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8:40am Service | 10:00 Service | 11:20 Service | Sermon Audio

Good morning Chapel family. I want to give you a quick preview of the upcoming sermon series. Starting next week and going through the summer, we’re going to be walking through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Ephesians is the perfect mix of deep theology—like sin and salvation and the Holy Spirit, AND practical life teaching—it talks about anger and alcohol and marriage and spiritual warfare. It is such an important book of the Bible. So I encourage you to read it through—it’s only six chapters—and we’re going to tackle it together starting next week. 

So…this spring we’ve been talking about prayer. And any time you focus on the different parts of prayer, or the mechanics of prayer, there’s a danger. Let me illustrate it like this: Have you ever been driving your car, and you start to notice your windshield? For me, it happens especially when a large bird has left a deposit on my windshield. And it’s dried up on there, so I’m driving, and I notice it. And I spray some windshield washer on it, and the wipers go. And that takes care of the problem…never. Right? So I try it again—hoping I won’t run out of wiper fluid, and I turn the wipers on high. I’m fixated on getting rid of that spot. Or maybe it’s a squashed bug, or the little crack that’s forming from when a pebble hit it. You know what the problem is when you’re looking at your windshield? You’re not looking through your windshield! Which is what you really should be doing while you’re driving.  

You know what the problem is when you focus on prayer? When you focus on the technique and the structure of prayer? You miss out on God! See, prayer is like a windshield—every once in a while you have to focus on it—like when you have a crack or a bird splat, and every once in a while you preach a series on prayer—but the whole purpose of it is to look through it so you can see God. Because here’s the amazing reality: the God of the universe wants to be seen! He wants to spend time with you. That’s what prayer is all about.  

So as we wrap up the series today, our Scripture reading is probably the shortest Scripture reading in the history of Scripture readings. Don’t blink, or you’ll miss it. It’s in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 17. This is God’s Word for us to day: 

Pray without ceasing. This is the Word of Lord. 

So, beginning with that thought, let’s talk about two things today. First, Prayer as an Event. I hope I’ve convinced you that you need to schedule time, and protect time, to spend with God. Scripture is filled with examples of this. When the Israelites were journeying through the wilderness, Moses would go out to the Tent of Meeting to commune with God, and it says the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. When Daniel was living in Babylon, he would kneel in his room three times a day and pray. 

But the best example is Jesus. Look with me at Mark chapter 1, beginning in verse 32: 32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was. This is a little snapshot of a day in the life of Jesus. Obviously a very busy day of ministry, right? So Jesus goes to bed after that packed day, knowing the next day is going to be just as crazy. And what do you think he did the next morning? Verse 35: Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. I notice three things about how Jesus prayed. Three things we have to do in order to pray like Jesus. 

First, Decide. It says very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus did something. Did you see it? He got up. Those are powerful words. His body was tired; the bed felt good; but he made a decision to get up. And that decision set the stage for everything else that was about to happen.  

But then I looked closer, and I realized his decision actually didn’t start there. Look what happened the night before. It says “the whole town gathered at the door” where Jesus was. And specifically, verse 32 says the people brought to Jesus “all the sick and demon-possessed” from that town. I don’t know how many that was, but it seems like there were lots of them. All the people who were struggling with physical or spiritual sickness. But now watch this—in verse 34, it says “and Jesus healed many.” So…how many of the sick and demon-possessed from the town showed up? All of them. How many did Jesus heal? Many. You know what that means? At some point in the evening, Jesus decided to call it a night. Right? There was still work he could have done! There were still needs he could have met! But Jesus, as a human being, decided to stop for the evening. And I believe one of the reasons he made that decision is so that he could do what he did the next morning. 

Jesus decided to disappoint some people that night. He decided to go to bed. And he decided to get up the next morning. So here’s my question for you: will you decide? Will you be willing to say “no” and disappoint some people, and get yourself into bed at a wise hour, and get up in the morning, so that you can pray? See, you’ll never be a praying person unless you’re a deciding person. Martin Luther said: 

It is a good thing to let prayer be the first business of the morning and the last night. Guard yourself carefully against those false, deluding ideas which tell you, “Wait a little while. I will pray in an hour; first I must attend to this or that.” Such thoughts get you away from prayer into other affairs which so hold your attention and involve you that nothing comes of prayer for that day. 

Word of wisdom. To pray like Jesus, we need to decide. 

Here’s the second thing Jesus did: Disconnect. 35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, (What’s the next phrase?) left the house and went off to a solitary place. So he was obviously staying with other people in a home, and he intentionally left that environment so he could pray. He tiptoed around his sleeping disciples, and closed the door really gently so he wouldn’t wake them up. And then he just left. Because he needed to disconnect.  

I love this quote by Thomas Merton: “As soon as you are really alone, you are with God.”  

Or how about this one, from E.M. Bounds: “To pray is the greatest thing we can do, and to do it well, there must be calmness, time, and deliberation.” Whew.  

Some of you are wondering why your prayer life is so flat. And the reason is, you never truly disconnect. You go downstairs, where someone’s cooking breakfast and someone’s watching the news; maybe a kid in the next room watching Bluey. Of course you can’t focus on praying! Sometimes people ask—what about my commute to work? I have a 40-minute commute—isn’t that great time to pray? Maybe. If you’re driving through back country roads, okay—maybe. If your commute is on Route 80 or 287 or 46, good luck concentrating on prayer. I mean, it’s great to pray at those times, but it can’t be only that. To give God the attention he deserves, we have to disconnect from people and from distractions. Even Jesus had to do that! 

Thankfully, I’m the earliest riser in my family. And there’s a room I can go to, where I can be pretty confident I’ll be alone. And that’s where I meet with God most mornings. I also like to walk outside, and hike, and those are amazing times of fellowship with God. But you know what? That takes some effort. That takes a decision. But here’s the thing—and I’m realizing this more and more as I get older: the effort is so worth it.  

So…decide, disconnect; here’s the third thing: Delight. Jesus got up, he went off to a solitary place, and he prayed—and when Jesus prayed, there was a delight—a joy—because he was enjoying the presence of His Father and he knew that his Father delighted in him. Guys, the time we spend in prayer should be a delight. That doesn’t mean we only pray about happy things. There are times in prayer that we confess sin; there are times in prayer that we agonize over hard decisions. But it’s a delight knowing that we’re actually spending time in the presence of our Father.  

Decide…disconnect…and delight. 

Okay—so what should we actually do during our time of prayer? We’ve talked about a lot of the different pieces during this series, so today I’m going to try to pull it all together. And look: there’s no one right way to do this. But let me share how I do this, and you can adapt it to fit you.  

Any real relationship involves not only speaking, but also…what? Listening? So I choose to give God the first work, by listening first. And the main way that God speaks is through Scripture. So as I begin my time with God, I’ll just say a quick prayer like, “Lord, thank you for this new day. Please speak to me through your Word.”  

Then I read a short passage of Scripture. I’m currently in the Psalms. So wherever I left off the day before, I read the next passage—usually a chapter or a part of a chapter. Then I read it again, but this time I take out my prayer journal and write down some thoughts. I think about it. I might write down what I think the main point is, or a certain word that gets repeated a lot. Or how it connects with another part of Scripture. Or how it connects with my own life. You know what that process is called? Meditation. Meditation is when you take the time, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to chew on and savor and linger over the Word of God. The author Donald Whitney said “meditation is the missing link between Bible intake and prayer.” I agree. We honor God, and we hear his voice most clearly, when we take the time to meditate on his Word. 

So that’s the listening part. And then it’s time for me to speak. I normally do this while I’m walking; a lot of you have told me you can relate to that—you pray better when you’re moving. Let me tell you about three aspects to the speaking part of prayer.  

First, guided prayer. If you are growing some plants, like ivy, if you just put them in the ground, they grow random and crazy. So you guide them by putting up a trellis, right? And the trellis gives the plant sort of a path to grow on. So how do we do that with our prayers? Well, often at The Chapel we use the acronym “ACTS”—A-C-T-S. It stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication. So by spending a few moments on each of those, you’re guiding your prayers. Your prayers become balanced. For centuries, Christians have used the Lord’s Prayer as a guide. This is something I do every day—I start my speaking time by reciting the Lord’s Prayer, phrase by phrase. But after each phrase, I stop and personalize that idea: “Our Father, who is in heaven…” Lord, thank you that I get to speak to you as a Father today. Thank you that you love me and care for me like I love and care for my kids. “Hallowed be your name…” Lord, you are absolutely holy and perfect. Help me to treat you and speak about you with awe and amazement. And so on, through the prayer.  

So that’s guided prayer. Then, I’ll go to listed prayer. At the top of my list every day I have my wife and my kids and my parents—so I pray for them every day. I told you last week about my six prayer lists in the back of my journal. Each of our staff members, each of our elders, etc. So I pray for one name off of each list—six people a day. And I’m telling you, if I didn’t use my journal, I would forget the majority of this. So I’ll pray over them based on the Scripture I read that morning, and also pray for anything else going on in their lives. That’s listed prayer.  

And then thirdly, I’ll call it free prayer. I just pray for whatever is on my heart. Fears that I have, things I’m facing that day, decisions I need to make. Maybe something God spoke to me through that morning’s reading sparks an idea or a request. I pray that. I try to let the Holy Spirit guide my thoughts and just pour out my heart to God. I speak to God as I would talk to a friend. Sometimes there are periods of. I try to enjoy God’s presence. And I always close my prayer time by asking God to fill me with his Holy Spirit. 

So that’s how I start my day. That doesn’t mean you should do it exactly the same way. Remember, don’t get caught up too much in the technique—don’t look at the windshield, because the whole point is to look through the windshield and see God.  

So that’s my approach, and once I’ve done that, now…I’m ready to check my emails. Now I’m ready for breakfast. And I’m ready for the day. There are days when that whole thing takes me an hour and a half; there are other days when I compress it to 20 minutes. So it is doable. If this is not part of your life, you need to start tomorrow. 

So that’s prayer as an event. But here’s the thing: if that’s all you do, Something important will be missing. Because we also need point number two: Prayer as a Way of Life. Let’s go back to our main verse. What did Paul mean when he said, “Pray without ceasing?” Listen to some other places where Paul describes his own prayer life. For example… 

Romans 1:9-10…constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times. 

1 Corinthians 1:4… I give thanks to my God always for you. 

Ephesians 1:16…I constantly give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 

Ephesians 6:18…Praying at all times in the Spirit. 

2 Timothy 1:3…I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 

Does it sound like Paul only prayed once a day, in the morning? I don’t think so. When did Paul pray? Pretty much always.  

Charles Hodge was a Princeton Theologian in the 1800s. Listen to how he describes this in his own life: 

As far back as I can remember, I had the habit of thanking God for everything I received, and asking him for everything I wanted. If I lost a book, or any of my playthings, I prayed that I might find it. I prayed walking along the streets, in school and out of school, whether playing or studying. I did not do this in obedience to any prescribed rule. It seemed natural. I thought of God as an everywhere-present Being, full of kindness and love, who would not be offended if children talked to him. I knew he cared for sparrows. I was as cheerful and happy as the birds and acted as they did. 

That’s kind of poetic, right? And it’s amazing—to have that kind of constant closeness to God. That’s what it means to pray without ceasing. 

Imagine what this could look like in your life. When you’re in the shower, you think about someone you’re going to see that day, and you ask God to fill you with love for that person. You’re driving through your neighborhood, and you see a woman walking who was recently divorced—so you pray for her to have strength as a single mother. Before you walk into your office, you say a quick prayer under your breath that God will give you wisdom in your job. You find out that your co-worker is sick, so you lift up a 20-second prayer for him, and his family. Later that morning, you have to confront one of your employees on a work performance issue, which you’re not looking forward to, so you pray for honesty and directness and care for that person before the appointment, and you’re even praying in the background when that person is in your office. Every time the phone rings during the day, you say a 5-second prayer before you answer it. You remember that your daughter has a big calculus test that day, so you pray for her calmness and memory. You suddenly remember the argument you had with your spouse the day before, and how stubborn you were, and you say a quick prayer of confession, and followed by a quick text to your spouse. There’s a major decision you have to make about something at work, and before you go into a meeting about that issue, you pray for wisdom. So you get to the end of the day, and you realize that there was a steadiness, and power, and love that pervaded your day, because you were in constant communion with God. You were actually the best version of yourself…because you prayed without ceasing.  

You know what happens when we don’t go through our day like that? We face life on our own, which, for most of us, winds up making us anxious and worried. Paul Miller describes it like this: 

What does an unused prayer link look like? Anxiety. Instead of connecting with God, our spirits fly around like severed power lines, destroying everything they touch. Anxiety wants to be God but lacks God’s wisdom, power and knowledge… It is unable to relax in the face of chaos. Once one problem is solved, the next in line steps up.  

Is that your life? Your spirit flies around like a severed power line, anxious and unsettled? When Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians, he sat in a Roman prison cell and wrote: 6 Do not be anxious about anything, (that’s easy to say, right? So what are you supposed to do when you feel it coming on? Here it is…) but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. For a lot of us, it’s so simple: if we don’t pray constantly, we wind up worrying constantly. It’s one or the other. It’s a pretty obvious choice. 

Paul Miller is so good on this topic; I’m going to quote him one more time: 

When you pray continuously, moments when you are prone to anxiety can become invitations to drift into prayer. A traffic jam, a slight from a friend, or a pressured deadline can serve as a door to God. You’ll find yourself turning off the car radio to be with your Father. You’ll wake up at night and discover yourself praying. It will be like breathing.  

How much concentration does it take for you to breathe? Is anyone focusing, right now, on inhaling and exhaling? (Now you are, right?) But breathing is so natural, it’s just what we do all day. Can you imagine if prayer became like that? If you were so aware of God’s presence, and so in the habit of communing with him, you would slip in and out of prayer without even thinking about it. That’s what it means to pray without ceasing. 

Prayer as an event—that we plan and guard.  

And prayer as a way of life, that goes on all through the day.  

There’s a Spanish tradition called sobremesa. It literally means “over the table.” Sobremesa. So you gather for a meal, and after the meal is done, you maybe clear away the dishes, maybe not. But you stay around the table, and you just enjoy being with each other—sometimes for an hour. Or more. You talk. You tell stories. You laugh. Sometimes there’s coffee; sometimes there’s dessert; sometimes there’s wine. But the important thing is the relationships. Because we are relational beings, designed to share our lives with others. Norma Jean and I are finding that as our kids get older, and they have their own lives, those moments when we can gather at least some of them around the table and share a meal are wonderful. But even better is that time after the meal—because no one has to be there, right? The food is done. We stay because we want to.  

In Revelation chapter three, Jesus gives this invitation: Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. A lot of people think that’s a verse about salvation, but it’s not! It’s written to people who are already believers, and it’s an invitation to a closer relationship. See, in first-century culture, sharing a meal was not mostly about the food. If you sat down at a table and ate with someone, that signified acceptance and fellowship. That’s what we experience with loved ones around a table. And that’s exactly what God invites us to through prayer: the ultimate, spiritual sobremesa—where you enjoy the presence of God, and you know that he actually enjoys yours. And it’s so amazing, you don’t want it to end. You want to stay at the table just a little longer.  

Let’s take a moment and prepare our hearts for communion.