WEEK TWELVE
“DO ALL THIS IN PRAYER”
He was considered a “pillar of the church”. In his sixties, graying and knowledgeable about the Bible, this elder had all the necessary requirements to be held in awe by younger Christians, and they did. Deference was always given to his views in adult classes and congregational meetings. He enjoyed great power. Thus, it may surprise you to learn that, in an unguarded moment of uncharacteristic transparency, the elder confessed that his prayer life was virtually nonexistent.
The purpose of that story was not to be critical of our brother. Instead, that elder expressed a self-evaluation shared by virtually all Christians – our prayer life is woefully weak.
Oh sure, there have been times when, following a Bible conference or a special speaker on prayer, we’ve made resolutions to discipline ourselves. A regular time of the day is set. Long lists of needs are made. We may even construct an altar or a quiet place aside from the rest of the house.
But our resolve fades. Guilt sets in. And we adopt a pious face to hide our self-condemnation. We may even be critical of others when we learn that they pray infrequently – what a convenient cover for our own sense of failure.
As Ray Stedman has suggested, our failure is a result of violating our basic human nature. We begin with the “doing” instead of the “thinking”. We start with schedules and programs, which result in legalism. But we need to start with our thoughts. The Apostle Paul has provided us some specific help in starting with our thoughts first. How did we put on the “Belt of Truth”? We think of Christ as the source of truth in a world of counterfeit experts. We recall certain words that He spoke in order to reveal truth to us:
- John 6:35, “And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”
- John 8:44, “…(the devil) was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”
- John 12:25-26, “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.”
This is why the Apostle Paul has listed these pieces of armor in the order of belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, helmet and dagger (sword). As we review previous teachings on each piece of armor, we discover that we must always be in our thought life. 2 Cor. 10:5 has stated that we must “…take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.”
Sure, there’s a place for discipline and methods, lists and schedules. I’m all for it. But first, we must begin with our thoughts. And this may result in calling our thoughts into accountability dozens of times a day, applying certain verses to each situation, and then praying about what that means to us, how it relates to our thoughts. That’s the proper place to begin rather than with methods.
Prayer is not preparation for the battle. Prayer IS our spiritual battle, where cosmic forces clash in a struggle over our souls. Until we comprehend that fact, we’ll continue to be deceived. Our prayers will be pathetically superficial. We’ll pray primarily when we want God to be our genie to bail us out again. We’ll be subject to powerlessness, doubts, confusion, and an infantile view of God’s power. We’ll simply end up talking to ourselves much of the time. Believe me, that makes for a pretty dull conversation.
Ephesians 6:18 says that we’re to put on all the pieces of armor listed in verses 14-17. Prayer is the way we think about each one, what it means to us, how it applies. There are three principles of prayer in this verse.
- OUR PRAYER IS TO BE CONSTANT: “Pray on every occasion.” As I said earlier, this may mean calling our thoughts into accountability dozens of times a day – when my spouse grunts at my breakfast greeting, a driver cuts in front of me at a stop light, a fellow student calls me a dirty name, my girlfriend compliments another boy, a thought pops into my mind about a wrong sexual desire, criticizing someone, cheating my employer on my expense report, or how pathetic I am compared to those whom I consider to be more handsome, intelligent, or persuasive.
The Christian “lifestyle” is ALWAYS aware of God’s presence; that I belong to Him, no longer to myself, that I’m in His family, that I have constant access to Him, that all of heaven’s resources are at my constant disposal.
That is what it means in 1 Thes. 5:17, “…pray at all times.” We have the opportunity to choose between confusion and clarity; deception and direction; being a victim or a victor. Notice also that we’re to pray constantly “…as the Spirit leads”. Sure, Jesus sits at the right hand of God. But his Spirit remains here within us. It is that very Spirit of Jesus who helps us to pray. We may feel inadequate, dumb, inarticulate, or powerless. We may not even be able to recall a verse or a promise of God on which to stand. But Christ’s Holy Spirit will lead us. Romans 8:26-27, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
God has provided the Holy Spirit to help us because we’re so spiritually vulnerable and weak and exposed to the effects of spiritual warfare. We can count on the Holy Spirit to communicate our feelings, not our words to God. He knows our hearts and will deliver their message. Then when our frustrations or despairs or hurts or fears are so deep that we can’t adequately express ourselves, the Holy Spirit does it for us.
It’s been amazing for me to see how my prayer life has changed since I learned that the Holy Spirit leads me as I pray. I’ve learned to realize that He places names of people in my mind several times a day as a means of prompting me to pray for them. It is common for Donna’s name to pop into my thoughts and I will pray for her. Then, when we share at day’s end, I learn that my prayer strengthened her as she counseled someone.
Brothers are you getting the message? We’re simply not lonely islands drifting in the world’s ocean, far from heaven’s shoreline. That’s what the devil wants us to think. But the Holy Spirit is right here, right now, every moment of the day. There is simply no situation in which we must be alone, relying on our meager rations.
One final thought. You may wish for me (or someone else) to lead a seminar on the how, when, where, and why of prayer. We don’t learn how to pray in six easy lessons. We learn how to pray when we constantly turn over our thoughts (captive) to Christ as they occur.
- OUR PRAYER IS TO BE PERSERVING: “…keep alert and never give up”, the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 6:18. We’re to practice what the apostles modeled for us. Every great decision in the apostolic period resulted from persistent prayer. “They gathered frequently to pray as a group…” (Acts 1:14). The replacement of Judas resulted from prayer. The whole life and vitality of the early Church resulted from this watchfulness in prayer.
Of course, the apostles were only practicing what Jesus modeled for them, He frequently spent whole nights in prayer. For example, the choosing of the twelve apostles followed such a night. And He directed these men to persist in their prayer.
Luke 11:5-13, “And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; And he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’ I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. “So I say to you, 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. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
And then in Luke 18:1-8, “Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, Saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, Yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ” Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
The apostles finally grew to a point in spiritual maturity where they realized that they needed to do as Jesus had done. They confessed their need to spend, “…full time in prayer and the work of teaching” (Acts 6:4). That is when deacons were appointed to take over some practical chores. When do we see ourselves persevering in prayer – steadfast, unwavering, single-minded, and unremitting?
Are we so more modern? You know – rip open the corner, dump the contents into a cup, nuke it until water boils, and stir – quick and easy. It if takes longer than 20 seconds, we’re not around to find out. Is our patience so thin, and our faith so superficial, that we give up so easily in the spiritual warfare? We run up our white flags of defeat so that we can return to our comfortable, pagan lifestyle of relying on our own power to accomplish what we want.
When our church financial support is inadequate. When Satan attacks with doubts about whether we will be able to pay our bills. When our family life appears to go sour. When our employment begins to look temporary. When our confidence in Christ plummets. What do we do? Do we persevere in prayer? OR do we just fall apart, never turning to the One, the only One, that can sustain our very need and trouble?
A passage, which helps me when these situations come up, is found in Romans 5:3-5, “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; And perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
A diagram of these verses would look like this:
TROUBLES ¾¾® ENDURANCE ¾¾® GOD’S APPROVAL ¾¾® HOPE
Without endurance and perseverance, we never experience God’s approval. Consequently, we have no hope, no vision, and no optimism. We’re defeated easily. When we can learn to greet troubles as a means of building our endurance by prayerfully relying on the Lord’s sufficiency, we’ll be dangerous! Satan won’t be able to stop us!
When I look for a person to share in the leadership on the flock, I choose someone who is learning this principle. When we’ve learned to endure in prayer, the Lord will count us as worthy to give us greater responsibility. The Lord places his mantle of blessing only on those Leaders who learn how to use troubles to build their endurance rather than copping out when the going gets rough.
As a youth, Jacob was obnoxious, pretentious, and selfish. But lurking beneath that conceited exterior was a longing for God’s blessing which his brother, Esau, took for granted. Sure, Jacob received the blessing through deceit, but over the years, his methods were being changed from the brash to the gentle. Finally, the Lord broke Jacob’s strong-willed self-reliance. Consequently, Jacob prayed in Genesis 32:9-12, “…God of my grandfather Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies. Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children. For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude’.”
Jacob’s heart was so changed that he spent much of the night in persevering prayer. Later, he sent all of his family and huge herds across a river, “…but he stayed behind, alone.”
Genesis 32:24-30, “Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him., And He said, ‘Let Me go, for the day breaks.’ But he said, ‘I will not let You go unless You bless me!’ So He said to him, ‘What is you name?’ He said, ‘Jacob.’ And He said, ‘Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.’ Then Jacob asked, saying, ‘Tell me Your name, I pray.’ And He said, ‘Why is it that you ask about My name?’ And He blessed him there. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: ‘For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Because of Jacob’s perseverance, God’s blessing was passed to him.
I’m beginning to discover this principle in my own life. My longing has been to be used by the Lord to disciple men and women in a radical commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord. Early in my ministry, my motives were self-serving. The Lord had to break me as He did Jacob. He has used insults, financial deprivation, long periods of tears and prayers, up-rooting from friends and family, and my own sin to call me up short, to get my attention, to break me so that He could mold me.
Now my joy is boundless as I see your lives growing in Christ, as I see the Barnabas men growing ever more serious in their relationship in Christ. Because of the enduring in Christ, God’s approval is blessing me, and longing is being fulfilled. But the Lord used ten years of troubles to give me this endurance. It has been painful; terrible at times. But I would join Jacob, in wrestling all night if I had to, in order to receive God’s blessing. By contrast, there is nothing that can compare to it.
Sometimes, we may persevere in prayer, but we don’t recognize God’s answer when it occurs. There was a man who told how he was once lost in a forest. His Christian friend asked, “Well, did you pray about it?” “Yes, I really did a long time,” the man answered. “Did God ever answer your prayer?” his friend asked. “He didn’t have a chance. A guy came and led me out of the forest.”
- OUR PRAYER IS TO BE UNSELFISH: “…pray always for all God’s people.” We are to be aware of other Christian’s needs and pray for them. We are to pray that their eyes will be open to the pitfalls of their choices. That they won’t be deceived by the seeming attractiveness of prestige, power, and possessions into which the devil tries to lure them.
An inherent part of helping to “…carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will obey the law of Christ”(Galatians 6:2) is to pray for each other. We may not be rich, but we can pray for each other’s financial need. We may not have a word of wisdom, which will turn a person’s head in the right direction, but we can pray for him or her.
For example, a woman asked me if she should go to a man and encourage him to free his wife from a particular responsibility. My counsel was for her to pray, to help carry their burden through prayer, and to rely on the Holy Spirit to work in the couple’s hearts. Within two days, the Lord gave the wife a peace in her heart and the couple moved forward in mutual confidence. Why? Because their Christian sister had unselfishly helped to bear their burden through persevering prayer.
Lack of forgiveness is one of the selfish barriers to our prayer life. As Ros Rinker wrote in Prayer: Conversing with God, “…unforgiveness or resentment toward another can hinder our prayers. Unforgiveness on our part automatically creates guilt in us. If I cannot love my brother whom I can see, how can I love God, whom I cannot see? (1 John 4:20) Love of God and love of fellowman go together. I will love God only as much as I love the person I dislike the most. As long as I am blinded by an unforgiving spirit toward my brother, how can I see God? There is blessedness for the pure in heart, for they see God. Lack of forgiveness is the equivalent of an impure heart. Resentment and unforgiveness are the roots of many diseases from which people suffer intensely. Only God can heal an unforgiving heart.”
Remember the first, major point of this whole passage in verse 12? We’re NOT each other’s enemies. We are not to strive against each other. Instead, we are to realize that we share in a common enemy, the Devil.
The reason why that person acts so terribly toward us is because he is under heavy, unrelenting attack by our common enemy. Perhaps he doesn’t know how to use God’s armor to defend himself. Perhaps he is forgetting to “10:5” (2 Cor.) his thoughts. Perhaps he is torn up inside with unforgiven guilt and needs to be set free by Christ.
So how am I going to respond, unselfishly, by praying for him? By realizing that his great spiritual warfare is causing his terrible behavior toward me? By empathizing with the pain within him? By stepping outside of my own feelings and stepping into his disintegrated life with prayer?
GROWTH OPPORTUNITY QUESTIONS
WEEK TWELVE
Do All This In Prayer
- Read Do All This In Prayer, and be prepared to discuss:
- Why is it important that I think through the implications of the armor of God, and then pray?
- How does this process affect my focus in prayer?
- According to Philippians 4:6-7, for what things am I allowed to be anxious? What specifically are current areas of potential anxiety in my life? How can I pray and give these things over to God?
- What does it mean to pray “in the Spirit”? Why is that important to do?
- Comment on what I feel about the place for discipline, schedules, lists and principles, as far as one’s prayer life is concerned.
- How has this study changed/provoked/challenged me in my prayer life?
Epilogue – Coleman lists the following process steps in the Master Plan. In the space provided, “briefly” comment on each of the nine points:
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The Priority of Men |
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Begin With a Few |
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Stay Together |
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Give Them Time |
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Group Meetings |
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Expect Something from Them |
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Keep Them Going |
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Help Them Carry Their Burdens |
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Let Them Carry On |
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Master Plan of Evangelism
- Review each of the eight chapters and the Epilogue of the “Master Plan” by isolating the most significant point to you in each chapter. How did each chapter speak to you personally? What change(s) in you resulted? Please give one answer for each chapter.