1 Thessalonians 5:17 - Praying Like We Mean It

You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.

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Pray with me.

Father, there may be no truer statement about us than that one.

That we need you every hour.

Father, we often don't feel the truth of that.

Sometimes we feel it intensely.

Would you keep our hearts in a place of dependence on you?

Father, in this hour specifically, we need you because we need you to speak to us.

We are going to be looking at your word.

We want to be guided by your spirit.

We want to hear from you and we need to hear from you.

And so, Father, would you speak?

And would you speak clearly and powerfully and in a way that would alter our hearts?

Our hearts need to be changed by your spirit.

Would you indeed do that work that you do so well?

Would you speak through me?

Father, would you speak to me this morning as I need these words desperately myself?

And would you make your words clear even when mine aren't?

Father, I ask that you would speak.

And we ask you in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Some of you who know me know that it might be fair to describe me as a little bit stuck in my ways.

As a guy who likes a good schedule, likes to make plans,

and isn't particularly good when those plans are altered.

My wife is not in the room anymore since she's teaching kids worship,

or she would stand up and tell you that's true.

I don't do great with plans being changed.

And so, this morning was, like most of the next several weeks,

scheduled to be a sermon on Ephesians.

And I had no intention of that changing.

In fact, that would have been very difficult to convince me there was any good reason to change that.

But there's going to be a little bit of a different kind of sermon this morning.

Maybe it won't be too weird.

But as I prepared for this and considered what God was doing,

I kept feeling the Spirit leading me back to prayer.

We've talked about it a lot already this morning.

We've done it some this morning.

But I felt we needed to open God's Word and talk together about prayer.

Over the past few weeks, you've heard about prayer a lot, probably.

Prayer in sermon applications.

Talking about prayer in congregational meetings, in officers' retreats,

in search committee reports just this morning.

We've said pray in small groups.

Pray on Sundays at 8.30.

Now come and pray at 10.

Pray on second Tuesdays of every month.

Pray, pray, pray.

And as I thought about that, I thought, those are all great things.

And I think, though, many of us receive that in a way that is perhaps not what we would expect.

We hear that and no one is upset about that or disagrees that that would be a good idea.

But many of us, if we're honest, we think,

oh yeah, that's exactly what I expect you to say.

I mean, y'all are a church after all.

So, of course, you're going to talk about praying.

That sounds very spiritual.

But it also can sound very impersonal or impractical.

I'm so glad you said that.

Of course.

That's what I would expect you to say.

That's standard sermon application.

But it doesn't grab your heart at all.

And others of us hear that and we're all in.

We're marking our calendars.

We're going to be there at 8.30 and 10 next Sunday.

And we're going to be at all of those prayer times.

Because it sounds to us, it sounds right too.

We're going to be there.

We're going to grab every prayer card and list we can find.

But in reality, it doesn't grab your heart at all either.

And so I relate to those feelings.

I remember as I was coming out of seminary,

I heard a lot of professors talking about how important it was to pray.

And to pray all the time and to have a life characterized by prayer.

And I thought, that sounds very spiritual and very right.

I agree with that.

In fact, I'm not going to be like all those other guys who say it's important but don't do it.

I'm going to be a praying pastor.

I was convinced of that coming out of seminary.

That would be such a good thing to be.

Would be a praying pastor.

But that's hard to put on a calendar and call it done.

And so you get out of seminary and you go to a church and there's lots of stuff to do.

And plus, you know so much at that point at 25 years old.

And you've just learned all this wonderful stuff in seminary.

And you're ready.

So really as things come up, you've pretty much got it for a while.

You know?

And all of a sudden this idea of being a praying pastor becomes not as important.

I understand that feeling of, that sounds right but it doesn't impact me personally.

I get that feeling.

And so I think it would be good for us to talk for a few minutes about prayer and about what God's Word has to say about it.

Because I think as long as it remains one more item on our calendar or our to-do list, it will continue to feel that way.

Like the thing you're supposed to say and the thing you're supposed to do.

But, you know, really, is He talking to me?

God's Word tells us it's much more than that.

Look at 1 Thessalonians 5, 17.

Just three words.

Two in the Greek, actually.

Pray without ceasing.

Pray unceasingly, the verse says.

Pray all the time, right?

This is not the only place where God's Word tells us this.

Pray without ceasing.

In fact, it's rejoice always.

It's pray without ceasing.

Give thanks in all circumstances.

For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Like, did you come to church wanting to know what God wants you to do?

All right.

Here it is.

God wants you to pray all the time.

And you're not surprised, are you?

Most of you, this may be your first Sunday in a church and you could have told me that, right?

Praying, that's a good thing.

Yes, God would want me to pray.

But what does He mean?

Pray without ceasing.

Is He exaggerating?

I don't think so.

There are words in the Greek for often or a lot.

And He says unceasingly.

Does He mean quit everything else so that you can do nothing but pray the rest of your life?

I don't think so.

The Bible is clear.

We're to do other things with our mouths.

To praise God.

To rebuke a brother in sin.

To give a reason for the hope we have.

All of those we're going to do.

It's not that we have to continue having words of prayer come out of our mouths every moment of every day.

That's not what without ceasing means.

What God is teaching us here and in many other places in His Word is that prayer is not merely an activity, but really a lifestyle.

It's not only one thing to put on the list, but it's also the way we do everything else on the list.

It's an attitude of the heart, a disposition, a mindset with which we approach all of life.

That's what praying without ceasing means.

That's what's so important for us as a church that we can't miss at any time, especially in a season like this.

And when we talk about prayer and prayer, and prayer is a lifestyle God has called us to.

I'd say it this way, a praying lifestyle is what it looks like for us really to believe what we say we believe.

I mean, churches are pretty good at talking a good game.

We've got lots of lists of things we believe, things we think are important, things we all can agree on.

It's not too difficult to figure out from the Bible that prayer should be a priority for Christians and churches.

But what I'm suggesting is that the nature of our prayer lives reveals a lot about some of the fundamental beliefs that we hold most dear at any church,

and particularly at Southwood Presbyterian.

What fuels a praying lifestyle?

How would that happen that prayer would not be merely an activity, but really a lifestyle?

I think three particular beliefs that we hold dear here, that if we really believe them, would fuel our lifestyle of prayer.

Three, you notice I'm not going to make this sermon too weird.

I don't want to go, you know, three points should keep us on track.

So this will be not too unfamiliar to you.

The first one, one of the things that we believe passionately is that God is at work.

That's foundational.

It's the bottom line of what we believe about all of life, that God is in charge and in control.

We often call it His sovereignty.

That He is the King.

He's the one at work.

That He's up to something.

Sometimes we treat that as something we can just pull out in the hard times and say,

you know, God's sovereign.

He'll bring something good out of something bad.

That's what it means.

But it's true all the time, isn't it?

That He's always the one working.

He's constantly committed to seeing His kingdom advance.

He's the one primarily at work.

And He's using us as a part of that.

But He's up to something.

He has been since He created.

He's been up to something in this world.

He's been on a mission.

And we Presbyterians say we believe that.

But you know what we usually do?

We say that God is the one mostly at work.

But we usually plan.

And then we think.

And then we plan some more.

Because we're so smart and organized that we're going to figure it out.

And then once we have a good plan, we pray for the plan.

Right?

Because that's important.

You should do that.

Listen to the way church historian Richard Loveless says it.

But he says something that I think is a good critique for us.

Here's where Pentecostals reflect the authentic revival tradition of Protestantism.

What he means is here's something the Pentecostals get right that we mess up.

When they commence a venture, it is with hours of prayer.

While with ordinary evangelicals, he could have said Presbyterians, it is with hours of talk and organization.

The result is often that charismatics achieve supernatural results while the rest of us obtain what is organizable.

Do you relate to that?

Are you very comfortable with what's organizable?

I feel kind of a safe place to be.

We'll get exactly what we kind of plan out to get and we'll be in control of it.

It makes those of us who like control feel really good, doesn't it?

Anybody else like that?

It's a high level of control.

We're often happy with that.

We joke that as we entered a season of transition here at Southwood,

the first thing we did was create a committee to decide which committees we needed to create.

A very, very Presbyterian thing to do, right?

You know what would be even more?

Presbyterian.

Praying.

All the time.

Because we believe that the vital work that needs to be done is the work done primarily by God rather than us.

That He's committed to this.

That He's at work.

That He's the one in control.

You may think that sounds a little bit weird to say that praying would be a very Presbyterian thing to do.

Because you may think churches that talk about God's sovereignty, that He's in charge, means there's no need to pray at all.

The Bible says exactly the opposite.

It says God's sovereignty is the reason we pray.

That He's at work and has told us our prayers are part of that work.

In fact, that they're powerful and effective.

The reason prayer is not a waste of time is that the one to whom we pray is powerful and active.

Otherwise, what are we doing?

The reason prayer is not wasting your time is that you're praying to the one who's at work.

To the one who's powerful and active.

That's why I said at the congregational meeting back in February that we don't just pray for the work of the church,

but that prayer is the work of the church.

It's coming before a sovereign God and pleading with Him.

And we struggle to believe that that's true because we struggle to believe that God is the one at work rather than us.

That's the truth.

Why should we pray without ceasing?

Because God never ceases to be sovereign.

The one who watches over His people never slumbers nor sleeps.

So we should be coming to Him all the time, moment by moment, even when it seems we could rely on our own planning and gifts.

Commentator F.F. Bruce writes,

I love that description of it.

What does it mean to have a spirit of prayer moment by moment?

It means that I sense that God's here.

That He's at work.

And when I feel that, the natural thing to do is to pray.

When He's present, I want to talk to Him.

I want to ask for His help.

This is what happens when we realize God is here and He's at work.

Not just in the big things, but in every moment.

Do we really believe that He's always with us?

That He's always the one at work?

Do we really believe He's the one who will enable us to make it through the long day with the kids?

That He gives life to dead hearts?

That He loves Huntsville more than we do?

It doesn't mean we quit forming committees altogether.

It means that every committee we form is driven and surrounded by prayer

because we believe God's there and He's at work there.

And it means He's our hope for that committee.

Not that the members are spiritual or smart or savvy,

but that He's sovereign.

That's why we pray for them.

In addition to God's sovereignty,

the fact that God is the one at work,

another thing we believe deeply is that we are in need.

God is at work and we are in need.

And I think this is the primary reason why for many of us,

prayer remains an activity rather than a lifestyle.

Because we struggle regularly to feel our need in a deep way, don't we?

Pastor Bert Parsons says,

Prayer is hard because coming to the end of ourselves is hard.

You feel that?

You have a hard time coming to the end of yourself?

Do you struggle to pray without ceasing

because you don't feel needy without ceasing?

Not every moment of every day do I feel desperate for help?

I do.

That's one of the reasons I struggle with it.

You see, if you start reading through the prayers in the Bible,

you'll notice really quickly a deep sense of God's sufficiency

along with a deep sense of our insufficiency.

It's there almost everyone you flip to.

A realization of our inadequacy and need.

It's the words of Psalm 86.

Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I'm poor and needy.

That's why I'm praying to you, because I need help.

Answer me, God.

Help me.

We are the ones who need help,

who need to be changed.

You know, prayer is not primarily about changing God

or changing the circumstances of our lives.

It's largely about changing us, isn't it?

Paul Miller so helpfully says,

prayer offers us not a less busy life,

but a less busy heart.

In the midst of overwhelming circumstances

and things that I don't know how to handle,

prayer reorients me to a God

that I can trust to a posture of dependence on Him.

Miller goes on in his book on prayer,

and he says,

if you're not praying,

then you are quietly confident

that time, money, and talent

are all you need in life.

Ouch.

That's tough, isn't it?

If you're not praying,

you're quietly confident

that time, money, and talent

are all you need in life.

You'll always be a little too tired,

a little too busy.

But if, like Jesus,

you realize you can't do life on your own,

then no matter how busy,

no matter how tired you are,

you'll find time to pray.

I love this last part.

Time in prayer makes you

even more dependent on God

because you don't have as much time

to get things done.

I hate that part about prayer.

I love getting things done.

I'm a list guy.

And so any minute that I spend

not checking a box on the list

is often viewed as a wasted minute.

How come we're not getting

things accomplished?

Where's the efficiency?

I hope I'm not the only one

that struggles with that.

But it doesn't feel productive sometimes

because I'm confident on my own.

I think if I could just get started

using my gifts and my plans,

we'd get somewhere.

But I slow down to pray.

I asked myself this week,

was what Miller said really true?

Is that how I really view prayer

and how it impacts me?

And I found it, for me, it really is.

It's why I only prayed

before the really hard tests

when I was in school

or sometimes the ones

I didn't study for.

Then I would pray.

It's why you pray before the big game

rather than all of them.

It's why when I came out of seminary

wanting to be a praying pastor,

I didn't often hit my knees

until I ran out of options,

until I'd exhausted

all my wealth of wisdom

that I'd learned in seminary,

until I got overwhelmed

and in over my head.

It was my need that drove me to prayer.

I've seen this again in the past few weeks

in the life of this church.

You know who's been driving the need?

You started to hear things, right?

People are talking about prayer.

We always talk about prayer,

but it's been a lot more lately, hasn't it?

It's starting to bother you a little bit?

We're talking too much?

You know who's driving a lot of that,

leading the charge on that

with the officers?

Our search committee.

As they've begun considering

the task in front of them,

as they've seen the enormity

of what they've got,

they feel an acute sense of need

and thus they're helping us

remember the need for prayer.

I'm so thankful for them

and for what they've done for us

in that regard

because seeing our need clearly

fuels heartfelt prayer.

It's been a wonderful thing

to have them lead us in that.

But listen to me.

Dear friends,

Southwood,

the enormous task

in front of us,

in front of Southwood,

is not merely finding

a new senior pastor.

It should cause us to stop

and think,

why are they the ones

feeling needy and desperate

with an enormous task

in front of them?

Why don't we all feel that way?

The enormous task

is not finding a new senior pastor,

but reaching Huntsville

and the world

with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Amen?

That's the enormous task

in front of this church.

That's what God's put us here for.

For His glory to fill

the whole earth.

For His kingdom to be advanced

all around us

where we already are.

That everyone we can reach

would know the grace

of King Jesus, right?

That this is what we're here for.

That's enormous.

He has called us now

to be transformed

by the gospel

so that we can be agents

of transformation

in our culture.

He wants Southwood now

to be turned inside out

by grace

so that He can use us

to turn Huntsville

and the world upside down.

With the good news

of the gospel.

Now.

We're not in a waiting game

or holding period.

The enormous task

in front of us

is reaching Huntsville

and the world

with the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

That's a big task.

Consider that for a second.

And then ask yourself

the obvious question.

Seriously, God?

Us?

Reach Huntsville

and the world

for Christ?

Us?

The ones who have

trouble reaching our spouses

to hold a marriage together?

The ones who have

trouble reaching our kids

to keep them on track?

The ones with trouble

reaching our neighbors

to have even a conversation

with them?

Us?

Southwood,

do you see our need?

We all should have

an acute sense

of our need

in light of the enormity

of the task

that God has given us.

It's a high calling.

And we are clearly

inadequate

on our own.

We need Him.

We need Him

every hour.

We need Him

now and today.

That might

not just get you up

at 8.30 and 10

on Sundays

to pray.

It may wake you up

in the middle of the night

praying.

It may have you

crying out to God

as you drive to work

or discipline your kids

or serve on the PTA

or plan a budget

or watch the news

or coach a ball team

or in the midst of life

and wherever you are

you might all of a sudden

find yourself praying

because what God

has called you to

is so much bigger

than what you're capable of.

And that's when prayer

begins to become

a lifestyle

rather than merely

an activity

when we have a regular

sense of our need.

Now those are two

very important things

that we believe.

God's sovereignty

that He's at work

and our need.

But I'd suggest to you

that just the two of those

aren't actually enough

to fuel a lifestyle

of prayer.

Let me explain it this way.

You may have a need

that you're aware of

and you may know

a very powerful person

who would be capable

of meeting that need

but that won't be enough

for you to bother him

when he's busy.

That reality in itself

won't be enough

for you to text him

in the middle of the night

and for you to call

every few minutes

and think that you could talk

to this very important

powerful person

about what's on your heart.

One more thing

is necessary

for that to happen.

And so while the law

or your own guilt

can drive you

to schedule a time

to pray

occasionally at least

only the gospel

can drive you

to a lifestyle of prayer

because that one thing

that's needed

is relationship

and the gospel

gives us that.

The one thing

you have to have

is a relationship

and one more thing

we believe passionately here

is that the gospel

changes everything.

This is what I mean

with regards to prayer.

Because of the gospel

of grace

the powerful person

with the provision

for your needs

those two things

you feel

is not just

some powerful person

out there somewhere

he's your father.

Isn't he?

So praying

can become a lifestyle

because I have a father

who wants to hear my needs

and won't reject me

when I cry out to him

at some crazy hour.

Think of all the things

a child will wake

his father up for

in the middle of the night.

You can laundry list them.

A cup of water

gotta use the potty

can't find blankie

had a bad dream

keep going

do any of those things

stop a young child

in the middle of the night

for crying out for daddy?

They don't do they?

Why?

Why is that?

Why do we love that?

He doesn't think twice

about coming to his father

who loves him.

That's how Jesus

taught us to pray

isn't it?

He said

you say

our father

so prayer is

crawling into the lap

of my father

not

climbing the ladder

to my father.

I'm not trying

to earn his affection

by scheduling in

some times

to pray

I already have

his affection

so I pray

whenever I feel

the need

whenever

something strikes

prayer becomes

reveling in his love

all the time

not reaching

for something

I don't have

yet.

In fact

if you've ever

fallen asleep

praying

anybody ever

you're not going

to admit that

are you?

Have you ever

fallen asleep

praying?

Did you wake up

feeling guilty?

Frustrated

like a failure

or an annoyance?

You ever had a child

fall asleep

in your arms?

A child

falling asleep

in a father's arms

is a precious moment

that a father

cherishes.

He loves that

and we never

grow up

or get too big

or too strong

or too independent

to fall asleep

in our father's arms.

Maybe you've never

thought about prayer

that way.

Maybe you thought

we shouldn't make

such a big deal

about prayer

because we're

a grace church

and we talk

about grace

and the gospel

and prayer

that seems like

it's a little bit

maybe that's getting

a little bit too

legalistic

or something like that.

Listen,

a grace church

that's not a praying church

is a contradiction

in terms.

A grace church

that's not a praying church

is a contradiction

in terms.

You pray

because you now

have a relationship

with God

so you can talk to Him.

If we really believe

what we say we believe

that the gospel

changes everything

that we have

a new relationship

with God

by His grace

that we're actually

His sons and daughters

not just pretending

to be

then we'll talk to Him.

We'll pray.

Do people ever ask you

about your relationship

with God?

Sometimes feel a little bit weird.

My relationship with God?

What do you mean

my relationship with God?

Well, Christians talk

about having a relationship

with God, don't we?

You've heard that.

Would your spouse

say your relationship

is healthy

if you haven't told him

how you feel

for months?

Would you say

your relationship

is healthy

if the only times

you ever talk

are when you schedule

the conversation?

Listen, I love

scheduling conversations.

We do this a lot.

Sometimes there are things

you need to talk about

and you need to put it

on the calendar

and you need to have a meeting

and talk about it.

And I'm very,

that's very important to me.

Scheduling things

is a good thing.

But if that's the only time

I ever talked to my wife,

I wouldn't work

in a relationship, would it?

That's not what

a relationship is like.

It's great to repent

during Lent, for example,

but we should always

be repenting.

It's great to pray

during a senior pastor search,

but we should always

be praying.

I hope that we come together

and pray a lot

in the next few months.

Scheduling that

is a good thing.

There's great encouragement

in praying with others.

We should do it.

We should have to reschedule

the room we're meeting in.

So many of us

should want to gather

and pray.

But I hope way beyond that

that you know

you've got a Father

who will hear you anywhere,

anytime,

that you'll pray to Him.

One of my favorite prayers

in the Bible

has always been

Jehoshaphat

in 2 Chronicles 20.

You may remember

the situation.

He's the king

of God's people, Judah.

And the Moabites

and the Ammonites

are coming to attack them.

And Jehoshaphat prays

in 2 Chronicles 20.

In verse 6,

he says this,

O Lord,

God of our fathers,

are you not God in heaven?

You rule over

all the kingdoms

of the nations.

In your hand

are power and might

so that none

is able to withstand you.

God,

you're sovereign

and powerful, right?

We're coming to you

because we know

you're at work.

Look down at verse 12,

what he says at the end.

We're powerless

against this great horde

that's coming up against us.

We do not know what to do

but our eyes are upon you.

Do you hear his need?

The sense of his need there?

We're powerless.

We don't know what to do.

That classic line,

we don't know what to do

but our eyes are upon you.

That's beautiful.

But why?

Why is it Yahweh

that his eyes are on?

Because the God of his fathers

from verse 6 by verse 12

has become what?

Our God.

Oh, our God.

The one in relationship with us.

The one who loves

and cares for us.

We look to you.

Our Father

is the one who's sovereign

to meet our needs.

Listen, if you leave this morning

thinking merely

that you should probably

pray a little bit more,

then you'll be just where I was

coming out of seminary.

Probably where you were

when you came in this morning

if we're honest.

I knew prayer was a good thing.

You really want to pray more

but you'll be missing

the long-term motivation

that changes your life

not just a couple of meetings

that you go to.

I've shared with you before

Paul Miller's analogy

that focusing on prayer like that

is like trying to drive

by focusing on the windshield.

You don't look at the windshield.

You look through the windshield

to what's beyond it.

Look through prayer

to your Father

who in His kind provision

is the one at work

and meeting your needs.

Then prayer becomes

not a have to

but a get to.

Not a to do

but a need to.

Not a duty

but a delight.

Then we'll pray

at meetings

and gatherings

and worship services

and small groups

in hallways

and parking lots

over meals

over coffee

by ourselves

with our kids.

It might not

be just a spiritual

platitude

that doesn't mean much

to you anymore.

It might start

becoming a lifeline.

A lifestyle

where we pray

without ceasing.

Where we desperately

need our Father

to get through

each and every moment

of each and every day.

and that's exactly

what this table

that's set before us

reminds us of

this morning.

What a gift

that we come now

to a table

where the Father

spreads it before us

and says you're needy

and I've come

to meet your needs.

A Father who's provided

lavishly

for our deepest needs

through sending

His Son

for us.

That's the kind of

Father we pray to.

He comes

and prepares

this table

at which we get

to feast.

What a kind

and gracious

Father we have.

Remember the words

of institution

that Jesus gave

in 1 Corinthians 11.

Paul repeats them.

Paul said,

I received from Jesus

what I passed on to you

that the night

He was betrayed

He took bread

and when He'd given thanks

He broke it

and said,

this is my body

which is for you.

Do this in remembrance

of me.

In the same way

also He took the cup

after supper

saying,

this cup is the new covenant

in my blood.

Do this as often

as you drink it

in remembrance of me.

For as often

as you eat this bread

and drink the cup

you proclaim

the Lord's death

until He comes.

This is as I said

the Lord's table.

Not a Southwood table

or a Presbyterian table.

He's the one

who sets it

and He invites

all of those

who are in relationship

with Him

to come.

The ones who

know Him

as Father.

Those who by faith

have cast their hope

not in themselves

but in Jesus

He says,

come and eat.

And if that's not you

if this all seems

a little bit bizarre

if you hear me talk

about prayer

and a lifestyle

of dependence upon God

and you think

I don't even know

what that would mean

then let me invite you

not to come

to this table

this morning

but to consider

to consider the possibility

that someone offers you life

not found in yourself

where it all doesn't

hang on you

where it's not all up to you

and the burden's

not all carried by you

and that Jesus

would offer you

that kind of life.

Come and consider Jesus

and who He is.

We'd love to talk with you

not about fixing your life

but about the Savior

who is working

on our broken lives.

We'd love to have

that conversation with you.

Let's pray.

Jesus we came to the Father

completely dependent

on your grace

not our goodness.

We live today

completely dependent

on your grace

not our goodness.

Would this meal

remind us of that

strengthen us

to that end.

We pray in your name.

Amen.

For more information

visit us online

at southwood.org

For more information

visit us online

at southwood.org