Go back with me, if you would,
to Psalm 143. Psalm 143. Prayer is such an important thing. Prayer is communication with
our God. That's what it is. It's communication
with our God. It's talking to Him. It's talking
to Him. That's exactly what it is, talking
to our Father. Nothing more, nothing fake. Just talking to our Father. It can be at times, especially
for public prayer, hard to know what to say. If you've ever prayed
in public, you know people are listening, and I want to do a
good job, and the flesh gets involved,
and you don't want that to happen. But sometimes it's hard to know
what to say. We want to give as much thanks as possible. Prayer
is thanksgiving. But we can't help our spiritual
groanings from from taking over really a center. Somebody in
need is hurting in our spiritual groanings take over. Preacher in Ashland, Kentucky,
his name is John Chapman. He was preaching one time and
I heard him say there were days that he laid down in his bed
at the end of the day and had so much to say, so many things
he wanted to say, but the only thing he could get out was, thank
you. Thank you. David said in Psalm 12, Help, Lord. Help. Help. Lord, You know my heart. You know what's in my heart. The disciples asked the Lord
to teach us to pray. Teach us to pray. And the Lord
did. He said, after this manner, pray
ye. Not word for word, but after this manner, pray ye. Whether
we're able to put it into words or not, God looks on the heart. Prayer comes from the heart. And after hearing Psalm 143,
every believer will say, that's my prayer. Although I can't word
it like the Lord God inspired David to write it, that's my
prayer. This is my prayer. Ten requests. The first one is in verse 7.
Psalm 143, verse 7. Hear me speedily, O Lord. My spirit faileth. Hear me speedily. It's a request. My spirit is failing. Speedily. Time is of the essence. I need
help. Today is the day. Today is the
day of salvation. A person who is drowning in water
needs help right now. I need it right now. Help me
speedily. Today, I can't wait another day.
Please hear me speedily. Now, turn with me to Daniel chapter
9. I absolutely love this. I have always loved this. It's towards the end of the Old
Testament. Daniel chapter 9, after Ezekiel. Hear me speedily is what our
text says. Daniel chapter 9, look at verse
3. Daniel is praying to the Lord
God and he says in verse 3, I set my face unto the Lord God to
seek by prayer and supplications with fasting and sackcloth and
ashes, and I prayed unto the Lord my God and made my confession
and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant
and mercy to them that love Him and to them that keep His commandments,
we have sinned. and have committed iniquity,
and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from
thy precepts and from thy judgments." Verse 10 says, "'Neither have
we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws
which He set before us by His servants, the prophets, Yea,
all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing that
they might not obey thy voice. Therefore, the curse is poured
upon us and the oath that is written in the law of Moses,
the servant of God, because we've sinned against him. Verse 16
says, O Lord, according to all Thy righteousness I beseech Thee,
let Thine anger and Thine fury be turned away from Thy city
Jerusalem, Thy holy mountain, because for our sins and for
the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Thy people are
become a reproach to all that are about us. Now therefore,
O our God, hear the prayer of Thy servant in his supplications,
and cause Thy face to shine upon Thy sanctuary that is desolate
for the Lord's sake. Oh my God, incline Thine ear
and hear, open Thine eyes and behold our desolations. In the
city which is called by Thy name, for we do not present our supplications
before Thee for our righteousnesses, but for Thy great mercies. Oh
Lord, hear. Oh Lord, forgive. Oh Lord, hearken
and do. Defer not. He's saying, please
don't put it off. Please do it now. Please. For
thine own sake, O my God, for thy city and thy people are called
by thy name, help us, Lord, help us, please. Verse 20, Daniel
said, And while I was speaking, while I was praying and confessing
my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication
before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God. Yea,
while I was speaking in prayer, even the man, Gabriel, whom I
had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly
swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
And he informed me and talked with me and said, O Daniel, I
now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. He says, I
was begging the Lord, I was pleading the Lord, help me, help me, please
defer not, please help me now. And while I was speaking, the
Lord God gave the commandment to the angel, Gabriel, go deliver
the message. And it says, while I was speaking
in verse 21, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision
at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, my margin right
there says, with weariness of flight. The Lord said, you fly hard,
you fly fast, as hard as you can, you get to that man. And
that angel flew so hard when he landed, he was tired. I don't
understand that. But he flew hard. And he landed
and he said, ìDaniel, I have some good news. I have great
news.î Daniel said, ìI wasnít even finished praying yet. Hear
me speedily. Hear me speedily.î ìSpeedily?î Go to Isaiah 65. Back towards Genesis, Isaiah
65. Isaiah 65, look at verse 24. It shall come to pass that before
they call, I will answer. Before they ever even call. You
think He knows what we have need of? And while they are yet speaking,
I'll hear them. Before they ever even call, I'll
send an answer. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. The
Lord is good, isn't He? Well, back to our text. Psalm
143, it says, Hear me speedily, O Lord, my spirit faileth. The
second request of a believer's prayer is, hide not thy face
from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.
Lord, hide not thy face from me. I find myself asking that
all the time. Hide not thy face from me. I
need to see you. I need to see you, Lord. That
Scripture says, draw nigh unto God and He'll draw nigh unto
you. Lord, I can't. Would You pull me in? I need
to be near You. I need to see You. I need to
see You in Your Word. I need to see You. Do you ever feel cold and dead
inside? You know what I'm talking about.
Do you ever feel cold and dead inside? The Lord does give His people
assurance to know I am His and He is mine. He gives that. He
gives that assurance. But most of the time, we feel
so cold and dead inside. It's not a good feeling. It's
not at all. Salvation is not a feeling, but
I don't like feeling that feeling at all. Lord, I believe You. I believe you. I believe that
you haven't left me to die in my sins. I believe that. Please don't let me feel like
I'm dead in my sins. He said, hide not thy face from
me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Don't
let me feel like I'm dead in my sins. Lord, would you warm
me? That's my prayer. Lord, would
you warm me? Cause thy face to shine upon
me. About three or four days ago,
I woke up and looked out our window. We have a second story
bedroom and we had a frost. And I was studying this and this
illustration just popped into my mind for this request. The sun comes up on the other
side of our house from the bedroom. And I looked out into my yard.
Now I'm not talking about other people's yards. This is an illustration
of the believer's prayer. The believer's prayer. And in
my yard was a frost. There was ice all over the ground. And the sun was coming up behind
the house and it was casting a shadow on my front yard. And
then there's a big tree out to the side and it was casting a
shadow on my yard. And right in between those two,
the sun was coming through. And I started looking at all
those blades of grass. With that frost, it was easy
to see all those blades of grass. All flesh is grass. They're all
the same. Some are so proud for being a
little taller than others, but the lawnmower's coming through.
They're all going to be cut down. All flesh is grass. And each
one of those blades of grass, they're in my yard. They're my
grass. I don't plan on going and uprooting
any of them and throwing it in the street. I'm keeping them.
But some of them that were in the shadow in the frost, the
grass was actually blue from the ice. It was blue. And they looked so cold. And
they were just hard. They had ice on them. They were
stiff and just hard and just cold and just dead. And right there where the sun was
coming through, it was just a golden yellow color, the morning sun. and the frost had melted, and
it looked so alive, and it looked so soft. Lord, hide not Thy face from
me, lest I be like them that go down. I believe You've saved
me, Lord. I believe You have. Don't let me feel like I'm dead.
Shine upon me. That's my prayer. Shine upon
me, Lord. Warm me. Hide not thy face from
me. Our third request in our text,
Psalm 143, is in verse 8. Cause me, cause me to hear thy
lovingkindness in the morning, for in thee do I trust. Lord,
if you don't cause me to hear, I cannot hear, I will not hear,
and I need to hear. Cause me to hear. Open my ear. Open my ear, Lord. Turn with
me to Matthew 13. Oh, this is so important right
here. Matthew 13, look at verse 1. The same day went Jesus out
of the house and sat by the seaside. I love that thought. I like the
water. I like the lake. I like the ocean.
And I just have thought so many times of the Lord just walking
out of a house and going and sitting down on the beach, looking
at the ocean that He made, looking at the sand, thinking, I have
every one of these numbered. On all the beaches. The same day went Jesus out of
the house and sat by the seaside. And great multitudes were gathered
together unto Him, so that He went into a ship and sat, and
the whole multitude stood on the shore. And He spake many
things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went
forth to sow. And when he sowed, some seeds
fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them
up. Some fell upon stony places where they had not much earth,
and forthwith they sprang up. And because they had no deepness
of earth, when the sun was up, they were scorched. And because
they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns,
and the thorns sprung up and choked them. But other fell into
good ground and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some
sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him
hear. And the disciples came and said
unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered
and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. but to them it is not given." Now, preaching was taking place. If we believe that salvation
is of the Lord, and if it's the Lord who purposes who is saved,
and if the Lord was preaching to people and He wanted them
to be saved, and it was in His power to save them, then He would
have saved them. Preaching was taking place and
God was the preacher. But most of the listeners could
not hear. Isn't that amazing? Could not
hear. They heard something, their ears
were working, but they could not hear the mysteries of the
kingdom. The Lord said in verse 12, Whosoever
hath... What? Verse 9. Ears to hear. Whosoever has been
given ears to hear. Whosoever hath, to him shall
be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whosoever hath
not, from him shall be taken away, even that he hath. Therefore
speak I to them in parables, because they seeing, see not."
They're looking at the same word, but they just don't see it. And
hearing, they hear not. They're hearing the same words,
but they don't hear it. Neither do they understand. And
in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which said, By hearing
you shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing you shall
see, and shall not perceive. For this prophet's heart is waxed
gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have
they closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears, and should understand with their
heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed
are your eyes, for they see. and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that
many prophets..." Preachers. Surely a preacher knows what
he's talking about, right? He's the preacher. "...many prophets and righteous
men..." Good, good, moral, upstanding man. That's a good man. have
desired to see those things which you see and have not seen them,
and to hear those things which you hear and have not heard them. You see and hear because you're
better than others? No. Just blessed. Just blessed. Just chosen to
be blessed. Just given ears. That's it. That's the only difference. Verse
18 says, The Lord of Heavens says, Hear ye therefore the parable
of the sower. When anyone heareth the word
of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked
one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is
he which received seed by the wayside. Oh Lord! Cause that
not to happen. Let it make it all the way in.
Cause it to not be grabbed before. Verse 20, He that receiveth the
seed into stony places, the same as he that heareth the word,
and anon with joy receives it. Yet hath he not root in himself,
the root of the matter. Jesus Christ is the root of Jesse. And he's just excited over something
new. And he endures for a while, for
when tribulation or persecution ariseth, and it will, because
of the Word. And it will. The truth, just
the Word of God. You go around telling everybody,
I believe what that says. And they're not going to like
it. They're just not going to like it. Tribulation and persecution
ariseth because of the Word by and by. He's offended like everybody
else. Verse 22, He also that receiveth
seed among the thorns is he that heareth the Word, and the care
of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, and
he becomes unfruitful. I just don't have time. I just
got too many things going. But he that received seed into
the good ground is he that heareth the word, understandeth it, which
also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth some, and hundreds, and
some sixty, and some thirty. Do I have a say in this matter?
I do not. Cause me to hear. Lord, that's my request. That's
my prayer. Cause me to hear. Please, cause me to hear. Back
in our text, Psalm 143. Our fourth request is in verse
8. Cause me to know the way wherein
I should walk For I lift up my soul unto thee. Cause me to know
the way. Chris, there's only one way.
There's only one way. Cause me to know the way. Go
with me to Matthew 7. Matthew chapter 7 and look at
verse 13. Matthew 7 verse 13 says, Enter
ye in at the straight gate. For wide is the gate, and broad
is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in
their path." Well, everybody's going that way. Everybody's going
that way. Let's go the way everybody's
going. Come one, come all. We just want everybody to go
this way. Let's follow where they're going. Verse 14 says, Because straight
is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life,
and few there be that find it. Is that not amazing that the
Lord would write that in the Word of God? Isn't that amazing? Right after that He says, Beware
of false prophets. I mean, that scares me to death.
Let me be true. Let me be true. Let me tell you
the truth. I just want to tell you the truth. Go with me to
John 14. John chapter 14. Look at verse
4. Our Lord said, Whither I go you
know, and the way you know. Thomas said unto him, Lord, we
know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way?
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way. Cause me to know Christ. That's my prayer. Cause me to
know Christ. Oh, that I may know thee. I am
the way, there's one way, there's one truth, and there's one life,
and no man comes to the Father but by me. Cause me to know that
way. Please, Lord, help me. Cause
me to know Christ. Back in our text, Psalm 143,
our fifth request is in verse 9. It says, deliver me, O Lord,
from my enemies. I flee unto Thee to hide me.
We said this morning that we have many enemies. Many of them. Most of them are right inside
here. Lord, deliver me from myself. I desire that. I desire that. Keep me from myself. I'm tired
of me. I just am. Deliver me from my
sin. I want to be done with sin. I
really do. Deliver me from my doubts and
my fears and my unbelief and most importantly, my pride. Deliver
me from my pride. That's my prayer. Deliver me from my pride. None
of those things, Lord, can be in Your presence, so I flee unto
Thee. If none of that can be in Your
presence, I flee unto Thee, because I want to be done with that.
Deliver me from that. Our sixth request is in verse
10. Teach me to do Thy will, for Thou art my God. Lord, teach
me what Your will is. Go with me back to Matthew 7. Matthew 7, and this time look
at verse 21. Matthew 7, 21, the Lord said,
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven. That's scary. Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not preached? We were preachers. You're not
going to let us in? We're preachers. Prophesied in
thy name. And in thy name, we cast out
devils, the enemy. We were on your side. And in thy name, have done many
wonderful works. We've done so many good things.
We've got a list of good things we've done. And everything that
we do, when people see it, they go, that's so wonderful. That's
wonderful. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you,
depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Iniquity. Why does he call it
iniquity? It's because the whole motive
behind it is pride. They got their list down. They
made their list. I wrote down every good thing
I've ever done. It's pride. Those things were
not His will. Or He would have said, welcome
in, good and faithful servant. That's not His will. Go with me to Matthew 17. Verse 1 says, After six days
Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth
them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before
them. And his face did shine as the
sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And behold, there
appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then
answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us
to be here, if thou wilt. If this is your will, let us
make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses,
and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a
bright cloud overshadowed them. And behold, a voice out of the
cloud which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased. Hear ye Him." It's not my will
to make three tabernacles. Here's my will. Hear Him. Hear Him. That's my will. Hear
Him. Don't do anything. Hear Him. John chapter 6. Let me read this
one to you. John chapter 6. It says in verse
38, the Lord said, I came down from heaven
not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.
And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all
which He hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise
it up again at the last day. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth
on Him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise Him up
at the last day. His will is that I do everything
and they see and believe. That's the Father's will. That's
the Father's will. I don't want a free will. I don't like me. If I follow my free will, I know
exactly what I'll do. I'll run head first right back
down into the pit like everybody else. That's what I'll do. Lord,
teach me to do Thy will. He said, hear Him, see Him, and
believe on Him. That's the Father's will. Okay. You mean I don't have to
build a tabernacle? Lord, teach me to hear You and
only You. If a man is telling me the truth,
then he's telling me the truth, the Word. And if he's not telling
me the Word, then he's not telling me the truth. Lord, teach me to do Thy will. Teach me to hear You and glorify
You and come to You and see You and believe You and teach me
to follow no man. Don't follow me. Don't follow
me. I only want to follow after and
point men and women to Jesus Christ. That's all I want to
do for the rest of my life, by God's grace. Follow Him. Don't follow me. Come to Him.
Believe Him. Don't believe me. Read it for
yourself. And if I'm not preaching the Word, then go hear somebody
who is. Teach me to do that, for thou art my God. I'll hurry. Back in our text, Psalm 143,
the seventh request is in verse 10. Thy Spirit is good. Lead me into the land of uprightness. That's my desire. Psalm 25 says,
Good and upright is the Lord, therefore will He teach sinners
in the way. Good and upright. There's only
one way and that's Christ. Lead me into the land of the
Lord, the land of the living. Wherever He is, lead me there. That's where I
want to be. Wherever He is, that's where
I want to be. Savior, like a shepherd, lead us. In Thy pleasant pastures
feed us. The eighth request is in verse
11. Quicken me, O Lord, for Thy name's
sake. Quicken me. That means, quicken
means to live. It means to make alive. That's what it means. Make me
alive. The disciples on the road to
Emmaus said after the Lord walked with them, they said, didn't
our hearts burn within us? They were so thankful for that.
That's such a wonderful thing to experience. Didn't our hearts
burn within us? To quicken means to make alive,
living. But it also means to keep alive. That's what the concordance says.
It means to preserve alive. It means to revive. Here's our
prayer. This is our prayer. Revive us
again. Fill each heart with Thy love. May each soul be rekindled with
fire from above. Lord, let me hear it like it's
the first time I ever heard it. Let me hear it like that again.
That's my prayer. Quicken me for Thy name's sake.
The ninth request is in verse 11. It says, For thy righteousness
sake, that's Christ. For Christ's sake, bring my soul
out of trouble. I know we all feel trouble. from time to time. Trouble. We
read this morning in Job 14, man that is born of woman is
a few days, and those days are just full of trouble. Just full
of trouble. Trouble means anguish. It means
distress. Just full of anguish and distress.
What he's saying is, Lord, for Christ's sake, because of what
he did, would you give my soul rest? That's all I want. I just want peace. contentment
and rest for Christ's sake. That's all I want. The tenth
request is in verse 12. And of thy mercy, cut off mine
enemies and destroy all them that afflict my soul, for I am
thy servant. Cut off and destroy the enemies
of God. Cut off and destroy my sin. Cut off and destroy this flesh,
this body of death. And that's only going to happen
in death. That's only going to happen in death. Let me close
with this. Go to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians
15. Look at verse 54. So when this corruptible, me,
this body, shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, Death is my enemy. I don't want
to die. I want to be with the Lord, but
He said, whoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. The thing that afflicts my soul
is death. And whenever this mortal puts
on immortality, and when this corruptible puts on incorruption,
that's when the saying is going to be brought to pass, death
is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? Cut off, destroyed. How do we know this is a believer's
prayer? It's because it ends by saying, I am thy servant. Lord, I'm thy servant. Do with
me what you will. I want to just read this to you,
and instead of singing, I want to read you this song. 361 in
our book. I absolutely love this song. Our subject today has been prayer.
Sweet hour of prayer. It says, sweet hour of prayer,
sweet hour of prayer that calls me from a world of care and bids me at my Father's throne
make all my wants and wishes known. In seasons of distress
and grief, my soul has often found relief, and oft escaped
the tempter's snare by Thy return, sweet hour of prayer. Sweet hour
of prayer, sweet hour of prayer, Thy wings shall my petition bear,
to Him whose truth and faithfulness engage the waiting soul to bless. And since He bids me seek His
face, Believe His word and trust His grace. I'll cast on Him my
every care and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer. Sweet hour
of prayer, sweet hour of prayer, may I thy consolation share. Till from Mount Pisgah's lofty
height, I view my home and I take my flight. this robe of flesh
I'll drop and rise to seize the everlasting prize and shout while
passing through the air, farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer. Thank you for being there for
me when I needed you, but I don't need you anymore. The believer's prayer. I pray
the Lord will cause this to be our prayer. Our prayer. Lord, we are thy servants. Let's
stand together and have a word of prayer.