Word of Salvation – Vol. 36 No. 25 – July 1991

Teach Us To Pray

 

Sermon by Rev. M. P. Geluk on Lord’s Day 45

Reading: James 5:13-20; Matthew 6:5-15

 

Luke’s gospel tells us that one day Jesus was praying in a certain place.  Observing Him, His disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray. (Luke 11:1).  This is a request that all God’s children may put before their heavenly Father.  Christians are not satisfied learning a few prayers by heart and then repeating these whenever praying is appropriate.  No, they want to open their hearts to God as one does to a trusted friend.  The disciples of Jesus saw how their Master derived renewed strength and purpose from His prayers to His heavenly Father and they were envious of His comfort and peace.

We too can be shown the way to a kind of praying that is a blessing to those who practise it.  In this Lord’s Day 45 and those to follow, the Heidelberg Catechism teaches from Scripture what prayer really is and how it can become a part of the Christian as much as breathing is.

In these few words of introduction it will also help us to see how we came to this subject of prayer.  We came to it because the Catechism has been dealing with the Ten Commandments.  God’s law drives us on to obey His will so that we more and more reflect His image.  God is truly glorified when the people whom He made and remade in Christ become like Him in thought, word and deed.  But Christians face a struggle here; they are resisted by Satan and their own sinful natures.  However, we don’t despair in this struggle for we have been given the Holy Spirit.  He works within us through the Word to make us Christlike.  We resist Satan but not the Holy Spirit.  And now God has given us prayer which is a tremendous help and blessing in this whole striving to be renewed after God’s image.

So God has made the Christian new in Christ and saved him to all eternity.  For the Christian to become what he is already in Christ, God provides His Word and Spirit.  In becoming what he is already, in striving to be like Christ, in following the Ten Commandments, in being open to the Holy Spirit, yes, in all of that lie a great many experiences, emotions and exercises of the human will.

Prayer is the means whereby we can talk to God about all these things, and God takes great delight when His children pray.  As we approach the subject of prayer, let us in the first place be clear on why Christians need to pray.

Whilst on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians, Paul was converted and for three days he struggled intensely with his emotions.  He did not eat or drink.  Then Ananias was told by the Lord to go to Paul’s aid, for, said the Lord, ‘he is praying.’ (Acts 9)

God loves it when those, in whom He is working His saving grace, open their hearts to Him, but it grieves Him when His children, whom He loves, don’t open up to Him.

Imagine parents and their children.  They love that child, provide for him and try to help him go in the right direction with good and wise commands.  But growing up is not easy. There are all kinds of conflicts going on in the child’s life.  But he never lets on. His parents know he is struggling and having a hard time but their repeated efforts to be close to their child in order for that child to open up and talk about everything, are met with a wall of silence.  How different things would be if that child could openly speak to his parents about his hurts and joys as he tries to obey the commands and grow up into a mature, respected and dignified human being.  How it would help the relationship if the child could relate his anguish, his fears, his successes and failures, yes, his deepest thoughts.  That would make the parents happy for then they can mean so much more for the child, and the child would find the going much easier.  Now prayer is that kind of opening up to God.  It is for these reasons also that the Lord wants to teach us to pray.

In the Old Testament book, Daniel, we read about how a number of corrupt but influential officials succeeded in having Daniel thrown into the lions’ den.  They hated Daniel for he was a trustworthy, good and dutiful administrator in the kingdom of Darius the Mede.  Moreover, Daniel served God.  His enemies knew this and suspected that Daniel would regularly pray, so they persuaded the king to pass an edict that all his subjects must only pray to him.  The king was not aware of the plot but Daniel realised it of course when he heard of the edict.  Notwithstanding the fact that his life was threatened, Daniel continued with his praying.  He knew he was in trouble but he brought it all before God in prayer.  Here also we see a child of God not wanting to lose contact with His heavenly Father, not even when it could cost his life.

Moreover, the passage (Daniel 6) where we can read all this tells us that Daniel prayed three times a day.  That was his custom, praying to God three times a day.  Christians, ought to pray regularly, privately and together.  In our churches, calls for prayer meetings have on the whole met with less than an enthusiastic response.  It’s not that we don’t like praying.  Most of us have been taught from early years to pray at mealtimes.  After we were taught to say ‘Daddy’ and Mummy’, the next words were ‘Lord, bless’ and ‘Amen’.  We open and close all our church meetings with prayer.  We pray with the family and our Christian friends.  Prayers, we say, can be done at any place and at any time.  But a wise man said that experience teaches us that things can be done at any time tend to be done at no time.

Indeed, there are amongst us dear children of God who keep their prayer so private and so personal, and maybe also so rare, that if anyone else is within sight or hearing they can’t do it.  They even avoid meeting with fellow Christians for fear that they might be called upon to pray.

No one really wants to use prayer as a means to appear extra holy.  The Pharisees have been a sufficient warning to us here, but to be so desperately shy about praying in front or with others is not a good thing either.

In one sense this would not matter at all if the child of God who is so shy and closed up, regularly opens his/her heart to God in personal prayer.  But does that happen?  Or do they so much keep to themselves that even God is not allowed to hear their deepest thoughts?

If there are such Christians here who hear this and feel hurt or even more threatened, then they should know that these statements are not made in judgement but out of genuine concern for fellow believers in Christ.

In fact, it is that fellowship that suffers.  In the first place prayer is opening up to God and that is a personal thing.  And we know that Jesus advised to go into your room and shut the door when you want to pray. (Matthew 6:6).  But when Jesus said that, He was warning about showing off and being hypocritical.  When you, however, are with your family, or with fellow Christians and showing off and hypocrisy are far from your mind, then praying aloud together, in turns, not only pleases our heavenly Father but gives everyone spiritual joy.

It is so encouraging for a wife to hear a husband pray for her, and vice-versa.  The same holds true for the family and Christians together.  When we in prayer share our joys and sorrows, our pains and hurts, our striving to be obedient to Christ and our concerns for God’s church and kingdom, then not only is God pleased to hear His children open up to Him, but it also does a lot of good to their children among themselves.  Christians want what God wants and when they hear and see this in fellow Christians, then everyone is encouraged and rejoices.

When Peter and John were released from prison, having been put there for healing a cripple, they went back to their own people and reported their experiences.  Then they prayed together.  It was a wonderful experience of unity.  They were filled with the Spirit, and were encouraged to speak the Word of God boldly. (Acts 4:23).

Therefore, my Christian brother and sister, if you have never prayed aloud with your loved ones in Christ, then begin to do so today.  If prayer at your mealtimes is always a silent prayer by all, then for God’s sake open your hearts also to each other.

Whenever or wherever we pray, God wants His children in Christ to do it.  The New Testament says, ‘pray without ceasing’ which means ‘pray continually’ (1Thess.5:17).  Christians are expected to be faithful in prayer (Romans 12:12), to pray for all the saints (Eph.6:18), and to devote themselves to prayer (Gal.4:2).  We don’t pray when we feel like it; we pray because God expects us to do so.  Prayer is being obedient to God, and through prayer we learn to obey.

The Catechism states that ‘prayer is the most important part of the thankfulness God requires of us.’  I think that we have to be careful not to misunderstand this.  If we were to say that this statement means that as long as we pray then all the other things God expects from us don’t matter so much, then I think we are on the wrong track.  We are then thinking of prayer as being the most essential.  It is like saying that you ought to be doing a whole lot of things but as long as you do what you think is the most important then all the rest doesn’t matter as much.  But prayer is not the most important part of our thankfulness in that way.  Obedience, for example, is as important as prayer is.

Prayer is a bit like blood is to our bodies.  All of the body needs blood.  If blood is prevented from reaching a part of the body then that part will die!  If the Christian does all sorts of good things over against God, and even does them with gratitude, but never prays, then he can’t go on in all the other good things.  They will dry up and die.  The Christian will stop doing them.  Prayer is like oil for an engine.  Without lubrication the moving parts of the engine will seize up and the whole engine becomes useless.  So the Christian will always need to pray because without prayer all his other good actions are going nowhere.  Prayer makes everything else we do as Christians meaningful.  It is for that reason the most important part of our thankful service to God.

We need to pray also because God only gives His gifts of grace and the Holy Spirit to those who ask and thank Him for these.  How lazy and arrogant would we become if God just dumped all these riches in our lap every morning.  But by asking for our prayers God is not expecting us to perform fancy tricks and present a begging attitude to before our master.  In Christ God has given us great dignity but He wants us to realise how dependent we are on Him.  That awareness honours Him for, after all, He is God and we are but creatures.  God does not owe us anything and we are not entitled to anything.  If we do not with all our heart (the Catechism has ‘groan’), desire God’s gifts of grace and the Holy Spirit then we are only half interested and God will not give Himself unless He is really wanted.

Let us in the second place see how God wants us to pray.  Yes, in what way should we approach God’s throne so that we know He will listen to us?

Well, it would first have to be a coming to the God of the Scriptures.  People complain sometimes that prayer doesn’t do anything for them, but to whom did they pray?  Some just throw a prayer upwards to heaven just in case there might be some power, unknown and invisible, who might decide to give them a lucky break.  Tennis stars are known to do that when nothing seems to go right for them.  But if someone doesn’t even bother to know God as He has revealed Himself in the Bible, and that person has access to a Bible and can find out who God really is, then it’s no wonder God is not listening.

There are also people who will treat prayer as a last resort.  They take pride in that they can help themselves and turn to God only when things get really desperate.  That’s how they see God, as something that might help, if all else fails.

These people are like the fisherman who got desperate when a long way out to sea his motor wouldn’t start.  ‘God help!’ he cried, but then as he yanked the cord once more, he added, ‘No, it’s all right; I got the motor going.’

Some people who don’t know God believe prayer does help but for them prayer is nothing more than a quiet meditation in which one turns inwards and reaches deep inside oneself and taps into a reserve of powers and strengths not normally used.  But this is of course turning yourself into a god.

Christians know God when they know the Bible, so what may they pray for?  Jesus said, ‘You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.’ (John 14:14).  But the things we ask for will have to be in accordance with God’s revealed will in the Bible.  And from the Bible we can know the difference between our needs and our wants.  God has promised to provide our needs and not our wants.  But now we are already talking about what to pray for while we are still dealing with the how.  When we come to the Lord’s Prayer we will learn from Jesus what we may pray for.

We may approach God for everything He has commanded us to ask for.  We may ask for power to resist temptation but often Christians don’t ask for this power, or don’t really mean it when they ask, for they love whatever tempts them.  But then they should not complain either when they are unable to resist the temptation.  We may also ask to rejoice in all circumstances but when Christians don’t pray about this then they should not blame others for their being grouchy.

Knowing God as the Bible reveals Him means that prayer works only when we sincerely desire the will of God to shape our lives.  But God will hide His face from us when we rob and murder our neighbours.  Neither will we be forgiven if we refuse to forgive others.  Christians can always know when their prayer will be answered.  It’s when they ask the Father to make them like Jesus and to give them His Spirit.

The ‘how’ of prayer also means that we know ourselves.  The Catechism says that, ‘we must acknowledge our need and misery, hiding nothing, and humble ourselves in his majestic presence.’

Every child of God should have a close look at the prayers of those believers in Scripture who truly humbled themselves before God.  They knew their place.  Not only that, they also knew something of God’s greatness and majesty.

The tax collector and the Pharisee both prayed but we all know who knew himself the best.  When you know yourself in the way the Bible then you no longer act the tough guy, or someone who thinks he is it and a bit.  And Christians who have been humbled by God’s holiness and majesty know straightaway when people are putting on an act.

Finally, we must pray in the name of Jesus, our mediator.  There is much comfort here for all the children of God.  We have been looking at prayer in the context of striving to be renewed more and more after God’s image.  We are trying to become what we are in Christ.  It is not a hopeless trying, even though it may be difficult, for God will give us His grace and Spirit when we pray for them.

But every Christian knows of failures and shortcomings.  When he is conscious of these then the Christian knows all too well that he does not deserve God’s love and forgiveness.  In the battle against Satan and sin, the Christian can find himself unsure and lacking assurance.

But that is the time to remember most of all that God will hear our prayer for renewal when we pray in Jesus’ name.  For this is true, in Christ our salvation has been secured.  Christ has died and has risen and our salvation and God’s love is definite because of that.  Christ is our unshakable foundation.

Therefore, when we approach God in the name of Jesus, then He will hear us and we will be received.  This is promised right through the Bible.  And God knows no partiality.  The V.I.P.’s of this world will not be listened to by God if they have not humbled themselves before God.  The poor and defenceless who know Jesus are better off than the rich and powerful who don’t know the Saviour.  And those who try hard and are willing to learn but have difficulty in putting it all together do not have to worry about a thing with God.  Whilst knowing what the Bible is saying is necessary, it is not required to understand completely.  God receives those who with the simplest minds have placed their trust in Jesus.

Once the disciples asked, ‘Lord, teach us to pray.’ and today we heard why Christians need to pray and how God wants us to pray.

‘Lord, hear my prayer and let my cry
 have ready access unto Thee;
 When in distress to Thee I fly,
 O hide not Thou Thy face from me.
 Attend, O Lord, to my desire,
 O haste to answer when I pray..!‘ (Ps.H.199–1)

AMEN