Prayer in the Power of the Holy Spirit

One aspect of the triune God I think I have neglected to show the importance of in prayer is the Holy Spirit. This morning I will attempt to show our utter dependence on the Holy Spirit in prayer and in life. Without the Holy Spirit we are not righteous, not good Christians, and dare I say not Christians at all. However with the Holy Spirit in us we can do bold things, do right things in a winsome and righteous way. For example:

In Acts 3 we see where Peter and John are going to pray and are stopped by a lame beggar, and in the name of Jesus they heal him. This amazed the others going to pray who had seen this beggar for years, probably sitting in the same spot. People quickly gathered to see this miracle, and Peter immediately began to preach the Gospel to them. This drew the attention of the Sadducees, who were none too happy (to the point of jealousy), and they had Peter and John arrested.

The next day when the High Priest’s inquired by what “power” they had healed the beggar, Peter answered them boldly. Now mind you this is same Peter who had denied Jesus three times, who could not even stand up to the little servant girl who had pointed him out as being with Jesus. (Luke 22:56) And it gives witness to the power of the Holy Spirit that can change a person when Peter says to the High Priests(Acts 4:8): (And if I may take some artistic license and read this as I think Peter may have said it), “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed,  let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

And notice the reference to Psalm 118 that the Sadducees and High Priests would have no doubt picked up on.

^“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

 This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.  This is the day that the Lord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.

²⁷ The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us.”

The Sadducees are basically dumbfounded at the miracle and the boldness of Peter and not knowing what to do, they tell Peter and John to not speak in the name of Jesus anymore, to which Peter and John respond that they have no choice but to do so. So the Sadducees again warn them to knock it off or else and then let them go.

As soon as they return to their friends they pray and give thanks, and again quote a Psalm 2:1-2 of David, “said by the Holy Spirit” Acts 4:25

“‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— “

The chapter concludes with Acts 4:31

“And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”

As noted in “The Complete Summary of the New Testament” by Keith Brooks the summary conclusion to Acts Chapter 4

“The more resolute are Christ’s servants to witness of Him, the more spiteful will be the agents of Satan—therefore, let Satan’s agents be ever so spiteful, Christ’s witnesses must be resolute, for the Holy Spirit may be counted upon to enable them to do their part. Persecution gives wings to the truth.”

In terms of prayer I think this gives witness that we must call upon the Holy Spirit to give us the boldness to proclaim His name, especially in the times of persecution, because we are not strong enough. But if we rely upon the Holy Spirit to guide our actions, our words, and our prayers we can be sure that while persecution will come, we can be faithful witnesses to Him.

So this morning we pray, come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts and our minds, that we will be faithful witnesses in our deeds, words, and thoughts in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Lord Help my Unbelief

Mark 9:24 “Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, "I do believe; help my unbelief."”

Do you ever pray about your unbelief? Surely you say “I am a Christian, I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I believe!” It is an act of faith no doubt. Yes we know our doctrine fairly well, we attend church regularly, and we pray. We feel the Holy Spirit come into our hearts as our love for Him grows. Surely We Believe! We have so many other things to pray about, do I need to pray about my unbelief?

I am currently on my third reading of the Bible this year, well ever actually. I don’t say this to impress anyone.  If I had read it and understood, fully and wholly understood it the first time, it would be foolish to read again; but I did. I will continue reading it until I can understand it fully; and so I imagine I will read it for the rest of my life, God willing.  

As we see in John 13:31 -38 Peter wants to follow Jesus, even unto death. “I will lay down my life for you.” He says. But Jesus knows how Peter will deny him 3 times.

This is a man who has seen the miracles first hand, experienced the teachings of Jesus first hand, and yet he is still capable of denying Christ. Yes we all know after the resurrection Peter went on to be a great witness for Christ even until death, and I pray that if I can be half the man Peter was I shall be blessed.

I also think of Pastor Youcef in Iran, imprisoned today for his refusal to deny Christ, imminent death hanging over his head, his wife and children await his release, which could be granted with that denial. Yet he says that “he cannot” deny Christ. There are many others as well imprisoned to this day for Christ.

Could you do the same? I pray that I could, I pray that I would not find excuses to deny Him. “It’s only a little lie I will tell, but God knows I love him.” “Surely God does not want me to die, my children need me, He will understand. “ “Surely God has more for me to do, I will deny Him now, but I don’t mean it”

So I pray Lord help my unbelief! Lord help me to learn your Word wholly and completely! Lord help me to be faithful to you! Lord help me to realize I am but a sinner that without your Grace I am lost!

I also pray for others who claim to be Christians or religious and will go to support Chick-fil-A, “because they hate fags”, and “god hates fags”. The problem with these people is not their religion, but their ignorance of it, or unbelief. I pray I and they will not judge someone just because they sin differently than I and they do, Lord I pray to remove the plank from my eye.

Pray with me that through the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus that we will glorify God in all that we do and be faithful to his name even unto the death. Amen!

Chick-fil-A and the "Nevers" of the Gospel

With all the Chick-fil-A talk and many other things going on lately, I have been feeling a little self-righteous lately. Aggravated that others cannot see “the Truth” I pray that I will overcome and give over my stiff neck to Jesus. So let me read from The Valley of Vision about the “Nevers” of the Gospel.

O Lord,

May I never fail to come to the knowledge of the truth, never rest in a system of doctrine, however scriptural, that does not bring or further salvation, or teach me to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, or help me to live to soberly, righteously, godly; never rely on my own convictions and resolutions, but be strong in thee and in thy might; never cease to find thy grace sufficient in all my duties, trials, and conflicts; never forget to repair to thee in all my spiritual distresses and outward troubles, in all the dissatisfactions experienced in creature comforts; never fail to retreat to him who is full of grace and truth, the friend that loveth at all times, who is touched with feeling of my infirmities, and can do exceeding abundantly for me; never confine my religion to extraordinary occasions, but acknowledge thee in all my ways; never limit my devotions to particular seasons but be in thy fear all the day long; never be godly only on the Sabbath or in thy house, but on every day abroad and at home; never make piety a dress but a habit, not only a habit but a nature, not only a nature but a life.

Do good to me by all thy dispensations, by all means of grace, by worship, prayers, praises, and at last let me enter that world where is no temple, but only thy glory and the Lamb’s.

Acts 4: 19-20 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to Him? You be the judges.  As for us we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard”

Acts 4:31 after they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

And so let us pray to God, by the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus, that we will proclaim His name boldly, Amen

Fullness of Joy in Prayer

“Prayer is God's appointed way to fullness of joy because it is the vent of the inward burnings of our heart for Christ” - John Piper

It’s a great definition of prayer! Now I would like to ask, when do you pray, in the morning or at night? When you are sad, happy, desperate, lonely, or thankful? Perhaps you pray before a big meeting or before a big life event?

These are all great times to pray, it’s hard to think of a time when it not a good time to pray. We are all so flawed, but He is perfect, and I think it is natural to ask for help from the One who can, the only one who can, ultimately help.

Anyone who says that they don’t need help is lying, as John Donne said “No man is an Island” and as we read in John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

We all need help, but how do we ask for help from God? We pray. This is why I think in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 it says “never stop praying”…..we always need help

To paraphrase the John Piper quote on prayer; if your heart burns for Christ, you are happiest when in prayer, for it brings out your deepest desires.

·      When sad we can be happy when you turn your cares over to Him, through prayer

·      Joyful when desperation turns to hope in Him, through prayer

·      When loneliness turns to acceptance into His family, through prayer.

·      When thankfulness turns into glorifying God for all that he has done, and you recognize all He has done in your life for His glory

So pray with me this morning that we will never cease in praying, under all circumstances, for any reason, and that we will glorify God by the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

John 17

Not to bring anyone down this morning but I must ask this question; what would you pray for if you knew you were dying? Make no mistake about it; just as you are living you are dying. Knowing this truth do you have the consolation of knowing Jesus and that with Him you will live forever? Are you living your life getting to know and in preparation of meeting God? These are some questions I ask myself when I get ready to pray, if I knew I was going to die tomorrow, what would I pray for.

In the Gospel of John verse 17:1- 26…the longest prayer by Jesus is, in large part and graciously, about us. Jesus is speaking to the Father about the followers of the Word, His followers, you and I. Awesome! I would read the whole chapter, but I will leave that to you, but I just have to read my favorite verse John 17:9 Jesus says, “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, for they are yours.”

If that doesn’t give you a chill up your spine, or a leap in your heart, I’m not sure what will.

Like when we sing the song “the wonderful cross”

Oh, the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die
And find that I may truly live

Die in your old ways, come live in Jesus, and ask to be sanctified by the Word as Jesus has prayed for you! Pray to God by the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus that we are dying of this world to truly live in His name. Amen!

Meditating on the Truth

So far in our prayer group we have discussed many things about prayer. Today I would like to change the subject somewhat and talk about something I never associated the God; meditation.  Meditation about God and prayer and instead of trying to paraphrase or recreate my views on what I have learned about meditation I am going to just read from “Knowing God” by J.I Packer.  Certainly I could not say it any better and I hope it leaves the same impact on you as it did on me.

Before I read it for you I want to share what I was meditating on the day, WWJD. A common inspirational question we ask ourselves from time to time in certain situations, and I think while it can be a helpful tool in our lives it can be dangerous if not immediately followed by WDJD. What did Jesus do, if we ask WWJD without asking what Jesus did do we are substituting our thoughts for His actions, not good. So when you meditate on God and His word I strongly suggest you have a Bible handy.

Meditating on the Truth

How are we to do this? How can we turn our knowledge about God into knowledge of God? The rule for doing this is simple but demanding. It is that we turn each truth that we learn about God into matter for meditation before God, leading to prayer and praise to God.

We have some idea, perhaps, what prayer is, but what is meditation?  Well may we ask for meditation is a lost art today, and Christian people suffer grievously from their ignorance of the practice.

Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God. It is an activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God as a means of communion with God.

Its purpose is to clear one’s mental and spiritual vision of God, and to let His truth make its full and proper impact on one’s mind and heart. It is a matter of talking to oneself about God and oneself; it is, indeed, often a matter of arguing with oneself, reasoning oneself out of moods of doubt and unbelief into a clear apprehension of God’s power and grace.

Its effect is ever to humble us, as we contemplate God’s greatness and glory and our own littleness and sinfulness, and to encourage and reassure us-“comfort” us, in the old, strong, Bible sense of the word- as we contemplate the unsearchable riches of divine mercy displayed in the Lord Jesus Christ. ……

And it is as we enter more and more deeply into this experience of being humbled and exalted that our knowledge of God increases, and with it our peace, our strength and our joy. God help us, then, to put our knowledge about God to this use, that we all may in truth “know the Lord”.

Acts 1:14 Group Prayer

Acts 1:14 “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”

The Book of Acts, the second book written by Luke, a physician, for Theophilus as an accounting of the Acts of the Apostles. And of course one of the first things the Apostles do is decide to find a replacement for Judas. Jesus has told them the Holy Spirit will be with them and they have seen Jesus ascend into heaven.

The Apostles had seen Jesus go and pray on numerous occasions, one of the last things they saw Jesus do was to go into the Garden of Gethsemane and pray; just before the most important moment in the life of Jesus on earth, the most important moment ever! Jesus went to talk to his Father about it, and he prayed. Now as we see in this verses 13 and 14 the first thing the Apostles do after the Ascension is to return to Jerusalem they then;

·       “went to the upper room where they were staying”  And are gathered together to pray, not in a church or out in the open but in an upper room, probably a small crowed room

·       “All of one accord” they were unified

·       “devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the Mother of Jesus, and his brothers” it was not just the Apostles who prayed but the whole community

It would appear from the rest of the chapter that many days and perhaps weeks were spent in prayer deciding who would replace Judas.

What can we take from this? I pray this is an example of why we are here today, gathering and praying as a community, unified and supporting one another in prayer.  And yes every week often praying for the same things. And thanking God through the Holy Spirit for the examples Jesus gave to us to follow.