| Introduction Success! We have been talking about it for the last few weeks. One might think that we have succumbed to the Joel Osteen affect. I assure you that we have not caught the our-best-life-now virus. The Bible talks about success, real success, in several ways. 1 Cor. 10:31 – Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Rom. 13:14 – But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. Phil. 1:21 – For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Jam. 1:3 – My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials…. The way the Bible speaks of success is diametrically opposed to Osteenian philosophy. Our catechisms teach us that our chief goal, the reason we exist, is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. As we look at the Scriptures, we find ways to measure whether we are living the successful life – the biblically successful life. Love, faith, obedience, and service are measurements that we put against our lives as plumb lines to see how we are doing. This morning, I want to add one more metric to our success-measuring toolkit: prayer as a measure of success. The Scriptures again and again tell us to pray for one another. These constant exhortations lead us to conclude a few things. I really wanted to make a reference to Livin' on a Prayer by Jon Bon Jovi at this point, but I couldn't figure out how. I. First, It Is Sinful not to Pray for Those Who Are Part of Your Covenant Community. A. Though we have a duty to pray for all people, we are specially called to pray for one another – "Is anyone among you suffering?" 1. We are to pray for all people. 1 Tim. 2:1-4 – Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2. But specially for those who are united with us in faith in Jesus Christ. Rom. 1:9-10 – For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. Col. 1:9 – For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding…. B. So, we are called to pray for one another. "Every Christian ought to think much of intercessory prayer, and practise it greatly. It is doubly blessed: blessed to him who prays and blessed to those for whom he prays." William Blaikie II. Second, It Is Good for Us to Pray for One Another. A. When we pray in faith in Jesus, we are in the very presence of God who wants to answer our prayers. Heb. 4:14-16 – Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. B. When we pray in faith in Jesus, we are humbling ourselves before God, acknowledging that we need him. Jam. 4:10 – Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. C. When we pray in faith in Jesus, we are coming before our heavenly Father who is better than any human father. Mt. 7:7-11 – 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. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 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 good things to those who ask Him! Rom. 8:32 – He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? D. Prayer, intercessory prayer, is good for us. "Nothing is better fitted to enlarge and warm the heart than intercessory prayer. To present to God in succession, one after another, our family and our friends, remembering all their wants and sorrows, trials, and temptations; to bear before Him the interests of this struggling Church and that in various part of the world, this interesting mission and that noble cause; to make mention of those who are waging battles of temperance, of purity, of freedom, of Christianity itself, in the midst of difficulty… and opposition; to gather together all the sick and sorrowing, all the fatherless and widows, al the bereaved and dying, of one's acquaintance, and ask God to bless them… O brethren this is good for one's self." William Blaikie III. Third, Prayer Works! A. God ordain the prayer of his people as the means by which he will bring his will to pass. B. Therefore, prayer works, Jam. 5:16b. 1. The example of Elijah, 5:17-18. a. He was a man just like we are. b. Through prayer, he, better, God accomplished great things. 2. That's why James directs us to pray, 5:16a. {TRANSITION: In order for us to seek a more fervent and faithful prayer life, we will need to take hold of ourselves and of God for prayer.} IV. Take Hold of Yourself for Prayer. A. We must exercise self-control in praying, which is not a legalistic mandate, but a fruit of the Spirit prompted by the cross of Jesus. Gal. 5:22-23 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. B. Consider seven principles of how to take hold of yourself in prayer. 1. Remember the value of prayer a. There is a value in unanswered prayer as well as answered prayer. 1) William Carey (1761-1834) labored as a missionary in India for 8 years before baptizing the first convert to Christ. 2) Yet in those years he learned to live for the glory of God alone. "I feel that it is good to commit my soul, my body, and my all, into the hands of God. Then the world appears little, the promise great, and God an all-sufficient portion." 3) God's delay became sustenance for Carey's soul. b. But unanswered prayer is sweet, how much sweeter is answered prayer! 2. Maintain the priority of prayer. Jn. 15:5 – I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 3. Speak with sincerity in prayer. Ps. 62:8 – Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God isa refuge for us. 4. Cultivate a continual spirit of prayer. 1 Thess. 5:17 – …pray without ceasing… 5. Work toward organization in prayer – the Lord's Prayer. a. Lists or whatever helps you organize and remember. 6. Read the Bible for prayer. a. The Scriptures revive our prayer life. b. We need to listen to God as he speaks to us in his Word. c. When you read your Bible, do so with the intent of responding to God's Word with prayer. Jn. 15:7 – If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 7. Keep biblical balance in prayer. a. The Bible presents various kinds of prayer: praise, confession, petition, intercession, etc. V. Take Hold of God in Prayer. A. Plead God's promises in prayer. 1. In his sovereignty, God has bound himself by the promises he has made to us. 2. So, pray what God has promised to do for you in the Bible. B. Look to the glorious Trinity in prayer. 1. All three persons are at work in our prayers. Eph. 2:18 – For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. 2. So, in prayer, pursue a deeper and more experiential knowledge of the riches of grace in Christ's person and work, the glory of electing and adopting love of the Father, and the comfort of fellowship with God by the indwelling Spirit. 3. In this way, you will pray not just to receive God's benefits but to receive God himself. C. Believe that God answers prayers. 1. I think we often do not believe that God answers prayers. a. Perhaps we haven't seen evidence of that. b. Perhaps we are afraid of believing that we did get answers. 2. Yet, God's Word says that true faith believes that God is and that he is the rewarder of those who seek him. VI. Prayer Causes the Glory of God to Be Reflected in Us. Ex. 34:29-30 – Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses' hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. A. As Moses meditated those 40 days on Sinai, he was so exposed to God that his face became radiant. B. God's glory was imprinted on him because he spent time in the presence of God. C. Are we spending enough time with God for his glory to be burned into our souls and our will aligned with his?
May we not fall under the verdict of Isaiah 64:7, "And there is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You…." Instead we must move ourselves to take hold of the living God! We must intercede for all people, but specially for those that God has called to serve together in the Church. That is a true measure of a successful life. A successful life is a prayerful life.
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