As we learn to pray through Scripture, our prayers can be transformed from a one-way monologue to a two-way dialogue with God.

The Spiritual Discipline of Prayer

Matthew 6:6-15

This morning we continue our current sermon series on the Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life. The phrase “spiritual disciplines” might not be the best phrase to use in describing what I’m trying to describe though. When we think of the word “discipline”, it might have a negative meaning to us. “Discipline” refers to spanking and punishment. That is not what I’m talking about by the spiritual disciplines. I’m referring to what a person gains when they go through boot camp. They come out a disciplined person. Discipline in this sermon series does not refer to spanking or punishment, but rather to rigorous spiritual training for the purpose of godliness. The spiritual disciplines are godly habit patterns that we develop over time. Remember that God is that majestic mountain, and if we want to enjoy the beautiful scenic views from the peak of that mountain, we need to climb it through the various paths of the spiritual disciplines.

The two most important spiritual disciplines in the Christian life are devotion to God’s Word and Prayer. Without a thorough commitment to these two disciplines, a Christian will find it very difficult to make progress in his spiritual life. We have talked at length concerning our devotion to the Word. We have discussed hearing, reading, studying, memorizing, meditating, and obeying God’s Word.

Today, however, I want to turn your attention to the subject of prayer.  What is prayer? Prayer is simply conversing with God. It is communion with God. We converse with people all the time. Husbands and wives talk together. Close friends get together to visit. Prayer is just doing with God, what you do with people all the time. We can’t have a close relationship with another person without spending time communicating with them. It’s exactly the same with God. We can’t have a close relationship with God without spending time talking with Him.

When should we pray?  Jesus once told a parable to show that at all times we ought to pray and not to lose heart (Luke 18:1). Paul instructed the Thessalonians that they should pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17). The apostle Paul would often begin his letters saying that he was praying always for them, that he did not cease to pray for them, and that he prayed for them night and day (Col.1:3; Col.1:9; 1Thess.3:10).

How should we pray? Jesus instructed us how not to pray. He told us not to pray using meaningless repetitions, or to be seen of men (Mt. 6:5,7).

The New Testament teaches us that we are to pray:

1. With faith:  “All things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive” (Mt. 21:22)
2. According to God’s will: “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14-15)
3. In the Holy Spirit: “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit” (Jude 20)
4. With devotion: “rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer” (Rom.12:12)
5. With thanksgiving: “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving”) Col. 4:2
6. Earnestly:  “As we night and day keep praying most earnestly that we may see your face, and may complete what is lacking in your faith” (1 Thess.3:10)
7. Being on the alert for all the saints: “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints” (Eph.6:18)

With that as a general background to prayer, I want to look at prayer from three different angles:  our frustrations with prayer, Christ’s example of prayer, and then a practical method of prayer.

1.  Our Frustrations With Prayer

I think we need to be really honest with each other this morning about our prayer lives. According to national surveys, Christians pray an average of 5 minutes a day. Now, that’s very revealing isn’t it? Martin Luther once quipped, “As it is the business of tailors to make clothes and of cobblers to mend shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray.” Well, if it is the business of Christians to pray, and we pray five minutes a day, we’re going to go out of business really quick!

Every Christian knows that he should pray, and in his heart he wants to pray. We all believe in prayer theoretically, but are really bad about prayer in actual practice. Yes, it’s true, that when the Spirit of God comes to dwell in a believer, He instinctively wants to commune with God. He cries out, “Abba! Father!”  However, in spite of those new spiritual desires that rise in the heart of a child of God, when it comes right down to it, most Christians have a pretty pitiful prayer life. Let’s just admit it. We’re bad at praying. Now, why is that?

We begin to pray, but in just a few moments we find that are minds have wandered, and all of a sudden we find ourselves thinking about that job we have to get done today, or that e-mail that we have to return, or that text that we need to respond to. When we finally realize that we’re supposed to be praying, but aren’t even thinking about God, we reproach ourselves, and start again, only to find that our minds wander off again.

In a burst of spiritual enthusiasm we put together a prayer list to keep our mind on track. However, praying through the list gets boring, and nothing seems to happen. We lose track of many of the people we are praying for, not even knowing whether they still have that need any more or not. The list gets long and cumbersome. When someone is healed or helped, we wonder if it would have happened whether we prayed or not. We finally lose the list.

Then we have all the nagging questions. What’s the point of praying if God already knows what we need before you ask Him? Are we just nagging Him? Further, if God has ordained whatever comes to pass, why pray? He has already determined the outcome.

Then we stop to think about how strange prayer really is. When we are on the phone, we hear the other person’s voice and can respond. When we pray, we don’t hear an audible voice. It’s as if we are talking into the air. What do you call a person who talks to himself? A crazy person! So, how do we communicate with a Being who is invisible and does not speak with an audible voice?

Our prayers become boring, because we end up saying the same old thing about the same old thing day after day. And what’s more, our prayers are monologues. We talk at God. I’m going to argue this morning that prayer was never meant to be one-way communication. Prayer was designed to be a dialogue, a two-way communication between the believer and God.

In order to understand this 2-way dimension of prayer, I want you to look with me at the prayer life of our Lord Jesus.

2.  Christ’s Example of Prayer

The first thing that arrests our attention when we examine the life of Jesus Christ, is that He was a man of prayer. That’s very interesting, because He was God in human flesh, and yet He still felt a need to pray.  Let’s examine the prayer life of Jesus Christ.

In What Situations Did Jesus Pray? 

• At His Baptism – Luke 3:21-22. Jesus evidently sought God’s help as He began His public ministry.
• After the miraculous feeding of the 5,000 – Mt. 14:22-23. This teaches us that Jesus balanced His life between public ministry and spending time alone with His Father. What a wonderful example for all of us!
• After a busy and exhausting night of miraculous ministry – Mk. 1:32-35. Jesus had just given out to the point of exhaustion, and now He senses His need to draw upon God’s power.
• Before Choosing His 12 Apostles – Luke 6:12-13. Jesus needed to know exactly whom He should choose to be the 12 apostles. He needed to hear from God.
• When He Was Becoming Increasingly Popular – Luke 5:16. I wonder if Jesus felt the need to pray so that His popularity might not cause Him to swerve off of God’s course in the least.
• Before He Went To The Cross – Mt. 26:36-44. Jesus was about to face unimaginable soul suffering, and He keenly felt His need of His Father’s help and strength.

Christ prayed about His ministry, after working miracles, for wisdom in making decisions, for humility, and strength to face God’s appointed sufferings. In short, Jesus seemed to pray about anything and everything in which He sensed His dependence on His Father.

Where Did Jesus Pray?

• A Secluded Place: Mk. 1:35
• The Wilderness: Luke 5:16
• The Mountain: Mt. 14:23; Luke 6:12
• Alone:  Luke 9:18
• The Garden of Gethsemane: Mt.26:36.

What do all of these passages tell us about Christ’s habits of prayer? He liked to pray alone! Even when He was facing the most horrific suffering imaginable, He still left Peter, James, and John, and went off by Himself to pray. That shouldn’t surprise us for Jesus instructed His disciples in Mt. 6:6, “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”

When Did Jesus Pray?

• Often: Luke 5:16
• The 4^th Watch Of The Night: Mt. 14:23-25. The 4^th      watch of the night was between 3:00 and 6:00 a.m. Remember Jesus started      praying in the evening. Therefore, Jesus had spent at least 9 hours in      prayer that evening!
• The Whole Night: Luke 6:12

So, what do we learn from the prayer life of Jesus Christ? Jesus prayed about everything, Jesus liked to be alone with God, and Jesus sometimes spent very long periods of time in prayer. Now, this is what especially intrigues me about Jesus’ prayer life. I have a hard time understanding how Jesus could spend such a long period of time in prayer. Why was Jesus’ prayer life so different from mine? I believe the reason is that Jesus’ prayers were a two-way dialogue with His Father, whereas yours and mine are a one-way monologue. We are the only one doing the talking, and after a while we just run out of things to say. Have you ever noticed how a couple of hours can pass very quickly when you are in an interesting conversation with someone where there is mutual give and take? However, when you are in a conversation with someone where you have to carry the entire conversation while the other person gives clipped one word answers, the time passes very slowly, and you can’t wait to get it over with. So, why do I think that Jesus’ prayers were two-way communication with His Father? Let’s look at some texts.

John 5:19-20, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel.”

John 12:49, “For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.”

What do we learn from these two passages? We learn that Jesus didn’t do or say anything on His own initiative. Rather, He did whatever He saw the Father doing, and He said whatever He heard the Father saying. So, when did Jesus see and hear the Father doing and saying? I believe it was while Jesus was in prayer with His Father. That’s why I believe that Jesus and the Father held a dialogue in prayer. The Father gave Jesus a commandment what to say, and Jesus responded to His Father. The Father revealed to Jesus what He was doing, and Jesus responded back in prayer.

3.  A Practical Method for Prayer

So, how was Jesus able to hear the Father speak so well, when we have such trouble hearing His voice? I believe the answer lies in large measure due to who He is. Jesus was and is the sinlessly perfect Son of God and God the Son. Because there was absolutely no sin in His life, He could hear the Father’s voice with no hindrances at all. Because we are broken by sin, we sometimes have a difficult time knowing the Father’s will and hearing His voice. I believe that’s why God has graciously given us His Word in a book. His Word is perfect. God speaks to us clearly through the Scriptures.

Is there any way that we can have a two-way dialogue of prayer with our Father? Yes, I believe there is. The way we do this is by praying God’s Word.  As we read God’s Word He speaks to us. Then we respond to what He has just said by speaking to Him in prayer. Now, I’m not talking about reading a chapter or five chapters of the Bible, and then putting the Bible down, and trying to think of something to pray about what we have just read. No, I’m talking about reading a verse or two or three, and then talking to God about whatever He brings to mind from that passage of Scripture.

The great evangelist, George Whitefield, whom God used so greatly in the 1^st Great Awakening, discovered this as a new Christian. I read you this a couple of weeks ago, but it bears repeating. “My mind being now more open and enlarged, I began to read the Holy Scriptures upon my knees, laying aside all other books and praying over, if possible, every line and word. This proved meat indeed and drink indeed to my soul. I daily received fresh life, light and power from above. I got more true knowledge from reading the Book of God in one month than I could ever have acquired from all the writings of men.”

Would you like to have the same spiritual experience that Whitefield had? Would you like to receive fresh life, light and power from above? Would you like God to reveal His truth to you straight from His Word, rather than reading all the writings of other men? Then, let’s try the method that Whitefield discovered. Let’s begin to pray through Scripture.

Well, the Bible is a big book. What Scripture should we pray through? I believe the best portion of Scripture to use would be the Psalms. What are the psalms? They are inspired prayers and songs of praise. Why were they given by God? They were given to aid God’s people in the worship of God. We have no idea how to pray or praise God unless God reveals it. Well, God has revealed it in the 150 psalms of Scripture.

Next to the Psalms, the New Testament epistles are the next best place to go to pray through Scripture, because they are so eminently applicable to our lives.

So, how do we pray through Scripture practically?  Let me try to walk you through this.

1. Choose a psalm. Now, there are 150 psalms. I’m going to suggest that since there are basically 30 days to a month, that you choose between 5 different psalms for every day of the month. For example, today is March 3. So the logical choice would be to pray through Psalm 3. However, what if Psalm 3 turned out to be a difficult psalm to pray through because it didn’t seem very relevant to your life. Perhaps it was about God dashing His enemies’ teeth against the rocks, and melting them like a snail in the burning sun. What then? Well, just keep adding 30 to your first number, four more times. Thus, you would have Psalm 3, 33, 63, 93, and 123. You have five different psalms to choose from to pray through for that day.
2. Read the psalm and pray about whatever comes to mind.  At this point, you don’t have to worry about making sure you have the exact correct interpretation of the passage      you are praying about. That may sound strange, but your purpose right now is communion with God. It is devotion, worship, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. On a different occasion, when you study a passage, you will be spending more of your attention on getting at the meaning of the passage, but don’t be overly concerned about that at this time. If you do, you’ll spend all of your time with commentaries and study tools, and you will end up not having communed with God. The point at this time is engaging your heart in communion with God. Just turn every thought Godward in prayer that occurs to you as you are reading His Word.
3. Continue Until You Run Out Of Time.  You might be wondering, “When do I quit?” Whenever you run out of time? If you finish praying the psalm before you run out of time, just turn the page, and keep praying. If you run out of time before you finish the psalm, don’t worry. The point is not getting through the whole psalm. The point is connecting with God. I remember a time when I took a younger brother to a fast food restaurant. We found a secluded part of the restaurant, had lunch, and then opened up to 1 John. We started reading and praying through 1 John. About 2 hours later, we got to the end, and we were amazed that we had prayed for 2 hours straight and had enjoyed it immensely!  He commented that he had never prayed for 2 hours straight in his entire life.

Let me show you how this works by going through Psalm 1.

“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!”  After reading that you might pray something like, “O Lord I agree with you and I affirm that true happiness doesn’t come in sin. Lord, help me not to obey the counsel of wicked people over TV, radio, books, magazines, or web sites. Rather, Lord, help me to look to Your counsel in Your word for how I am to live. Lord, let me never find my delight in fellowship with sinners in their evil ways or in scoffing at divine truth.”

“But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.” You might pray, “Lord, I do delight in Your Word, but I pray that you would wean me from the things of the world so that I would find more delight in it. Let it be that which I crave when I rise in the morning each day. Let me not put anything ahead of spending time with You in Your Word. Lord, I recognize that it is the truly happy person who meditates on Your Word day and night. Lord, may that be true of me today. Remind me throughout this day to meditate on Your Word.”

“He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.”  “Father I want to be like that firmly planted tree. I want to draw all my spiritual nourishment from You. I thank You that I have been planted by the stream of Your Spirit. I praise You that as He lives through me I will bear the fruit of the Spirit. Lord, what a joy it is to know that I will prosper in whatever I do. Oh, let me never seek to find my joy in anything other than You and Your Word in my life!”

Now, as you are praying through verse 1 about not walking in the counsel of the wicked, you might think about a wicked person that you know, and begin to pray for their salvation. That’s fine. Even though the psalm is not about the salvation of the wicked, if that thought occurs to you as you read through the psalm, turn that thought Godward in prayer. If when you read that the blessed man doesn’t sit in the seat of scoffers, you remember that you made fun of something that should be held sacred, just confess that sin to God. What I’m saying to you, is that you can’t mess this up! You can’t do it wrong!

What I want to do right now is have all of you take the next 5 minutes and pray through Scripture. You can choose any of the Psalms, or a passage in one of the New Testament epistles. But just read it and pray about what you read. Please refrain from talking or whispering. Feel free to move about the sanctuary if you need to find where you can be by yourself. So go ahead right now and begin to pray through Scripture.

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