Prayer as a Means of Grace

Good morning, church family. It is seriously

so exciting to be in front of you and just thank

you guys for all the encouragement and prayers.

They've just been such an encouragement to me.

So yeah, good morning. Welcome. And also, good

morning and welcome to any guests that we have

here today. It's holiday seasons. And just so

you know, obviously, I am not an elder here at

Oak Hill. But they approached me and gave me

this opportunity to preach, which I'm Super thankful

for. And finally, in the back, we say welcome

and good morning to the acorns back there. Do

I still have you guys? Are you already coloring

and eating snacks back there? So before I start,

good job singing, guys, as well. Let me ask you

a question. Did you guys get some good gifts

this Christmas? Some cool things, yeah? Or maybe

not some cool things like socks or clothes that

as you get older you will come to appreciate?

Well, let me ask you, did you guys say thank

you to your parents when they gave you those

gifts? Yeah, nice. Yeah, just like you should,

right? Thank you for the gifts that your parents

are giving to you. And really, there's so many

things that your parents do for you that you

can thank them for. The food that they provide,

inviting and hosting family and friends over

the holidays. Acorns, what if I told you that

maybe you've never thanked your parents for the

most important thing that they do for you? And

what is that? Have you ever, acorns, have you

ever thanked your parents for praying for you?

Have you ever said, mom, thank you for the ways

that you prayed for my salvation, the ways that

you prayed that I would grow up in wisdom and

understanding? And even thank you for the ways

that you prayed that you would be a good parent

to me. Man, that would mean so much to your parents

if you thanked them for praying. And even for

us older, have we thanked our parents for praying

for us as we've grown up? It's just something

that maybe we don't think about, but it is really

one of the most important things that our parents

have done for us. So obviously today, The message

is about prayer. I had a class on prayer recently,

and while it wasn't the most academic or structured

class in my schooling, it was easily one of my

favorites of just... had me thinking a lot about

prayer, convicting me about prayer, and also

encouraging and exciting me about prayer. So

I hope this morning to bring that and kind of

pass some of that along to you guys. And so there's

so many different ways and angles that you could

go about talking about prayer. So I want to just

up front get right to the point with my thesis,

what I want you guys to understand, what I want

you to take away, what I hope to persuade you

of. And that is this, that you ought to form

the biblical conviction that prayer is a vital

means of grace in the Christian life. And so

what do I mean by that? Well, as I go through

and explain, I hope that you'll really understand

what I'm saying here and the importance of it.

And so first we'll just kind of break it up and

say, initially, you ought to form the biblical

conviction. And as Jeff just prayed, right, the

new year is upon us. It's just around the corner.

And this is a time of reflecting on what just

happened. And even maybe for some of us, some

of you like doing New Year's resolutions or maybe

just goals, thinking about what did I do well

last year? What didn't I do well last year? And

so the question comes to mind, what makes a habit

stick? What makes a new year's resolution stick,

right? You have people coming into the gym January

and it's packed. And then as time goes, it kind

of fizzles out, right? And less and less people.

And then you just have the regular crowd. So

what really causes a habit to stick? And I think.

First, it's what we believe, what we think is

what really propels us to act. And so thinking

about prayer and how we can build better habits

of prayer is initially the first step is to build

a biblical conviction about prayer. And the analogy

that I kept thinking of along with the gym is

health fads. I remember growing up, the one that

we got into for a little bit was juicers. I don't

know if you guys remember that, but juicers,

I feel like there was just a time when they were

just a big thing, right? My mom got one and put

a bunch of carrots and other cursed fruit of

the earth just in there, and it was just nasty.

I'm sure it was probably good for me, right?

But mom, if you're listening, thank you for getting

over that health fad quickly, because man. But

right, with these health fads, maybe it's a commercial

or a YouTube video or something, but there's

someone trying to sell you on this health fad.

get this juicer. It's so easy. It's cheap. And

here are all the nutrition benefits. I sleep

better. Maybe they have the testimony of someone.

Oh, before this, I was all tired and didn't have

energy. And now that I'm doing this and all this

information to try to get you to believe that

this juicer is gonna be useful, is gonna be helpful

for you. And that's kind of my goal this morning

is to just like, let's look at scripture and

what God says about prayer and say, man, be convinced

that that this is worth my time, right? That,

oh, is it worth it to buy this juicer and use

it? Well, yes, it is worth it to pray, to spend

time in prayer. Now, of course, the analogy falls

apart because health fads are constantly changing,

constantly going around, but God's word is immutable

and it's inerrant, meaning it never changes and

there's no mistakes in it at all. So we can build

our thinking and our habits around God's word.

Now, that being said, the two analogies that

I've brought up so far of going to the gym and

health fads are fitting for prayer because prayer

is hard work. Prayer is really hard work. And

Martin Luther, who was, if you know about him,

before he was saved, he was a monk that was so

like asceticism to the max, right? Punishing

himself, just constantly self -disciplined. And

that changed when he became a Christian. But

at the same time, he was still such a disciplined

man of prayer. And listen to what he said about

prayer. He says that prayer is the hardest work

of all and a labor above all labors. And that's

coming from someone who probably prayed hours

daily. And so yeah, prayer is difficult work.

And it's something that when we hear about prayer,

all Christians should be like, man, I ought to

pray more than I do, right? Like if you found

a Christian that says, oh, I prayed enough last

year. You'd be like, you know, really? Like,

do you understand? All of us can pray more. So

just wherever you are, if you don't pray a lot,

and I think there is a lot of prayerlessness

in the church, or if you have good habits of

prayer, yeah, I hope that this message is encouraging

to you. So that's kind of the first part, that

first chunk of forming a biblical conviction.

about prayer and to kind of before getting into

the next part, let's just do that. And let's

look at explicit and implicit scriptures about

prayer and just see what the Bible says. And

there's so much to talk about, but I'm just going

to kind of rapid fire through these. Oh, and

I can't read it back there and I don't have it

written down. So I'm going to turn around. So

explicit scripture on prayer and there's just

so much here. And the first one, I mean, we should

all know this. 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 through

18, rejoice always, pray without ceasing and

everything gives thanks. And then for this is

God's will for you in Christ Jesus. It's almost

like we could just stop there, right? In an ideal

world, if we weren't struggling with sin, we

could just stop there and pray continuously.

This is God's will for your life. I mean, it's

just so clear. But just as Jesus said when he

was praying in the garden of Gethsemane and the

disciples are falling asleep, right? The spirit

is willing. Our spirits love to pray, but the

flesh is so weak. It's so weak. So let's keep

going and looking at more of these. And Philippians

4, 6, be anxious for nothing, but in everything

by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,

let your requests be made known to God. Also

a very familiar one. There's so much more. Colossians

4 .2, devote yourself to prayer, keeping alert

within the attitude of thanksgiving. We're devoted

to prayer, Romans 12 .12, with all prayer and

petition at all times in the spirit. Ephesians

6 .18, 1 Timothy 2 .8, therefore I want the men

in every place to pray. more now he was telling

them a parable to show them at all times they

ought to pray and not lose heart all times they're

from the gospel of luke chapter 18 verse 1 and

Luke 18:1

then finally this one i think is really interesting

because um we might often see the command to

pray in scripture as kind of an encouragement

like yeah we should pray always but look at what

samuel says about prayer here he says in first

samuel 12 23 he says moreover as for me Far be

it from me that I should sin against the Lord

by ceasing to pray to you, but I will instruct

you in the good and right way. And wow, have

you ever thought about that, that not praying

is actually kind of a sin of omission? We should

be communing. We should be having an ongoing

prayerful relationship with God. And Samuel is

saying, I would be sinning against the Lord if

I'm just living in my own way. And so, yeah,

that's kind of shocking, right, to think about

that. that this is serious and it's actually

a sin, right, to not be praying. And wow, that's

kind of sobering. And just again, realize, wow,

how much of a sinner I am and how much I'm in

need of God's grace. So yeah, that's the end

of the explicit scripture that is just specifically

like prayers in there. It's talking about prayer.

And I also wanna look now at an implicit scripture

about prayer. And what I mean by that is it doesn't

mention prayer, but I think prayer is implied

in that scripture. And so... First off, I mean,

this should also be a familiar passage. John

15, abide in me and I in you, and the branches

cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides

in the vine. So in this whole concept, we can

do nothing. We can do no spiritual good. We can

bear no spiritual fruit apart from abiding in

Christ. How do we do that? without prayer, separate

from prayer. Also things like whether then you

eat or drink or whatever you do, do all things

to the glory of God. And what does that mean?

How do we do all things to the glory of God?

Isn't that such a, like the purpose of our life

now after we're saved? Well, I think 1 Timothy

4, 4 through 5 kind of helps explain how we do

that. It says, for everything created by God

is good and nothing is to be rejected if it was

received with gratitude. And then this part specifically,

For it is sanctified, made holy, made acceptable,

presentable to God by the means of the word of

God and prayer. So all things that God gives

us are good and they're made holy, they're sanctified

by prayer and then connecting that to doing all

things to the glory of God is just. Prayer is

implied there. And then three last ones. If we

confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous

to forgive us our sins. Colossians 3, 2, set

your minds on the things above, which that's

just kind of one verse that is such a theme in

scripture of Romans 12, renewing of your mind.

Ephesians 4, put off the old man, be renewed

in your mind. And then Psalms 1, 2, his delight

is in the law of the Lord and in his law, he

meditates. day and night. So there's all these

things, abiding in Christ, confessing our sins,

meditating on God's word, being renewed in our

minds, that they're not a one -to -one correspondence

to prayer, right? It's not just like, if I prayed,

I've abided in Christ. But how could you say

that you've done any of these things without

prayer, right? How could a Christian say, oh,

I'm abiding in Christ, but... But yeah, I don't

really pray that often. Or how could you say

I'm being renewed in the spirit of my mind, but

I'm never really communing with God or I'm confessing

my sins or all these things is prayer is just

such a means of grace. And that's getting into

our second point, which is that prayer is a means

of grace. I don't know if you guys have heard

this language before. I think it's really helpful

and I wanna explain it this morning. And it might

be initially kind of scary to us as we see means

of grace and think, well, don't we already have

God's grace? Aren't we already saved by faith?

Yeah, through grace, we already have that. Well,

yeah, we're kind of scared of that because of

the Roman Catholic sacraments, right? Of where

they say, you know, you're okay with God and

then you sin and you actually, you go down and

you need to get God's grace to go back up and

be right with him again. And that is not what

this is talking about. This is not justifying

grace of us standing before God, but it is still

grace. The language of grace is still useful.

And let me... try to explain why. So just first

off, initially, like we, yeah, we are justified.

Our standing before God is right. And think of

Romans 8, 1. Therefore, there is now no condemnation

for those who are in Christ Jesus. It's just

so clear. There's no condemnation anymore for

those who in Christ Jesus and also Romans 8 .33

says that who can bring a charge against God's

elect for it is God who justifies, right? It's

so clear. But then think about back to Romans

8 .1. There is therefore no condemnation for

who? For everybody? No, for those who are. in

Christ Jesus, for those who are unified with

Christ Jesus. And think of the context of Romans,

of just Romans 6, we are unified in his death,

burial, and resurrection. And that's what saves

us, right? We're unified with him so that when

we stand before God on judgment day, he sees

Christ's life instead of ours. And that's what

allows him to accept us. So we have union with

Christ. But then another familiar passage, and

this is kind of the framework. So over there,

Romans 8, 1, and being in Christ, our union with

him, we're justified. And that's set, past tense,

it's done. That is justification. But then something

like Romans 8, 28 through 29, for all things

work together for good for those who love Christ

Jesus. And what is the good, right? This verse

should never be taken out of context. And it

so often is. It's not, what is working together

for your good? Well, verse 29, for those whom

he foreknew, he predestined to be conformed into

the image of Christ. So on one hand, we're already

identified with Christ, but on the other, are

we like Christ? Are we just like him? It's like,

no, right? We're so far away from him. from being

like him rather. And he predestined us to be

slowly by degrees conformed into Christ's image.

So at the same time, we're justified and we're

growing in sanctification. And so here's really

the point of all that. And that should be familiar

to you, but why would we call it a means of grace?

Why is prayer a means of grace? Are we changed?

Are we conformed into God's image after we're

saved by our own strength? It's like, no, absolutely

not, right? We're conformed into God's image

by his supernatural working in us and his grace

being poured out into us. And so that's why it's

still grace. That's why it's a means of grace

is we still need God's help to grow in these

ways. And then means of grace is God has given

us specific ways that his grace is kind of poured

out on us. And think of this example. If there

was a Christian who never went to church, never

read his Bible, he never prayed, is he going

to be growing in godliness and sanctification?

It's like, you might even question, is he really

a Christian in the first place? God has just

given us means by which he uses to grow us spiritually

and by which to conform us into the image of

Christ. And prayer, I think, is just one of the

most foundational ones. And just some quotes,

I should have put these on screen, but you'll

just have to listen. Thinking through this, the

Westminster Confession wrote this. It's answer

to question 88, and it says, the outward and

ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to

us the benefits of redemption are his ordinances,

especially the word, sacraments, and prayer.

So let me say that again, the outward and ordinary,

right? There's nothing super special about it,

just coming to church. That's just something

you do, praying. That's just something you do,

reading your Bible, right? We're not looking

for some mystical experience. It's outward, it's

an ordinary thing we do, but there are the means

whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits

of redemption. And that's just so good, the benefits

of the salvation that we've received. And I'll

get to an example of that here soon. But then

also Calvin wrote about this, Calvin's Institutes,

Book 3, Chapter 7, Section 1. or chapter 12,

sorry. And you can, if you're curious, I can

give you these later. But Calvin says, it is

by the benefit of prayer that we reach those

riches which the gospel of the Lord shows us.

And then similarly, Luther also said, we should

know that God insists on our praying to him,

not because he needs our prayers, but because

he wants to give us grace and blessing through

those prayers. So to go back to a biblical example

of this is think again of Romans 5 .1, which

says, having been justified, so past tense, we

now presently have peace with God through our

Lord Jesus Christ. We have peace with God, right?

And that's the justification area over here that

if we're saved, we have peace with God. But then

compare that to Philippians 4 that we looked

at earlier, which says Philippians 4, 6 through

7, be anxious for nothing, but in everything

by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,

let your requests be made known to God. What

does God do if we obey that and we take our worries

to him and we pray to him? He says, and the peace

of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will

guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

So you see, we have peace with God, but then

as the Westminster Confession says, communicates

the benefits of our redemption, like we can experience

the peace we should have. feel because we have

peace with God through the means of coming to

God and praying and being faithful to pray and

bring our worries to Him. And that's just the

ordinary means of grace by which God blesses

us in our lives. And it's just, yeah, it's just

so important that we believe that and think through

that. And because, yeah, again, prayer is difficult.

But knowing that, man, God has given me this

way to experience the peace of God, right? Who

doesn't want more peace in their life, right?

More joy, more thanksgiving in their life. Man,

I wish I was more at peace. I wish I was more

thankful. God has explained the way to do that

is he's given us prayer. So just the question,

do you pray? How much do you pray? And do you

believe this, that prayer is a means of grace

that God has given us? So with that, yeah, yeah,

yeah. Do you believe that? Like the juicer, are

you buying into it? That this is good for you,

this is nutritional. Are you saying, yes, okay,

I'm gonna commit to this, I'm gonna spend time

in this. Then we'll transition to the third point,

which is the privilege of prayer. And this is

a little bit of a break, a little bit different,

kind of just a theological look at what prayer

is that I think is helpful for us thinking just

about prayer in general. And so let me just ask,

do you think, does God listen to and answer the

prayers of unbelievers? What do you think? Yes

or no, then that's kind of a tricky question.

But scripture is actually pretty clear about

it that the answer is no. God actually does not

listen to and he does not answer the prayer of

unbelievers. And so I have a lot of verses here

in Isaiah 115. This one's super clear. It says,

so when you spread out your hands in prayer,

I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, even though

you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your

hands are covered in blood. Wow. Well, thinking

multiplied your prayers, how many times in your

life could you say, like, I multiplied my prayer

about this? Like, I'm just praying and praying

and praying. And Israel, God's people, is multiplying

their prayers. And because their hands are covered

in blood, God says, I will not listen to you.

Keep going, Jeremiah 11, 10 through 11. This

is a long verse just talking about, How Israel

has broken God's covenants. They've broken God's

law. And there, just at the end of it, in the

quotes, behold, I am bringing disaster on them,

which they will not be able to escape. Though

they will cry to me, yet I will not listen to

them. Wow, wow. And more, Zechariah 7 .13, just

as we don't listen to God, God says, I will not

listen to you. Here's another one from Ezekiel

8, 17 through 18. I could read, they cry in my

ears, yet I will not listen to them. And then

here are two that are just really kind of summarize

this. Proverbs 28, 9, he who turns his ear from

listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination.

Wow, wow. Yeah, I didn't realize like how serious

God viewed prayer. Really, even before I started

looking more into this, but it says, if you don't

listen to God's law, your prayer. is an abomination

to God? That's crazy. And Isaiah 59, one through

two, which this is such just a good, even just

a verse for evangelism. Behold, the Lord's hand

is not so short that it cannot save, nor is his

ear so dull that it cannot hear. God's saying,

my ear isn't dull. I can hear everything. Of

course he can hear everything. He's God. He's

omniscient. He knows everything. He's everywhere

at all times. Yet he says, but your iniquities

have made a separation between you and your God

and your sins have hid his face from you so that

he does not hear. Wow, so this is a serious thing.

And I don't know, like there's a disaster on

social media, right, that goes up and people

are always posting, oh, thoughts and prayers,

thoughts and prayers going out. And if they're

unbelievers and really, if they're praying at

all in the first place, when they say thoughts

and prayers, God doesn't listen to those prayers.

He doesn't hear the prayers of unbelievers. And

that's kind of shocking. But let me say too,

when here's a place where I think the rubber

really meets the road in this is I've heard people

say, talking about the gospel and saying, and

they kind of get to a point of like, okay, I

understand the gospel. I understand God. But

there was one time when I was at the darkest

point in my life and I cried out to God and he

didn't answer me. And so I don't believe in God.

And you're going like, wow, what do I say to

them at this point? And actually how useful it

would be to know and to be able to say like,

actually, that's exactly what we expect. Unless

you repent and believe and turn to God. God will

not listen and not answer your prayers. So unbelievers,

if you're listening, don't be fooled by thinking

that God is buddy -buddy with you or that if

you just are in enough pain and suffering and

call out that he's just gonna lift you out of

that if you're not repenting and turning from

your sin and turning to him. There was a real

separation between us and God. And I think just

seeing that, that God does not listen to the

prayers of unbelievers. is shocking. It's shocking

to people. And wow, there really is a separation

between me and God. And you have to repent and

turn from your sins and turn to God. Because

God does not listen to the prayers of sinners.

But, but, Hebrews 4, 14 through 16. Therefore,

since we have a great high priest who has passed

through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let

us hold fast our confession. For we do not have

a high priest who cannot sympathize with our

weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all

things as we are yet without sin. And then here

it is, this high priestly work of Jesus right

now. He says, therefore, let us draw near with

confidence to the throne of grace. And then look

at this, so that we may receive mercy and find

grace, means of grace, draw near to the throne

to help in times of need. Again, prayer as a

means of grace. But think about this, that God

would not listen to the prayers of sinners, but

through the work of Jesus Christ, God delights.

to hear the prayers of his people. He wants you

to come boldly to his throne as a son or daughter

and talk about anything with him. He delights

in it. He loves it. And I just love how, yeah,

the high priestly work of Jesus sometimes is

a little vague to me of he's interceding and

okay, what does that mean? But this is something

that is so tangible that God does for us is.

God would not listen to our prayers before and

now through the work of Christ, he loves to hear

our prayers. He loves to hear the prayers of

his people. He wants us to come to him. And with

that, look at this Proverbs 15, eight, the sacrifice

of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,

but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

He delights in prayer. And then here's just an

amazing, passage from Revelation talking about

the prayers of the saints. And so a little bit

of a long section here, but we're getting a picture

of what's happening in heaven at the end of time.

And look, when he had taken the book, the four

living creatures and 24 elders fell down before

the lamb. And each one of them is holding a harp

and a golden bowl full of incense, which are

the prayers of the saints. And that's chapter

five. And then later in chapter eight, it says,

another angel came and stood at the altar holding

a golden censer and much incense was given to

him so that he might add it to the prayers of

all the saints on the golden altar, which was

before the throne. So picture this, the throne

of God in heaven and an altar before him. and

the incense, the prayers of the saints being

poured out before him. And I think of in Disneyland,

only been there a few times, but I've heard that

they pump the smell of the kitchen out into the

street, right, to try to get you there. And oh,

yeah, it does smell good. But I've never caved.

I've never caved. Or maybe you're in the mall,

right? And there's people there and they wanna

spray and give you a sample and here, smell this

to buy it. And so there's different smells for

different purposes. And here God is the creator

of all smells, right? The creator of all things.

And what does he choose? What does he choose

to burn as a pleasing aroma, a pleasing incense

before him? He chooses to burn the prayers of

his saints. He chooses the small, maybe even

weak prayers of God, help me with this, of God,

thank you for this. And that is such a delight

to him. And just, I mean, yeah, just reading

that and really picturing it and thinking about

it is just such a beautiful thing. So pray, right?

Pray, prayer is, there's something spiritually.

happening when we pray. It's not just a, you

know, rote kind of, we're just talking, but right,

we're spiritual people, right? And we should

believe in spiritual things happening. And prayer

is just such a way that God uses to strengthen

us and encourage us spiritually. And just think

of in, even in John four, when God says, or when

Jesus is talking to the woman and he says, God

is spirit and he is searching for people to worship

him in spirit. and truth, right? And then I had

another verse. Oh yeah, our 1 Corinthians 2,

talking about how the things of God, the gospel

even, is something that is spiritually appraised,

right? And so we are spiritual. And prayer is

just, I don't know, I just think it's cool to

kind of lift the curtain and see what is happening

in heaven when we pray. And hopefully that is

just still an encouragement to you to pray. This

is God's, yeah, there's something special about

prayer. So finally, going on to our last point

here of, so how do we pray well? How do we pray?

Yeah, how do we pray well? And I just have a

simple thing for you that I think is as effective

as it is simple. And there's just two ingredients

to praying well. All you need is time and scripture.

That's it. All you need is time and scripture.

And let me break it down. Time, we should, praying

continuously means in whatever we're doing, we

should be saying things like, Lord, help me with

this. Lord, thank you for this. But also, as

Christians, we really should be taking time out

of our schedule to pray. And I specifically intentionally

maybe use the word taking because if you just

say, oh, I'll just see what happens with my day

and see if I have time to pray, well, prayer

is gonna slip you by real fast. But if you take

time to schedule and say this is important enough

that I actually need to block out time in my

schedule intentionally, to pray, that is just

such an important thing for us to do. And in

whatever way that works for you. For me, I like

going on walks because I'm so easily distracted.

Leave everything behind and just going on a walk

is really nice and just calming and also just

a great time to pray. And do I, you know, go

on walks every day? No, no. And I could still

grow so much in this, but I can just say as from

this class and just thinking more about prayer,

like, I don't know. It's been such a blessing

to be in prayer more. It's feel like I have more

wisdom. I'm thinking through things well. My

mind is refocused. I'm more thankful for things

because I'm praying more. And yeah, that's what

prayer is. That means of grace. And secondly,

scripture, praying through scripture. I don't

know if you've ever heard of this. Super simple,

just. Read scripture, pray through it. It's so

simple, so easy, but there are practical and

spiritual benefits to this. Practically, it's

like you have something to read through so you're

not distracted, right? So you have something

to keep you on track and also that you get a

good variety of praying through things, right?

How often do we pray and we're saying the same

things over and over again, but just praying

through what you're reading in scripture gives

you that variety and that focus. practically.

And then just spiritually, Romans 8, like the

Spirit of God is in us, interceding when we don't

know what to say with groanings too deep for

words. The Spirit is working in us. And just

as Jeff talked about earlier, how God talks to

us through His Word, it's we're talking back

to God using His words. And that is just, it's

like those... Reading scripture and praying,

two means of grace that I just can't imagine

a more fruitful spiritual discipline. I mean,

if you find one, let me know, but I don't think

there's anything better for our souls than to

take time and pray through scripture. And even

just personally, the things that I spend time

to pray through in scripture are the things that

I find myself meditating on and actually thinking

about more. So yeah, those are the two simple

ingredients for how to pray well. If you are

a Christian, you have the spirit in you and you

just give it the time, God will grow you up in

praying well. And so finally, I'm gonna wrap

up. I wanted to go through a kind of tier list

or ranking or whatever you wanna call it of.

I don't know, holiness, or it doesn't sound right,

but let me just explain and kind of stack it

and say, okay, so maybe at the bottom, we have

a Christian who isn't praying at all, right?

And on top of that, you might even add, say,

an unbeliever who's praying. It might be better

to be an unbeliever who's praying, even though

God doesn't. hear their prayers than a believer

who's neglecting to talk to their heavenly father.

And J .C. Ryle in his book, Do You Pray? He was

talking about, he says, one of the main reasons

for our backsliding in our Christian lives is

prayerlessness. And I think just as we reflect

on that on our own lives, we find that to be

true. When we're backsliding, we're prayerless.

So there's that, there's an unbeliever who prays.

And then above that, maybe a believer who prays

a little bit here and there, just kind of simple

prayers. Above that is a believer who prays a

lot, but they're always praying about. like physical

and just selfish things. They're always asking

for things for themselves, always about them,

always just about like, oh, there's, and of course

those are things we should be praying. But I

think above that is maybe even a believer who

doesn't pray quite as much, but they're praying

for the spiritual growth of themselves and others.

They're focused on what really matters. They're

praying through scripture. They're thinking correctly

about God and it's not just always about themselves.

And then at the top is Jesus, right? Who in his

life, just as we see, and we'll only get there

in glorification, but in his life, he prayed

so much. And if there was anybody who didn't

need to pray, it was Jesus, God himself, right?

But Jesus still took time, praying before he

chose his disciples, his 12 disciples, which

he... probably already knew who they were. He

spent time to go and pray through that or even,

thank you to Josiah Garber for pointing this

out to me of when he prayed in Gethsemane, Lord,

let the cup pass from me. He knew, he knew he

was going to the cross, right? He knew for certain

that he was going to the cross and that was his

mission, but he still went to the Lord and prayed

and says, Lord, if you would take this cup from

me. Wow, wow. So yeah, Jesus is at the top and

our example. And he, yeah, it's just incredible

reading through the gospels how much he prayed.

And he, yeah, he was a busy man. And in Mark,

it talks about how he was so busy during his

ministry that he couldn't even have the chance

to eat, right? But he still found the time to

pray. So going back kind of to the distinction

between the Christian who prays a lot, but it's

always just kind of weak, kind of like, like

just selfish things. And then the Christian who

prays about more spiritual things. Just again,

what we just learned about the theology of prayer,

even our best prayers are filthy rags before

God. And so God delights in every prayer that

we pray. It's not like there's some that God

delights in more than others. But for our sake,

for the sake of our own growth, just thinking

about 1 Corinthians 3, when Paul's talking about

infants in Christ, right? Who are still fleshly

and they know the gospel, but they're just not

growing. They're just not, they can't have solid

food yet. And that is some Christians. in prayer

for years who just aren't really growing. And

it's best for us to say to them, like, for your

own good, like, grow up. Like, leave just the

milk of just asking for things in your life behind

and start praying through scriptural things.

And part of this that I want to point out to

kind of, I don't know, give an example of this

point is in 1 Thessalonians, there's two times

that God says, this is my will for you. The first

time we already saw pray without ceasing for

this is God's will for you. The second time he

says this is for this is the will of God, your

sanctification, right? And that's so clear of

sometimes people are always praying just about,

oh, I have this big decision in life and yes,

you should pray about it. And what does God want

me to do? What is God's will for my life? Well,

guess what? God's will for your life is your

sanctification. That's what he cares about so

much more than just the things that happen in

your life. And even all the introductory prayers

or a lot of the introductory prayers of Paul

talking about, I pray that you would know God

more, right? That we would have an understanding

and grow in our faith, not just have things in

life go our way. And so, yeah, so praying scripture,

I think, is just the easiest, simplest way that

we can have our hearts conformed and our lives

conformed to the image of God. And there's, again,

that book I referenced earlier, Do You Pray by

J .C. Ryle. Short book, super punchy, really,

really excellent book to read if you wanted to

read one on prayer. J .C. Ryle says this in the

book, which is just so good. He says, The way

to be happy is to always be opening our hearts

to him. And a little later he says, oh, that

men would understand that happiness does not

depend on outward circumstances, but on the state

of the heart. Let me say that again. Oh, that

men would understand that happiness does not

depend on outward circumstances, but on the state

of the heart. And again, thinking back earlier

to Philippians 4 of the peace of God, man, there

can be someone in life where everything is going

well for them and they should be happy, but inside

the state of their heart, the state of their

soul, life really isn't that good. And there

can be someone going through trials and difficulties,

but if they have the peace and the joy and the

thankfulness. in their heart, right? That is

really what gives us happiness in life. And it's

just, it's so easy to forget that, right? And

yeah, I just, I couldn't say it better than Raul

there. And again, great book on prayer if you

want to read and be challenged about that. And

so finally, yeah, yeah. Going back to the first

point of, do you believe that, do you have this

solid conviction that prayer is a vital means

of grace that God has given you in your life?

And then I guess the question is, what will you

do with that? As we're thinking about the new

year and whether that be setting a resolution

or goal, I usually don't, but whatever you like

to do, but just thinking about, man, prayer is

so important. And in that, I hope that maybe

we're convicted, but that we'd be more encouraged.

than convicted to think, wow, like God can, like

J .C. Ryle says, the state of my soul can be

one of joy, even though my outward circumstances

maybe aren't the best. And yeah, another thing

I want to say is, just, right, you just do it.

You're faithful to pray and taste and see that

the Lord is good, right? Experience the blessing

of that. But what if you say to me, like Elijah,

like I feel like I do pray a lot and I just don't

really delight in the Lord. I feel like it's

not doing anything for me. Well, I found this

that I just think is so helpful. And let me read

it to you. It's Isaiah 58, 13 through 14. There's

just a great principle in here. It says, If because

of the Sabbath you turn your foot from doing

your own pleasures on my holy day and call the

Sabbath a delight, a holy day of the Lord honorable

and honor it, desisting from your own ways and

seeking your own pleasures and speaking your

own word. And then look at this right here. It

says, then you will take delight in the Lord

and I will make you ride on the heights of heaven.

And I just love that. And the connection, of

course, talking about the Sabbath here, but in

the New Testament, in Hebrews 4, 9 through 10,

it talks about how Jesus is our Sabbath rest,

right? And there's no longer any day that's more

important than another, but we still should rest

in Christ. And that is our Sabbath rest here.

And just saying, stop making the Sabbath, stop

making this time about you, about speaking your

own words, about your own way, about your own

pleasures. And then just, and then what comes

out of that, if you stop making it all about

you, it says, then you will take delight in the

Lord. And I just love that. And again, that's

something that I think we as Christians find

true of when we stop making it about ourselves

and start making it about who God is. That's

when we really take delight in the Lord. And

so, yeah, hopefully that's, that's helpful to

you. to you again on the topic of how we pray

well. And yeah, that is it. And I would get kicked

out of seminary if I didn't have you guys at

least open your Bibles once. So we'll sneak it

in right here at the end. But yeah, if you have

a Bible or a phone, go ahead and open up to Isaiah

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40. And what I'm gonna

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

do here is we're gonna close in prayer. And first,

I'm just gonna pray through, just going through

verses one through 11. And don't worry, I'm just

kind of skimming through and picking things out

and praying through this scripture. Maybe just

be an example of, yeah, yeah, thinking about

praying through scripture. Okay, let's actually

do it and pray through Isaiah 40. And so I'll

start. And I'll pray through these verses and

try to follow along with me. And then I'm gonna

give you guys some time. And maybe if you find

a verse in here that you think applies to you,

or you could even keep reading in verses 12 and

on is so great about just who God is. And just,

I'm gonna give you some time to just sit there

and kind of pray through some of this on your

own. And then I will close us in prayer. So,

all right, let's pray. Looking at Isaiah 40,

Isaiah 40:1

verse 1. Lord, thank you that you are the comforter,

Lord, of your people. You comfort us, God. And

there's just so many ways that we seek comfort

outside of you, Lord. And yeah. We seek for comfort

in all the right things, Lord, and thank you

that you are a God who seeks and delights to

give us comfort. And I pray that you would just

teach us to come to you for that comfort, Lord.

And thank you for removing the iniquity from

us, Lord, and your son, Jesus Christ. And you

are our only hope, Lord, of having a right relationship.

Jesus, you are our only hope and that you have

removed our iniquity from us, Lord. And then

in verse six, a voice calling out, then he answered,

what shall I call out? Lord, our flesh is like

grass, Lord, and our time on earth is just so

short. Lord, and it is lovely like a flower,

Lord. You've given us so many blessings and beautiful

things, but like the flower, the grass wither,

the flower fades. And surely people are grass,

Lord, and our lives are so short, and so I pray

that That we would just use the short time we

have here, Lord, well, Lord, and that we would

spend it in communion with you, Lord, and just

take delight in you and not be so distracted

by all the things of this world. And there at

the end of verse eight, Lord, your word stands

forever, Lord. So many things in this life are

passing and fading, but your word is a sure rock

and foundation to build our lives. And so now,

yeah, you guys just continue to read through

and pray through whatever you find in Isaiah

40 and I'll close us. Dear Lord, forgive us for

our prayerlessness, Lord, and yeah, just the

ways that we so often think of our own way, think

of our own pleasures, our own delights, Lord,

instead of coming to you, Lord, and boldly approaching

your throne because of the access that you have

given us through your son, Jesus, Lord. And just

thank you for this time in your word, Lord. I

pray that you would just be using your word to

conform us more into your image, Lord. I pray

that we would just be a people who prays to you,

Lord, who delights in spending time talking to

you. just that you would conform us more and

more into your image, Lord. And yeah, we thank

you for your patience. We thank you for the grace

that you give us through these things. And I

just pray that we would just form solid convictions

about these things and live our lives accordingly

and appropriately because of them, Father. And

yeah, we're thankful for... who you are, Lord.

Help us to correctly see who you are and correctly

see who we are in relation to you. Yeah, God,

thank you so much and just be with us the rest

of this week and the rest of this year and through

next year and say all these things in your name.

Amen.