This past week a friend forwarded a Facebook prayer request. "OK boys and girls, here it is. My oldest daughter was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. That's a very *** explicative *** deal for anyone, let alone my 20 year old baby girl. I don't care that she's an adult. She will always be my baby. She had her first round of chemotherapy yesterday and is doing OK considering. I am not a very religious person, but I have prayed to every God, deity, etc. that has ever existed. I ask for your prayers, positive vibes, good thoughts, or whatever."
The disciples could have asked Jesus anything. But they insisted, "Lord, teach us to pray..." See Luke 11:1 (ESV). When it comes to prayer, we are all learners. From the life of Jesus we sense what prayer can be.
The disciples noted how even the wind and the waves obeyed Jesus. Demons trembled in his presence. With one word Jesus could restore sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, voice to the mute, or full health to the sick.
In Mark 5 Jairus urgently pleads with Jesus to heal his sick daughter. But Jesus is delayed, and by the time he arrives at Jairus' house, there is already a great commotion. The family is weeping and mourning because Jairus' precious little girl has died. But Jesus enters the house, grabs the little girl's hand, and with one word restores her life. Mark 5:41 (ESV) tells us that he said, "Little girl, I say to you, arise." By the way, when Jesus mentioned what he was about to do, people laughed. Their laughter quickly turned to amazement.
Virtually the same thing happened in John 11. Lazarus lay dying. John 11:3 (ESV) tells us that the family urgently sent for Jesus. "Lord, he whom you love is ill." But again, Jesus is delayed. Ever notice how when we pray, God rarely operates on our timeline? Nor does he operate within the confines of our often feeble faith. And do you notice that despite unanswered prayer, God's love for us is unwavering? God loved Lazarus. That wasn't the issue. Jesus' response to Mary and Martha in John 11:4 (ESV) was, "This (Lazarus') illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."
But Lazarus did indeed die. He was wrapped with cloth, covered in burial spices, and laid in a tomb. Four days later Jesus showed up. He saw the family grieving and Lazarus' body decomposing in the tomb. And Jesus question was not, "Do you believe in the power of death?" His question was, "Do you believe I am the resurrection and the life?"
At Lazarus' tomb Jesus announced to all in John 11:25-26 (ESV), "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" Martha said in John 11:27 (ESV), "Yes Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world."
And you may know the story. The Lord Jesus commanded, "Lazarus, come out!" And the man who had died, Lazarus, came out. His hands and feet were bound with linen strips and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them,"Unbind him, and let him go." See John 11:43-44 (ESV).
The apostle John saw all these things. He was one of the twelve who said, "Lord, teach us to pray." He was the same disciple who wrote 1 John. With prayer, we have this sense that with God anything is possible. If we could learn to pray like Jesus, what power might be displayed in our lives, in our church, and in our world?
Like you, I want to learn to pray like Jesus. But we are all learners, and we're also people growing in faith. This can only mean that our prayer life can grow in power as we trust God more.
Using 1 John 5:13-21 I want to share what God is teaching me about prayer. In my flesh, I want to somehow impress you with how great a prayer warrior I am. But that wouldn't be the truth. I do pray consistently, but like you, I know I could pray more powerfully and with even greater faith. And like you, I sense that if I grew in prayer, there would be a whole lot more of God's glory and power on display in my life, and in this church, and in this community than there otherwise appears.
So here are five ways I am learning to pray more powerfully.
When you pray, believe on Jesus for eternal life.
1 John 5:13 (ESV) says, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life."
When I think of the single greatest thing I could pray for myself or for others, verses like 1 John 5:13 come to mind. The most ultimate thing we can ask from God is for eternal life. Both Jairus and Martha asked God to keep sickness at bay. Yet Jesus showed us that he not only has the power, but also the willingness to do infinitely more. "Rise! Walk! Come Out!"
As a pastor I am invited to pray over people who are in all stages of life and death. When I pray I know it's always God's will to completely heal a person. By Jesus' stripes we are healed. Often God heals us in order to continue in this life. Yet without a single exception, God eventually heals us by granting us a resurrection body so that we might continue with him for all eternity. Jairus' daughter would die again. Lazarus would die again. Jesus would die on the cross. But all would be raised to life by the power of God, and all would go and be with God for eternity.
Sometimes we pray for God to keep sickness at bay. But ultimately God has 1 Corinthians 15 in mind. Have you ever read 1 Corinthians 15:50-57 (ESV)? "I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Friends, the caterpillar must die. It must take on its cocoon, so it can one day fly.
Friends, the seed must die. It must be buried in the ground where God can act upon it, where its casket, its shell, can be cracked open and it can germinate. God can then grant it a new resurrection body, whether it be a spring flower or tree or plant.
And friends, we must die, so that God can grant us the resurrection hope he's willed for all who believe. If you believe in Jesus, you can pray knowing that God's very best for you-- this resurrection hope, this eternal life-- is a resounding, death-defying "Yes!" in Christ Jesus! But now let's turn back to the things of this life for a moment.
When you pray, pray boldly within God's will.
1 John 5:14 (ESV) says, "And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us."
Nothing will bolster your confidence in prayer like understanding the will of God. When you understand God's will in situations and pray accordingly, you experience an avalanche of affirmative answers! Earlier in this series, I listed some things that are always God's will.
It's always God's will to give you wisdom. It's always God's will to forgive when you confess your sins. It's always God's will to break the tyranny of sin in your life, and set you free from darkness. When we pray, God promises to always meet our needs. God promises to bring healing into your life. God promises to save everyone who calls upon the name of his anointed one, Jesus.
[Click this link to learn more about prayers God always answers!]
The best aid to praying powerfully is to pray with your Bible open. God's will isn't a mystery to those who are willing to hear his voice. He tells you his will plainly. We just need to read it in our Bibles. As I've grown in my knowledge of God's will, my prayers have become more effective. This verse promises the same will be true for you too.
When you pray, prayerfully trust God's power.
1 John 5:15 (ESV) says, "And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him."
So as we pray according to God's will, John encourages us to know that we have what we asked of God. Sometimes our prayers are recognized immediately. Early on in my career when I first started preaching, I felt discouraged. I pulled into a wooded area south of Lincoln, began praying and reading scripture, asking God to give me any kind of assurance about his call on my life.
It was a calm peaceful morning. There were no storms in the area. But suddenly a bolt of lightening struck a tree in the woods. It was the only bolt of lightening I saw all morning. I quickly prayed, "Lord, we're good, we're good!" Sometimes God's answers are immediate, like a lightening strike!
But other times his prayers come later. Jairus prayed, but the Lord tarried. Martha prayed, but the Lord tarried. The timing had nothing to do with God's love, but had everything to do with God's power and glory.
I often feel inadequate when I pray. My flesh wants to see an immediate answer. But I am the learner, not the master. I am a servant, not the Lord of the universe. My ways are not God's ways. His ways are higher and infinitely better than my ways.
So I pray trusting that whether it's now, or later, or even after I die, God is always good. In Mark 11:24 (ESV) Jesus says, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."
When you pray, prayerfully support one another.
1 John 5:16-17 (ESV) says, "If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life-- to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death."
So you can imagine how juicy and ripe these verses are for speculation. I read dozens of opinions about which sins might lead to death and which sins do not lead to death. There are two sins we know will always lead to death. The first sin leading to death is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. If you continually rebel against the leading of the Holy Spirit, you won't get to where the Spirit is leading, which is into the presence of the living God!
The other sin leading to death is unbelief. 1 John 5:12 (ESV) says, "Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life." John 3:16 (ESV) says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." Acts 4:12 (ESV) says, "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." Unbelief and blasphemy are two sins that definitely lead to death.
Here is the reality. If you notice a pattern of unbelief or blasphemy developing in a person's life, you have an obligation, as a brother in sister in Christ, to pray for him. Everyone born of God loves his brother. There is no deeper, more consequential way for us to love one another than to pray for one another in regard to our sin.
This text might suggest that there is a point of no return for some people. If there is, it would be hard for us to discern. In my prayers, I err on the side of praying even for the most hopeless cases. After all, Jesus asked us to pray for our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. I suppose that applies to God's enemies and to those who persecute the name of Jesus. Prayer should focus on the eternal life of others.
When you pray, prayerfully surrender to God's will.
1 John 5:18-21 (ESV) says, "We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols."
I am going to say more about these verses next week. But when you pray, pray with a spirit of surrender to God's will. If you ask God for something, be sure you really want that thing.
If you are asking God to break a pattern of sin in your life, be sure to really want him to break that pattern!
If you are praying for God's protection in the world, don't keep going down to that dark corner where you get ensnared in sin night after night.
If want to see the power of Satan destroyed, don't keep feeding his power over your life.
If you pray for understanding from God, and want to know him who is true, don't skip worship, abandon the fellowship of believers, let your Bible gather dust, flip off the Christian radio, or immerse yourself in worldly things.
The life surrendered to God is life filled with answered prayer, but is also a life filled with the power and glory of God. We have much to learn about prayer. So let's ask our Lord to teach us to pray.