The strength of Elijah in Elijah
made him an ordinary man. But the strength of God in Elijah
made him an extraordinary man, made him a great man. And we
could say the same of others, of Samson, of David, of the apostle
Paul. of you and of I. In our own strength, we're nothing. But in the strength of the Lord,
we're anything and everything. He would have us be. And I may not even get to Elijah
this morning, but I wanted to read those two verses about his
prayer in the book of James. And then his boldness in standing
face to face with wicked King Ahab, something that no man could
do in his own strength, could never do that. And so with the
emphasis on that prayer, I asked for that song this morning. Thank
you, Brother Jim. Our subject is to talk a few
minutes about prayer. I don't have to tell you that
in the days that we're living, more and more, we're called upon
to face things we cannot face in our own strength. And hence, the great need to
seek after God in prayer. Not only for strength, but for
His wisdom, His way, that would be able to face all
the onslaughts of hell against us. And as God's children, we're
promised that's what's going to happen. Christ said, they
hated me, they'll hate you. In the world, you shall have
tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world. And so to begin this morning,
I wonder when you try to pray, do you struggle with trying to
focus and keep your mind from wondering
while you're trying to pray? Think about everything under
the sun except talking to God. I'm just being honest with you
this morning. I'm sensing that I'm not the only one that has
that problem. And so I just say this, I am
being honest. I'm not interested in hearing
from folks that's got all the answers. That's got it all figured out.
And they have the secret recipe of how to pray. And they come
down on you for not having the secret. Some of us struggle in prayer
with keeping our mind focused on God and not wandering off
somewhere else into our own interest. The noted preacher of England
in the 1800s, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, he said, he made a
statement and I stopped and read it again to make sure I got it
right to think about it. And he said, God denies nothing
to the person who knows how to ask. Now that sounds at first
like an awful statement, but what he meant was what to
ask, how to ask, in what attitude to ask. If everything's right, God denies nothing to the person
who knows how to ask. And Spurgeon also said in another
place, a prayerless church is a powerless church. And that should be of great concern
to us today. So the Lord has impressed me
to speak a few minutes about prayer and I've just been Chewing
on this all week. Didn't know exactly how to go
about it, but I've jotted down 15 words and this basic scriptural principles
concerning prayer. And I want to just run, run through
this and comment briefly on each one. And it wouldn't be a bad
thing to jot down these 15 words and the scripture references
I'm going to give with them. And when you start to pray, when
you go to pray, when you get in your secret place, your quiet
time, and the term our Lord used, get in your closet and shut the
door, not literally, but get somewhere private to talk to
him. It wouldn't be a bad idea when
you start to pray to take this list, relate these 15 things
back to the Lord before you even get into your own selfish and
often petty little things we pray about. And just spend a few minutes
about these things. Prayer is not informing God of
anything that He don't already know. He knows everything. Prayer is our communing with
Him, our reminding Him, not that He's forgotten, but our relating
to Him. what He said about Himself, and
what He said about us, and all He's promised to do in whatever
circumstances we find ourselves. So here we go. Fifteen things. Number one, the first word is
precept. The precept of prayer itself. In Matthew 7, 7, Christ said, Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. Can we believe that? Can we trust
that? When we ask in the right way,
the answer is yes. James chapter 4 verses 2 and
3 said, you have not because ye ask not. And then when you
do ask, you receive not because you ask amiss. That is in error. You ask for the wrong thing or
the wrong motive that you might consume it. upon your own lusts. Christ said in John 14, 13, and
whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the
Father may be glorified in the Son. Now, I think we ask a lot of
things Not for the purpose that the
father may be glorified in the son. But Christ said, whatsoever you
ask in my name, that will I do that the father may be glorified
in the son. And when he said whatsoever you
ask in my name, he does not mean when you close your prayer and
say in Jesus name, we pray. That's not what he's talking
about. Whatsoever you shall ask in my
name, he means in my stead. When you ask what I would ask,
when you ask what would glorify my father, it shall be done. So that's number one, the precept
of prayer itself. And number two, the word is perspective. Perspective. We're to pray. in respect of the character of
God. In the model prayer of Matthew
6, when he taught the disciples to pray, of course, in Luke's
account, they asked him, Lord, teach us to pray. And in that
account, he said one of the first statements to pray is this. Hallowed be thy name. That's supposed to come before all the lesser things that we're
so concerned with. Hallowed be thy name. That's
the proper perspective, is the character of God, the honor of
God. You remember when Moses interceded for Israel, in the
matter of the golden calf that they had made and worshiped and
was dancing around worshiping. Moses interceded and he approached
the Lord in the perspective of the honor of his name. He said, it's not that the people
deserve mercy. Not at all. But it's your name
that's at stake. You're the one brought them out
of Egypt. You had a purpose. And if you destroy this people
now, the enemy will say that our God was not able to do what
he purposed to do. So Moses interceded from this
perspective on the basis of who God is, His very character. And that's the perspective that
we should pray in. Psalm 115, not unto us, O Lord,
not unto us, but unto thy name give glory. So this is the right
perspective in prayer. It's aimed to honor, respect
the character of our God. Number three, my word is prerogative. That word means the right. Not our right to back God in
a corner as some preach, but his right. God is not obligated and we cannot
by all our doing and all our praying Obligate him He's God Daniel 435 he doeth
according to his will in the army of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth in the story Psalm 115 3 he hath done
our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever. He hath
pleased in the story Nahum 1 verse 3, the Lord hath
his way in the whirlwind and in the storm. End of story. Ephesians 1 11, he worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will. End of story. So I
repeat, no one backs God in a corner and forces him to forfeit His
will to give us our will. It's His
prerogative to do what seemeth best to Him to do in everything
and in everyone. Number four, my word is purpose. Purpose. Why should we pray at
all? Because prayer is God's ordained
means to align our hearts with Him to work His will. Now that's it. You remember when
Abraham interceded for Sodom and the cities of the plain?
He prayed. And he prayed, and he prayed.
And he didn't change God's mind about destroying that wicked
outfit. God changed his mind. And so that's what prayer is
for. That's a purpose. The familiar
saying, prayer changes things, is not true. And certainly, prayer changes
God is not true. Prayer changes us is what's true. And that's the purpose of it.
And it's a change that we all need and need greatly. Number five, my word is practice,
the practice of prayer. Do God's children practice prayer? The answer is yes. None of us would claim to pray
as we should, but God's children do pray. Romans 8, 15, for you have not
received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received
the Spirit, capital S, the Spirit, Holy Spirit, the Spirit of adoption
whereby we cry. Abba, Father, we do pray. The passage we referred to our
Lord's teaching, Matthew six, three times, Christ said, and
when thou prayest, and when thou prayest, and when you pray three
times, not if, but when teaching the disciples to pray. Teaching
you and I to pray. Number six, my word is petition.
What do you pray? We should pray as Christ did,
not my will, but thine be done. Isn't it sad that so much of
our pretense of prayer is Lord, my will be done. I don't care
about yours. That's not what Christ said.
Not my will, but thine be done. I've heard preachers say, just
tell God what you want. Like he's Santa Claus. Pray for what you want, not what
he wants. That's backwards. I heard a very popular preacher
say, if you want a sports car, don't just pray for a sports
car. Tell God what color you want. That's bordering blasphemy in
my estimation. We're to pray, not by will. but thine be done. Number seven, my word is plea. What is our plea in prayer? It
is the righteousness of Christ. That is His right, His credentials,
His righteousness, His favor. with God. We approach God in
Christ. That's our plea. Don't waste
your time trying to pray and tell God that you're different
from other people. You're not different from other
people. You're as sorry as they are. The good you do, the bad you
don't do, that's wasting your breath. God already knows all
about you. Even what you don't know about
you, He knows it. So read the scripture and you'll
learn you must come to God in the righteousness of Christ or
you don't come to God at all. He's our plea. And number eight,
my word is price, not a price We paid to get to God, but a
price he paid to get to us. And of course, you know, the
price was the precious blood of his beloved son. You remember when judgment was
about to fall in Egypt? The Israelites were just as deserving
of judgment as the Egyptians were. But God didn't say to the Israelites,
when I see that you're different, I will pass over you. He didn't say, when I see that
you claim to worship the living God, I'll pass over you. No,
no. Here's what he said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Christ
blood is the price that was paid for you and I to be able to enter
into the holiest Hebrews 10, 19 by the blood of Jesus. So you want, you want words to
use in prayer. You want things to say, you want
things to pray about. Just acknowledge all these things about prayer and talk to the
Lord about it. All right. Number nine, my word
is passion. Passion. We're to pray passionately. Believe in God. I'm not saying
you have to scream. God's not hard of hearing. Some
people do, and I don't have a problem with it. And you don't have to swing from
the rafters and beat the bench. No, no. But you must be passionate, serious,
and believing that God is listening. The words of the psalmist, Psalm
63, 1, O God, Thou art my God. Early will I seek Thee. My flesh
longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is. There was a passion. In Psalm 34, 18, The Lord is
nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be
of a contrite spirit. You really can't do that for
yourself, but diligence and prayer, the Holy Spirit will do it for
you. And number, how many was that? Okay. The next one is power. The power
of prayer. Ephesians 3.20, we don't have
to wonder about this. There's one place in the Gospels,
somebody said to the Lord, if thou canst do anything. We don't
have to ask that. If thou canst do anything. Ephesians 3.20, now unto him
that is able. Able what? Able to do. Do what? Exceeding, abundantly,
above, more than all we ask or think according to the power
that worketh in us. And it's the power of God the
Holy Ghost. With God all things are possible. There is nothing too hard for
the Lord. So we don't have to wonder about
God's power, whether or not we're wasting our time to pray, whether
or not he's able to do anything. Oh, he is. He is. And the next word is prophet. Prophet. What is the real value
of the prophet in prayer? Well, James 5, 16, the effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." Not a self-righteous
man, but a righteous man. Claiming the righteousness of
Christ, that effectual, fervent prayer
availeth much. We don't always know how much
or in what way. God's not obligated overnight. We refer to this back at the
Christmas season in Luke chapter 1, when Zacharias, the father
of John the Baptist, was doing the priestly service. And he was in there in the holy
place by himself, him and the Lord. And the Lord said to him, Zacharias,
thy prayer is heard. Thy wife Elizabeth shall have
a son. He was an old man, an old, old
man, one foot in the grave. I doubt if he had prayed about
having a son yesterday or last week or last year. It had no doubt been years when
he was still in his prime at what we would call parent material. But no, he's old, old and when
there's no hope left, God says, thy prayer is heard. So our diligence in this matter
of prayer does not necessarily mean God's going to do what you
want done before dark this evening. But he won't forget. He won't
forget. Prayer is never in vain. The
vanity is not to pray. Another profit in prayer is to
learn to trust God instead of ourselves or anyone else. Heard a story one time, a lady
had all kind of problems. She'd come to the preacher and
she poured it all out to him. He said, well, sister, We'll
just have to pray. Pray about it." And she said,
oh, has it come down to that? In other words, that's the last
resort is to pray. No, it ought to be the first
resort. See? Oh my. Alright, next word. What number is this? Persistence. Persistence. Luke 18.1, men are
always to pray. and not to faint. 1 Thessalonians 5.17 Pray without
ceasing. It doesn't mean stay on your
knees 24-7, but it does mean keep your heart tuned, communing
with the Lord constantly and pray consistently Persistently. Next word. Presentation. The presentation of our prayers
to God. Do you ever feel like your prayers
don't get above the ceiling? Let alone into the very presence
of God. Say, well, I don't feel very
spiritual today. You're not. in the sense that you're thinking. If the Spirit of God lives in
you, that's the difference. So who presents our prayers to
the Father? How do they get above the ceiling? It is the person of the Holy
Spirit. Romans 8.26, Likewise the Spirit, capital S, also helpeth our infirmities. For we know not what we should
pray for as we ought." Did you get that? For we know not what we should
pray for as we ought. But the Spirit, the Spirit of
God Himself, making maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot
be uttered." Jesus said to us in that Matthew
6 passage, and I challenge you to read that,
Matthew 6, 5 through 13. Jesus said, don't think your
prayers are heard by your much speaking. of a bunch of vain
repetitions. That's the way the Pharisees
do it. But by the Spirit, bearing our
feeble efforts to pray into the very presence of the Father, the Spirit of God conveys our
heart to Him. That which we can't even put
into words The spirit carries it to our
heavenly father. I'm simply saying that true prayer
may be heart without words. It cannot be words without heart.
Big, big difference. All right. Next word. What number
is this? 14. My word is peace. The miraculous peace God gives
His child in communion with Him. Oh, this has been my experience
through the years. Not that God would change the
situation overnight. Oh no. But that He'll calm your
spirit, still your heart, and give you grace to walk right
on through. Peace. The old song said, there is peace
in the time of trouble. There is peace in the midst of
the storm. You remember Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego? It was a pretty good storm. And they had peace in the furnace. You remember Daniel? He had peace, not because it
didn't throw him to the lions, he had peace in the den of lions. Because his peace was not based
on what the lions would do, based on what God would do. Paul and Silas had peace in the
prison. Decided they'd sing at midnight. David had peace running for his
life, hiding out in caves and mountains. The peace is in God. Isaiah 26, three, thou will keep
him in perfect peace. Whose mind is stayed on thee. because he trusteth in thee.
Philippians 4, 6 and 7, here's a piece. Be careful for nothing,
but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,
let your request be made known unto God, and the peace of God,
which passeth all understanding, shall Keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus. Is it worthwhile to pray? Oh
yes. Oh yes. And then number 15, my
last one, the word is promise. And back to what we read from
the scripture, Elijah prayed a promise from scripture. He did not concoct this idea. He did not presume on the work
and ways of God. He didn't just say, I think I'll
tell Ahab it's not going to rain for a long time. That ought to
fix him. No, no. He didn't declare something
God didn't say. He declared what God did say. And
he prayed in James 5, 17, what God had said back in Deuteronomy
11. And mark this down, Deuteronomy
11, 16 and 17. Take heed to yourselves that
your heart be not deceived. And you turn aside and serve
other gods and worship them. God is talking to Israel. And
then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you. And he shut up the
heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her
fruit, lest you perish quickly from off the good land, which
the Lord giveth you." In Elijah's time, idol worship, veil worship, the
country was consumed with it. Wicked King Ahab was promoting
it. built groves and built shrines
to these false gods. And so what Elijah prayed was
what God said he would do in such a situation. He simply asked
God to do what he had promised he would do. And the conditions
existed. Serving, worshiping false gods.
And all Elijah prayed for was for God to do what he promised
to do. And God did it. And you can do that. I can do
that. But when we go back to Spurgeon,
God denies nothing to the person who knows how to ask. We can't
ask foolishly. We can't ask selfishly. Back
to the perspective. Back to the character of God, back to the
honor and glory of God. Hallowed be thy name. That's
first. Matthew six, Jesus said, don't
go asking all about your daily bread and your sore back. And you, you know, you broke
toenail. Don't go asking about all that.
First, first it's hallowed be thy name. And then you don't have to go
through no long rigmarole trying to convince God because he knows
what things you have need of before you ask him. You're not
going to inform him of anything, but you can trust him for everything. And so that's our thoughts today
on the subject of prayer. And I trust that the Lord will
put these thoughts into your heart. And you'll get these scripture
references and many others that I did not mention. And that we would get a hold
of the great value of having a personal prayer life. Some of you have got burdens,
heavy burdens. Some I know about, some I don't
know about. And I got news for you. I don't
have the answer. You don't have the answer. But
God's got the answer. And He's the one we need to be
talking to about it. Amen.