McKendrick, Jim: Month Of Meetings-2001-02 ~ Acts 9-Prayer

I'd like you to turn with me just to a couple of passages of scripture this evening, to introduce a subject that we're going, we're not going to get through. I'll just let you know that up front, so you don't have to worry about me getting through. We'll begin tonight, and we'll just sort of work our way through the month. The first verse I'd like to read is in Acts chapter nine and verse eleven. Acts chapter nine and verse eleven, breaking into the middle of a very important incident in the life of the church of Jesus Christ, and that is the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, where the Lord would eventually, uh, make of him Paul the Apostle. As we know, as he saw that bright light around him on the way to Damascus, as he saw a vision of the risen Christ and realized that the one whom he had been persecuting was sitting in the heavens above. And that vision of the glory of God changed his life. The apostle was over in a street called Straits, in the city of Damascus, in the house of a man by the name of Judas. Interesting fellow, uh, certainly not the Judas that we know in the Gospels, uh, and but but an interesting place to be. And the Lord had spoken to Ananias to go to see this one who had just been converted. And the Lord says to Ananias in verse eleven, and the Lord said unto him, arise and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he prayeth. Interesting identification mark, isn't it? For behold, he prayeth. Let's go to Matthew chapter six. Verse five. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogue and in the corners of the street, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them, for your pro- for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him. After this manner, therefore, pray ye. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Fascinating that this man called Saul of Tarsus was probably one of those fellows who, as Matthew six would remind us, were standing in the streets and in the synagogues and loved to be heard praying, and in fact would have probably, uh, had some wonderfully beautiful prayers, um, that he prayed. Certainly, Acts nine would not have been the first time in one sense of the word, that Paul prayed. And yet, in a very real sense in the w- of the word, maybe it was the first time he prayed. Because there is a vast difference, and that's what the Lord is talking about in Matthew chapter six. There is a vast difference between saying prayer, which Paul had done a great deal of, and praying, which he probably had not done much of in the past. He had been wrapped up in his religious exercises. He had been, uh, eminent, really, in a- amongst the rabbis. He had graduated at the top of his class. He was far and away above his peers of his day in all of the religious exercises of the Jews. And amongst those religious exercises would have been going to the synagogue and going through their ritual prayers that they would have prayed, much as you go to Israel today and you find them at the Western Wall doing that very same thing. Very sincere, by the way, in their minds, and yet fo- the Lord says they're hypocrites. So that brings you to an interesting question, I suppose. Just what is prayer? How would we define it? What is prayer? When I was thinking about that in light of this evening, there's a hymn in our hymn book. I discovered it was in this hymn book. I wasn't sure it was. I discovered it was in this hymn book, number four sixty six. A fellow by the name of James Montgomery, back in the nineteenth century, wrote a little poem which was, has been put to music. He says prayer is the soul's sincere desire, uttered or unexpressed. The motion of a hidden fire that trembles in the breast. He says prayer is the burden of a sigh, the falling of a tear, the upward glancing of an eye when none but God is near. He says, prayer is the simplest form of speech that infant lips can try. Prayer, the sublimest strains that reach the majesty on high. And so what is prayer? How would you define it? What is the distinction here between what is going on in chapter six with the hypocrites, and what was going on with Paul in Acts chapter nine? Prayer is essentially the communion of the Christian's soul with God in heaven that we know as our Father. Prayer, of course, can be very structured, can it not? You go to First Kings chapter eight, and Solomon stands up at the dedication of the temple, and he raises his hands to God before the great congregation that was gathered there at the dedication. Who knows how many thousands of people were gathered there? And he has a very formal, structured prayer, if you will, at that time. And God heard it. And God answered that prayer. He appeared to Solomon and said, yes, I have heard that prayer, and I will answer it. That was a very structured, formal, maybe even, uh, stylized, you know, kind of, kind of prayer. Who knows? I'm not terribly sure that might not have been written out beforehand, as a matter of fact. On the other hand, it can very be very unin- un- informal and unstructured. I think of Peter when he went out of the boat, and and and the waves were boisterous, and he got his eyes off of the Lord, and he started to go down, and I tell you what, that was neither formal nor structured. It was a cry, said, Lord, save me. That's all it was. And, and in fact, the Lord heard him and saved him, didn't he? You see, he didn't need to be the structured prayer, the very beautiful, formalized words of Solomon. Prayer can even be unexpressed, can it not? As our, as our hymn writer says, I think of Nehemiah, and he's in a very delicate situation, and his heart, his heart's desire is go to get to go back to Jerusalem there and to, and to see what was going on, and to, he heard that the walls still weren't up around Jerusalem city, and he wanted to go and help, and he, and he was brought into the king, and he was trying to figure out how in the world this was going to happen, and how he was going to ask the king, and, and what words could he use, and, and how could he approach the king in such a way that, that it would be okay? And then the king noticed his concern in his eyes and the furrow of his brow. They said, there's a problem you've got. And the text says so beautifully, and I, what does it say? I prayed unto the God of heaven, and I said to the king. I tell you what, that wasn't even uttered. I don't know what he said, but, but it was something in the order of Peter, I think. Lord, give me the right words at this particular moment. Unuttered in, in a very real sense, and yet there it was, and God heard, and God answered, and Nehemiah got the desire of his heart. You see, it isn't what we say. It isn't the structure of the words. It isn't the nicety of the language. It is the heart's communion with God. The Psalms, of course, and I find the Psalms fascinating from this perspective. Many of them, of course, are, are recordings of the heart cry of the psalmists, the various psalmists to God. I- it is, they are in a sense not only the children of Israel's song book, which it was, a hymn book, but there were many of them that were really prayers to God. And I am consistently amazed when I read through the Psalms of the breadth of expression. I mean, every once in a while, you sense the psalmist is, is, is, is very perplexed with his God. Why you, what, why, why you doing this, man? Kind of a thing. What's going on here? Almost, almost frustrated with his God. Sometimes he's absolutely frustrated with himself. Sometimes he expresses deep confidence in his God, and other times he says, why art thou disquieted within me, oh my soul? There's so many expressions, so many emotions, this broad range of emotions that is expressed in the Psalm, and it says to me, God is big enough to handle my emotions and sometimes my frustrations with the situation that I may find myself in. He's big enough. We can express to him our heart's desire. And so prayer is that heart's desire, that, that communion of the soul of a saint with his God. But... does prayer change things? And here's a little text, you see it. Well, it isn't a text, it's a, it's a saying. I thought it should have been a text, sort of like cleanliness is next to godliness, should have been in a proverb someplace. Well, it isn't, you know, kind of a thing, but the idea is there, and in, in, in this thing, God, prayer changes things. You see this little little saying. Well, does he? I come from an area of the country where there are some folks that aren't terribly sure that that that's true. Purity doesn't change things because God has it all figured out ahead of time, and there's nothing you're going to do to change God's mind, so therefore there's no sense in praying, right? Well, I was thinking suspicion you better not say that to Moses. Because I remember Moses praying very specifically in Exodus thirty two, and the Lord was saying to Moses, you stand aside, I'm going to wipe this nation out. It's going to be the end of them as of right now. Then Moses stepped up in the face of God, and he says, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, you can't do that. You can't do that. You can't do that because of your namesake. You can't do that because of your promises. You can't do that, God. Rather, rather, you know, I mean, I don't know if I'm ready to say that. And so God says, OK, fine, I won't. That's interesting, isn't it? But you have to read that in context with the end of that chapter, where you- where- where Moses goes back into that and he says, you blot me, don't blot these folks. And the Lord says, I'll blot out those who sinned. I- I- I'm a just God. Don't- don't get excited, Moses. I'm not saying any here that- anything here that doesn't do my justice well, because God never, in anything that he does, ever... goes away from his attributes, all of them. And isn't wonder- isn't it wonderful that he is a merciful God? And he is a loving God, but he is also a righteous God. I find it fascinating in Ezekiel chapter twenty we might, we might just read that. This is a fascinating passage to me. Ezekiel chapter twenty two. Ezekiel is speaking for God, and he is, um, sort of denouncing the children of Israel. And he says in verse twenty nine of Ezekiel twenty two, he says, the people of the land have used oppression, this is God speaking, and exercised robbery. They have vexed the poor and needy, yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. And listen to verse thirty, And I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it. But isn't this a, a, a horrible statement? But I found none. Here is God saying, this land is ready for destruction. This land deserves destruction, and I'm looking for someone somewhere in the land that'll stand up for the land before me, that will intercede on the behalf of the land for me. And I found absolutely no one. Therefore, verse thirty one, have I poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. Their own way I have recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God. He's looking for people who will stand in the gap, who will pray on the behalf of those who are now praying for themselves. To pray for those who are rejecting God. To pray. And the stories could be multiplied. I'm sure we all have heard many in our life of those faithful parents and grandparents who prayed for children for years, and who after many years and long prayer, the Lord has been merciful, and these folks have been saved. Yes, we need to stand in the gap. Prayer changes things. As I struggle with some of those issues in my own mind, I remembered a time, and this is the way I sort of have put this together in my heart and in my mind. I remember when I was a young boy, eight years old, give or take. It was a birthday, I think it was my eighth birthday, but I'm not sure. Somewhere in that neighborhood. Might have been my seventh. And my dad went out and bought me my first Schwinn two-wheeler. I still remember it was maroon and cream. It was a boy's bike, it wasn't a girl's bike. Twenty four inch tires, balloon tires, you know, big, big old balloon tires back in those days. Of course, they're going back to that now, but anyway, these big balloon tires, beautiful, beautiful bike. My goodness, he took me down to the basement, and there, there it was all wrapped up on my birthday, and my goodness sakes, I was one happy young man. Problem was, the problem was I couldn't ride it. There I was with this fancy new bike. Beautiful thing. I could hardly get, I could hardly get over it, get on it. I remember my dad built blocks for the tires, for for the pedals on both sides, wooden blocks, put a big screw down through it so that I could actually get to the pedals with my feet. I always have been a little short. And so what did I do? Well, I said, Dad, I don't know how to ride this thing. I need some instructions. I don't know if those were my exact words, but in, in that order, that's sort of the way I did it. And so Dad said, well, here's how you do it. You know, dads are that way, they're very, you know, like a, like a manual. You know, mothers don't do these things, but dad did, you know, like a manual. Sit down, son. We'll, we'll find, point this all out. We'll write out a manual here. We'll show you how to get this accomplished. And so he told me how to do it, and I said, man, dad, I, I'm scared to death. I really have no idea if I can get on this thing and ride it. He said, well, don't worry, son. He says, I'm going to have my hand right here on the back of your seat, or the back of this bike seat. I think it was probably on my seat too, I'm not sure, but it was on the back of the bike seat. And he says, and I won't let you down. I won't let you fall. And I trusted my dad, and I obeyed his instructions, and I got on that bike, and you know what? I learned how to ride a two-wheeler. I could even figure out how to ride a two-wheeler. Let me tell you something, you know, one day, a long time ago, in your life and in mine, we were given a wonderful, wonderful gift, weren't we? And that gift was called salvation. But you know what? We didn't have any idea what to do with it. We had no idea how to live the Christian life, did we? We had no idea what to do with this wonderful gift that he had given to me. And so, as a good father, he gave me an instruction book. He wrote it down. He says, this is how you live it. You know, I started reading that instruction book, and I says, but, but, but, but Father, I can't, I can't do this. And he says, don't worry, son. I'm gonna hold you. I'm not gonna let you fall. You just trust me and be obedient to what I say, and you will live the Christian life. And you know what? With prayer, prayer which consists of two things, doesn't it? Say, Lord, I don't know what to do with this. And being obedient to what he tells me, trusting in his goodness and in his grace, and hand in hand with the book and with prayer, I learned to live the Christian life. Which is precisely what God wanted me to do all along, isn't it? And there is so much, just as my dad, when he gave me the bike, had it in his mind what the end result of that was to be. But you see, it needed this communion and communication between my dad and myself in order for me to fulfill his desires. And And that's that's a whole lot the way it is with prayer life. There's an old saying that I picked up somewhere. It was by a man by the name of Brent, whom I have no idea who he is, but he lived in the nineteenth century. And he writes this. For after all, prayer is not so much the means whereby God's will is bent to man's desire, as it is that whereby man's will is bent to God's desire. It isn't twisting God's arm to do what I want. It's coming into line with his will, that his will may be done in my life. And that's why it's so important that prayer and God's word go together. It's good to have a prayer and ministry meeting, a prayer and Bible study meeting, because these things go together, don't they? You need both to go on. In one, I speak to God, and the other, I listen to God. And as I listen to his instructions, my will understands what his will is, and my prayer is to be obedient to what he wills. Interestingly, and I've said this in a number of places, and it's never changed any place, so I don't expect you to change. But the bottom line is, I remember there's a little, there's a little track that I've got at home. It's called Soul Food. Has nothing to do with black-eyed peas. It has everything to do with George Müller, who said that in his early Christian life, he got up and he prayed, and then he read his Bible. That was his usual devotional time with the Lord. And he felt after a while there was something wrong with that. And so he says, I switched it around and I read my Bible first, and then I prayed. And he said, what I ended up doing was praying about those things that God revealed to me in his word. And he says, and I discovered that my prayer life deepened greatly and was much more fruitful because I listened to God first before I prayed to him. I remember reading a number of years ago a little book on prayer. I think it's a little, a very ostentatious title, like How to Pray, um, by Mr. Torrey, and he's about four books out of that title. Everybody wrote on prayer, just didn't worry about titles, they just said how to pray. But I remember in Mr. Torrey's book on, on how to pray, he said that when he prayed, that he came into the presence of God, and he sat quietly in his presence, without praying, maybe for some minutes, until his mind and his heart had gotten rid of all the stuff around about him, and he had entered quietly into the presence of God. And as he read God's word, as he prayed to God. But he says, I don't rush into God's presence. How easy it is to do that, rushing into his presence. Dear Lord, I got thirty seconds here. Listen to me quick, because I'm on my way. And you know why I know about that? Because I am an offender. I am not preaching from the standpoint of knowing all the answers. I'm preaching from the standpoint of a fellow learner who understands that one of the greatest needs in my life is to have more quiet time in the presence of God. Not devotions, but quiet time where I can commune with my God, listen to him speak, and then speak back to him, and enjoy a one-on-one conversation with the God of the universe. And that, my friend, is one of the greatest privileges that you and I have. It doesn't have to be formal. You don't have to have all the these and the- the thows all squared away. What you have to do is have a heart that is in tune with God. Ananias, there's a fellow on the street called Straight in the house of one called Judas. I want you to go see him. His name is Saul. Behold, he prayeth. May that be true of you and I. And during the next few weeks, I know we won't get very far, but we're going to look at Matthew six and Luke eleven a little bit here and there to see if we can discover some vital principles that we need to understand as we approach the throne of grace, as we learn to pray. May we be as the disciples in Luke eleven. Lord, they didn't ask us, teach us how to pray. They said, Lord, teach us to pray. May that be our heart's desire as well. Shall we pray? Father, we thank you this evening. That we have the great privilege of communing with you, our God and our Father. Our Father, we thank you that we have come together this evening, not to go through an exercise that is supposed to be done in the middle of the week, but we have gathered together this evening to commune with our God and to listen to his voice. Our Father, we would pray that as we leave this evening, that we will have been conscious of that reality in each of our hearts tonight. We would ask this in our Savior's name.