The Prayer Life of a Disciple

Okay. Apologies. Somebody, the guy before me spoke too long in the first session, so 15 minutes last time in the seminars.

I apologize for the guys next door. I've put them in it as well.

Okay, good. Let me pray because that's probably a good thing to do today before we dive into the next bit.

Okay. Father, here we are again. We are just before you.

We are so, so, so, so thankful for your love for us, the sacrifice of your son, the invitation to eternal life, the experience of regeneration and transformation by the power of your spirit.

And as we've come and just believed you and just taken you at your word and just said yes to your gracious, merciful offer of salvation and reconciliation.

So thank you, Lord. We're here because of you today. We are who we are because you are who you are and because of what you've done in our lives.

And so we come to you just again, knowing that there's, there's just so many ways that we have to grow, so many things we have to learn.

So, so much distance still to travel in the time that we have in this life.

And we pray that somehow this, this day together in this short time just now in your word would be profitable and bear fruit in our lives for your glory.

Amen.

Okay, good.

This is, so this is, this is, this is seminar.

And, and seminars are supposed to be, you know, kind of work related.

I kind of had a wee peek at the breakdown of what you're going to get in the other seminar, which is probably truly seminar,

because I think they've got some interaction and they've got some prayer time.

And I'm not going to have any of that because there's too much I want to say.

But I do just want this to be seminar like.

Okay, that doesn't mean pretend it's a seminar when it's not really a seminar.

But it would be good if, if, if you do want to raise a hand or you do want to ask a question or you do want to make a statement or whatever.

Let's, let's try that.

Okay, so, so I'm just going to take you through some stuff.

It's going to be maybe a little bit more personal for, for, for, for me and my life.

But we've all have lives.

So it's not just me and my life.

It's, it's, it's us and our lives.

And so if there's something that, that kind of sparks something off for you and you want to make a comment or whatever,

just, you know, pop your hand out or shout out or whatever.

And so that'll be the seminar.

Okay, we'll, we'll kind of approach it that way and we'll see how it goes.

The title for this bit then now is a prayer, the prayer life of a disciple.

And I would probably say more, more personally that, that for me, in my case, it's probably better to say the struggling prayer life of a disciple.

Okay.

So that's my title.

I'm not saying we're all struggling in our prayer lives.

Yeah.

I'm not saying you're struggling in your prayer life, but I just want to be brutally honest and, and, and, and, you know, confess to you that, that, and, and, and I don't know.

I don't know what pastors are supposed to be.

You know, I, I don't know necessarily that every single pastor is a champion prayer.

I would imagine that most of us, um, other than Graham, no, I'm kidding.

Most of us probably would just, you know, have to confess that, that, that we, we, we probably, it's probably as much of a struggle for, for us as it is for anybody.

Um, it's, it's something we're totally in together.

My, my confession, confession is that I am not a strong prayer.

I'm not, and I told Graham, you know, when we met and we had a coffee and I said, are you sure?

It's probably, maybe there's other guys that could do a far better job and they really are strong prayers.

Um, and there's a lot, and some people are, I'm not saying every Christian's a rotten prayer.

I don't think that's the case.

I think, I think some of you, and you've maybe been on the road longer than I have, or you've learned faster than probably.

I'm sure that's the case.

You've learned faster than, than I have.

And, and I don't think the church is just full of weak prayers.

I think there are some people who, who are just, you know, they're walking a road that, that is, is more of what God is calling them to.

And, and, and, and, and their prayer life is, is, is strong.

You look back through church history.

There are, I don't think the church has been completely littered with strong prayers, but we know people, George Mueller and others who, who have been very, very faithful in their prayer lives.

John Wesley and, and, and people like that who, who have championed prayer.

And, and my confession is that that's my desire.

My heart is that I would champion prayer at some point before I leave this world.

But, but I, I don't feel as though I'm championing, championing prayer.

It's like an Everest for me.

It's like I'm a hill walker.

And one day I hope to climb Everest.

Okay.

So, so that's a bit of my confession when it comes to, to prayer.

And, and, and, and I'm just reflecting back on, on the main session when, when I think of maybe why I struggle so much is because I think I'm very, very prone to self-reliance.

And, and I'm sure you are too.

I'm sure at some level we're all prone to, to the self-life.

The Bible says so much about that.

And so much of our, of our, our church community folks, so much of our time together should be working to resolve that problem.

We shouldn't be, we shouldn't be encouraged more to self in church.

We, we, we should be in, what does Hebrews 10 say?

Consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking your own assembling together as is the habit of some,

but encouraging one another all the more because the day is drawing near.

We don't have forever.

And so part of, a big part, I think of church life should be encouraging one another in, in, in, in, in leaving self.

And, and I guess as I say that, I know the whole theme today is if we're going to be doing that, we should be encouraging one another to pray.

We should be encouraging one another.

If you have a prayer meeting to go, to make whatever sacrifices you need to make to go, to be there.

It's important.

It's a place where the church is helping us in this area.

When we, when we, we say once a month or once a quarter or once a week or whatever, we're going to gather together as a church and pray, go.

That's the church helping you to deal with this issue of being less self and more God dependent.

I think a massive default setting for us is, is self.

And, and I, and I, and I think that, that, that's borne out again by experience, isn't it?

Why is it that the prayer meeting, by and large, not in every church, but by and large, why is it that the prayer meeting is one of the most poorly attended meetings in church life?

I mean, I, I, I, I know philosophically and theologically why, but in my heart, I don't get it.

I don't get it.

We have two services at Corubbers.

And I don't think it's two services because people need to come and listen to me or anything.

I think we, you know, the Lord just, I will build the church, Lord, and it's just all sovereignly up to him.

But we have two services on a Sunday morning because, because we couldn't get everybody into one room.

And they're coming and, and they're listening to me expound scripture.

And, and, and, and on a Tuesday night when we pray, we have to meet in the small room upstairs because otherwise we're embarrassed by the, the, the, the space and the lack of, when, when, when, when, when they're coming to pray to be with God.

I mean, what's, what is that all about?

What is that all about?

I'm, I'm, I'm struck by those things.

Why is it that when I ask people about their prayer lives, they go all quiet?

Why is that folks?

Come on, come on, think about it.

I think it's because by and large, we're all in the same boat.

I started telling you a little bit about my testimony in the, in the first session.

Um, and, and, and, and I know that I can't say the persistent,

prayer has probably ever been, um, a huge strength of mine.

Um, it has been a constant challenge.

It has been a constant challenge.

Just, just the whole discipline of prayer for me is, is, is, is, is, is, is hard work.

I'm going to talk about this in a minute.

Um, and, and some of you might be just looking at me and just saying, Sutton, man, you've got so much to learn.

And I know I do.

So many ways to just grow in my intimacy with Christ.

So that, so, so, so, so my, my dream, my dream is that, um, I will get to a place where, where, where the intimacy of my relationship with God is such that, that, that, that I can't help.

But pray, uh, you know, I, I, I, there's a first Thessalonians 517, just, just, just continually without ceasing.

Just pray with God.

But my testimony is that that hasn't happened naturally for me.

It's not happened naturally.

And so my testimony is that there's been a number of times over the course of my walk with the Lord now that God has stepped in.

He, he, he loves me enough to not leave, leave me just paddling in the shallows, um, of prayer.

And there's been a couple of times where he has, um, stepped into my life, um, and, and, um, and, and, and made a difference and, and drawn me closer.

Um, I'm under the impression that God loves us.

I think that's fairly true to say, isn't it?

God loves us.

Um, and the work that he started in us to conform us to the image of Christ and to draw us near, he's going to finish.

He's going to finish.

And my read of scripture is that he kind of throws that line out to us.

Come with me.

Come with me.

Come to me, all you who are weary, weary and heavy laden.

He gives us these invitations.

By and large, you know, I do have a thick head and often a hard heart.

And so I don't know that I often take the invitations as often as I, as I should when they're thrown out to me.

And so God loves me enough to then step into my life, um, to make the difference, particularly with my, my prayer life.

Um, I, I think communion with God in prayer and dependence on God in prayer are two of the things that he is going to work out in our lives, whether we like it or not.

Is that fair?

Communion with him.

And dependence on him.

Both of those happen in prayer.

I think my read of the Bible is that, that as children of God, he loves us enough that he is going to take us there whether we like it or not.

Um, and now we can come willingly.

Okay.

We can come willingly or we can be dragged in kicking and screaming.

And some of my experience, um, has been that I have been dragged in kicking and, and screaming.

And, and he's done this with me, um, really in, in, in, in two main crises of my life.

Um, the Lord.

And, and, and, and I guess part of what I want to do here is, is, is, is open up a dialogue, a discussion, or, or, or, or, or have some considerations, um, around this whole idea of dependency again.

Okay.

And, and, and, and, and how that works, um, with prayer.

Um, but also at the same time, try to encourage you, um, as I think I've been encouraged.

Um, it's taken a while for me for it to get through to me, but I think I've been encouraged.

I've been encouraged that, um, particularly the, the most difficult periods of my life have been the times when God has gone deepest in my heart and, and made the most radical changes in my life.

Would that be fair?

Can you, can you relate to that?

It hasn't been the easy times.

I enjoy the easy times.

I, I, I, you know, I like the ease.

I like when the sun is shining.

Don't you?

I like when the sun is, I like when life is, is, is, is, you know, um, is, is, is peaceful and, and, and the waters are not rough.

I like that.

We all do.

We all like to be comfortable.

Well, with the trouble with that is that we're sinners.

That's the trouble in heaven.

I don't think being comfortable or, or, or, or, or, or enjoying the environment is going to be a problem because there'll be no sin.

It is a problem now because we're sinners.

And what happens is, um, we tend to want to make, uh, the, the, the, the, the path of least resistance, the norm.

And, and that's not the best for us as sinners because God has to eradicate that sin from our life.

He has to draw us into a relationship with him.

Is that, am I, am I making any sense in here?

It's just, I think that's, that's the path of what I see in the lives of disciples in the word of God.

Um, and for me, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the two biggest crises that I've faced has been a nervous breakdown 15 years ago, particularly my breakdown experience.

And I'm going to get to the scripture, by the way.

Okay.

I just want to share a little bit of, um, um, personal testimony before we get into the word.

But, um, particularly this, this, whatever it was, I don't know what a breakdown is.

I've just had one, you know, I don't know how to describe it.

People say, you know, just, it was a burnout.

It was a burnout experience.

It was exhaustion.

It was breakdown.

I don't, the, the terms even now as I've, as I've, you know, I never had a book on my shelf about breakdown or anxiety or anything.

Now, like half of my library is full of this stuff.

Same with eating disorders.

And, you know, it's just, you, you learn by experience by, don't you?

You know, you may know nothing about a certain event and then it happens to you.

And so I don't know what this was.

I just know what it felt like and what happened and, and, you know, just how, how dark it was.

My, my experience was, was mainly an anxiety based kind of panic attacks, um, a, a, a, a period of acute anxiety for about six weeks.

Um, the bottom just fell.

I couldn't do anything.

I couldn't talk.

I couldn't relate.

I couldn't, um, I, I sat virtually for six weeks when it all began.

I sat on my sofa and the only thing I could do because I, I, I needed God.

I had become desperate.

And when I say desperate, I mean, I, I can't, I don't know how else to put it.

I just was, I had never been so desperate for the presence of God and the reality of God in my life than I was, um, in those six weeks.

And I, I woke up.

The moment I woke up, I had this profound anxiety.

I, I, I wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go because anywhere I went, I took my head with me.

So I couldn't go, I couldn't go up in the hills.

I couldn't go.

I just, I sat on my couch and I was so desperate for God that all I could do was sit there and hug my Bible.

It just sounds so pathetic, doesn't it?

I sat and I just hugged my Bible because tangibly this was the closest thing.

I knew God was in this.

You know what I mean?

I knew this was his.

And I, I, I hugged my Bible for, for virtually eight hours a day for probably six weeks.

Um, and I prayed, I prayed.

I, I, that's all I did was, I had never prayed for six hours before in my life.

I'd never prayed for six hours.

I don't know if I, I could keep my focus for six minutes, but, but God had, had taken, had brought me to a place where I, where literally I felt I had nothing to stand on.

My, my, every, all my foundations of everything just fell away.

Any confidence I ever had, any ability I felt I had, just everything was gone.

I was, I was literally a nervous wreck.

And maybe that's why they call it a nervous breakdown.

I just, I was a nervous wreck.

And I prayed constantly.

So much so, and I've been a pastor for 12 years, but I prayed so much so.

But it was that profound for me.

And I remember just thinking, something has happened between me and God here.

Maybe I haven't just gotten saved, and I don't think I did.

But something happened where God pushed a button in my life that had to do with my dependence on him.

And everything changed.

Everything changed.

And I would sit there and pray and pray and pray and pray.

And I wound up just getting a book and started diarying and going up the hills and sitting for days and just talking to the Lord.

Something.

I shared this with a guy who's one of our missionaries who was home recently struggling with cancer.

And I just shared with him just how it seems to be through the most difficult experience of our lives that God draws us near.

Or goes deep in his transforming work in our lives.

And his question to me was, what happened as you got better?

Oh, what happened as you got better?

You know what's happened as I've gotten better?

I've begun to struggle again with prayer.

Now, take that as you will.

I'm not asking the Lord for another nervous breakdown.

Believe you me.

I think there's been some permanent changes.

But the curve somehow seems to go that, you know, as your, I don't know, as your situation deteriorates as far as it seems.

Your dependence on God grows.

And maybe there's, he said, well, maybe there's a point where it meets in the middle.

Where you have just enough balance of struggle.

No, seriously.

You have just enough balance of struggle in your life where you have to depend on God.

Think about that.

Because we all want to be comfortable.

We all want to be at ease.

And I just don't think that's how it works.

I just don't think that's how it works.

And for me, and I'll give you some practical stuff in a minute.

And for me, there have been loads and loads of different things that have developed from these experiences of my life.

1 Peter 4.10 became precious to me.

And it says, let him who serves.

Because I wasn't sure I'd ever go back into the ministry.

But my wife was behind me there.

And I think the Lord was behind my wife.

And kind of pushed me back in.

Because I was saying to her, she's an occupational therapist.

And I was saying to her, well, sweetheart, I think it's time for you to start working full time.

And I think she said, you're going back into the ministry.

We're going to get you there.

And I have.

But as I've come back, there's been loads and loads of changes.

And 1 Peter 4.10 has been a precious verse to me that says,

Let him who serves do so as with the strength which God supplies.

That's dependence.

Let him who serves do so as with the strength which God supplies.

I pray that verse over my life every day now.

I start every single morning praying with that verse.

And then working my way through my day.

And I bring every appointment, every journey, every phone call, every bit of sermon.

I bring the whole day before him.

And I say, Lord, supply me with strength for this.

Supply me with strength for this.

Supply me with strength for this.

Because how do you serve as with the strength which God supplies?

Is there a switch you flip?

Do you go and say, oh, there's the strength switch.

I haven't flipped it today yet.

Okay, now I have it.

How do you serve?

How do you live as with the strength which God supplies?

I think you have to know you need it.

And I think you have to go to him and ask him for it.

Independence.

And then you have to trust that having asked him for it, he'll give it to you.

And you'll live with it.

And you'll have it.

I don't know.

I'm happy to hear any other perspectives on living with the strength of God that you might have.

Turn with me to Luke 18.

Just in the few minutes that we have.

This is the passage for the seminar.

Luke 18.

And we're not going to look at the whole passage like we did last time.

I just want to pull one little bit of it out here.

I'll read it for you.

But it's only one little bit that I want to look at.

Luke 18.

Now Jesus was telling his disciples a parable or the people who were there with him.

A parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.

Now that's the bit I'm going to come back to.

So just think about that.

Jesus is telling this parable.

And he's giving us the reason up front why he's telling the parable.

He's telling the parable because people need to pray.

And they need to not lose heart in praying.

In other words, this whole discipline of prayer.

There seems to be a possibility or a propensity or whatever for children of God to lose heart.

To grow weary.

To get tired.

To not persevere.

In their prayer lives.

So he tells them this parable about this city where there's a judge.

Who doesn't fear God.

Doesn't respect man.

There's a widow who's in the city.

And she keeps coming to the judge.

Saying give me legal protection from my opponent.

For a while he was unwilling.

But afterward he said to himself.

Even though I don't fear God or respect man.

Yet because this widow bothers me.

She's so persistent.

I'm not bothered with her.

But she's bothering me.

Because she's so persistent.

Because she's so persistent.

I don't want to give her what she wants.

But because she's so persistent.

I will give her legal protection.

Otherwise by continually coming to me.

She'll wear me out.

Okay.

Here's a judge who doesn't really care about this woman.

Who is limited in his capacity.

Because he can be worn out.

Alright.

Remember that.

Because there's a contrast.

A big contrast.

That Jesus is going to bring out here.

The Lord said.

Hear what the unrighteous judge said.

Hear what he says.

About.

I don't.

I'm not bothered with this woman.

I don't really want to.

I'm unwilling to give her what she wants.

But she's bothering me.

And there's a possibility she's going to wear me out.

So I'm going to give her what she wants.

Hear what he says.

Now.

Will not God.

Bring about justice.

For his elect.

Who cry to him day and night.

Will he delay long over them.

I tell you.

He will bring about justice.

For them quickly.

However.

When the son of man.

Comes.

Will he find faith.

On the earth.

Or.

As I like to say.

In the sudden.

Uninspired version.

When the son of man.

Comes.

Will he find people.

At the prayer meeting.

So he ties in.

Both in what we looked at.

In Mark.

Nine.

And here.

You see how he ties in.

This whole idea.

Of need.

Dependence.

And faith.

What did Jesus say.

To.

To the whole crowd.

To the disciples.

To the man.

Who brought the son.

What did he say.

Oh.

What kind of generation.

Oh.

Unbelieving generation.

See how it.

This whole faith.

Thing.

Is big.

Isn't it.

Isn't it.

We're saved by what.

Grace through.

Faith.

This faith thing is big.

Isn't it.

Faith's big in the.

Christian life.

Faith's big in the bible.

Isn't it.

Faith's a big thing.

This faith thing is big.

But it.

It.

It.

It.

It.

Baffles me to no end.

Doesn't it.

It baffles me.

When I step back.

I've been a Christian for 30.

Seven years.

38 years.

38 years.

When I step.

And I've been living.

You know.

And going to church.

And reading my bible.

And.

Struggling with prayer.

And talking to God.

And I've had.

Great experiences.

And I've had flat times.

I've had the whole thing.

And I step back.

and I look at this whole thing,

this whole,

what I've been doing

for the last 38 years,

I just think it's so weird.

It's so just,

I look at the whole faith deal

and it's so bizarre

what God calls us to,

isn't it?

That He would call me

to give up everything

in my life

to come to the end of myself

for somebody that I've never seen.

I get down on my knees to pray

like I imagine you get down

on your knees to pray.

If this is different for you,

tell me.

But I get down on my knees to pray

like I imagine you get down

on my knees to pray

and I don't know what you do.

Sometimes I close my eyes,

sometimes I don't close my eyes,

sometimes I look at the hills,

sometimes I look at my Bible.

There's different things that I do

practically when I'm praying

but I never see Him.

I never see Him.

And I'm sitting there

and you know,

every night,

I remember the first time I prayed.

Do you remember the first time

you ever prayed?

For real?

Remember the first time

you ever prayed for real?

First time,

I didn't grow up in a Christian home.

I got saved when I was 19,

fresher at university.

So the first time I prayed

was when I got saved.

When I prayed,

you know,

to confess my sin

and to receive God's gift

of eternal life

through Jesus Christ.

To put my faith and trust

in what He did for me

on the cross.

That was the first time

I ever really prayed.

I mean,

I prayed the Lord's Prayer.

I grew up in a New York,

Italian,

Catholic environment.

So we went to church

and there was no,

in our life,

there was no reality.

There was no,

there was no substance

to any,

but we did it.

But it wasn't praying.

I was just verbalizing things

that weren't connected

to my heart

or reality or anything.

The first time I prayed,

and I remember

the first time I ever prayed,

I remember feeling so weird

because I was,

you know,

what do you do?

You've never prayed before?

You've never talked to God before?

What do you do?

You just,

you know,

I remember being in my room

and this guy had been

kind of leading me

through the script

and he left me alone

with some things to read

and it hit.

The penny dropped

and I think that's when

I got saved.

And I remember just going,

well,

you know,

hey,

God,

you know,

don't know where you are.

This is weird.

You know,

you and me,

nobody else here.

It's kind of like that.

Lord,

this is,

okay,

I'm giving this a shot

was kind of like what I was,

I'm giving this a shot.

I'm pretty convinced

this is it,

but I feel kind of strange

because I can't see you

and I,

you know,

I don't really know you,

but I'm convinced by

what I think you're saying here.

And so,

you know,

and then I went on

and I,

and,

and,

and,

you know,

it was just,

it was,

it was hard

because it was weird

because it's this whole faith thing.

You know,

Paul says it.

Paul says we focus,

not on that.

We,

we look,

we put our eyes,

we turn our eyes

to the things that we can't see.

Now,

that's weird,

isn't it?

Because aren't eyes there

so you can see something?

So we look,

Paul says,

2 Corinthians 4,

18 I think is,

we look not at the things

which are seen,

but the things which are unseen.

The things which are seen

are temporal,

the things that are unseen

are eternal.

So there's this whole

kind of wrestling

with,

with,

with prayer.

There's such a danger

of losing heart

and,

and again,

depending on self.

And we don't have time

to go through the whole parable,

but,

can I just ask the question,

why it might be

that we actually can lose heart

and persisting in prayer?

What is it about prayer

in particular

that makes it so easy

to lose heart in?

Because that's why

Jesus tells this parable.

And I reckon,

if I'm,

if I'm,

if I'm in good company here,

I don't know you all,

I know very few of you,

and,

and probably none of us

have actually talked intimately

about our prayer lives.

I don't know if you guys

do together

in your church.

I try to do this

with guys that I'm discipling

or,

or,

or just,

I think it helps.

I think it's good.

But it's very intimate.

Prayer's very intimate.

And have you ever sat down

with somebody

and told them exactly

how you pray?

What do you think

when you're praying?

What,

what,

what perception do you have?

What,

where do you,

do you use the Lord's prayer?

You know,

in Matthew 6,

do you do something out?

Do you,

do you have a pattern?

What do you do?

These are very,

very intimate things,

but really good to share.

Really good to share.

I'm actually thinking now

of altering what I do here

and using the last five minutes

for you to share

about your prayer lives,

but I think I'm almost

in my last five minutes.

I haven't even looked at it yet.

Let me suggest to you

six possibilities

as to why we might lose

heart in prayer.

Okay?

Six possibilities.

One,

because it's just hard.

It is hard

for a broken,

fallen human person

to pray.

J. Oswald Sanders

says that true prayer

is a strenuous

spiritual exercise

that demands

the utmost mental discipline

and concentration.

Do you find that?

I don't mean to just get down

and go through a list with God.

I mean to really connect with God.

To really connect with God.

To feel like you have been

with God.

Not just go through a list

and then you get up

off your knees

and you think you've done

your thing.

But to really,

I,

this is my experience.

Maybe I'm unique.

Maybe I'm really

so far back

from you guys

that it's unbelievable.

But my experience is

that for me

to really pray,

I almost have to grab

a hold of something.

Okay?

Till my knuckles are white.

To concentrate

long enough

to stay with God

more than for

five or ten seconds

until my mind

goes off

on something else.

What I'm going to be

making for lunch.

You know,

I,

one of the dangers

for me praying

looking out

at the Pentland Hills

where we live

is that there's a golf course

up there

on the side of the hills.

And I've often

started to pray

looking at the hills

to see the bigness of God

and the next thing I know

I'm thinking about

how golf balls are made.

And I trace my thinking back

and I think

I see where I departed.

I was praying to God

and I was focusing

on the greatness

of who He is

trying to connect with Him.

And then I saw a guy

taking a swing.

And I thought,

you know,

and then my mind

went to the swing

and I thought,

number one,

I was a bad backswing.

He's not going to get

anywhere with that.

And then I just thought,

I saw the ball go

and I thought,

golf balls,

well,

they're amazing things.

You know,

they're just,

they're coated

with this hard kind of,

and then inside

they're wrapped with all,

have you ever seen

the inside of a golf ball?

It's wrapped.

And I must have gone on

with that thought pattern

for 15 minutes.

And I'm thinking about

factories that build

golf balls and,

and I'm on my knees,

I'm on my knees

to pray.

That's why I'm there.

It's just the whole deal

of drift

and the mental content.

I'll tell you,

the one time

I didn't have any problem

doing that

was when I had

the most profound anxiety

I've ever had in my life.

I couldn't think

about golf balls.

Golf balls meant

nothing to me.

All I needed

was some assurance

that my life

wasn't going to fall apart

at the seams.

And I prayed.

Man,

I prayed with the freedom

that I never had

in my life.

But outside of that

kind of crisis moment,

prayer's hard.

In the normal

warp and woof of life,

prayer is hard.

And I think that's,

I think God knows that.

He knows we're fallen people.

He knows we're struggling people.

Maybe that's why

we're told in 1 Peter 4, 7

to be of sound judgment

and sober

for the purpose of prayer.

Maybe that's why

Peter says that.

Maybe that's why

we're told

that it's the effectual

fervent prayer

of a righteous man

that avails much.

Or why the writer

to Hebrews says

that when Jesus

was in the flesh

he offered up prayers

and supplications

with strong crying

and tears

to the one that was able

to save him from death.

And he wasn't dealing

with sin,

but he was dealing

with humanity.

Maybe that's why

we're told that Epaphras

who came close to death

in his devotion

and his commitment

to the Colossian Christians

labored earnestly.

The word there

is agonizomai.

Agonized.

In his prayer for them.

So prayer is hard too.

Why can we lose

heart with prayer?

Because it's sacrificial.

And by that

I mean

it takes time.

It takes time.

David,

I think there's a second point

coming up there.

Okay, thanks.

It's sacrificial.

It takes time.

S.D. Gordon

has said that the great

people of the earth

today are the people

who pray.

I do not mean those

who talk about prayer

nor those who say

they believe in prayer

nor yet those who can

explain about prayer.

I mean those people

who take time

to pray.

They don't have

the time.

It must be taken

from something else.

That something else

is important,

very important

and pressing

but yet

less important

and less pressing

than prayer.

It's hard

because you know this.

You know this.

I'm sure

the worst thing

in the world

for me

in one sense

although I'm going

to come back

to technology

later on

has been technology

because emails

which of course

have made all

of our lives

so much easier

haven't they?

Right?

They've made all

our lives

so much easier.

That's what they said

when they first

started coming out.

They've made all

our lives

saying the worst

thing in the world

for me

is to start my

computer in the morning

before I go to the word

because as soon

as I get sucked

into my emails

and everything else

that's my time

with God

gone.

The worst thing

I have got to go

straight to prayer

straight to prayer

to make the time

for it

because otherwise

the business of life

just takes

so it makes it hard.

Third thing

prayer is spiritual

it's spiritual

and it's what I was

just saying before

it's this whole

faith thing

I don't see him

I don't

it's not

you know

and he knows this

he's created it this way

so I've got a few

questions about that

as to why

but I'm sure this

for good reason

that I don't see him

I have to persist

in my relationship

with him

without seeing him

I see him in his word

and I know what

we mean by that

but I don't see him

physically

like I see you

and I can

I can sit down

and you can put

your arm around me

and I can feel it

and it's a faith deal

the Christian life

is a faith deal

prayer is a faith deal

and that's hard

isn't it?

do you find it hard?

I find it hard

I find it

a challenge

to go into

this room

where I pray

it's my dining room

it faces the hills

if I want to look

I can look

and to get on my knees

and actually succeed

in a decent amount

of time with God

that's hard

because I don't see him

and I struggle with that

there's things

that come into my mind

there's pictures

I don't want the big bearded guy

in the sky thing

I want somehow

to perceive

of the greatness

of God

so reading Psalms

or something like that

to get started with

sometimes is good

because it gets me

in that frame

where I can just sit

before I even begin

to think about

opening my mouth

Andrew Murray

was big on this

I don't know if you've ever

read any of his stuff

but Andrew Murray

was just sitting

and engaging with

who God really is

before you ever

begin to think about

opening your mouth

but that's hard

because

I'm looking at

the Pentland Hills

and the Pentland Hills

are not God

the sky is not God

he made it

so I've got to go

beyond that

you guys

you understand American

do you?

you understand

I don't know

if this is

so you've got to

give me some

at some point

in the break

or whatever

give me some feedback

Jesus said

in Matthew 21-22

he said

all things you ask

in prayer

believing

it's a faith deal

believing

you shall receive

Hebrews 11-6

you know this

without

what?

it's impossible

to please God

without

faith

it's impossible

to please God

for the one

who comes to him

must believe

that he is

because we're not

gazing upon him

directly

it's a big

it's a big subject

but it's

it factors

into prayer

four

prayer is trusting

in other words

I think we often

we often

don't see the response

that we would like to see

right?

we pray

we ask God for things

but do you struggle with that?

I'm praying for a family

right now in our church

is in desperate straits

and I'm praying

I've been praying

for two years

for them

and their family

and issues that are going on

in their family

and nothing's changing

that I can see

I've been praying

desperately for these guys

meeting with them

praying with them

crying in our coffees

together

with the dad

and as far as I can tell

nothing's changing

are you alright with that?

you guys alright with that?

it's not hard

it's

you know

it's a trust exercise

I've got to trust

that he's hearing me

there's somebody

on the other end of the line

and they care

God doesn't work

to our timetable

we know that

and that can crush

a prayer life

if we're not committed to it

and believing in it

and trusting God

four and five

prayer is humbling

it's hard

because it's humbling

you know

to pray

what are we doing

the whole posture

of prayer

often we talk about

kneeling in prayer

you don't have to

you can stand in prayer

you can raise your arms

you can go out

in the countryside

there's loads

my little picture there

in the background

you know

just

you don't have to be

but the posture

of somehow dependence

submission

you kneel before a king

don't you?

the whole posture

and it's hard

because we

you know

this obitome

doesn't want to depend

on anybody

he wants to depend

on Wayne

but I have to depend

on God

that's why I pray

because I do depend

on him

I need him

but it makes it hard

one man's written

that whether we praise him

for his unfathomable majesty

or petition him

for daily needs

prayer is the expression

of our dependence

upon God

our whole soul

reliance

upon his power

to sustain us

his mercy

to forgive us

his bounty

to supply us

and his glory

to overwhelm us

as we reflect

on who he is

that's why

I think

prayer rubs

so raw

against our

egocentric

human nature

it rubs raw

against that

and it makes it hard

to pray

finally

sixth

prayer is a battle

isn't it

we often talk about

the battle

and so does

so does the word of God

Ephesians 6

especially

right

talks about

our battle

is not against

flesh and blood

it's against

principalities

and powers

all these forces

of darkness

and heavenly realms

this is huge

it's huge

the stuff that's

going on around us

that we can't see

is huge

and God invites us

into this somehow

and I don't know

how it all works

I don't know

he doesn't tell us

enough to know

exactly

you've got those passages

in Daniel

where Daniel's praying

and you've got the

prince of Persia

and you've got Michael

and you've got this

battle going

and you've read

I don't know

piercing the darkness

or whatever it was

that you know

I can't remember the guy's name

Frank Peretti

and it was his kind of deal

on that whole

the bottom line is

we're not exposed

to everything

that's going on there

and how

how does

my prayer

affect

the work of God

I believe it does

I believe scripture

tells us it does

I don't know exactly

does it move an angel

that moves

you know

a community of angels

I don't know

it could be

because we know

that there's

you know

the Lord's given us

a little bit of insight

into that in the word

but not enough

to be

I think overly confident

or go too far with it

like maybe some people

have

but something's going on

something's going on

when we pray

you know

and I

and I

and I have been moved

by some of those books

that speculate

a little bit

Randy Alcorn's book

on heaven

and some of it

you know

I've been

I've been moved by that

it's speculative

but just to think

that maybe

maybe

you know

and

and

and

and

and there's things

that could be moving

and changing

but I'm not praying

and so are they not

moving and changing

because I'm not praying

and this is big

and it goes into

the sovereignty of God

and all

but

but something's going on

and it's a

the Bible tells us that

it's a battle

there is a spirit

and we have to

we've got a weapon

we've got the sword

of the spirit

but we put all this armor on

we

and prayer and petition

with thanksgiving

and so prayer is a big part

of the battle

and yet I think

here we are

and we're bothered

about whether our

local coffee shop

is going to be

renovated

and we're not going

to be able to go

for a drink

and you know

or

I've got to get

a spare tire today

you know

and I'm

and there's eternal

stuff going on

in the realms

around us

and God tells us that

and invites us

into that with prayer

it's a battle

but it's a battle

and so you need

to be ready

for whatever

that's going to mean

for you

is Satan going to

oppose that?

Probably

how?

I don't know

but I'm sure

he's going to oppose

the prayer life

of a Christian

and try to distract you

in any way he can

any way he can

well I don't know

are there

are there

that's

I think my time's

just about up

but you know

I gave you a little list

that prayer's hard

but anybody want

to say anything?

I mean

throw something in there

is there

have I missed something?

is there something

that you

so this is

I want to be able

to go walk away

and say yes

we've had a seminar

okay

I have a few

you guys have recommended

some books

and I know time's up here

but one of the things

that I started doing

during my breakdown period

was I started using

a prayer book

okay

because as a pastor

I'm on the door

every Sunday

and people say

would you pray for this

and I think

oh yeah yeah

and you know

it's gone

and I just didn't

want to do that

so I keep a piece of paper

in my pocket

and a pen

and I just put it

into a book

and this starts in 2003

when I had my breakdown

boom

2003

and then I've got

I don't know if you can

see it or not

but I make

and when I feel

there's been an answer

or a resolution

I tick it

with a red tick

and I can go back

I can start from

just a couple days ago

when the last entry was

and I can work my way back

because chances are

the more recent ones

are the ones that are

unresolved

or whatever

and I just

and that's how I pray

there's more

I'm a very driven guy

but I'm highly chaotic

I'm very disorganized

and maybe that's why

I had a breakdown

but using something

particular like this

has so helped me

and there's people in here

from the church mainly

but from my wider life

and if you asked me

to pray for something

I'd write it down

and I would put it in here

and until I hear from you

I'll keep praying for it

I'll just keep

like the persistent widow

I'll just keep going back

and going back

and this family

that I've been praying for

because the Lord

the Lord's told me to

so this has been good

and let me just give you

a couple of my own

recommendations

these tend to be older ones

but I don't know

if you ever read

Paul Miller's book

A Praying Life

really good book

Paul Miller's

just some real practical

stuff in here

I read this again

most of the stuff

I read when I wasn't at work

because I was just desperate

to learn more about prayer

Spurgeon's prayers

will just knock you for sex

there's just a book

called Prayer

and they're just Spurgeon's prayers

and I think this guy

prayed these in the services

that he preached at

and I just think

they're longer than my sermons

you know

and they're long

just Spurgeon's

you know

just somebody who

seemingly has mastered

or is mastering

the art of prayer

learn from them

learn from their

example

this one

was a lifesaver for me

particularly in a dark place

and it's Andrew Murray

and it's just called

Waiting on God

and I don't know

if you've read much

he's a bit of a mystic

kind of

you know

but

good stuff

man did he get me

thinking about

just the mechanics

of my prayers

and

probably during my

breakdown prayer

I was off work

for about nine months

and I think I must have

read this through

like about 15 times

I mean it just

was

phenomenal

there's a little thing

that's even more mystical

and some of you guys

might hate it

but

you may have heard

this little book

called The Practice

of the Presence of God

by Brother Lawrence

there's a few things

in it I would just say

be careful

not taking too far

but I like the idea

I like his idea

of just praying everywhere

you know

the guy was a monk

and he was the cook

in the monastery

he was the cook

and he became

one of the most

well-known guys

in the world

just for his

he learned to just

do everything

communing with God

and I thought

that's a good idea

you know

driving

exercising

walking

whatever

you know

learn to

pray with God

anyway

that's just a few

practical things

okay

let me pray

Lord thank you for

thank you for your word

thank you for the body of Christ

thank you for the precious time

we have together

and the opportunity

we have to

to make the most of it

thank you especially

for opening the way

for us to commune with you

through the blood of Christ

and the sacrifice of Christ

and help us Lord

teach us

as your disciples said

teach us

to pray

in Jesus name

Amen