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/Ken

Broadcast no. 12 -The Lord’s Prayer:

Good Morning dear friends, Welcome again to  Insights From God’s precious Word: Our session this morning is entitled, The Lord’s Prayer.

Today we are beginning a series of messages on the very vital subject of Prayer and particularly on the model prayer that Jesus taught his disciples.

In this session we will be talking about what our goal is and when we should pray

Shall we begin by committing this time to the Lord in prayer:

As we begin this message I would like to invite you to proclaim God’s Word together with me. Remember that God’s Word is living and very powerful and as we proclaim it preferably out loud, faith is growing in our hearts.

We read in Romans 10: 17 that “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” The more you hear yourself declaring God’s Word  the more you will believe it and thus  the truths you proclaim  will eventually become a reality in your life. Furthermore as we proclaim God’s Word  in faith it becomes a mighty weapon against the enemy.

This week we will proclaim together. Matt. 26:40-41, I will read it first then we can proclaim it together: 

“Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.””

1. First of all what is the goal of this message

Not one of us could say that we have achieved all we need to know about prayer I have been a believer for over seventy years and I am still learning. Our goal with these series of  messages is to discover how we can be more effective and disciplined in our prayer life by using the model prayer Jesus taught His disciples. By using this prayer as a model our prayers are ordered according to God’s direction and as a result we are not praying without purpose or order. This also helps us to keep our minds from wandering to other things while we are praying!

2 When should we pray:

(1) Praying Regularily: 

In Matt. 26:40-41 which we repeated together we read the Words which Jesus gave to His disciples in His hour of greatest need not long before He was crucified.

“Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour…Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the body is weak.”

Jesus is challenging His disciples Here to watch with Him for one hour. He warns them about the weakness of the flesh. For example the flesh will complain terribly for having to wake up early to wait upon God, it would rather sleep and rest, it would rather read something interesting, it would rather see a video, DVD, or watch a TV program, It would rather surf the internet, it would rather play a game, it would rather write or do some other work, it would rather go for a walk or do some other exercise, it would rather do everything thing else except pray! Therefore through the power of the Holy Spirit we must be willing to say no to the flesh and follow the desire of the spirit instead. We also have an enemy who would do everything he can to hinder us from praying, for example by making us feel very tired during our prayer time, or causing our thoughts to wander or bringing in interruptions in different ways 

 If all believers would begin their day by taking at least an hour In earnest and sincere prayerand using the model of the Lords prayer they would experience victory in their Christian life and revival in their churches.

  We of course must not limit our prayer time to only one hour. Many will want to pray much longer than that or perhaps even less. 

Jesus is our great example of praying early in the morning. We read in Mark 1:35:

 “ Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.”

Therfore if possible we also, like Jesus, should withdraw early in the morning to a lonely or quiet place where we will not be interrupted or disturbed. If this is not possible we should try and raise at a time in the morning in which we would not be interrupted by telephone calls or by the crying of our children, etc. Some people may find other times of the day to be more convenient. For example mothers who have children going to school may find it a convenient time to pray when their children are in school.

The Psalmist David said in Psalm 5:4:

“My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up.” 

And in Psalm 88:13: “But to You I have cried out, O LORD, And in the morning my prayer comes before You.” 

We read how Daniel faithfully prayed three times in a day:   

In the book of Daniel 6:10 we read: 

“When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously”

The Apostle Paul exhorts us in 1Thess. 5:17 to always be in an attitude of prayer, “ pray without ceasing.” We should not grow weary in our praying and when we do not feel like praying that is the time when we should pray most!

Although we may have our regular times of prayer we still can pray or be in the altitude of prayer when ever possible when we are going about our different duties. 

Although Jesus saw the great need of withdrawing to be alone there is no doubt that He was in communion with His Father at all times and through all mundane activity. He said in Luke 18:1:

“Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,” 

In Col. 4:12 we have the example of Epaphras who had the testimony that he was always  wrestling in Prayer:

“Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.”

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We read from the above that Epaphras had dedicated himself to the ministry of Intercessory prayer! True intercession is not an easy ministry but perhaps the most difficult one but at the same time the most important one. We see that Epaphras was always wrestling in prayer. The Full Life Study Bible informs us that “the word translated “wrestling” in the Greek is “agonizo”, from which we derive the English word “agonize”. This denotes an intense desire, an agonizing or a striving in prayer.” What was he praying for? That the Colossians Christians may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. Can we do less? Let us also dedicate ourselves to this very important ministry, not seen or rewarded of men, not receiving the applause of men but seen and rewarded by God.

It was said of Smith Wigglesworth That he usually never prayed more than a half an hour but he never allowed more than a half an hour to go by before he was in prayer again.

Let me close this session with this Thrilling testimony given by  Smith Wigglesworth Showing the power of persistent prayer that would not have no as an answer.

 And I quote:

“I was called at 10 o’clock one night to pray for a young person given up by the doctor who was dying of consumption. As I looked, I saw that unless God undertook it was impossible for her to live. I turned to the mother and said, “Well, mother. you will have to go to bed.” She said, “Oh, I have not had my clothes off for three weeks.” I said to the daughters, “You will have to go to bed,” but they did not want to go. It was the same with the son. I put on my overcoat and said, “Good-bye, I’m off.” They said, “Oh, don’t leave us.” I said, “I can do nothing here.” They said, “Oh, if you will stop, we will all go to bed.” I knew that God would move nothing in an atmosphere of mere natural sympathy and unbelief.

They all went to bed and I stayed, and that was surely a time as I knelt by that bed face to face with death and with the devil. But God can change the hardest situation and make you know that He is almighty.

Then the fight came. It seemed as though the heavens were brass. I prayed from 11 to 3:30 in the morning. I saw the glimmering light on the face of the sufferer and saw her pass away. The devil said, “Now you are done for. You have come from Bradford and the girl has died on your hands.” I said, “It can’t be. God did not send me here for nothing. This is a time to change strength.” I remembered that passage which said, “Men ought always to pray and not to faint.” Death had taken place but I knew that my God was all-powerful, and He that had split the Red Sea is just the same today. It was a time when I would not have “No,” and God said “Yes.” I looked at the window and at that moment the face of Jesus appeared. It seemed as though a million rays of light were coming from His face. As He looked at the one who had just passed away, the color came back to the face. She rolled over and fell asleep. Then I had a glorious time. In the morning she woke early, put on a dressing gown and walked to the piano. She started to play and to sing a wonderful song. The mother and the sister and the brother had all come down to listen. The Lord had undertaken. A miracle had been wrought.

The Lord is calling us along this way. I am thanking God for difficult cases. The Lord has called us into heart union with Himself; He wants His bride to have one heart and one Spirit with Him and to do what He Himself loved to do. That case had to be a miracle. The lungs were gone, they were just in shreds, but the Lord restored lungs that were perfectly sound.”-end of quote

Shall we pray:

Thank you for listening and we look forward to having another session with insights from God’s Word  with you again  soon