How Can We Pray Effectively
Title: How Can We Pray Effectively?
Text: Phil. 4: 1 - 7
Introduction: We are going to learn about prayer today.
"St. Peter was showing a man around heaven, when they came upon this
enormous palace.
The man asked, "Who does that belong to?"
St. Peter replied, "Why that belongs to this bus driver."
A little while later, they came upon this tiny little shack.
"And what about this shack?" the man asked.
"Why that belongs to a preacher," came the reply.
"How is it that a bus driver ends up with an enormous palace in heaven, and
a preacher ends up with a tiny little shack?"
"Well," St. Peter replied, "Whenever that preacher preached, everyone fell
asleep.
"But whenever that bus driver drove his bus, everybody prayed."
I am sure we all struggle to pray effectively. Don’t we? I still struggle when it comes to prayer. God is sovereign, He can do anything He wants without making mistakes, but when we pray, God answers our prayers as if He changed His mind. Prayer is a mystery. Prayer is a communion with the holy God. It is adoration. It is confession. It is thanksgiving. It is worship. It is like breathing. Martine Luther said, “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing."
The effective prayer is nurtured and exercised by our walk through eternal perspective.
Please open your Bible to Philippians 4: 1 - 7
There is no perfect church. One time a young man came to famous preacher Spurgeon telling him he is looking for a perfect church. Spurgeon told him, “Young man, if you found a perfect church, please let me know, I would like to attend myself and may I suggest to you that if you found a perfect church, please do not attend lest you make that church imperfect.”
The church of Philippi was relatively a good church. Paul did not say much negative things about them. But that does not mean they were without the problems. They had some problems within the church and outside of the church. 1: 28 tells us there were those who opposed their beliefs, 2: 15; the world brought much temptations and frictions upon them. 3: 18, 19 tell us that false teachings were rampant. And here in chapter 4: 2, there was a relationship problem, a personality clash between Euodia (prosperous journey) and Syntche (pleasant acquaintance) who once worked together with Paul. A big problem! We can identify with this church, can’t we? Paul was concerned for the health of the church. So Paul ceases the opportunity to teach them about prayer. Famous verse 4: 6.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
When we are going through tough time, we don’t want to hear “Don’t worry, worry is a sin, you know?” That will increase our burden more, won’t it?
James 2: 15, 16 say,
If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,
and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
“Don’t commit sin of worrying.” “Just close your eyes to the problems and all be well.” Is that what Paul saying here? Surly not! Let’s see how Paul builds the case for effective prayer. Paul teaches us that
I. The Effective Prayer is Built upon the Eternal Perspective.
Let’s pray
Paul says to Philippians, “Do not be anxious!” So there must be some things troubled Philippians. We can identify at least 3 things that made Philippians anxious. Paul points out those, using the expression “in the Lord” to encourage them. So let’s look at 3 anxious moments for the Philippians in verses 1 to 4.
1. Stand firm 4: 1 in the world.
In the midst of the crooked and perverse world, it is so easy to get discouraged. When your non-Christian boss asks you to do something that is against your Christian conviction. It would be a big cause for anxiety. Paul encourages them to stand firm in the Lord. (στήκετε: stand firm, he describes them as soldiers.)
2. Live in Harmony 4: 2 in the church
When two individuals or groups stand against each other, it drains the spiritual strength and energy of the church. It is a nightmare for the church leaders and it raises the anxiety level to sleepless night. Moreover, if you were asked to mediate between the two trouble-makers, anxiety level shoots up to a boiling point. How important to live in harmony!
(τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν: to think the same).
3. Rejoice 4: 4 against False Teaching: 3: 1
Isn’t it odd that Paul after burdened the leader in verse 3 to help these women then he says, “Rejoice in the Lord, again I will say, rejoice?”
How can you rejoice when you are commanded humanly impossible task of reconciling two fighting individuals? The key is “in the Lord,” meaning, I believe, acknowledge who God really is. What a great God we serve!
When we look at 3: 1, Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is not trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.” “Rejoice in the Lord” is the safeguard over false teachings and evil workers.
For example, when the church goes through tough times and has to call congregational meeting to pray. Why not have “Rejoice in the Lord” meeting first. Get the people rejoice in the Lord, focus on God alone, acknowledge Him as He Is. Then pray for the issues. Daniel did that.
Temptation issues, relationship issues, and the issue of false teaching, Paul knowing all these in the life of the church commands them to “Be anxious for nothing.” Why? Is he irresponsible? Let’s find out. Look at verse 5.
Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.
Paul seems like putting double burden on the leader to demonstrate the gentle spirit, not only to the people in the church but also to all the people outside of the church. Reason being, “The Lord is near.” His coming is very close! Do you remember verse 1? It begins with “Therefore,” therefore, it is connecting this passage we are studying to the previous passage. Let’s look at those previous verses. Chapter 3: 20, 21 which say,
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
Vs. 3 mentions “book of life” as well. See verses 1 to 5 are sandwiched with the eternal plan of God. When Paul established this eternal perspective, He says, “Be anxious for nothing.” Because our citizenship is in heaven and this earthly dwelling will be transformed into eternal dwelling. Paul is not saying, “Be positive about everything, close eye to negative things.” But he is saying, “Yes, there are many things make us anxious but look intently into the heavenly Father who will, one day, subject everything to Himself and He is coming soon. Therefore, “be anxious for nothing.”
“Be anxious” means “to be pulled in different directions” (Warren Wiersbe). This is the reason, when we pray with thanksgiving, vs. 7, “peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”
Heart is our core of being with feeling and emotions and mind is the logic center that puts things into perspective. So when we pray with eternity in view, our emotions and logic come into harmony with God. This is the peace of God that brings God and us into one in Christ. We long for the answer to our prayers. But here Paul is not concerned about that, but our inner peace. I believe the primary purpose of prayer is; our hearts and minds are guarded by the Almighty so that our inner beings don’t get pulled to different directions. Pray with eternity in view. There are other ways God does this? I want to mention two.
1. To pray with a group.
You know praying with group has a big merit. When we pray alone, our minds go wonder around. But when we come together to pray with the group, we reinforce this “hearts and minds” in one direction. Listening to the prayers of the others encourage our hearts and minds to think the same. Martin Luther once said,
No man should be alone when he opposes Satan. The church was instituted for this purpose, that hands may be joined together and one may help another. If the prayer of one doesn’t help, the prayer of another will.
So pray with your friends or group. It will make your minds and hearts in check with the heart of God. How can we know the heart of God? Through His Word! So another way God helps us to pray effectively is
2. To pray with God’s word. Heb. 4: 12 says,
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
The Word helps us to see either our hearts are aligned with God. This is very powerful way to pray to God. When we say “Amen” at the end of our prayer, we are saying to God that our hearts and minds are in agreement with You! You know “Amen” means: “Truly, it is so” or “it is from bottom of my heart.” In another word, our motive and our behavior should be harmonious with God. Our conduct and inner being should match. Our walk as Christian becomes very important. This leads to a second point for effective prayer. Paul teaches us that:
II. The Effective Prayer is Built upon the Proper Christian Walk
When our life gets so busy and many things we have to do, we lose focus and become self centered. We bring our request to God to fulfill our selfish plan and desire. Augustine once said, “A person prays that he himself may be constructed, not that God may be instructed” (Why Pray” Philip Yancey p. 59).
See, when our Christian walk is not in order, our hearts and minds go to different directions and it skews our prayers. This is the reason,
Paul uses the expression “make known” to press this point for us.
4: 5 says, “Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.”
NIV Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
4: 6 b says, “let your requests be made known to God.”
NIV present your requests to God
These two are the same expressions in the original. If you are using the NIV it will not come out clear.
1. Be known to men γνωσθήτω ( γινώσκω )
2. Make known to God γνωριζέσθω (γνωρίζω ) derivative of above
So we let the work of grace in our life “be known” to people who are around us in action and our requests be made known to God in word.
Not only the eternal perspective helps us to pray effectively, but also our life counts for effective prayers. Our life should be dictated by the testimony of the Lord. We walk manner worthy of the Gospel. 1: 27 says,
Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
Manner worthy: aξίως (axiōs) = equal weight
Illustration: A farmer and a baker: Kg of butter for the Kg of bread.
Christian life must be equal to our call. Christian life must be dictated by the Word of God. Then our prayers become effective.
How does this kind of prayer look like? Jesus taught disciples how to pray. Many of you know that the Lord’s Prayer is a model prayer, in that we are to seek the glory of God first then our need (Matt. 6: 10 – 13). That’s how we should pray. And this is beautifully illustrated in the prayer of our forefathers in Acts 4. Please turn your Bible to Acts 4: 23 – 31.
Early church fathers were proclaiming the Lord Jesus Christ and His resurrection. Vs 3: The elders, priests and scribes laid hands on the disciples and put them in jail. Vs. 7: They asked “by what power or in what name, have you done this?” Vs. 12: Peter boldly replied by saying, “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.” Vs. 18: The Jews were asking many questions and they commanded the disciples not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. Again, Peter replied, Vss. 19, 20: “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than God, you be the judge, for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard.” Vs. 21: Then the leaders of people threatened them further, not to speak in the name of Jesus. Then they returned to the church and reported all what the leaders said to them. Than they called church prayer meeting and they prayed. Let’s look at this very briefly.
Adoration and Praise 4: 24
Attribute 4: 25, 26
Acknowledgment 4: 27, 28
Asking (request) 4: 29, 30
Answer 4: 31
Do you see this beautiful model prayer? 4: 13 says,
Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.
Their life demonstrated that they were being with Jesus.
Their conduct “be known to all men” and their request “Make known to God” went hand in hand. They prayed with eternity in view, looking back in history. They prayed with the Word of God. This is a very effective prayer. Don’t you agree? So let us pray with eternity in view and pray that our life would be equal weight with the call of God. Then we can pray effectively and the peace of God (vs. 7) shall guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus and the God of peace Himself shall be with us (vs. 9).
There was a contest for the artists centered on the theme of “peace.” One artist depicted a beautiful pastoral scene. One could almost hear the rustle of the ripened wheat, gently swaying in the soft breeze. Truly a peaceful scene! Another painter drew raging sea, trees on the land swayed to and fro. The great lightning glows in the darkest sky only bright spot in the gloomy tempest. How could this be the representation of peace? On a rock projecting from the cliff, sheltered by an overhanging boulder, sat a little chick calmly on its nest, resting in the mother’s breast, seemingly unmindful of the howling storm of the raging waters which plunged down below. This little chick sat in peace, with no fear, unperturbed and undisturbed. – W.B.K.
This is the picture of peace that God gives as we pray effectively.
Does the storm last into eternity? Does the Lord close His ear to those who walk uprightly? Let us enjoy the peace God gives that comes from effective prayer.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil. 4: 7