earlier that morning with my 9 year old son. I took time with each one to pray with them about the tragedy, and as I prayed, I asked God to fix the broken egg according to His sovereign will and way. The reason I am sharing this with us now, is because I want us to consider this as a principle of how powerful Christ is as we pray in the Spirit. We already have certain things settled. We are not praying to test God. We are not trying to get some kind of sign. We pray because God says to trust Him already. You don't need a sign about praying for broken egg experiences in life. You need to trust God as part of being alert, knowing with childlike mature faith that Jesus can fix it. Then pray. We must be alert to the fact that God is the Master over all He has created. As we are alert, we are aware of broken eggs all over the place in our lives as opportunities for prayer. Almost daily, we can see them in the lives of others. When we see these broken eggs, or we drop an egg ourselves, we need to be alert. We need to be awake. God wants us ready for the need, and then pray when it comes. Broken eggs are the result of "the fall." If there was no sin, then there would be no broken egg anywhere in life. But because of sin, we must admit that every day they are everywhere, and they don't stop coming. The broken eggs can be seen at the grand huge scale. They can be seen down at the small scale. It doesn't matter. They are all broken eggs, and God cares about them; and in His care, God wants us to be alert about them in our devotion to praying to Him about them. Think about being alert to the fact that the world is held in bondage to sin. There are whole nations of people where the word of God is illegal to proclaim. The prayers of just one man, or one woman, or just one little child, that God chooses to answer with a "yes" answer, can change the current course of a whole nation. There are certain things from the word of God, that when preached, I am in danger of being accused of what Satan's kingdom calls 'hate crimes," within our apostate Republic. Since the founding of this nation, proclaiming God's biblical truths were not considered to be hate crimes, but now they are. This is a prayer concern to be alert to, and then pray about it. Pray expecting a real miracle. There are large people-groups where the gospel is not being preached. There are billions of people who do not know Christ, and they have never heard the gospel presented. As we are alert to this, we recognize that our devotion to prayer can bring us to our knees to pray for the gospel to go out to the multitudes. In our alertness in our devotion, we can pray for ministers to go out to the world--for wide doors of opportunity to be opened for them--for financial provision for them to go; for their endurance; for their strength and protection. We can pray for God to move in respect to His sovereign determination in concurrence with our prayers in the Spirit, to gather in the multitudes of His harvest. Pray for the work of To Every Tribe Ministries. Pray for the missionary team in Papua New Guinea. Pray for David Sitton, the director of the mission school, (The Center for Pioneer Church Planting). We are alert. We know the need. So, let's pray. The prayers of just one man, or one woman, or one little child, that God chooses to answer with a yes answer can change the spiritual course of multitudes. We can pray for spiritual revival among God's people around the world. We can pray that He use our own selves to be part of this. Being alert in our devotion to prayer, we become intensely aware of the broader world-culture's influence upon the church of our age. We can pray for all the "culture-driven" churches of our age that are like kindergarten playgrounds in respect to Biblical Christianity in its full proclamation, and expression. The prayers of just one man, or one woman, or one little child, that God chooses to answer with a yes answer, can bring God's revelation, conviction, and maturity to these groups. We can pray about the media influence of Hollywood mind molders upon Christians who will not quit watching the world tell God's children what is supposed to be the proper way to live and think. Pray expecting a miracle. We should be alert in our devotion to our own church's needs. We should be alert in our devotion to our own church's outreach, and ministry influence, on the world. We should be alert to weather conditions. Yes, you can pray for God to change the weather. Pray expecting God to answer with the wisest, most loving, and best answer, but pray in hope of a miracle. We can pray for our families. We must be alert to marriage problems. We must be alert to how we raise our children. We must be alert to our attitude and theirs. We must be alert in our devotion to understanding precepts and doctrinal issues that drive our actions, and then pray about them. We must be alert about the relationships of Christians because strife, misunderstanding, and contempt, are destroying the relationships of Christians like a disease. Pray against this disease and expect a miracle. We can ask God for provision when we are strapped for money because of the economy. We can be alert to spiritual needs of people and ask God to help us minister to others. We can ask God to give us the words to speak forth the gospel. We can be alert at the smaller levels, and ask God to help us understand something that is difficult. The point is that there are all kinds of things out there, from egg situations that seem broken to us, to anything else, but the prayers of just one man, or one woman, or one little child, that God chooses to answer with a yes answer can change the world, fix the broken egg, bring the miracle, where we are special instruments of God in His providential working in creation; but we must be devoted, and we must be alert, or what? Or we will not pray. And a prayer that is not prayed is a prayer that is not answered.
/3/
This leads to the next principle. In our devotion to prayer, it is vital that we pray
"... with an attitude of thanksgiving;" Colossians 4:2
@6 As we keep alert in prayer, God wants us to have an attitude of __________________________________. Colossians 4:2
While we are devoted to prayer in petitioning God, and we are alert, we need to be having a thankful attitude for every way that God answers our prayers. When we are thankful, we are showing that we trust God, right? We are thankful for His ultimate wisdom, rightness, and love in all His answers to our prayers, whether we know what they are, or whether we like the way they feel when we get them. God wants us to walk each and every moment in this kind of thankfulness. Thankfulness is worship. Thankfulness is glorifying God in believing that His sovereign work is perfect. It could be in the midst of tragedy, where it seems like no good can be in it at all. It can be in the midst of depression. It can be in the midst of confusion. It doesn't matter. What matters is that it is a faith issue in the midst of all these things. What happens is that when you are thankful, you are telling God that you respect His overall plan. You are showing that it is His will that is what matters. Unthankfulness is a manifestation of a lack of faith. It can creep in at so many levels, especially when it comes to all our broken egg experiences where the eggs never seem to get fixed. Thankfulness is what is required when God demonstrates that His intention is,
"No, I am not going to fix this particular broken egg."
"I'm doing something else."
We pray, and we ask Him,
"Why Lord?"
We don't get an audible answer. We are answered with the revelation from the Word. The answer we get is manifold:
Trust, obey, be patient, and be thankful.
As we trust God with the answer, we are manifesting worshipful faith. We are showing appreciation for God in His sovereign control. Further, when you are thankful for what God has done, and you are thankful for what God is doing, then you can be thankful for what God is going to do. Think about this concerning devotion in ongoing petition. When we pray now, we pray in advanced thankfulness for whatever God is going to do. This is the connection we need to glean. It's the faith walk of expecting God to do something in answer to your prayer, knowing that whatever happens is, in fact, the perfect answer to your prayer. In other words, God is not ignoring you. "Wait" answers are not "ignoring you" answers. "No" answers are not "ignoring you" you answers. "Alternate provision" answers are not "ignoring you" answers. They are perfect answers to you based upon how God answers every single prayer throughout all history. He answers according to His ordination of all things since before the foundation of the world. So, thankfulness is purely a faith walk because it is not outcome based in it's operation where you are only thankful according to whether you like the answer or not.
As we wrap up this morning, I strongly urge you to remember these principles. Devote yourselves to prayer. Prayer is your privilege because you are in Christ, which means you are in the Spirit. When you devote yourself, you are committing to the practice of prayer by praying more often by doing it regularly on an ongoing basis. Be conscious of the fact that as a Christian, part of your privilege of praying in the Spirit, is that you are blessed with God's word to pray according to the actual revelations of His word. Do this realizing that God really does have the time and attention to listen to you in a specific way. Recognize your importance to God. You have huge importance to the one who gave His hugely important life for you. He wants to listen to you. This is the message from His word, so pray, and pray again, and pray some more. Even when you have failed, or you are failing and you are not doing everything perfectly, God still wants to listen to you. Never forget that God also expects prayer. He expects you to pray, and He expects you to expect that He always answers every single one of your prayers. Maybe you think that you are not praying very much. Then get with the program. Start being devoted to the practice of prayer on an ongoing, more and more, basis. Maybe you think that you are already praying enough already. The urging to you is to pray to Him in unquenchable thirst for more. When you pray, ask. Pray petitions. Ask looking for miracles. Remember to keep alert in your devotion. Be aware of the events on the grand scale, all the way down to the tiny details of life. Remember the mature faith of babes--You can't fix a broken egg, but Jesus can. It is a faith issue. So, trust God and pray, pray, pray. He may give you a better egg than before. Pray for nations. Pray for their spiritual enlightenment with the gospel. Pray for governments. Pray for your area. Pray for families. Pray for your ministry. Pray for spiritual awakening to come. Pray like a warrior who is on a special mission of going to Jesus who can fix the broken eggs of life, even though all seems hopelessly lost. Finally, remember the last principle. Pray with an attitude of thanksgiving. When you are thankful, you are showing that you trust God. It is worship. It is where we express that His answer is the wisest, most loving, and best answer. In this way, we will be effective tools in God's hand that He uses to pray to Himself in the Spirit, and that is what we want. Amen.
@1 God wants us to devote ourselves to _____________________. Colossians 4:2
@2 God wants us to devote ourselves to praying at all times in the __________________________. Ephesians 6:18
@3 All Christians are indeed in the Spirit. The Spirit of ______________ dwells in them. If anyone does not have the Spirit of _____________________ he does not belong to Him. Romans 8:9
@4 The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish ____________________. James 5:16
@5 Sometimes we ask and do not receive because we ask with ________________ motives, so that we may spend it on our own pleasures. James 4:1-3
@6 As we keeping alert in prayer, God wants us to have an attitude of __________________________________. Colossians 4:2
