I invite you to pray with me: O Father of mercies and God of all comfort, our only help in time of need: We humbly beseech thee to behold, visit, and relieve thy sick servants for whom our prayers are desired. Look upon them with the eyes of thy mercy (Gaby P, Vicky O, Nancy R, Tere G, Liz N, Stevie A, Socrates D, Sara's mom H, Margarita G, Fega G, Rosy Ch, Patricia L. Lina J. Manuel D. C, Yuya N.) Comfort them with a sense of thy goodness; preserve them from the temptations of the enemy; and give them patience under his affliction. In thy good time, restore them to health, and enable them to lead the residue of their life in thy fear, and to thy glory; and grant that finally they may dwell with thee in life everlasting; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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God the Father, we thank you for your answer to our prayers with
The good news from you is the recovery of health for some,
Strengthen them so that they may regain their faith in you
And that they may be witnesses that you love them and
that you respond when we trust and believe in you
Thank you Father God in the name
of Jesus our Lord of Lords and King of Kings
Praise be to your name
always and forever, AMEN.
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PT is military shorthand for Physical Training
The US Department of Defence says,
The health and fitness of service members directly impacts the military readiness to effectively respond to and fight in all situations. The more prepared individuals are, the more prepared the Services are.
Service members are required to perform physical training (PT) throughout their careers to ensure they are ready for physically demanding situations that they may encounter in the Military. In some cases PT may be a group exercise activity where an entire unit follows an instructor’s lead, in other cases PT is largely left to the individual to ensure they are adhering to conditioning guidelines.
The emphasis is on the readiness of the service member which directly relates to the readiness of the military
Military personnel are required to maintain a certain level of physical conditioning to be an active member
The bible uses several metaphors to describe believers of Jesus Christ and to illustrate commendable qualities
In 1 Timothy, Paul uses the metaphor of an athlete, emphasizing hard work and discipline
In Philippians 2:25 and Philemon 1:2, Paul describes believers as "soldiers".
The image of a soldier is also used in 2 Timothy 2:3–4 as a metaphor for courage, loyalty and dedication
And this is the similar of the imagery being used in Ephesians chapter 6, in the familiar passage of the Armour of God
Rob started the Ephesians series with this passage so I won’t be going into the armour today
Instead, I will be focusing on the end of the passage that is often overlooked
Let me read the rest of the passage, starting from verse 17
17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
Some versions of the bible has verse 18 starting a new sentence and even paragraph
But verse 17 is actually a continuation of 18 and the whole section on the armour of God
Praying at all times, is not a separate item on the list, to do after.
It’s a continuation, flowing on from the instructions to put on the armour of God
Praying at all times the entire time you are putting on and have on the armour of God.
We are meant to be praying the entire time.
If you haven’t connected the pieces yet, a believer’s prayer life is like the PT regimen of military personnel.
A Christ-believer’s prayer-life directly correlates to their readiness and effectiveness to respond in any situation - including ones of conflict
The more prepared a member of the Body of Christ is, the more prepared the whole Body of Christ is
Prayer is beneficial in groups or in community, but for the most part prayer is left to the individual to make sure they are maintaining their personal conditioning
This is why we all need SPIRITUAL PT, which is PRAYER
We begin with the question of “What is prayer?”
William Carey, an English Baptist pastor who is known as the “father of modern protestant missions” said,
“Prayer - secret, fervent, believing prayer - lies at the root of all personal godliness.”
Some people might consider prayer to be a simpleton’s means to an end
A kind of tribute in order to get something from God
That’s actually not completely wrong - but it’s only a fraction of what it really is
First and foremost, prayer is the life of a believer of Jesus
A Christian is a pray-er because praying is how we begin and continue our RELATION with God
A relationship made possible by Jesus, God’s own son
Prayer is spending time with God - QUALITY TIME, that builds and nurtures loving relationships
People who don’t hang out together or chat at least a few times a month don’t have a deep relationship
A guy and a girl who spend a lot of time together outside of their regular overlapping schedules are considered dating
And then they get to a point where they spend SO much time together, they leave their families behind and hold fast to each other - to use the language of Genesis chapter 2, and become husband and wife
All of the above involves Quality Time between people
Godliness isn’t a word that describes state of being to be achieved
Godliness describes the quality of intimacy and relationship between us and God
And it is grounded on prayer
Everyone begins and must begin with Quality Time when it comes to relationship with God, otherwise we run the risk of having an improper relationship with God
For example, a teacher can be a friend, but they are a teacher first and foremost
We have to start with quality time or we won’t know God for who He truly is to us
Creator God, who is transcendent and sovereign over everything. All powerful, all knowing, and ever-present
All this can be learned
But He is also a loving Father in heaven; who desires real intimate relationships with His creation - which is why He created US
All this can only be experience through relationship.
This loving, heavenly Father has also called us for a purpose
The purpose is HIM
As we grow in our relationship with God, we realise and understand that it’s all about Him, and that without Him, there is nothing and we, and all of creation is mean nothing
So we respond to God’s hand on our lives to SHOW Him to and in the world
And this is when we need the second aspect of prayer - the PT aspect
Obviously the word I’m focusing on is Training
Prayer is for the spiritual - that is, the godly aspect of our lives
In physical training, we focus in on our bodies to build up the power within our bodies
Prayer, “gives eyes to our faith. In prayer we see beyond ourselves and focus spiritual eyes on God’s infinite power.”
As our relationship with God is nurtured through praying, our faith in God grows
And so God increases in us, while we decrease
More of God, and less of me
And this is what readiness and preparedness looks like for a believer of Christ
A person of faith
2. The second question is WHY? Why do we pray or why should we pray?
When I say why should we pray, I don’t mean the rationale for praying - hopefully I’ve answered that already
What I’m trying to get to are the reasons for praying
What do we pray for?
The short answer is everything and anything. But sometimes that doesn’t help us, so I want to talk about 2 things Paul highlights in Ephesians 6
Supplication and Intercession
Supplication es basically asking God for specific and personal things
Charles Spurgeon, another famous Baptist pastor said, “Asking is the rule of the kingdom” of God
James chapter 4 says, “you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.”
But prayer is not about getting things or getting things done - this is the 100% human-centred way of thinking
This makes prayer a tool for self-actualization
The every next sentence of the verse from James chapter 4 I just read says, but “when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.”
There actually is a wrong way to pray - or a wrong reason
Prayer is expressing and admitting our needs before God
It is we humbling ourselves and submitting ourselves to God
People may look down on us for praying to God
That we are so weak and desperate and unable to help ourselves
AMEN to that!
That IS the point.
We NEED to pray BECAUSE we are weak and desperate and we cannot
We pray to RECEIVE God’s power - not to GET
So pray for everything you need! In Jesus’ name.
Intercession is praying for other people
Ephesians 6 does not use the word intercession, but that’s what Paul means when he says, “making supplication for all the saints, and also for me”
Praying for other people helps us practice the discipline of humility
As we lift up others above ourselves, considering them before ourselves
Another way to look at intercession is mediation
It is to stand between the lost and God, praying that they will come to salvation in Christ Jesus
1 Timothy 2:4-6
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
People struggle against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
That are doing everything possible to keep people separated from God
As intercessors we are called to pour prayer into that gap.
We can stand in the gap on behalf of people to help them be united with God
Intercession also help people in all their struggles
Ezekiel 22:30
And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.
Continuing with the military jargon, a breach is a point of weakness and opening in a wall or barrier or defensive position in a battle
An intercessor stands in that breach inn the midst of a battle when they pray for someone, helping them in their battle.
We, praying, have the privilege of working with God in the great work of redeeming and loving others.
While drawing nearer to God in faith ourselves
3. The third and final question is WHEN? When should we pray?
And this is the easiest of them all - as verse 18 says, “at all times”
We should be praying - we NEED to be praying all the time
Not continuously - non stop, never-ending - because thats physically impossible, but continually
Again and again, keeping on praying whenever we can
The time to pray is always, NOW.
Praying is much easier than people think
At Alpha, we just had the discussion on How and Why should we pray
And someone on the video gave an excellent tip.
Keep it simple, keep it real, keep it up
They’re all important, but I think the last one is the most important
Ephesians 6:18 tells us to keep on praying
I remember being amazed and a little dubious when my mum would spend hours praying
And I wondered what she’s doing at first, then, what she’s praying for
I didn’t understand her answer until years later
There are actually a LOT to pray for
Especially when you start praying for other people - technically it’s never-ending
There is a lot to pray for - in our personal lives and for others as well
More than soldiers needing PT, we need to be praying
Which is why we are calling the church to 7 days of prayer starting tomorrow, to help us individually and as a community to put our prayer life on the forefront of lives
Obviously we are and have been praying, but we feel it is the time for a push
I can attest, preparing for this and today’s message have been very convicting - and I am grateful for this reminder and to have the whole church rising up together in prayer and to keep it going
Please make sure you pick up the prayer guide before you leave that you can use to help you throughout the week
It will also focus our prayers as a community - especially when we gather together to pray
Some days, the church sanctuary will be open and you can come and pray separately but together
You could ask the pastors to pray for you and with you during those times
And there may be times when whoever is present will come together to pray as a group as well
On the seventh day, Sunday the 23rd, we want to gather at church for our monthly worship night to bring it all together
Nothing happens when we don’t pray, so the time to pray is NOW.
AND ALSO FOR ALL THE COUNTRIES THAT ARE IN CONFLICT IN THIS WORLD
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