It’s true that when we talk to people about prayer, we often just say, “I’m praying for you,” without sharing the entire prayer. But in Ephesians 1, after his greeting and praise, Paul writes his complete prayer to the Ephesians. I believe the Holy Spirit inspired him to do this to give the Ephesians, and us today, an example of how to pray acceptably. Ephesians 2 says apostles are the foundation of the church. So here, God had Apostle Paul write his prayer to teach his church the principles of true prayer that God will answer—prayer that builds up God’s church. There are millions of things done in the name of prayer today, but the Holy Spirit, through Paul, teaches in these verses what prayers God really answers.
The Ephesians were Gentiles, and the only prayers they knew were chanting and repetitive prayers to dead idols, so they needed to be taught how to pray to the true living God. Paul teaches them by the best method, by writing his own prayer. This is a great example of true, God-answering prayer.
We all need help with prayer, especially in our country with its idolatrous background. God teaches us in His word not only to pray, but how to pray and what to pray. You might say, “Oh, Pastor, isn’t it enough that we pray? Don’t worry about how and what.” God’s word says if you don’t learn how and what from His word, your prayer itself is a sin. Proverbs 28:9 says, “If someone turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination.” Without learning the rules of Scripture about prayer, if we pray simply with heartfelt outpourings and emotions, while our mind remains ignorant of God’s guidance on prayer, the very act of prayer may be an abomination in the sight of God. That is why the Lord was so careful in the Sermon on the Mount, teaching His disciples not only how and what to pray but also how not to pray.
Our country, like the Ephesians’ culture, has 101 deceptions in the name of faith, and 1001 deceptions in the name of prayer in churches today, which all come from Hindu culture and background. We come from a culture of repetition, repeating phrases or words mindlessly, believing that the quantity of words will make the prayer more effective, with prolonged prayers without substance. Matthew 6:7 says, “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” That is exactly what happens today—vain repetitions like “blessings” or “fire, fire.” The Lord said not to pray to allure men, but to come to prayer with humility and reverent fear. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” Today, instead of pleading with humility, we command, we claim, we demand with authority. “I demand my financial breakthrough this week!” or “I bind the spirit of poverty over my life!” or “I loose prosperity into my bank account!” These prayers are often accompanied by loud, exaggerated vocal inflections or dramatic physical gestures, primarily to create an impression on the congregation, evoke an emotional response, or demonstrate perceived spiritual power rather than genuinely communicating with God. We have seen all that, with the whole place on “fire,” and wondered, “Wow! If this is prayer, we don’t know how to pray at all.” When I simply prayed with a low voice, speaking humbly to my Father, they said, “Your pastor doesn’t know how to pray.” The point is, the target of our prayers is not to impress people that we know how to pray, but the target of our prayers is God. The power of our prayers isn’t measured by human applause, but by God’s answer. Are these prayers God will answer? According to the Bible, no. In fact, people should actually repent for praying like this. Matthew 6:5 says, “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.” This means men may appreciate them, but that is all. When you pray as God commands, your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly.
In the midst of 101 wrong prayers, the Holy Spirit recorded this prayer to show us that this is the kind of prayer God is pleased with and will answer. It is very important to learn this. We will not be able to do anything for God’s kingdom without learning such acceptable prayer. We may be blindly doing something and calling it prayer. May God transform our prayer lives as we go through Paul’s prayer.
We saw in verse 15 what made Paul believe the Ephesians were truly elect and what moved him to start this prayer: two indispensable signs—faith and love. The structure of Paul’s prayer is that verses 16 and 17 tell us how Paul prayed for them, and verses 18-23 tell us what Paul prayed for them. Today, we will look at verse 16 and the first part of verse 17 to learn seven traits of prayers God answers.
Let’s use the acronym RACE-SSS to remember them: Reverent, Always Thankful, Constant, Earnest, Selfless, Specific, Spiritual.
This message should make us all start the race of prayer. The three “S”s are a reminder to “start, start, start.”
1. Reverent
Our prayers must be reverent. Reverence is the recognition that we, as inferiors, are in the presence of a superior. It is the recognition that we are creatures coming to the Creator, sinners coming to the infinitely pure. Reverence is a profound respect and esteem, mingled with both love and awe. This reverence holds a two-fold tension: on one side, I come with an awareness that I am utterly unworthy to be in His presence, and yet with an equally clear awareness that I am welcome and accepted. Where do I get all that from this verse?
Notice the object of Paul’s prayer. Who is the proper object of acceptable prayer? The first commandment is applicable to prayer: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” When you go to pray, what do you bring before your mind? This determines whether your prayer is acceptable or just vague talking to the air, or if you are praying to an idol of your imagination. The first commandment says you shall not have any other gods before Me. So, as we enter our prayer, we should self-consciously attempt to bring before our mind the great God as revealed in the Bible, not our god of imagination, a friend, or an “idol Jesus,” but the God of the Bible. I wonder what a pathetic God these charismatic people must have whom they can command.
Notice the object of Paul’s prayer. He describes Him in two phrases: “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory.” You see, when Paul opened his prayer, he paused and considered who it was he was coming to. He did not just rush into God’s presence without pausing to consider the majesty of His person. It is important for us when we come to prayer not to just spill out our petitions without considering to whom we are coming. Isn’t this exactly what our Lord Jesus Christ taught about how to come to prayer in the Lord’s Prayer? “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” The very first thing Jesus taught us when we begin to pray is to pause and consider the person to whom we are praying. He is in heaven, you are on earth; His name is to be hallowed, you are a depraved sinner; realize the glory that He is worthy of, but He is also your Father, and you are welcome. Paul is exactly practicing that.
Let us look at the two phrases. First, “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ.” When Paul says this is the object of his prayers, what does he mean? He is packed into that phrase the sum and substance of the whole biblical revelation concerning the nature of God and His work of salvation through His Son. He doesn’t use the full title he used in verse 3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He drops “Father” and just uses “God” to emphasize the work of Jesus Christ as the God-man. Let me suggest at least three minimal things this means:
- He prays to the God who exists as one essence with the Lord Jesus Christ in the mystery of the Trinity. He is praying to the triune God.
- This is the God who revealed Himself through Jesus Christ. Jesus said everything He did was to reveal the Father to us. John 14:9 says, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” Christ said, “I don’t speak my words, but what I hear of the Father, that I speak.” So all the truths Christ spoke about this life, death, hell, and heaven are all a revelation of this God. You can never know this God except through faith in Jesus and His work.
- This God anointed and sent the Lord Jesus Christ to the world to be the only mediator between Himself and man. Jesus said, “No one can come to the Father except through me.” This God will not accept sinners on any other basis than the blood and righteousness of this Christ. “The God of the Lord Jesus Christ” talks about the whole spectrum of biblical revelation concerning the Father’s sending the Son, born of a virgin, His ministry, suffering, dying, rising, and the Father’s exaltation of the Son. It is all bound up in that phrase. We come with that recognition; He is the God who revealed Himself through Jesus, and the only way we can come is through Jesus Christ.
The proper object of the apostles’ prayer is not only the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, but Paul also uses a wonderful phrase: “Father of Glory.” Glory is the outshining of the perfections of the divine essence. The glory of God is the bursting forth of all the beauty of His own being. This is the sum total of all His marvelous attributes. He is the source of all glory. He is the King of Glory in Psalm 24. In Acts 7:2, He is called the God of Glory. Whenever this God of glory revealed Himself, men were overwhelmed. The glory of God was an awesome thing. No man who ever saw the glory of God remained the same. When the shadow of His glory passed by, Moses automatically fell prostrate. Isaiah 6 saw His glory, and the Lord was high and lifted up, and His glory filled the temple. Isaiah screamed, “Woe is me! I am shattered to pieces. I cannot bear this glory as a sinful man.”
He is a supreme majesty dwelling in the light which no man can approach, a transcendent realm outside of us in immortality and eternity, with all beauty and power and sovereignty. He is worthy of all worship, praise, respect, fear, trembling, and obedience. Heavenly hosts worship Him in glory. What does this all say to us? If you have any real understanding of who this God of glory is when you come to pray, you will come with the utmost reverence.
But look at the marvelous combination of words. On one side, He is the God of glory, with the awesome splendor of His presence. Lest we, as sinful beings, be driven away by seeing the glory, He adds a beautiful word: He is the “Father of glory.” This is a beautiful balance of God’s nature. He is the terrible God of glory, but He is my Father in Jesus Christ; there is intimacy and filial tenderness that is in God as my Father. So when Paul approached God, he approached Him reverently, but also with all the freedom of an adopted son, calling Him “Abba Father.” How sweet! By nature, we should shrink from a God of glory and hide ourselves in shame, but now we may come and say, “Abba Father.” Take all the tender love that was ever in the heart of every father who ever lived. If you could compress all of that genuine fatherly affection into one heart, it would be but a drop of water compared to the ocean when we think of the love in the Father’s heart for His children. Yes, He is our Father; we can come to Him for everything, but always come with reverence, realizing His majesty and the transcendent concept of an exalted God. So the first way we come to God is with reverence, holy trembling. We are not to just waltz into the presence of God and begin demanding things of Him. We need to have all of the reverence due to a sovereign. If we do not have the spirit of Isaiah, a sense of unworthiness, or the spirit of Moses prostrating ourselves, knowing we are on holy ground, we are not praying to the God of the Bible. Do you see how these charismatics have a different object of prayer than the God of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Father of glory? If they came to Him, they would not pray so irreverently like that. This was the first quality of Paul’s prayer, and it must be the quality of our prayer as well. So, R stands for Reverent.
2. Always Thankful
“I do not cease to give thanks for you.” When you have the proper object before you—this God of Jesus Christ and this Father of Glory—you will always go to Him with thanksgiving. It is only when you have a helpless idol of your imagination, who cannot do anything and your circumstances seem bigger, that you cannot thank Him always. But when you bring this sovereign God of the Bible before you, you will always be thanking Him, no matter what. If your prayers are always grumbling and complaining, you don’t have the right object of prayer. Remember all these blessings from Ephesians 3-14? “Why did He elect me, predestine me, redeem me, give me an inheritance, and seal me with the Holy Spirit?” For the praise of His glory and His grace! How do we glorify Him? When we are always thanking Him. How do we frustrate and spoil that purpose? When we fail to thank Him always. If you have properly learned Ephesians 3-14, you will practice regular thanksgiving.
As people blessed so much by God, whatever situation you may be facing in life—whether it is a marital difficulty, a problem with a child, a job difficulty, health, financial, family, or any tragic, sad incident—those circumstances, dramatic as they can be, can seem bigger than God and overwhelm us. You should put your circumstances next to this infinite, amazing, incomprehensible God and how much He has blessed us, and realize that my God is bigger than my current circumstances. His blessings are beyond any difficulty I am facing. None of these temporary trials can take away what He has given me. You have to see all your life circumstances in the light of these blessings of past election, predestination, redemption, administration, and future inheritance. Then you will be able to thank God in every situation.
I was surveying Paul’s prayers and was amazed that every prayer of his was always filled with thanksgiving. You can go home and see the verses; I will just take you through the survey. Romans 1:8, “I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.” 1 Corinthians 1:4, “I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God, which is given you by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:3, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you making request with joy.” Colossians 1:3, “We give thanks to God and the father of our Lord Jesus Christ praying always for you.” 1 Thessalonians 1:2, “We give thanks to God always for you all making mention of you in our prayers.” 2 Thessalonians 1:3, “We are bound to thank God always for you.” 2 Timothy 1:3, “I thank God whom I serve from my forefathers with a pure conscience that without ceasing, I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day.” Philemon 4, “I thank God making mention of thee always in my prayers.”
You see, thanksgiving was never absent in Paul’s prayer. We learned in Philippians 4:6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” You may say he had no worries, but where was Paul when he wrote most of these prayers—Philippians, Colossians, Ephesians, Philemon? In jail. It was a very sad situation, yet thanksgiving was a major theme of that prayer. He did not tire of thanking God for the same thing over and over and over again.
So, brothers, when you come reverently with the proper object of prayer, no matter how unpleasant your circumstances, it’s important that we learn to thank God, because when we thank God, it expresses something about God and something about us. It expresses our faith that we believe every circumstance in our life comes from God, and it glorifies Him by saying He is beyond our circumstances. You know, unlike the Old Testament people, we don’t have to bring animals or birds for all God has done. The only New Testament sacrifice we can give is thanksgiving. The great sacrifice of praise that you can give to God for all He has done for us is thanksgiving. Oh, how little we give. Hebrews 13:15 says, “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”
So, R is Reverent, A is Always Thankful.
3. Constant
“I do not cease to give thanks for you.” You see a great difference between Paul’s prayer and ours is a lack of constancy. We think of prayer and say, “Okay, five minutes, and it’s over.” Yes, we should do that, but we should also learn this practice of constancy in prayer, thanking and praying without ceasing. If you make this a conscious rule, you will not believe how many thousands of reasons you will find to praise God daily.
When we realize what we saw in Leviticus 15, we are so soaked in sin. There is a constant, involuntary flow of sins from the heart. Our Lord said in Mark 7:20, “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness, blasphemies; these things which defile the soul.” That defilement is the cause of our inward miserable state; they stack up in our subconsciousness. As guilt and defilement grow and restlessness increases, we feel shame, peacelessness, and deadness of soul. This sense of defilement makes us unfit to come to God and even hide, and strangely, even hate God sometimes. What is the cure for a constant flow of defilement? Christ said, “Abide in me, then you will have my joy, my peace, and will bear much fruit.” What is abiding in Christ? It is this constant prayerfulness. It not only saves us from defilement but makes us fruitful.
The idea of biblical prayer is constant. In Luke 18, our Lord taught we have to always pray and not be discouraged. Each of us faces only those two options. You learn to pray always, or you are always discouraged. If we are not praying, we will always be discouraged. What is the secret of the joy of this man who faced terrible discouragements and even now is in jail? He ceased not to give thanks. He didn’t pray once a week and think it was enough; no, his prayers were a continuous, repetitive activity over and over again. This was a daily, continuous practice.
He teaches in Ephesians 6:18, “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “pray without ceasing.” Romans 12:12, “continuing instant in prayer.” Colossians 4:2, “watching thereunto with all perseverance, continuing instant in prayer.” What does this mean? It doesn’t mean that you are praying every minute. That would be to negate all the other commands he gives in Ephesians about husbands, wives, and workers doing their duties. What does “praying without ceasing” mean? It means making prayer a central part of your life, practicing a lifestyle of disciplined, persistent prayer. Persevere in it. Stay at it. Be devoted to it. Don’t give up or slack off. Be habitual. It’s the opposite of random, occasional, and intermittent. In other words, Paul is calling all Christians to make prayer a regular, habitual, recurring, and disciplined part of your life. Treat prayer the way you treat eating, sleeping, and doing your job. Don’t be hit-and-miss about it. There is constancy, regularity, and it works into your total lifestyle. Learning to cultivate the attitude of prayer, so we live with the spirit of prayer always. Oh, may God teach us this constancy in prayer.
So, R is Reverent, A is Always Thankful, C is Constant.
4. Earnest
By “earnest,” I mean heartfelt prayers. Paul’s prayers were not just repetitions or lip prayers like most of ours. He deeply felt the needs and prayed. The words in his prayers were expressions of what he felt and what he thought. We don’t find any formal words, catchphrases, or clichés. His prayers were never spoken to impress other people, but rather he expressed what he really felt in his heart. We have to be careful when we teach our kids. Until a certain age, Lord’s Prayer repetition is fine, but we have to teach them to speak from their heart, or we will be training them to pray hypocritically, saying words that have no connection to their mind and heart from a young age. Prayers have to be spontaneous. If our children can talk to us spontaneously, they can speak to God spontaneously as well. So, biblical prayer is an earnest, free, original, and heartfelt expression.
We have to watch that our prayer meetings don’t become like this. Yes, we share a list of items as a guide to pray for those points, but you should not just repeat those words as if it were a grocery list. Frankly, that is what some of you do, and prayers become so monotonous. You have to deeply think of those needs, think of God’s promises to fulfill those needs, and pray from the heart. Sometimes you hear someone praying and you can almost predict what they’re going to say next because they’ve said it so many times, like a broken record. That is because there is no preparation, no thinking, no feeling; they just take those words and repeat them. It’s not coming from a heartfelt need. Brothers, this should change; we should set our Zoom meetings on fire with our earnest prayers. I heard a women’s prayer meeting, and though there were only a few, it was full of earnest fire.
So, R is Reverent, A is Always Thankful, C is Constant, E is Earnest.
5. Selfless
The predominant trait of biblical prayer is selflessness. Notice Paul says, “I cease not to give thanks… for all God has done for me… me… me… no, for you, making mention of you in my prayers.” Although Paul in jail needed prayer the most, you find Paul never prays for himself primarily. He asks them to pray for him, but I couldn’t find any prayer where he prays for himself. It is not wrong to pray for ourselves, but the curse of our prayers is that they are predominantly 99% self-obsessed. “Me, my condition, my soul, my family, my job, me, me.” “Give me, me.”
Most of our prayers lack power because of this. We have never learned to pray for others seriously. I can say it is this self-obsession that makes our prayers dull and meaningless. We are not able to follow any of these biblical principles. We cannot be thankful always because it is all focused on “me” in any situation. I can never thank God for others. It is because of self-obsession that our prayers are very short. You pray for yourself, your family, your work, and the prayer is over in three minutes. We don’t have much else to pray for; where is the “unceasing prayer”? Just start practicing praying for others, and you will have enough constancy in your prayers. Oh, may God teach us selflessness in our prayers.
You know, there’s not a single “first person” pronoun like “me” or “mine” in the Lord’s Prayer. Not one. “Our Father, give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” The whole prayer is for “us” and “we.” When the Lord taught His disciples to pray, one of the things He wanted to impress on them was that their prayers were not to be selfish, but rather they were to include the body of Christ, the people of God, in their prayers. And so, we see Apostle Paul practicing that; his prayers were selfless.
We saw that love for the saints is an inevitable mark of the elect. One of the greatest ways we can love one another is to pray for one another. There is no better way to express affection for our fellow saints than to pray for them on a regular basis. If you struggle to express love in church, if you don’t know what to say or how to say it, start praying for them. You will see the Holy Spirit filling your heart with love for them, and that will teach you to express love in words and actions. Just like with a Bible calendar, we have to keep a list of everyone in the church and cover praying for everyone in the church, at least once a week. Maybe pray for five or ten people daily in turns.
So, the first S is Selfless.
6. Specific
We see Paul’s prayers were specific. We will see next week that he prays to God to open their eyes, and then prays that their eyes would open to see three things, which are very specific. They were prayers asked for concrete, sharply defined blessings and privileges. You will notice all his prayers were based on God’s promises; he didn’t ask for anything that came to his heart. They were specific prayers based on God’s promises.
Oh, isn’t this a great problem with our prayers? They are not at all specific. It is often aimless wandering or broad generalities. It is again primarily our mental laziness and not knowing the needs of others or meditating on the promises of God. We allow our prayers to degenerate into vague generalities. “Lord, bless the family, bless the church, bless the pastor. Amen.” What to bless? How to bless? Why bless? What specific areas to bless? What are their needs? What promises? Nothing. Just general prayers. No goal, no target.
You could pray, “Lord, so-and-so has marriage problems; help them to love each other as husbands love wives, as in 1 Corinthians 13. Teach them to be patient and kind; pour your love into their hearts. This family has young children; give them wisdom to raise their children properly. Lord, this brother and sister are not able to read the Bible regularly; open their eyes to see wonderful things in your word. Give them the desire and time. So-and-so’s family never attends evening service; please make them realize their wrong and make them attend regularly.” Pray in specifics. You see, specific prayers get specific answers, and vague prayers get vague answers or no answers at all. Paul’s prayer was specific, and he based it always on God’s specific promises.
You know, in order to be specific in our prayers, it requires two things of us. Number one, an awareness of other people’s needs. And number two, a thoughtful meditation regarding those needs and connecting them with God’s promises. Oh, may God teach us specific prayers.
So, the second S is Specific.
7. Spiritual
Paul’s prayers were spiritual prayers. You don’t find Paul praying for someone’s health in Ephesians, or for someone’s job problem in the church, or for debt, or for deliverance from poverty, or for a child, or for pregnancy. No. But he prays for the Ephesians that they might understand spiritual realities, that they might experience spiritual power, and that they might grow in conformity to Christ. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pray for physical needs. The Bible says we can pray for everything that makes us worry. But our priority should be spiritual prayers. All these false prosperity preachers and churches, with their 24-hour prayers and preaching on prayers, are all about worldly needs.
More than anything, it is our prayers that reflect our spiritual maturity. You notice most of the prayers in the churches are shallow, only for physical needs; that shows a spiritual famine and blindness, as churches don’t rise above all worldly needs. The quality and level of our spiritual lives are reflected mainly in our prayers. Whatever we may preach and speak about truths, our prayers show what we really believe, what we really think, and what our primary concerns are. But, you know, in order for us to have spiritual prayers, we must be aware of our spiritual realities and needs, and we only realize our spiritual needs when we understand spiritual truths. As we study in Ephesians and even in the Psalms, we realize our spiritual needs and pray for them like the Psalmist. Paul’s prayers are spiritual because he believes those are the greatest needs. Eighty percent of our prayer time should be spiritual prayers.
Prayers for spiritual enlightenment, more spiritual power, spiritual growth, transformations of character, a greater drawing near to Christ and becoming more like Christ. Prayers for the true conversion of souls. These false churches say, “Oh, we also pray for Hindus and Muslims to be saved.” Their meaning of “saved” is just a religion change and joining their church without any heart change, becoming double children of hell. No, we don’t want that. We want true repentance and conversion, the work of God.
If your prayers are all worldly, it shows a poverty of soul. It shows you don’t meditate on God’s truth at all and see your spiritual needs. When you start meditating on God’s word, God opens your eyes to see spiritual realities. When you come to prayer, you will begin to think not in terms of your physical needs but in terms of your spiritual needs. Paul’s prayers were spiritual prayers. I believe most of our physical needs will be taken care of if we seek His kingdom and righteousness first in priority.
Well, here are the seven traits of prayers God answers: Reverent, Always Thankful, Constant, Earnest, Selfless, Specific, Spiritual. RACE – SSS.
I’d like to close with three applications.
1. Prayer is a Duty
Prayer is an indispensable duty of every believer. The Bible reveals that prayer is our duty, and true prayer should have all these traits. Do you understand what “duty” means? Most people never progress in their Christian life because they don’t understand the concept of duty. In the world, we understand we have to go to work; it’s not an option. You can’t just say, “I don’t feel like going,” and not go. No, no matter how you feel, it’s your duty, so you have to do it.
People think you should pray and read the Bible only when you feel like it, and you should come to the evening service only when you feel like it. But no, it is your duty. As a Christian, whether you feel like it or not, prayer is your duty. You have to pray, and you have to pray like this. When you realize it’s a duty, you gain dignity and discipline.
I would encourage you to write down the seven adjectives we’ve discussed—Reverent, Always Thankful, Constant, Earnest, Selfless, Specific, Spiritual—and when you go to pray, practice each of them one by one. It’s much easier to preach or hear a sermon on prayer than to actually pray. I find it easier to prepare a sermon than to pray. We all know the hardest thing to do is to spend concentrated, focused time in private prayer that is significant and meaningful. Don’t you find that after a few minutes, your mind just starts wandering off into outer space? Mine does. This requires us to be disciplined. If your mind wanders like that, try speaking your prayers out loud when no one is around; you’ll be amazed at how concentrated you can be without distraction.
Prayer is our duty, and we have to practice it. We have to learn that discipline, or else we haven’t even begun the race of faith. Don’t deceive yourselves by calling yourselves believers if you don’t have a true saving faith. A true saving faith will always reveal itself in such prayers. We don’t put on a show for people; we act our trust most at the throne of grace. Faith is most revealed in the exercise of prayer. A believing man will be a praying man. When you start practicing, you will see that you are actually running the race of faith and growing in faith. You will also see your prayers are answered because God answers only such prayers.
Don’t just listen and go. Take some positive, concrete steps to follow the example of Paul’s prayer, which was written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. God’s desire is that we learn from Paul, which is why He had him write this prayer. God is more than willing to bless us; He blesses us always as a result of true prayers like this. May God drill into our hearts that prayer is not an option but a duty.
2. God’s Predestination and Prayer are Not Contradictory
People struggle with this idea. They think, “If God has predestined everything, why pray? It will happen anyhow.” That is a wrong hyper-Calvinism heresy. So what’s the other extreme? You abandon predestination and become Arminian and pray. No, the same Paul who spoke about predestination also prays earnestly. Paul didn’t see any contradiction between the two. This is because Paul understood the divine logic that the same God who has predestined the end plan has also predestined all the means by which His plan will be accomplished. The end plan and the means are inseparable. Prayer is an inseparable and indispensable means by which God’s plan is accomplished.
He has said again and again in Scripture that He accomplishes His purposes through the prayers of His people. In fact, He commands them to seek Him in prayer so He can accomplish His purposes, and He gets angry with His people when they don’t seek Him. The same applies to praying for unsaved people and preaching the Gospel to them. The same Paul who wrote about the great chapter 9 about God’s sovereignty, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy,” also wrote in the very next chapter, Romans 10, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.” Why? Because Paul knows predestination is not an excuse for neglecting prayer and preaching the Gospel. Instead, predestination is a great motivation and provocation to pray because our prayers are woven right into the fabric of God’s sovereign plan. God’s plans are always accomplished through the prayers of His people. Any other idea of prayer is a terribly wrong, unbiblical, and God-dishonoring idea.
3. What is Taught to People Must be Prayed Into People
We will see in the next verses that the petition Paul prays is directly related to what he taught in verses 3-14. What God is teaching us here is that it is not enough to just objectively present the truths to the minds of the people, but we should also pray that God would subjectively make people see and experience the reality of those truths. If we pastors, deacons, and Sunday school teachers think that we’ve done enough by teaching the truth clearly and that people have heard it, we are dead wrong. Only half of the work in building the church is done. The other half is diligent, faithful, consistent, specific, and spiritual prayer for them.
Yes, as a pastor, I need to regularly pray before and after every message. And you, as a congregation, should pray before and after the message, sandwiching the truths you hear with prayers on both sides. Otherwise, all those truths will be taken away by Satan on the wayside. Do we realize that our failure in this is where we have lost the blessings of hundreds of sermons?
Those who lead in Friday and Sunday prayers often pray about the sermon truths unclearly and confusingly because they forget them within a week. So, can I plead with you for your own good and the church’s benefit, that all who lead prayers listen to the sermon once more during the week and note some points to pray about? What is taught to people must be prayed into people. This also teaches that there must be a balance between the teaching of people and prayer for people. There must be a balance between messages and prayer meetings in the church. In Acts 6:4, the apostles realized this, which is why they said, “we will give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word.” They realized that prayer is just as important as preaching, and good preaching is no substitute for prayer.
This should make many of you who neglect prayer meetings and think the church is all about preaching realize you are very wrong. This is why you are not growing. We as a church should always strike a balance between preaching and prayer meetings. I am still praying for in-person prayer meetings. Maybe we should plan for more prayer meetings, at least once a week on Sunday evenings. If this is the rule, may your conscience tell you if you are not attending church prayer meetings. Whatever truths you hear on Sunday, will God enlighten you and bless you with these truths?
Finally, we see the proper object of prayer is “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ.” For those of you who don’t believe in Christ, until the Lord Jesus becomes your Lord, you should know that God doesn’t hear any of your prayers until you come to God through Jesus Christ. All prayer and praise are acceptable only through the mediation of Christ. Because you are a rebel against God, you don’t believe His word, His work through His Son to forgive and accept you, and you are living in arrogant pride against His Gospel commands to repent and believe. The only first prayer God eagerly wants to hear from you is, “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner, and forgive my sins for Jesus’ sake.” Once you pray that, heaven will open for you. God will forgive and save you, and God promises to hear all your prayers. May you pray that today.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 