Let me state my claim upfront, I am under no illusions that a strong church is a praying church and a praying church has praying people. The best support a person can give to the church is to pray for their church and the people of their church.
It is not my intention to be so simple that we miss the important principle of prayer support in the local church and that principle is this;
THE LOCAL CHURCH NEEDS YOUR PRAYERS!
It is not my intention to be so simple that I downplay the need for prayer in the local church. I believe in prayer. I believe prayer works. I believe God hears and answers prayer! I believe that a strong Christian is a praying Christian. I believe that all efforts of the local church will not be achieved if not covered with believing prayer.
And I also believe that prayer is pivotal in the life of the local church no matter how big or small that church may be.
This message has a two-fold purpose:
To emphasize prayer in the life of the believer
To maximize prayer in the life of the church
If our church is going to be a strong, vibrant, effective, and healthy church it starts and continues and is kept with the prayer support of its members.
Let’s look into this letter from Paul to the Colossian church to help increase the level of prayer support in our local church assembly.
I. The Consistency of Prayer – v. 2a “Continue earnestly in prayer…”I have a book in my office by John Hull and Tim Elmore entitled; “Pivotal Praying”. In the opening chapter; “What is pivotal praying?” He tells the story of John Welch who started his life with the dream of becoming a missionary. As the nervous young sat in the mission agency’s office, he assured the interviewer that he and his new bride were committed to working hard, managing their resources as good stewards, and sharing Christ with as many people as possible. His future looked bright.
Then it all seemed to come crashing down. His dream began to fall apart. During their cross-cultural preparation, he and his wife realized she could never endure the rigors of life overseas. Her body was fragile and frail. If they went to Africa as planned, she would certainly die.
Confused and emotionally crushed, the young man returned home. His tragic tale continued as he failed to find a ministerial position. The first blow had left him devastated. This one left him depressed.
One night he awoke from sleep feeling the weight of his failed dream. His hands were clammy and his temperature ran high. He was angry. He was baffled. He began to wrestle with God over his calling. How could God call him to change the world, then close all doors to ministry? It was during this time in prayer that God reminded him of his original commitment to work hard, to manage his resources, and to share Christ with as many as people as possible.
Bingo! His entire attitude changed. It suddenly struck him that he could still remain true to his commitment, wherever he worked. So he prayed exactly for this.
He decided to work for his dad, a dentist who had a small business on the side that produced juice for church Communion services. As his father grew older, the young man took over the business and determined to use it to touch the world for Christ. He would keep his promise be financially supporting others who could go overseas as missionaries.
He built the company into a huge business enterprise. In fact, we serve the juice every first Sunday during communion our service, his name was Welch maker of Welch’s Grape Juice.
This man’s life was changed for the better and it began with prayer.
The crisis of life can do one of two things: pull you away from God or draw you closer to God through prayer.
Life as we know it in the local church is changing before our very eyes. Many churches are struggling to keep their doors open. The local church has goals and ambitions that can only be met through the fervent prayers of the righteous.
Here are a few practical principles of prayer in the local church and life of the believer that we should hold onto:
A. Never stop praying – Paul says: “Continue earnestly in prayer.” It is also said in other translations; “Devote yourselves to prayer” or “Continue steadfastly in prayer”. The point is that we should never stop praying. Jesus tells a story in Luke 18 verses 1-8 that helps to drive the principle to never stop praying. Jesus says; “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor 1regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, 2‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 byet because this widow troubles me I will 3avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ”
6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And cshall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you dthat He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
To never stop praying is to pray without losing heart. It’s hanging in there between the first initial request and the final answer. Never stop praying is prayers in the meantime.
B. Prayer is hard work – “Continue earnestly in prayer”. We are instructed to be strong in prayer. Prayer is not an idle past time, or an optional exercise reserved for the “spiritual” prayer warrior. Prayer is the ministry of the church. We can’t expect things to come easy for us in life and in the church. There are times when we have to work hard to maintain by praying during those time when we ourselves doubt that God is even listening to what we have to say. Prayer will mean nothing to you if it doesn’t cost you something.
C. Prayer is powerful – While this may not be stated in the text, I believe it’s worth stating because if we keep on praying in hard work results will follow. I believe this to be true because in Acts 2:42-47 it is said that the church continued in prayer. Verse 41 God added to the church and in verse 42 God was adding to the church but sandwich in between the church was praying. This tells me that there is no secret formula for growing a church, just pray. This tells me that there is nothing outside of our capacity to do to grow the kingdom of God, just pray. We can accomplish our goals and ambitions through prayer. Prayer can change the hearts and minds of our enemies. Prayer can move obstacles in our way so we can get to where God wants us to be.
The final analysis is that PRAYER WORKS!
II. The CONDUCT of our Prayers – “With an alert mind and thanksgiving”.
The conduct of our prayers is seen in two ways in the text:
- Be Ready to pray
Before going to the cross, Jesus in Matthew 26 goes to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray and he took Peter, James, and John. He tells them to take a seat while He goes to pray. Upon His return He finds all three disciples asleep. He wakes them up and says to them in verse 40; “Wake up! Couldn’t you stay up for a little while to pray? Stay alert and pray, otherwise, temptation will overpower you. For though the spirit is willing enough, the body is weak!”
In other words, be ready to pray by guarding your prayer life! Let’s clear that Paul’s instruction to continue in prayer is not an instruction that says that we are to be on our knees at all time with our eyes closed praying. But, that we should always be ready to pray in any and every circumstance. To do this means, we must guard ourselves of those things that will prevent readiness to pray. Things like:
Prayerlessness. James 4:2 says, “You do not have, because you do not ask” (ESV). Indeed, the biggest reason why many of us are not the beneficiaries of answered prayer is simply because we do not pray. There is much you can do about your situation after you pray. But there is nothing you can do that will make a real difference until you pray.
Unconfessed sin. In Psalm 66:18, the psalmist says, “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” Now, this is not to say that you have to be perfect in order to get a prayer through. It means that effective prayer begins with the confession of sin.
Selfish motives. But James 4:3 states: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” The Lord does not answer selfish prayers. Sure, you can pray about your own needs and desires. But remember that the priority of prayer is God and his glory, not you are your wants.
Broken Fellowship. In Matthew 5:23-24, Jesus says, “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leaven your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” In a real sense, all prayer is corporate prayer, in that God will not talk to you if you refuse to talk to your brother. For instance, 1 Peter 5:7 warns husbands that if we do not live with our wives in an understanding way, our prayers will be hindered.
A lack of faith. James 1:6-7 instructs, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts Is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the win. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.” Believing prayer is short-circuited when the one who prays doesn’t really believe. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
- Be grateful in prayer
We should not only be ready to pray but we should also be grateful in prayer. Prayer is not just for us to pour out to God everything we want, need, and desire. Prayer is also recognizing the goodness of God as well. In other words, God has done more for us than we give Him credit for.
III. The CONTENT of our Prayers – v. 3-4
I used to say that how we pray was more important than what we say. However, I have to change that thought process. I believe now more than ever before that how we pray and what we pray are synonymous. Meaning, what we pray is just has important as how we pray.
It’s evident in this text that Paul who’s in prison didn’t ask the Colossian to pray for his release. Instead, he prayed that God would open a door to minister the gospel. Paul’s mind was not on his current circumstances, instead, he was more concerned about the sharing the gospel of Jesus from jail.
Jesus taught us the same lesson when hanging on the cross when He prayed; “Let this cup pass from me. Not My will Lord, but Your will be done.”
In Matthew chapter 6 in the Model Prayer, Jesus teaches that one of our petitions should be; “Thy kingdom come, thy will be down on earth as it is heaven”.
The content of prayers should never loose sight of why we exist and that is to fulfill the will of God for our lives for His glory alone.
How do we as a church and individuals fulfill the will of God for our live?
- Pray for Opportunity to share the gospel – “as for me, that God would open to us a door for the word”.
- Pray for direction to share the gospel – “that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.”
Thank God for rest!
