Contending in Prayer

Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church

Henley and thanks so much for tuning into our

podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast

you can have an encounter with Jesus that will

change your life. And now get ready for an inspiring

message from our preaching team. If we haven't

met, I'm Tim. I'm one of the pastors here. It's

great to have you with us. Let's pray. Holy Spirit,

we ask that you would come today. God, we need

your mercy, we need your forgiveness, and we

thank you, Jesus, that your grace is sufficient

for us. So I just pray, Lord, that you would

speak now in Jesus' name. Amen. Who loves a good

whinge? Have you ever caught up with someone

just to have a good whinge? When I first became

a pastor, not now but previously, I caught up

with my supervisor and I caught up with him because

I wanted to have a good complaint. I'd taken

on this congregation in the country and one of

the things I'd done was I'd organized like a

family dinner, like let's all get together, let's

have something to eat, let's connect and eat.

And afterwards one of the church council members,

no less, comes up to me and says, Tim, that was

so good. I've been sitting next to so -and -so

for 20 years in church, and that's the first

time we've really talked. And I was like, huh?

How? How can you sit next to someone for 20 years

and never have more than good morning? You're

supposed to be the body of Jesus. You're supposed

to be the family of God. And I was so frustrated

by this that it was like the straw that broke

the camel's back. Now, I was younger than Charlie

is right now, when I was... So I was a little

hot -headed, way more hot -headed than Charlie,

and quite a bit self -righteous, not as... They

came out wrong. Much more self -righteous than

Charlie. So I poured out my frustration to Matt,

who was my supervisor. Like, what is wrong with

these people? They were so focused on their own

preferences, how they liked things and what God

was wanting to do. They were pleasant to each

other on Sunday, but if you scratch beneath the

surface, there was bitterness and resentments

in their heart toward each other. They wanted

change, but not really. They wanted me to lead,

but not really. On and on I went. I had just

a good solid winch. And he said something to

me that I'll never forget for the rest of my

life. He said, Tim, people are never the enemy.

People are never the enemy. And I'll never forget

that because in ministry, just like in life,

people disappoint you. Things don't go to plan,

expectations are left unmet. People can leave,

they can hurt, they can betray. Your plus one

might not have said yes to coming to Alpha, or

your plus one said yes like mine and then bailed.

And it seems like our response to this is either

to blame ourselves, if I had been better. then

this wouldn't have happened or would blame the

other person. Well if they hadn't done that,

well then this wouldn't have happened. A normal

reaction can be to make enemies of others or

to beat ourselves up. But what if Matt was right,

my supervisor, what if people are never the enemy?

Well that's exactly what Paul's indicating in

our Bible reading today. And how then Do we deal

with the hurt, the conflict, and the pain that

is part and parcel of life this side of heaven?

If we don't make enemies of others or an enemy

of ourselves, who then do we blame? Who then

do we fight? Who then is the enemy? Friends,

we are in the middle of our core values series.

We've got five new core values as in Counter

Church and they're... our statements of intent.

They're the kind of church we want to be, as

in counter church, but more importantly, the

kind of people we want to be. And our core values,

they're on the wall, so you should succeed at

this, are, shout them out, what are they? Multiplying

resilient disciples. Yeah, hearts on fire for

Jesus. Monday invaders. Contending in prayer,

which is what we're preaching on tonight, and

Bible -fed and Spirit -led. These are our core

values. We want to be a church and a people who

contend in prayer. In our Bible reading today,

Paul's finishing his letter to the church in

Ephesus by calling on them to understand the

battle they are in, but also the power that they

have. He says be strong in the Lord and in his

mighty power put on all of God's armor So you'll

be able to stand firm against the strategies

of the devil for we are not fighting against

flesh and blood enemies We're not fighting against

people But against evil rulers and authorities

of the unseen world against mighty powers in

this dark world and against evil spirits in the

heavenly places Welcome to church if people are

not the enemy Who is the enemy not humans not

human institutions? Paul says it's the devil

that's the enemy, the spiritual being who is

opposing God and other spiritual forces of darkness

and evil that have set themselves up against

God. Paul's calling the church in Ephesus to

understand that there is an enemy, but it's never

people. And this enemy's goal is strategically

undermine the work of God in the world, to sow

doubt, to undermine believers, to undermine the

spirit's work of bringing people to faith in

Jesus. And Paul's saying that in the face of

these spiritual strategies against them, their

job is actually not to go on the offensive, but

to stand firm. Not in their own power, not in

their own goodness, but in the mighty power of

God. To put on not, it's not their own armor,

it's God's armor. Now we have a problem with

this I think. Now some of you might be thinking,

really Tim? I come to church and we're talking

about the devil and evil spirits. Isn't that

a bit wacko and weird? Promises not like this

every week. But I think that's a part of the

problem. One of the hallmark ideas of Western

European culture is that all there is, all that's

real, is only that you can touch and measure.

That anything outside of the natural, anything

supernatural, doesn't really happen. Or didn't

really happen. And if they claim they do, it's

nothing but myths that are believed by primitive,

gullible people. And I think that is a very clever

lie. And that that lie has bled into the Church

of Jesus. You know, I have no idea why people

enjoy horror movies. Does anyone enjoy horror

movies in the room? I don't get it. We can talk

afterwards. Explain it to me. The presence of

spiritual evil has become quite a popular and

profitable myth rather than what humanity has

known to be a reality across every culture and

every place across history across the world except

in in the west in europe for the last couple

of hundred years humanity has known what paul

says that there are evil rulers and authorities

of the unseen world that there are mighty powers

in this dark world that there are evil spirits

in the heavenly places that personal spiritual

evil exists. I wonder if you could take a moment

just to think about history. Do you know why

across history, cultures who the West looks down

upon as primitive and gullible in their beliefs

have been so quick to abandon their gods and

adopt Christianity? Because they know spiritual

evil. And when the good news is that Jesus comes

with the power of God to deal with spiritual

evil, the spiritual evil that's oppressing their

community, they believe. But the church, the

church in the West has a problem. We have at

times and in places divorced God and belief in

God from the spiritual reality that is part and

parcel of life with God. God has become an abstract

idea and not a person. This naturalism of the

Western world has infiltrated the church. So

that we can easily believe this, that there are

neutral spaces in the universe. That the physical

means more than the spiritual. That there is

no enemy. That there is no spiritual battle.

That if there is a spiritual war, it is distant

or it is not our problem. But this is what C

.S. Lewis has to say about this. There is no

neutral ground in the universe. Every split second

of time and every square centimeter of space

is claimed by God and counterclaimed. by Satan.

There is no Switzerland. Everywhere, every place

is a war. Now there's a couple of things that

we need to say about this. First of all, if you're

skeptical about what Paul says here, remember

that Paul is articulating the worldview of Jesus.

If you remember the Gospels, Jesus begins his

ministry and he is immediately targeted and tempted

by the devil. And the evil rulers and authorities

of the unseed world, the mighty powers in this

dark world, and the evil spirits in the heavenly

places, even at the sight of Jesus, they are

quite literally shaking in their boots. They

are terrified of Jesus when he begins his ministry.

And secondly, I want to acknowledge that accepting

that there is a spiritual war going on across

the universe may and has created a lot of worry

and anxiety in many, many people and can lead

to the idea of having to go and look for demons

and spiritual evil everywhere. And I want to

name that because It doesn't have to be a cause

of worry for us. Paul says, put on God's armor

so that you can stand firm. Everything about

the armor of God, even the parts of the armor

that Paul lists in Ephesians 6, and that is a

whole other sermon, is about defense, not offense.

It's about negating the enemy's strategies, not

going after the enemy to take ground. After all,

on the cross, the enemy has already been defeated

and his power has been broken. And if it's God's

own armor, then you don't have to muster up the

resources to defend yourself. You just have to

stand in God's resources and God's strength.

John Stott says this about the enemy strategies.

It's actually quite funny. Now I claim no very

close or intimate familiarity with the devil,

but I'm persuaded that he exists and that he's

utterly unscrupulous, morally corrupt. Something

else I've learned about him is that he's particularly

lacking in imagination. Over the years he has

changed neither his strategy nor his tactics

nor his weapons. He is still in the same old

rut. So a study of his campaign against the early

church should alert us to his probable strategy

today and if we are taken by surprise we have

no excuse. See after Pentecost in Acts 2 shows

us that if you're reading the New Testament in

a year along with us that the enemy goes on a

counter attack in which he attacks the church

on three fronts. First, he tries physical violence.

He tries to crush the church by persecution.

The apostles are flogged and thrown into prison

pretty much repeatedly at the beginning of Acts.

Secondly, he tries to assault the church through

moral corruption and compromise, i .e. the whole

incident with Ananias and Sapphira. And finally,

and most subtly, was distraction. The apostles

were taken away from their mandate and calling

to teach and preach Jesus Christ by the crushing

weight of admin. I always knew admin was evil,

and now I know it's in the Bible. So violence,

moral corruption, and distraction. Physical violence

is not really the enemy strategy in the West,

although that's not true for the global Christian

church. But moral corruption? We all know the

church has earned a reputation for moral corruption

and hypocrisy. Now it's tempting to get mad about

it, but then we have to go and take the log out

of our own eyes. And distraction? Well, all we

have to do is open up our phone and check the

screen time for the week. I'm going to out myself,

I'm at like four and a half hours per day, screen

time. Imagine what else I could do with that

time. The enemy might lack imagination, but his

strategies have been effective against the church.

Now, one of... When one of our kids is overwhelmed

by something or can't really move past something

that has happened, we say to them, and I hate

it now, but it works, hey, don't let it sink

you. Don't let it sink you. Meaning, like, don't

let this thing, the fact that you have the wrong

plate, get the better of you. It's just a plate,

it's just a wave, you can ride it, it's fine.

And that goes about as well as you think it does.

Pause. encouraging the church in Ephesus that

when the enemy tries to undermine them subtly

by intrusive thoughts that twist the truth, or

temptation, distraction, discouragement, doubt,

and overtly by disturbing dreams, by disunity,

by external pressure on your faith through family,

friends, or workplaces, thoughts that aren't

convicting but condemning you, flashing memories

designed to shame you, and by everything going

wrong the week that you are supposed to be preaching

on this. Paul's trying to help and remind the

church that God has given them the power and

the resources to not let this sink them. They

don't have to do anything but stand firm in God's

power. That it can be to them like water off

a duck's back, which is another good parenting

-ism that my children hate. You might be thinking,

Tim, what does this have to do with contending

in prayer and our value of contending in prayer?

Well, I think it has everything to do. See, you

will not understand the necessity of contending

in prayer until you realize that we're in a spiritual

war. You will not understand the necessity of

contending in prayer until you realize that prayer

is war. After calling the church in Ephesus to

armor up and defend themselves against the strategy

of the enemy, what does Paul say? He says pray

in the spirit at all times and on every occasion.

Stay alert and persistent in your prayers for

all believers everywhere. If people aren't the

enemy, prayer is how you fight. And when people

do dumb things or when they leave or when they

hurt those you love and when they disappoint

you and they won't change, what do you do? You

don't make them the enemy. You don't attack them.

You don't gossip or complain or grow bitter or

hold a grudge. You wage war on your knees. You

get in our 24 -7 prayer room available 24 -7.

You get in there and you make it your war room.

Great movie. You call on the Spirit and the authority

Jesus won on the cross to go after them in prayer.

That they would know Christ, that they would

see sense. that they would be convicted of their

sin, that they would know God's love for them,

and that they would come home. Prayer is war,

friends. And we've got to get this into our head

if we're even going to start to think about contending

in prayer. And I want you to know that this is

nothing new. They were writing handbooks for

combating demons in the early church. This is

basic biblical theology around the spiritual

reality that sits behind the universe. And most

Christians, if you push them, believe this is

reality. So here's the question that I've been

racking my brain trying to think. Why do we still

struggle to pray so much? Why do we still struggle

to pray? We're not going to contend in prayer

when we struggle to pray. Now I have a theory.

We don't just see prayer as a necessity. We feel

it's something that we feel we should do. in

some misguided attempt to make God's happy with

us, rather than something we can't live without.

And we know this because we pray when we need,

when we need something. I came across a fun new

phrase this month. There are no atheists in foxholes.

A foxhole was a small pit that was dug for a

soldier to take cover and hold a defensive position

against enemy fire. In a foxhole against enemy

fire, you can't get out, there's no retreat,

there is no escape. All you've got is your weapons,

the ammunition you've got and prayer. Even atheists

pray when they're in the pit. Everyone prays

in a crisis. We pray a lot when life hits the

fan and we don't know what to do and all our

good ideas aren't helping. But we pray less in

mildly frustrating circumstances. and we pray

even less when life is good and we've got everything

that we want. I think we struggled to pray in

the way the early church prayed because the need

for prayer isn't so obvious daily to us or we've

theologized our way out of the necessity of prayer.

Now there are two extremes in how Christians

understand prayer theologically and I'm caricaturing

them but I think it's helpful. One extreme says

that God is sovereign And therefore, because

he already knows or has already decided what

has happened, what you pray or whether you pray

doesn't matter so much because it won't change

what God does. God will do what God does. Prayer,

which is relationship with God, is a big plus

anyway. The other extreme says because God handed

dominion over earth to Adam in Genesis 2, that

God actually can't do anything to change anything

on earth unless humans agree with God's will

through prayer. So one extreme puts God's sovereignty

over prayer and one puts prayer over sovereignty.

In one extreme there is no necessity to pray

and in the other we better start agreeing with

God in prayer or nothing's going to change and

we're in big trouble. But in both is the truth.

John Wesley said this and I agree with him, God

does nothing but by prayer. God is sovereign,

He's above all and He's not limited by flaky,

unreliable humans like me and you. But prayer

is also how God's chosen to work. He's chosen

to work by our agreement with His will by prayer.

And Jesus' teaching on prayer in the Gospels

could be boiled down to annoy God until you get

what you want. God is not limited to our prayers,

but He chooses to work through them. Why? Because

God has chosen to work with us to put this universe

right and spread the message of the kingdom of

God throughout the world. It's like a group project

at uni where God's the one doing all the work.

In prayer we work with God to bend the universe

to God's will. Now if we're going to become the

kind of person who does not see people as the

enemy but instead contends in prayer, if we're

going to become the kind of church that is a

praying church, we need to understand that there

is a spiritual war and then there is an enemy

and the enemy has strategies, violence, compromise

and distraction. And we need to understand that

prayer is how we fight our battles. But understanding

will only get us so far. To become this kind

of person, to become this kind of church, we

actually got to get in the trenches and wage

war on our knees in prayer. We won't actually

learn this without putting this into practice.

You won't know it until you step towards it.

We'll struggle to learn the necessity of prayer

unless we practice taking our needs, taking our

struggles, taking our worries to God in prayer.

Until we pray for someone's health or pray for

someone's faith and until our knees are sore

and our tears are dry but once you do Once you

turn prayer the prayer room in into a war room

and you go after something in prayer and God

comes through for you You will look at the world.

You will look at people. You will look at the

problems in your life differently Now look God's

gonna give you everything you want all the time.

God's not a vending machine or a genie Things

will not work out in the most comfortable and

optimal way for you. God will not work according

to your calendar. There will probably be times

when you don't have a clue what on earth God

is doing. But remember, what's Jesus teaching

on prayer? Annoy God. Don't give up asking. Keep

asking. Keep knocking and it will be done for

you. A couple of years ago, I had four things

that I laid before God that I needed breakthrough

in, and I pleaded with God, I pleaded on my knees

to solve just one of them. There were four, and

they were in the way, and I needed one of them

out of the way. We needed some financial relief

for our family. I needed a breakthrough with

my ordination. We needed to find a house in the

western suburbs, and I needed my wife to be well.

And within four months, three out of the four

God had answered, and I only asked for one. Out

of the blue to me, the church just decided to

ordain me. Unexpectedly, there was this change

saving us about $1 ,000 a month. After eight

months of applying for houses and coming up empty,

not even getting anything anywhere with anything,

we were offered three in 24 hours. We had to

choose in the end. We would have been happy with

anything, but we got to choose. Three out of

four was a relief. It was so much better than

I had asked for. And you better believe that

this has taught me to contend in prayer. But

prayer is not a recipe or a spell or a formula

that you can repeat. Prayer does not operate

on our time frame, but it works. It works because

it's collaboration with God. And God does nothing

but buy it. It works because God is for you,

my friends. Jesus says in Matthew 7, if even

you who are sinful people know how to give good

gifts to your children how much more how much

more will your heavenly father give good gifts

to those who ask him how do we know that god

is for us how do we know that he loves us when

we're confronted by unimaginable heartache how

do we know he cares when we struggle and we struggle

without reprieve how do we know he's a good father

when our hopes and dreams turn to dust we know

because he's already given us the greatest gift

the gift of His Son Jesus. We know He loves us,

that He cares for us, that He's for us, that

He's a good Father because He's given us His

Son. John 3, 16, classic, it's on every mug you've

ever seen. It says what? For God so loved the

world that He gave His one and only Son so that

everyone who believes in Him will not perish

but have eternal life. His Son, He gave His Son.

who freely gave Himself up for us. He let His

blood be shed on the cross so that the enemy's

strategies to separate humanity from eternal

relationship with God forever could be dismantled,

defeated, destroyed. We know He's for us because

He's already given us more than we could ever

hope to ask for. We know He loves us because

He's given us the Holy Spirit to lead us, to

guide us, to protect us. And we know He's good

father because he gives children good gifts I've

always been struck by Elizabeth's comment to

Mary in Luke 1 verse 45 she says you're blessed

Luke 1:45

because you believed that the Lord would do what

he said and friends so are you when you believe

Jesus when you trust him When you bet it all

on him when you stand in his power against the

enemy When you don't make enemies of people,

but you wage war on your knees When you don't

let the strategy of the enemy sink you But you

lean on Jesus When you live believing and taking

him out his word He says John 14 ask me for anything

in my name and I will do it Don't rationalize

it away. Take Him at His Word. Contend in prayer,

friends. Ask. Taste and see that the Lord is

good. Let's pray together. Father, I just pray

that Your Spirit would speak to us right now.

That You would just place on the hearts and minds

of every person here, whether they believe or

not, a burden to pray for. Something that you

want them to contend in prayer for. And I just

pray, Lord, would you give it to them as a name?

An injustice in this world? Something that breaks

their heart and your heart, Jesus. I just pray,

Lord, that you would help embolden our faith

here in this place. That your spirit would come

and that we would be people who persevere in

prayer until we see your kingdom come, until

we see people come to faith, until we see this

community radically transformed by your good

news. We pray you would make us bold in life

and in our prayers. Lord teach us how to pray

big scary bold prayers. Prayers that you can

answer, that you want to answer Lord Jesus. So

we agree with you in this place when we say Holy

Spirit come. We agree with you in this place

when we say we praise you Lord God for Jesus.

And we just pray Lord that more and more people

in this community will come to faith in you.

We think of all the parents in the schools, all

the elderly who are stuck at home, those in the

residential care units. We think about those

in the social housing. We think about those in

the beachfront properties. We pray, Lord Jesus,

that Your Spirit would come over this community

and that You would bring them to faith in You,

Jesus, that You would awaken them to the life

that they can have in You, the calling that You

have upon their life, the purpose and peace that

You offer them, and that they would come home

to You, Lord Jesus. And we pray, Lord God, for

more workers for the harvest because the harvest

is plentiful and the workers are few. We pray

this in your name, Jesus. Thanks so much for

tuning into this week's message. If you felt

challenged or need prayer, we'd love to hear

from you on Instagram at encounterhenley. Or

if you're interested in how you can support this

ministry, please go to our website encounteradelaide

.com .au. Thanks again for listening. God bless

you.