Join Our Mailing List

Print this page

P-R-A-Y-E-R

Luke 11:5-10
November 8, 2009

    There’s an old story about a man who bought a little run-down farm.  There were tree stumps, rusted pieces of machinery, and all sorts of debris strewn around, not to mention a fence greatly in need of repair.  The whole scene was a mess.

    During his spare time and his vacations, the new owner rolled up his sleeves and got to work.  He hauled off the junk, repaired the fence, pulled the stumps and replanted new trees.  Then he refurbished the old house with a new roof, new windows and a new paint job.

    It took several years to accomplish all this, but finally, when everything was completed, his neighbor, who had watched all this from a distance, walked over and said, “Well, fellow, you and the Good Lord have really done a fine job here.”

    Wiping the sweat from his face, the owner replied, “Yeah!  I reckon so, but man, you should have seen it when the Lord had it all to Himself!”

    He was right!  The Lord doesn’t have life all to Himself.  Paul said “We work together as partners . . . (with) God” (I Cor.  3:9, nlb).

    That’s why prayer is a deep and often misunderstood subject.  God isn’t like a Vending machine where you put in a prayer and get out a blessing.  There is a lot involved that we don’t even understand.  There are natural laws; there are peoples’ freedom of choice; and there are universal divine principles.

    What kind of world would this be if people could order anything they pleased simply by speaking to the Almighty about it?  Pious people would be fighting one another with prayer as viciously as they fight with bullets.  Some praying gardener would be sure to make it rain on the afternoon of someone’s outdoor wedding.  Men would not dare invest in the stock market lest some saintly soul desiring to sell short were to pray all night for the market to go down after some other saint had prayed only half the night for it to go up.  Men would hold religious marathons to determine who can rule the world through prayer.  What a chaotic unhappy place this world would be if God always said, “Yes!” to every request.

    Let’s analyze the word prayer and learn how to be effective:

I.      THE P IN PRAYER MEANS WE MUST BE PASSIONATE.

    This means being serious, sincere and emotionally involved.  We must really care.  We must yearn for answers to our questions and solutions to our problems.  Jesus told a story to illustrate this.  He said, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine . . . has come . . . and I have nothing to set before him.’  Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’  I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Luke 11:5-10).

    Now, Jesus wasn’t indicating that God is rude and resistant.  Instead, he was emphasizing the importance of our own determination and persistence.  A father once said to his little boy, “Son, you gotta set a goal and never quit.  Do you remember George Washington?”  The son said, “Yes.”

    “Do you remember Thomas Jefferson?”  “Yes.” 

    “Do you remember Abraham Lincoln?”  “Yes.” 

    Do you know what they all had in common?”  “No!  What?”

    The father said, “They didn’t quit.”

    Do you remember Amador McIngle?”

    The kid said, “No.  Who was he?”

    His dad replied, “See, you don’t remember him because he quit!”

    We must focus on our crucial needs.  We must express our needs, and we must not quit.  We must be passionate!

II.   THE R IN PRAYER MEANS WE MUST BE REASONABLE. 

    This means intelligent, logical and sensible.  We must use common sense.  The little girl who prayed, “Dear God, please let Tulsa be the Capital of Oklahoma, because that’s what I put on my test,” was not being reasonable.  Jesus didn’t make unreasonable requests.  When Satan took him to the highest point of the temple and said, "Throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone’;  Jesus answered . . . ‘It is also written: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test”' ” (Matt.  4:5-7).

    Jesus didn’t ask God to suspend the laws of gravity so he could jump off the temple. 

    So be sure that what you want is right and fair to everyone involved.  Think before you ask!
    Paul said, “I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind . . .” (1 Cor. 14:15).
    We must be reasonable.

III.  THE A IN PRAYER MEANS WE MUST BE APPRECIATIVE.

    This means being grateful for what we already have, and being aware of our blessings.  Jesus commended one man for his attitude of gratitude.  He had healed “ten men who had leprosy . . .  (But), one of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God . . . He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him . . . Jesus asked,  “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? . . . Then he said to him,  “Rise and go; your faith has made you well” (Luke 17:11-19).

    Paul said, “Pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances . . .” (1 Thess. 5:17-18a).

    Being appreciative means getting rid of negative and hostile thoughts.  Once a T.V. Station cancelled a program.  Many viewers protested.  One man said, “Why did you do that.  It was your best program?”  The station manager responded, “But, Sir, did you ever tell us that you liked it?”

    “Well, No!” the man answered; “but maybe I should have!”

    Appreciation is important.  Paul said, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone” (1 Tim.  2:1);  “By prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Phil.  4:6).

    We must be appreciative.

IV.   THE Y IN PRAYER MEANS WE MUST BE YIELDED.

    This means relinquishing our demands if they aren’t best for every one.  It means being teachable.  It means letting go of selfishness and resentment.

    Jesus prayed this way on the night before his crucifixion.  The Scripture says, “He prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him.  "Abba, Father," he said,"everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:35-36).

    As humans we don’t always know what’s best.  A lady said, “Once I was painting when my 5 year old kept begging, “Mama, please let me do it.”

    Finally, I handed him the brush and said, “Okay, Son, paint the stepladder.”  In a few minutes his arms and legs were splotched.  His hair was clotted.  Dried paint and grass clippings covered his feet.  I was in shock.

    I applied cold cream, turpentine, Vaseline and elbow grease.  His skin turned red and his tears flowed.  “Why did you let me do it?”  He kept sobbing.

    “Honey, because you begged me to let you paint,” I reminded him.

    You see, parent’s are not always wise.  But God doesn’t say “yes” when He knows our requests will hurt us.

    So be flexible, but above all, listen.  Prayer is a conversation.  Samuel said, “Speak, for thy Servant heareth” (see 1 Sam. 3:9).

    And remember, hostility blocks prayers.  Jesus said, “When you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him” (Mark 11:25);

    John said, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (1 John 5:14).

    We must be yielded.

V.   THE E IN PRAYER MEANS WE MUST BE EXPECTANT.

    This means being positive, optimistic and hopeful.  It means we are looking for the good and anticipating favorable outcomes.  James said, “When (anyone) asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind . . .” (James 1:6-8).

    People might say, “I ask and I do not receive.  I seek and I do not find.  I knock and the door does not open.  But remember, our lives are still unfinished.  One man who was considered a business failure when he was sixty years old.  Today, he’s a multimillionaire.

    In fact, if you start believing, you can create a future for  yourself.  When we’re depressed we would do well to recall some of Oscar Hammerstein’s songs.  He once said, “I just can’t write anything without hope in it.  These words are familiar to most of us:

    Oh, what a beautiful morning.
    Oh, what a beautiful day!
    I’ve got a glorious feeling
    Everything’s going my way.
        —From the play Oklahoma

    The writer of Hebrews said, “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith . . . Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Heb. 10:22; 11:6).

    We must be expectant!

VI.  THE LAST R IN PRAYER MEANS WE MUST BE RESPONSIBLE.

    This means being ready to do our part.  God doesn’t answer prayer for you.  He answers pray with you!  Faith that moves mountains always carries a shovel.

    An old slave once said, “I prayed and prayed for freedom; but nothing happened until I put feet to my prayers by running away.”

    The gospel advises personal action.  James said, “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:17).

    Two farmers bought orange groves.  They both prayed for success.  One asked God for rain.  He asked God to protect his crop from frost and from insects.  But he had a very poor harvest.

    The other farmer had a bumper crop.

    The unsuccessful man was angry.  He said, “I prayed too!  Why wasn’t my crop as good as yours?”

    “Well,” his friend replied, “When we had a drought, I prayed and hauled water for my trees.  When frost warnings came, I prayed and started my smudge pots.  When I saw insects, I prayed and sprayed.  Oh, Yes!  I prayed.  But I reckon the Lord gave me two hands and a brain to help Him out in this growing business.”

    You see, prayers have a better chance of being answered if you help them along with your hands and feet.  As we grow, our prayers change from “Give me”; to “Help me”; to “Use me!”  We have a special promise that such unselfish prayers will be heard.  James said, “The effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16b, kjv).

    So, let’s be Passionate—serious and concerned.
    Let’s be Reasonable—sensible and fair.
    Let’s be Appreciative—grateful and thankful
    Let’s be Yielded—flexible and willing to change.
    Let’s be Expectant—optimistic and hopeful.
    And above all, let’s be Responsible—active and dedicated.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(WC1878)

Copyrighted 2009 by Miles and Maralene Wesner, Idabel, OK.  PLEASE FEEL FREE TO USE THIS MESSAGE IN ANY WAY YOU THINK IS APPROPRIATE.  The only thing we ask is that you give credit for original material in PUBLISHED works. 

NEW PERSPECTIVES is a free service from Diversity Press.   

You may find other messages and a book list on our Webpage:
                                  www.ForMinistry.com/USOKSOBCOFBC5
or                               www.diversitypress.com

Email: wdiversitypress@aol.com or milesewesner@gmail.com
Phone: 1-580-286-3148

Remember, you may cancel at any time by replying with CANCEL written on the SUBJECT line and click on REPLY.   Your address will then be excluded from receiving any more NPs.

Miles E Wesner