"A Call to Prayer" Follow-UP

Hey Bridge Family, I hope you are enjoying this very warm week! Please make some time to go outdoors on a prayer walk this week.

This past Sunday I shared five lessons involving prayer from our text in Mark 11. They were:

1) Remember - the historical component
2) Trust God - the theological component
3) Believe - the spiritual component
4) Ask - the practical component
5) Forgive - the moral component

I also promised to share a few tips on praying according to God's will. Here are a few tips to help guide your way below.

Remember: Man's highest aim should be to bring glory to God (1 Corinthians 10:31), and this includes praying according to His will. First, we must ask for wisdom. “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5). In asking for wisdom, we must also trust that God is gracious and willing to answer our prayers: “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt” (James 1:6; see also Mark 11:24). So, praying according to the will of God includes asking for wisdom (to know the will of God) and asking in faith (to trust the will of God).

Here are seven biblical instructions that will guide the believer in praying according to God’s will:

1) Pray for the things for which the Bible commands prayer. We are told to pray for our enemies (Matthew 5:44); for God to send missionaries (Luke 10:2); that we do not enter temptation (Matthew 26:41); for ministers of the Word (Colossians 4:3; 2 Thessalonians 3:1); for government authorities (1 Timothy 2:1-3); for relief from affliction (James 5:13); and for the healing of fellow believers (James 5:16). Where God commands prayer, we can pray with confidence that we are praying according to His will.

2) Follow the example of godly characters in Scripture. Paul repeatedly prayed for the churches he planted and the salvation of others (read the pauline letters). David for example prayed for mercy and forgiveness when he sinned (Psalm 51:1-2). The early church prayed for boldness to witness (Acts 4:29). These prayers were according to the will of God, and similar prayers today can be as well. As with Paul and the early church, we should always be praying for the salvation of others. For ourselves, we should pray as David prayed, always aware of our sin and bringing it before God before it hinders our relationship with Him and thwarts our prayers.

3) Pray with the right motivation. Selfish motives will not be blessed by God. “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:3). We should also pray, not so our lofty words can be heard and we may be seen by others as “spiritual,” but mostly in private and in secret, so that our heavenly Father will hear in private and reward us openly (Matthew 6:5-6).

4) Pray with a spirit of forgiveness toward others (Mark 11:25). A spirit of bitterness, anger, revenge or hatred toward others will prevent our hearts from praying in total submission to God. Just as we are told not to give offerings to God while there is conflict between ourselves and another Christian (Matthew 5:23-24), in the same way God does not want the offering of our prayers until we have reconciled with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

5) Pray with thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2; Philippians 4:6-7). We can always find something to be thankful for, no matter how burdened we are by our wants or needs. The greatest sufferer that lives in this world of redeeming love, and who has the offer of heaven before him, has reason to be grateful to God.

6) Pray with persistence (Luke 18:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:17). We should persevere in prayer and not quit or be dejected because we have not received an immediate answer. Part of praying in God’s will is believing that, whether His answer is “yes,” “no,” or “wait,” we accept His judgment, submit to His will, and continue to pray.

7) Rely on the Spirit of God in prayer. This is a wonderful truth: “We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will” (Romans 8:26-27). We have the Spirit’s help in praying. At the times of our deepest depression or sorrow, those times when we feel that we “just cannot pray,” we have the comfort of knowing that the Holy Spirit is actually praying for us! What an amazing God we have!

What assurance we have when we seek to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh! Then we can have confidence that the Holy Spirit will accomplish His work in presenting our prayers to the Father according to His perfect will and timing, and we can rest in the knowledge that He is working all things together for our good (Romans 8:28).

Quotes on Prayer from some greats of our Faith:

"You may as soon find a living man that does not breath, as a living Christian that does not pray.” - Matthew Henry

"I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.” - Charles Spurgeon

"If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.” - Martin Luther

"The most important thing a born again Christian can do is to pray." - Chuck Smith

"Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees." - Corrie ten Boom

"No learning can make up for the failure to pray. No earnestness, no diligence, no study, no gifts will supply its lack." - E.M. Bounds

"Satan trembles when he sees the weakest Christian on his knees." - William Cowper

"Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer." - John Bunyon

“The man who mobilizes the Christian church to pray will make the greatest contribution to world evangelization in history.” - Andrew Murray

"As is the business of tailors to make clothes and cobblers to make shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray." - Martin Luther

“Prayer is where the action is." - John Wesley

Verge Highlights

I traveled to Austin, TX this past week for the Verge Conference. After each day I put into my journal key thoughts that stuck with me. I figured I should share them. Enjoy.

Day 1:

1. We need skilled business men chasing after Jesus
2. Always check the ROI (return on investment) in missions endeavors
3. People are packing into cities globally
4. We are living in a "fatherless" generation
   
5. Church = the family of God in the neighborhood
6. Listen. Receive vision. Respond. Lead passionately. Operate in gifts/talents.
7. Do not miss out on what the eternal God created us to do.
   
8. Labor in prayer
9. Incarnate into your culture, not another. Don't be afraid to create a better culture as well
   
10. Focus on those you want others to imitate. 20/80 rather than 80/20
11. We need to be blessers.
    
12. Who have you blessed this week?
    
13. Love is the only thing that can sustain mission.
14. You must develop a Christ-like agony for people
15. Christians live with a lot of unbelief
16. We must believe the truth of God
17. The Father is relentlessly pursuing you
    
18. There is a hipness in going. Jesus dwelled for thirty years with little notice.
    
19. Vanderstelt -- Stay. Among. Die.
    
20. What will help others perceive the Glory of God?

Day 2 -

1. Ephesians 4:7-11 is needed
2. You are perfectly designed to achieve what you are currently achieving
   
3. Engage in the suffering
4. We can not be on mission without prayer
5. Mission without prayer is works righteousness --- this was my thought
   
6. God can do more than we can
7. Cultivate the life of your own soul
8. Authenticity is the apologetic of our day
9. The church is a family, not an orphanage
10. Lean into the power of the Holy Spirit
11. Create space for the Holy Spirit
12. Disciple makers produce disciple makers
13. Spend time with the few to reach the many
14. Allow the few access into your life
15. Keep asking God for receptive people
16. If you can teach it to a child you know it. If you can't, you don't.
    
17. Prepare a 1 minute testimony. Encourage everyone to do this, practice this, hold them accountable.
18. Questions: Who did you witness to? Who did you train?
    
19. The 8 non-negotiable David Platt teachings... 1) God-centered God. 2) Word saturated ministry. 3) A life changing Gospel. 4) Spirit empowered church. 5) Christ-Driven Strategy. 6) A peoples focused goal. 7) A multi-faceted approach. 8) Death defined commitment
    
20. The great commission can be accomplished.