Just being part of this service again after a few weeks I just realized how much we've we've missed you how we've missed worshiping with you praise the Lord that we can be back here together with you Let's pray as we prepare to hear from God's Word Great God Thank you for being our God for being such a holy worthy awesome God. We want to hear from you now So open your word to us open my mouth to be able to declare it Lord, we do ask that you be with Pastor Bobby and Jane and Kalief and Cherian. Let them get better. I don't know if the wives are sick, but allow them to return to full health, and we may see them again soon as well. Lord, please bless this time. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, one activity that Emma and I witnessed frequently while we were in the old city of Jerusalem in Israel was people praying. That is, people taking time to focus on, to speak to, and to worship their God. I saw many Jewish men and women doing this at the western wall of the Temple Mount. I saw many Muslim men and women bowing down towards Mecca at specific prayer hours of the day. And even in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, I saw different monks, priests, and nuns praying. inside or around Jesus resurrection to safe to say that there's a lot of prayer going on in Jerusalem and many of those people who are praying are praying fervently regularly and expectantly yet the unhappy fact is for most the people in Jerusalem and around the world pray Their prayers accomplish nothing good for them. Their prayers are useless. And why is that? Because they pray to a being who does not exist or who will not hear them. They pray to the dead. They pray to man-made idols. Or they pray to figments of their own imagination. Most people who pray Do not pray to the God of Scripture, who is the only true God. They thus still regard wickedness in their hearts. So as Psalm 66, 18 says, a holy God will not hear them. Rather, like the Bible says of the prophets of Baal, who if you remember, they prayed hard, they shouted, they even cut themselves to be heard in prayer. But 1 Kings 18, 29 says, In terms of response, there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention. This is a tragedy. And this is part of the reason why we want to see people saved as they believe the gospel, as they hear and believe the gospel. Yet consider how altogether different the prayer situation is for the Christian. by the Lord's grace and mercy, and only by that we, even we, have come to know the one true God through Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? And unlike the so-called gods of the world, our God lives, and he is all-wise, all-powerful, all-loving towards us. He specifically promises that he is a God who hears prayer. He gives his full attention to us when we pray to him. So of all peoples in the world, we Christians ought to be the most devoted in prayer. Shouldn't we? Yet somehow we have to be realistic. This is often not the case. Often we Christians struggle to pray consistently or even at all. Think about yourselves this morning when it comes to prayer. Do you pray? Do you have set aside focused times of prayer with God? Is prayer a priority for you? Do you pray alone? With your family? With your brethren in the church? Do the words devoted, fervent, regular, accurately describe your prayer life? Do you enjoy prayer? Have you seen God work through prayer? Or is prayer only a burden to you? I think we all feel that our prayer lives are not where they should be. But let's not merely feel guilty about this, beat ourselves up, and then move on with our lives. Let's see if we can't diagnose what the issue is and make a change. Why do we struggle so much with prayer, with just opening our mouths to speak to our great God? Well, surely the answer is multifaceted. Part of the answer is because our God is invisible. It is challenging to pray to a God that you cannot see. Part of the answer is because of the flesh, and because of the evil one who opposes us. Our flesh and the evil one do not want us to pray. There's a challenge there. But I think another part of the answer, a big part of the answer as to why we struggle with prayer is that we have forgotten that prayer is something that takes hard effort. Fervent prayer, even enjoyable and rewarding prayer does not come automatically. No, you must discipline yourself if you are going to be devoted to prayer. Back in March, we began a new series, sermon series, on the spiritual disciplines, or the disciplines of grace. If you remember, we first looked at 1 Timothy 4, 7, that exhortation from Paul where he calls us, as believers, to discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness. As Paul says, there is true soul profit in godly devotion. There is abundant life in it, both now and forever. But one does not grow in godliness without discipline, without that voluntary submission to hard training. Indeed, when it comes to godliness, the reality is, and I use this phrase with you, no pain, no gain. If you want the blessings of godliness, You must pursue like an athlete. This is what God says in the scriptures. You must pursue like an athlete does those positive activities that promote your spiritual growth. And these activities are often called the spiritual disciplines or the disciplines of grace. Now, one important discipline of grace is the discipline of the Bible. And we've looked at that together. Deuteronomy 8.3 says that a man does not live on bread alone. but on all the words that come forth from the mouth of God. And what that means for us is that if we want to grow in godliness, we must prioritize feeding on the Bible. Not just every so often, but all the time. And we spent one message discussing why, and another message discussing how. So I hope that over these past couple months, the discipline of the Bible is something that has changed for you, increased for you, And if not, I encourage you to go back and listen to those messages, because you cannot afford a life without the discipline of the Bible. But another important discipline of grace is the one I want to start examining with you today, and that is the discipline of prayer. As with God's Word, if you want to grow in godliness, it will not happen without prayer. But a consistent prayer life will not happen without discipline. without true commitment and effort. I know we could all use some helpful instruction and encouragement when it comes to the discipline of prayer, so that's what I want to provide. As with the discipline of the Bible, I'd like to take the next few weeks to discuss with you the why and the how of prayer according to the scriptures. This morning we'll begin discussing the why. My sermon title today is Disciplines of Grace Prayer Part One. Disciplines of Grace Prayer Part 1. Now as before, rather than looking at just one Bible passage, we're going to be considering the Scriptures teaching as a whole, that we will have a few main passages. So why should you discipline yourself for prayer? Why should you make it a priority in your life, even to the point of giving up other good things so that you can pray? Well, let's hear God's answer from the Scriptures. I see the scriptural teaching on the why of prayer breaking down into four main categories. And these are going to form the sermon outline for the next two weeks. Four main reasons from the Bible to discipline yourself for prayer. And the first main reason that you should discipline yourself for prayer is probably the most straightforward. And that is, number one, because you will obey God's command. First reason, first main reason you should discipline yourself for prayer is that you will obey God's command. You see, brothers and sisters, fervent, regular prayer is something that God has commanded for all of us, his people. And let me show you this, starting first in Colossians chapter 4, verse 2. Please turn there in your Bibles, Colossians 4, 2. This is page 1180 in the Pew Bible. Please feel free to use that if you don't have your own Bible. 1180, this is Colossians 4.2. Remember the letter of Colossians. This is a letter from the Apostle Paul to the church at Colossae with two main purposes. It's first to remind the new believers, primarily Gentile believers, that they have a totally supreme and sufficient savior, who also has a totally supreme and sufficient word. Therefore, Christ needs no supplementation. This is what Paul discusses primarily in chapters 1 to 2 of Colossians. But second, Paul writes to remind the new believers at Colossae that, or what the transformed life under such a supreme Savior and Word looks like, and then call believers to it. And this is what Paul discusses in chapters 3 and 4. which is where we see many imperatives, many commands. In our verse, Colossians 4.2 is one of those imperatives, a command from God for Christ's true disciples based on their having a supreme and sufficient Savior. And let's see what that command is. Colossians 4.2, Paul says, by the Spirit of God, devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving. This is a pretty brief command, right? But it is packed with poignancy. Notice that beginning phrase, devote yourselves. That's what the New American Standard gives us, the ESV. It says, continue steadfastly, continue steadfastly in prayer. And both of these are good translations of the Greek verb. The Greek verb has the idea of strong persistence, like you're grabbing onto something and holding fast to it, even attaching yourself to it. Now, to what should Christians attach themselves, hold fast, devoting themselves to it? Well, to prayer, to speaking to God and presenting their petitions before Him. Christian, you are to give yourself over to prayer. You are to busy yourself continually with prayer. That's the idea behind this phrase. And Paul's next phrase only emphasizes the persistent commitment that we are to have. Notice he says, keeping alert in it. Or we could translate that also as staying awake, keeping your eyes wide open. Brothers and sisters, we need to keep ourselves spiritually alert and awake for prayer. Because if we don't, What will happen? What will fall asleep? And why is that a problem? That means spiritual danger. That means lack of usefulness for the Lord. But is staying awake always easy? No, sometimes it takes hard effort to keep your eyes open. You've got to pry them open. Yeah, that's right, some coffee. What's the implication for us? We're going to need to discipline ourselves if we're going to obey this command. We have to discipline ourselves for prayer. Notice the last phrase also in this verse. Paul says, with an attitude of thanksgiving, or we could simply say with thanksgiving. Having a grateful heart and expressing that heart in thanks and praise to God should be a vital part of our lives. It should appear in our prayers. So this is what Paul is telling us here. Make sure, believers, in your persistent, staying awake devotion to prayer, that it is filled with thanksgiving. So let's take a step back, considering this command regarding prayer. Is this the way that we normally think about prayer? Perhaps some of us think of prayer as an optional thing, something good to do if you have extra time. Some of us, others of us, think of prayer as, it's a necessary thing, but it's just something you have to do every once in a while, or like when you're really in trouble. Then you should pray. You can see both of these ideas are far, far away from the biblical call. We are to devote ourselves to prayer. We should be praying all the time with earnestness and with thanksgiving. Does that sound radical to you? According to Paul here, to the Colossians, these new believers, it's a basic part of the transformed life of a Christian. True Christians, listen to this, true Christians are people devoted to prayer. And Paul didn't just mention this once to the Colossians, this is what he teaches throughout his letters. Listen to a few other exhortations from Paul. Ephesians 6.18, Ephesians, in many ways, is a parallel letter to Colossians. Right after the culmination of his discussion about spiritual warfare and putting on the armor of God, Paul says this in Ephesians 6, 18, Well, that's pretty inclusive. all prayer at all times with all perseverance for all the saints. Or first Timothy two first Timothy two verses one and eight. Paul writing to his protege Timothy about how he should lead the church where he's at. And Paul says verse one first of all then I urge that in treaties and prayers petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men. And then in verse eight Therefore, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without wrath and dissension." Again, notice the emphasis. All believers everywhere should be offering all kinds of prayer for everyone. And then perhaps the most famous of prayer commands, also from Paul, 1 Thessalonians 5.17, 1 Thessalonians 5.17, pray without ceasing. So are we getting the picture? God didn't just call us people to pray sometimes, if they ever get around to it. Far from. God calls us. God calls you. God calls this whole church to be about prayer. Not just the pastors, the elders, not just the formal ministry leaders, not just the longtime Christians, not just the new Christians, not just the men, not just the women, not just the children. And all of us, all of us are to be devoted to prayer, alert in prayer, giving thanks in prayer unceasingly to God. Now I know there will be an immediate question, which is, but Pastor Dave, how could I possibly do that? I mean, I gotta eat, I gotta drink, I gotta sleep, I gotta work, I gotta serve. How can I pray at the same time? Or how could I possibly pray for all the people on the earth or even every saint? Is this even possible? Well, of course, there is some hyperbole in Paul's commands. You cannot literally pray at all times for all people. But don't miss the main point. Don't say, oh, well, I guess I don't need to pray at all. No. The point is that you, as a Christian, are to be marked, I, as a Christian, are to be marked by a lifestyle of frequent, regular prayer. And this isn't merely a God consciousness. Some have said in response to these New Testament commands about continual prayer that Paul just is talking about having this awareness of God all the time and even conversing with him throughout the day in your mind. That's a good thing to do. We should be living in the presence of God all the time, even thinking our thoughts with and before God. But that is not the same thing as being devoted to prayer. That is not to the exclusion of actually setting aside time to just pray to God. And consider, this is what we see in the earliest church, in the book of Acts. They didn't merely have a God consciousness as they went about various Christian activities. No, they had set aside time just to pray. It was a separate activity. Acts 114, as the believers waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit, Acts 114. These all, with one mind, were continually devoting themselves to prayer. along with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. Acts 2.42. This is after the Holy Spirit comes. After the day of Pentecost, notice the distinct activities to which the church is devoting themselves. Acts 2.42. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. And then this interesting statement, Acts 6.4. There had been a situation where some practical needs in the church in Jerusalem are not being met. And the apostles were thinking, should we deal with this? No, let's appoint some other people who are skilled and they can take care of that practical need. And what will they do instead? Acts 6, 4. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. The apostles knew they couldn't just pray while serving. So again, having a God consciousness, thinking thoughts with God as you serve is a good thing. They recognize that they, as leaders especially, needed their own frequent, focused time just to pray. And you may not be a leader, but guess what? You need a version of that yourself. All of us need to be devoted to the activity of prayer. But now the question is, well, how much prayer qualifies? How much do I need to pray to be considered devoted to prayer or to be praying without ceasing? How often do I need to do it? How many minutes? How many hours? How many words? Well, the Bible doesn't give us specific requirements like that. And thank the Lord that he doesn't, because knowing us, we'd quickly make prayer just about checking off boxes Oh, time's up. Oh, that's all my words for today. Many other religions do this with prayer. The real truth is that devotion to prayer is going to look a little different for each Christian. Some might pray for hours at a time. Some might pray only for a few minutes at a time. Some might pray once a day, others multiple times a day. There's no formula where this much time or this many prayers equals this many answers from God. God is not a mercenary God like that. He's not to be manipulated like that. Rather, like other elements of the Christian life, church participation, Bible study, Christian service, we ourselves are going to need to decide before God what proper devotion to prayer will look like for us. and for our families. It may not be the same as other people. Of course, that doesn't mean that every answer that we might come up with is right. All devotion to prayer for me looks like once a month. No, that doesn't fit with the biblical command. But within biblical parameters, there is more than one right answer. And probably, as we pray, our devotion to prayer will grow It will probably change over time. If consistent prayer hasn't already been your practice, don't just suddenly vow to pray two hours morning and evening every day. As with starting regular Bible reading or Bible study, set a reasonable daily goal for yourself, nothing overly ambitious, something that you can do, start doing it, And as you get into that good habit, you can decide whether and how to increase. Start small and with a reasonable goal. You want to get into what the Bible calls you to real devotion to prayer. Because remember, whoever exactly you decide you should pray, remember that this is a command from God. and God will hold you accountable for it. Remember also that it will require your effort, your staying awake, your discipline. If you say, oh man, I don't really feel like doing this, well, that should be expected sometimes. You're going to have to persevere against the feelings of the flesh. Discipline yourself for the sake of godliness, even for the sake of prayer. This is God's command, and as God's people, shouldn't we want to obey His commands? Not to save ourselves, but because we are saved. We have been saved once and for all by faith in Jesus Christ. So this is the first main reason that you, as a Christian, should discipline yourself for prayer. You will obey God's command. Now, perhaps someone is thinking at this point, great, thanks, Pastor Dave, another burdensome command from God to follow. God is forcing me to pray every day, some Christian life. Well, if you're thinking this, let me remind you of 1 John 5.3, at least the latter part of it. 1 John 5.3 says His commandments are not burdensome. If you think they're burdensome, you're thinking wrong. God is not that kind of God. He only commands what is for our ultimate good and really our happiness. And really, the command to pray should be so obviously one of those things for us. It's one of those commands that we should be happiest to obey because it so plainly benefits us. And this leads to the second main reason from the Bible to discipline yourself for prayer. Number two. Why? You will receive your requests. Discipline yourself for prayer. because you will receive your requests. Here's the reality, my brothers and sisters. If we would just come to God and present our petitions to him regularly, reverently, and expectantly, God promises that we will receive what we ask. This is why God commands us to come pray, or part of the reason anyways, It's so that we might worshipfully express humble dependence on him for our needs and that he might demonstrate his faithful and generous goodness toward us. After all, let's look at Matthew 7. Matthew 7 verses 7 to 11. This is on page 963 in the Pew Bible. Matthew 7, 7 to 11. This is the latter section of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in Galilee by the sea. He had already explained at this point in the sermon what true righteousness is and where true reward is to be found, not here on the earth but with the Lord even in heaven. But what's the appropriate response to those truths? How should that play out in our lives in a practical way? which is going to explain one way in Matthew 7 verses 7 to 11. And let's read that now. Verse 7. Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds. And to him who knocks it will be opened. For what man is there among you who When his son asks for a loaf, we'll give him a stone. Or if he asks for a fish, you will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father, who is in heaven, give what is good to those who ask him? Brethren. These verses ought to blow us away because of the kind promise they contain. Jesus says, if you belong to God and ask him for something good, guess what? He'll give it to you. Look at verse seven again, the beginning part. Ask and it will be given to you. Not it probably will be given to you, or it might be given to you, or it'll be given to you if God's in a good mood, or if you've been a good boy lately. No, Jesus says, ask and it will be given to you. Guaranteed. And if that statement wasn't enough, look how many times and ways Jesus repeats the same truth. Seek and you will find. Count on it. knock and it will be open to you. You don't have to wonder about the outcome. In fact, verse 8, everyone who asks, not just some, not just a few, everyone who asks, everyone who seeks, everyone who knocks, they will receive, they will find, and they will be welcomed through an open door. What on earth? What is this incredible love and generosity? Why would God give such a guarantee? Verse 11, because he's a good father. And he has adopted you as his son or his daughter in Jesus Christ. So how could he not be good to you? How could he be so unfaithful to his own character? How could he do no better than the, or how could he do even worse than the evil failing parents on the earth? who at least know how to give good gifts to their own children and meet the needs of their children when their children ask. In fact, look at the way that Jesus says it in verse 11. How much more will your father, your father who is in heaven, give what is good to those who ask him? In light of such a promise, How could we ever be so foolish as to not come to God regularly in prayer? He's waiting to delight himself in providing what we ask. Unless we simply don't believe what God promises here. Oh, you know, this was just a weird section of Matthew. No, God gives the same guarantee elsewhere. Matthew 11 24 this is Jesus teaching again Matthew 11 24 therefore I say to you all things to which you pray and ask believe that you've received them and they will be granted you John 15 7 this is Jesus in the upper room with his disciples if you abide in me and my words abide in you ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you John 16 23 to 24 later on in the upper room discourse, John 16, 23 and 24, Jesus is speaking about what his death and resurrection will accomplish for his people, and he says this. In that day, you will not question me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in my name, he will give it to you. Until now, you've asked for nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full. You want full joy? Ask the Father. Brethren, what fools we are. What fools we are to neglect prayer to God when He so welcomes our petitions and is ready to gladly provide what we ask. Now perhaps someone will say, hey, I haven't really been praying. and I've been getting what I need just fine. I don't think I really need to pray and have God provide." Well, to that I say, perhaps you are getting along, but you could be getting along much better. I mean, think about it. If a child refuses to ask his parents for food, do the parents just let their child starve? Of course not! They love their child. They're going to provide food for him, but maybe the child doesn't get the amount of food or the type of food that he really wants because, you know what? He never asked for it. He never made that request known. Now, God knows what we both need and want, and sometimes He graciously provides good to us even when we haven't asked for it. But God is interested in training us, in training his children to depend on him and ask him for help. That means there is some good that God will withhold from us until we learn to come humbly and ask for it. You know, many people, including some Christians, They will complain about their difficult life circumstances. They will become impatient with others. They will even sin to obtain for themselves what they think they need. Yet God proclaims in His Word just how unnecessary this is. Perhaps the most direct address to this situation comes from the Apostle James in James 4.2. James 4.2, James says, 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. You do not have because you do not ask. So brethren, ask yourselves, what good might be missing from your life right now simply because you do not ask God. You do not pray. Now here's where someone else will say, I have asked God for certain things in prayer and He didn't give them to me. So obviously, God's promises are false and prayer doesn't work. Maybe you felt this way in your heart sometimes. But here's where we need to clarify something about God's great generosity in prayer. God will give us whatever we ask in prayer if what we ask for in prayer is good according to the will of God. I mean, just consider some of the verses that we've just looked at. You notice there were some phrases in there that are important. Matthew 7.11, just to go back there, highlight a section. Matthew 7.11, Jesus says, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask him? God has to be good for him to give it. Mark 11.24, Mark 11.24, believe that you've received them and they will be granted you. See, there's a little necessary component. You need to ask in faith. You need to believe that you'll receive it because that is good in God's sight. John 15, 7, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish. If you're not abiding in him, if you're not submitting and loving his word, will he give to you? Will he give what you request? John 16, 23, if you ask the Father for anything in my name. Now, we're used to saying that, in Jesus' name, right, at the end of our prayers. and sometimes we don't even think about it. But to ask for something in Jesus' name isn't like some sort of magic spell that automatically guarantees you're going to get what you ask. No. In Jesus' name is basically shorthand for, I ask on the authority of Jesus and in accordance with His own will. And if it's not in accordance with His will, you don't have business saying in Jesus' name. Or perhaps most clarifying is the verse after the one we last read in James. James 4.2 was followed by James 4.3, which says, you ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. What James is talking about is asking God for things not so that They will please the Lord, and you can serve the Lord with them, or you can enjoy God with them, but so that rather you might seek satisfaction in some earthly lust or idol. And when that's the case, James says, God says, don't expect to receive. All this, you see, is what the name it, claim it, prosperity preachers fundamentally fail to understand about God and prayer. They teach that you can force God to give you anything you desire because God just wants to make you happy with all the things your heart desires. He just wants to shower you with earthly prosperity. God is a generous God, but He's a good Father. He will not indulge His children with something if it is not good for them. And what is the greatest good of all? What is the greatest good we can receive in our lives according to the Bible? It is to know God and Jesus Christ and to become more like him. That's John 17, 3, Philippians 3, 10. If that's the ultimate good, then everything else has to line up under that. Sometimes knowing and enjoying God more comes through experiencing earthly blessings, comes from experiencing tangible good and comfortable circumstances or things working out. But other times, it's experiencing trial, it's experiencing deprivation, it's experiencing suffering that's going to bring us to ultimate good. It was good for me that I was afflicted, says the psalmist, because then I got to know you. I got to know your word better. So then, Like a good human parent, sometimes our heavenly father has to reply to our earnest requests with something like the following. Son, I know you want funfetti cake for breakfast every morning, but that would not be good for you. Because I love you, I have to say no. Or daughter, I know you want the chore of weeding the garden to be over, but you've not yet learned the endurance that you need to learn. So I must keep you here a little while longer. As Hebrew 1210 says, earthly parents do their best to train their children. They don't always get it right, but God knows what is best, and he always gets it right. So when we pray to God, we must be prepared for God to say, out of love, No, or not yet. But perhaps that makes you wonder, well, how can I rely on God's generous promise in prayer if in the back of my mind I know he might say no? How can I still be motivated to come? Well, here's the key. If you want foolproof prayers, prayers that will always be answered in the affirmative. You know what you need to do? Pray according to the revealed will of God. Pray according to the revealed will of God, which means pray according to how God showed you how to pray in the Bible. You see, there are certain kinds of good that God guarantees He will always give us, and He says so in the Bible. For example, God guarantees, I will provide for your daily needs. didn't lay out all the specifics of that, but he says, I will do it. So if you pray it, guess what? How's he gonna answer? Yes. Or God says, he promises, I will build my church. So if you pray, God, build your church, guess what his answer's gonna be? Yes. Pray God's promises, you know his answer. But ask for the how. Ask for the specifics of the fulfillment of those promises. Pray as you desire, pray as you think God would desire, but leave room for His mysterious will. Even adding explicitly in your prayers, as Jesus did himself, not my will, but your will be done. What kind of broad promises, broad categories of requests does the Bible show us we should pray? I can only mention some of these briefly. physical provision, physical protection, physical deliverance. We see that, Matthew 6, 11, Psalms 7, 1 to 2, that's a good thing to pray. He says he'll provide that. Spiritual provision, spiritual protection, spiritual deliverance, he says pray that too, Matthew 6, 13, Matthew 26, 41, they'll provide that. Spiritual growth and wisdom, Ephesians 3, 14 and 19, James 1, 5, God says I'll provide that. Ministry empowerment acts 429 verse 429 to 31 and Ephesians 6 19 to 20. He says he'll provide that too and the salvation of souls Acts 26 29 Romans 10 1 God says I will be saving people Pray that I will do it Now though these are promises from God they are broad Regarding the specifics What should we do Pray big, pray in faith. God, you could do a mighty thing in this situation. I pray that if you will it, that you would do it. That is an honoring thing to do, to pray big, knowing that God has done that kind of thing in the past and he could do it in specific fulfillment of his promises. With that, a caveat. Do not dishonor God by when you pray something big or pray something specific. Do not presume that He will or must do that specific thing and that if He doesn't, you have the right to slander Him or resent Him. For example, as part of praying for your daily physical provision, you know God will answer that prayer with yes, but you might specifically pray that God would give you a particular job. It's an opportunity that just opened up. It's a job you've always wanted. It's going to be an upgrade in your salary. God, I think this would be a great thing. I could honor you with this. Please do this." That is a fine request to pray. But remember, you don't know God's sovereign will about that job. So, if the answer ends up being no, you don't end up getting that job, and you must settle for something less lucrative. Don't say, God didn't answer my prayer. He failed His promise. No, rather you should say, God did answer my prayer for daily physical provision as He promised He would, but it wasn't according to my will. It was according to His will. He must have a good reason for this specific outcome because He tells me He's a good Father. So, I will embrace this portion that He has faithfully given me. and I will offer him thanks. You see, if your prayers are ultimately based on the promises of God, you know that whatever the specific result that comes to pass, you have exactly for that which you asked. God has proven himself faithful. God, glorify yourself in this sickness. Oh, the cancer has metastasized. Is that God answering the prayer? Is that God being faithful in prayer? It is. Sometimes it's a difficult answer, but it is a faithful answer. That's why Paul prayed, God, remove this affliction. And God says, this is exactly what you need. God, I need this removed. No, you need to keep this, because I'm going to glorify myself through this affliction. This is, of course, a truth that must be embraced by faith. Because if we're only looking with the eyes of flesh, we cannot find a way to say, this is a good answer from God. But if by faith, not only can we give thanks and give praise to God, but we can be content. We can have joy in every situation. It is also what Paul says, right? I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. I've learned to be content. I know whatever answer God gives, it is the right answer. Now we need to deal with one other objection when it comes to praying and receiving our requests. Someone might say, a diligent student of the Bible, but Pastor Dave, I've come to understand from the Bible, I've come to believe in the absolute sovereignty of God. God has decreed all that has happened and all that will happen from before the foundations of the world. Nothing can change God's eternal decree. Because that's true. Why pray? Whether I pray or I don't pray, I will not change God's eternal decree. All will still happen just as God has ordained, so why pray at all? But before I give a full answer to that question, let's observe that it is very dangerous to use God's own word to contradict his commands. As we've already seen today, God clearly commands us to pray and to pray fervently. So to try to use God's sovereignty as an excuse to be disobedient and not pray, that is already a huge problem. You've got to know there's something wrong in your understanding if that's where you've arrived. But actually, To provide the real answer, God's sovereignty is the reason we pray in the first place. If all is already under God's sovereign control, that means he can do anything on our behalf. Whether it's caused the downfall of an evil government or the salvation of a beloved soul. When we pray to a totally sovereign God, we know He has the ability to grant our requests. And He's even guaranteed that He will listen to our requests. Now furthermore, though God could accomplish all His purposes for the world without our participation at all, that is not what He's ordained. In His wise goodness, He has ordained that we, you, by your prayers, will be instrumental in bringing about what he's already decreed, his perfect plan for the world. This is the same thing as it is with evangelism, right? Are people going to get saved if we don't go evangelize? Well, the Bible says unless someone hears the gospel, they're not going to get saved, even though the Bible also says God is going to save everyone that he's chosen. It's the same in prayer. What this means, then, is that your prayer matters. Your prayers matter to God and they matter in the world. Things will happen. Things will change because you pray about them. Sometimes even great things. After all, did not Jesus tell his disciples in Mark 11.23, Mark 11.23, truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be taken up and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. It's not that we have great power, but we have a great God who is pleased to act in greatness based on our little prayers. Now, yes, if we want to push this all the way through, we must admit that when we do pray and God brings about his will through our prayers, it's only because God has already moved in our hearts to pray. We cannot take ultimate credit. Nevertheless, we should be able to say we are glad to fulfill our role. We are glad to play our part in God's perfect plan and then see his glorious purposes come to pass. Ultimately, prayer is another place where God's total sovereignty and man's genuine agency exist together. We won't be able to fully resolve the tension between these two truths, though they're both declared from the Bible. What is clear, though, is our responsibility, our invitation, our opportunity, which is what? To pray. and then behold the God who truly responds to the prayers of his people with action. That's as far as we can go today. We've seen this morning that prayer is a vital discipline for Christians. Vital for Christians to cultivate for two main reasons. Number one, because in doing so we will obey God's command. And number two, because in doing so, we will see God answer our requests. Now, as important as these reasons are, we still haven't covered the most important reason to discipline ourselves for prayer. Don't you have to wait till next time for that one. Even so, ask yourselves as we close in prayer, how you already can make practical changes in your life to devote yourself to prayer. Perhaps you're thinking to yourself, Oh, man, where am I going to fit prayer into my schedule? You might need to reorient your whole schedule, your whole life, because prayer is to be a priority. How can you make that a reality in your life? You'd already be thinking about that. There are plenty of people in the world who discipline themselves for prayers that do not profit them. They may even think that they're earning salvation by their prayers, and so they orient their lives around that. What about you? You, Christian, by the power of God's Spirit, will you discipline yourself for the purpose of prayer? For prayers that do profit? Not in earning your salvation, but because you have been saved and you want to see the abundant eternal life of God manifest in your life. Is that what you want? May God grant that this month, June 2022, that this be the month that we at Calvary make a genuine change to discipline ourselves for prayer. Let's pray. Lord God, you know how prayerless we have been as a people. And based on what we've seen today, how foolish that is, how sinful that is, how dishonoring to you that is. Yet God, thank you for being so patient with us. You have been such a gracious father when we, your children, have chosen not to come to you. But may that not be the case anymore. God, I pray, I do pray that for every brother and sister here today, You would move in their hearts so they would say, I'm going to make prayer my priority. I want to obey God. I want to see him answer my request for his glory. And Lord, I pray that also, as we'll see next time, they'll see how important it is to spending time in worship with you and that they would enjoy that. For any God who don't know you yet, they don't have these promises when it comes to prayer because they still regard iniquity in their hearts. God, I pray that they would repent today that you'd be so kind to show them that there is no earning salvation by prayer or any other good work, but is only by the fully accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that by repentance and faith in Jesus, they might know eternal life. In Jesus' name, amen.