Prayer that Matters - 5

More passages from the Gospels and the Book of Acts on the all-important topic of Prayer that Matters!

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Hello everyone, and welcome back once again to Jeff's Bible Trek. This is episode five of our season entitled Prayer That Matters. We've been working our way through the teachings of Jesus and in the Gospels on the subject of prayer. So let's look at a few additional passages from the Gospels on prayer. Here's one that occurs in three of the four Gospels. So it must be important. Jesus is cleansing the temple of the money changers and the merchandisers, kicking over tables and driving people out. Some say this occurred twice during his three and a half year ministry. And in Matthew 21 13, Mark 11 17, and Luke 19 46, it says, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers. So let's break down this a little bit. In the Old Testament, the temple of God was the physical temple, and in the New Testament it is the body of the believer, according to 1 Corinthians 3 16. So it is written, our bodies shall be called a house of prayer, but it has become a den of robbers. What then or who are the robbers in the body of the believer? Well, you could say it's demonic influences because the enemy has come to steal, that's what robbers do, kill and destroy. It could also be those things that we have allowed to come into traffic in our lives and conduct merchandising in our souls. And it's different for every person. It could be the things of this world, wealth accumulation, excessive leisure, basically anything that takes us away from praying and being a house of prayer. You know, if people in the lifetime of Jesus had stepped back and looked at the situation at the temple, they would have been able to discern that this is not right what's going on here. We have taken that which is holy and sacred and allowed it to be used for common purposes. Well, the same thing applies to us. May God give us all the presence of mind to take a look at how we spend our time and make some decisions that will impact the kingdom of God. Now, let me say again that I'm not suggesting that we all hole up in a building and pray all the time. I'd like to do fun things. If I had time, I'd list them for you here. But I've had to sit down and ask myself to what extent I'm going to allow the things of this world to traffic and carry out merchandising in my soul, and whether I'm going to fulfill my destiny as a house of prayer. Well, it's definitely something to think about. Next, in Mark chapter 9, we have the following account reading from the Passion Translation Bible. It's the healing of a boy with an evil spirit. Now, when they came down the mountain to the other nine disciples, they noticed a large crowd of people gathered around them, with the religious scholars arguing with them. The crowd was astonished to see Jesus himself walking toward them. So they immediately ran to welcome him. What are you arguing about with the religious scholars? He asked them. A man spoke up out of the crowd. Teacher, he said, I have a son possessed by a demon that makes him mute. I brought him here to you, Jesus. Whenever the demon takes control of him, it knocks him down, and he foams at the mouth and gnashes his teeth, and his body becomes stiff as a board. I brought him to your disciples hoping they could deliver him, but they were not able to do it. Jesus said to the crowd, Why are you such a faithless people? How much longer must I remain with you and put up with your unbelief? Now bring the boy to me. So they brought him to Jesus. As soon as the demon saw him it threw the boy into convulsions. He fell to the ground, rolling around and foaming at the mouth. Jesus turned to the father and asked, How long has your son been tormented like this? Since childhood, replied. But please, if you're able to do something, anything, have compassion on us and help us. Jesus said to him, What do you mean if I try I try to imagine how he said that? I can't believe Jesus would say it sarcastically. So I Jesus said to him, What do you mean if? If you are able to believe all things are possible to the believer. When he heard this, the boy's father cried out with tears, saying, I do believe, Lord, help my little faith. Now when Jesus saw that the crowd was quickly growing larger, he commanded the demon, saying, Deaf and mute spirit, I command you to come out of him and never enter him again. The demon shrieked and threw the boy into terrible seizures, and finally came out of him. Finally, it kind of indicates a struggle there. As the boy lay there looking like a corpse, everyone thought he was dead. But Jesus stooped down, gently took his hand, and raised him up to his feet, and he stood there completely set free. Afterwards, when Jesus arrived at the house, his disciples asked him in private, Why couldn't we cast out the demon? He answered them, This type of powerful spirit can only be cast out by fasting and prayer. Hmm. You know, if you were to turn back three chapters to Mark chapter six, you would see that Jesus conferred authority on his disciples and sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and deliver people from evil spirits. They knew what to do and how to do it. They'd done it before. But for reasons unknown to them, they didn't have what it took to drive this spirit out. Now, some versions add the words and fasting to prayer, but let's just assume for the moment that Jesus said this kind can come out only by prayer. Now, most of us read this account and say that Jesus was praying for the boy to be delivered from this spirit, and that's the prayer that he was talking about. But it's not. Prayer, by definition, is seeking and talking to God for something. Jesus did not address his father here, he addressed the demon, who was not a superior, but one in subjection to him and under his authority. So what's the prayer that Jesus meant? Well, for him, he meant all that praying in lonely places that he was doing every night. I mean, ask yourself, who had the phenomenal prayer life in the group here? The disciples or Jesus? So here's the point. Do you want to have greater authority in your praying? Greater power in your praying? Greater power in self-deliverance? Greater power over the enemy in general? Well, you must go to the source of the power, anointing, and authority from which Jesus drew, spending quantity and quality of time in secret with the Father, where He will impart all this through the Holy Spirit. And by the way, the fasting wouldn't hurt either. Because how desperate are we? How badly do we want it? And finally, in the darkest hour of his life, Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane told his disciples in both Matthew 26.41 and Luke 21.36 to watch and pray. Listen to the two passages and see the different slant on each one. Here's what Matthew 26.41 says. Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak. Boy, this is so true when it comes to praying, isn't it? I've been there. But the more you feed your spirit, the easier it is for the spirit to overcome the body. You see, we have two natures, and the one we feed and exercise, the most will be stronger. And then listen to Luke 21, 36. Be always on the watch and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man. Well, there's a lot of speculation that tougher times could be ahead in the world. We need to be prepared. We need to go places in our prayer life that we've never been before if we're going to survive and thrive. So on that note, let's go to highlights from the book of Acts, because we really are covering the New Testament on this matter, pardon the pun, this matter of prayer that matters. Let's look at highlights from the book of Acts. After Jesus went to the cross, rose from the dead, and ascended to heaven, the apostles gathered together and were in constant prayer for ten days. And you know the outpouring that came on the day of Pentecost, Acts chapter 2. Would the outpouring have occurred anyway? Whether they prayed or not? Since God had determined that the church would be born on this day? If so, did ten days of constant prayer by the apostles and others have an impact on the magnitude of the outpouring? Or was the outcome of the ten days of praying a more powerful impact on their lives? Or all the above? Hmm. Well, it says at the end of Acts 2 that the believers devoted themselves, gave themselves over to completely, to a number of things the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Now, after the initial outpouring, God began to do outstanding miracles for the apostles as a result of their continued, constant prayer, such as the day Peter and John went up to the temple in Acts 3 and healed the crippled beggar. In chapter 4, Peter and John were called before the Sanhedrin to account for their actions and be threatened. And after they left and went back to the believers, it says they raised their voices in prayer together. And when they got done, it says the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. Well, by now the apostles began to see the direct communication, the direct connection, rather, between the amount of time they were spending in prayer and the power they were seeing in their lives. Now, as the church began to grow, they began to feel themselves pulled away from prayer in order to minister to the physical needs of the new believers. They could feel the difference, the lack of power in their ministry, and decided to set up a board of directors for the daily distribution of food, etc., so they could devote themselves afresh to the ministry of the word and what? And prayer. In Acts chapter 10, we had the account of Cornelius and his household getting saved. And it's interesting to see how the prayer lives of the two key figures in this episode impacted what happened. The chapter begins with these words. At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian regiment. He and all his family were devout and God fearing. He gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. Well, he has a vision that results in him sending for Peter to speak in his house. The next day, Peter goes up on top of his house to pray. And while he's up there praying, he sees a vision that begins to open up his mind to the possibility of Gentiles coming to Christ. God then brings these two men of prayer together in one house, and the anointing on both of their lives collides in such a way that sparks fly. But also in such a way that the door to the Gentiles is flung wide open, and the church now begins to grow exponentially. Listen to me, God uses those who pray. In chapter twelve, Peter is in jail, likely under a sentence of death. And all the believers are in a house doing what? Praying earnestly for him. And what happens? God sends an angel to release him. And when he shows up at the house, they're shocked that their prayers actually worked. Have you ever been surprised by answered prayer like that? Whoa, look at what God just did there. I wasn't expecting that. Well, we need to. In chapter 13, Paul comes onto the scene. It's been some 17 years since he got saved, and God has been shaping him and teaching him. He has developed a serious prayer habit. And one day God speaks to both Barnabas and him, kind of like Peter and Cornelius, and he makes his way to Antioch. One of the most powerful moments in Acts occurs at midnight in the Philippian jail, when Paul and Silas are singing to the Lord and praying. There's a violent earthquake that pops open all the prison doors in the place, and the jailer comes in and throws himself before the apostles and wants to know how to be saved. And he and his whole family do get saved that night. Prayer is the spark that lit the fuse in this whole situation. So the lesson learned in the book of Acts is that prayer is the place where there is a transference of the power of God to the Christian's life. It's just that simple. So that'll do it for this episode. Next time we'll begin to look at the teachings of the apostles in their letters to the churches, also known as epistles. Until then, may God bless you greatly.