Lyle Waldo: “Prayer”
Ripon Special Meeting - 2014
(not verbatim)
Matt 26:36-44 “Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.”
I’ve been thinking about this matter of prayer. It was important to Jesus, He taught this by example. He was faithful in prayer. Jesus knew that he would be taken, then he would be put upon the cross and would bear the sin of all the world. He would pay the price of sin. He gave himself fully and completely. He understood that he didn’t have the strength within himself, but that there would provision made through God. Jesus was faithful throughout his life. He knew the power of prayer. He loved to be with his Father; he prayed for help. He prayed that if were possible to be done any other way – but he was willing. Those with him slept. He prayed, Help me to do Thy will. What is the will of God, He will show us that. We can pray, Help me to do Your will. These are the two parts of prayer: 1) learning what is the will of God; and 2) getting help to do it.
The disciples loved Jesus; they didn’t want to fail. Peter didn’t want to deny Jesus. Spiritual life comes through Jesus, and new appetites. But we still have the flesh. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (but we need this flesh: it’s how we live in this world!). By nature we will go down, because the flesh only thinks of the temporary. In the place of prayer, we can strengthen the spirit and put the flesh in subjection, to be doing what pleases God. The lesson we need to learn is that we don’t have the power or ability to serve God -- but we can get it from God.
We only have little glimpses of Jesus’ life, of when He prayed.
· All night. Before He chose his disciples, the apostles -- and Judas, a devil – he spent all night in prayer. He wanted to make the right choice. He gave Judas every opportunity. Jesus found help and strength in prayer.
· Early in the morning. Another time, after he healed the sick and lame, and they praised him, he arose early, a great while before it was yet day, and he prayed.
· With every step. In Luke it tells of when Jesus was baptized, that he was praying and the heaven was opened. Jesus took every step with prayer.
What attitude of the heart do we need to have, so that God hears our prayer?
· Is it a prayer of need? Or is it a prayer of self? God doesn’t hear selfish prayer. (like the Pharisee)
· With repentance. The result of sin can be hard. But does it move me to pray? What is my motive in prayer? Am I truly sorry I’ve sinned against the One who loves me, or do I just want God to remove the result of sin? Esau lost the blessing and the birthright; it was given to Jacob. But Esau felt it was his brother’s fault, and he didn’t repent. He only sought the blessing. (Heb. 12:17 “For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it” -- the blessing -- “carefully with tears.”)
· With humility. Manasseh, in II Chronicles 33, was king over God’s people. But he was wicked; his sin was worse than those in the land, than the worst heathen. So he was taken into captivity (v. 11), “and when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto Him. And God was intreated of him.” (v. 12, 13) When he humbled himself, and prayed, God forgave him. We understand that with a repentant heart God is merciful and will restore us again. Such mercy! God sent His Son, to take on Himself what would be death to us.
Jesus taught about prayer in Matthew 6 and Luke 11. The disciples said, “Teach us to pray.” Jesus started that sample prayer with “our Father.” That’s who we are praying to, the God of heaven. But even greater than the fact that He is the God of heaven, He is our Father. The outcome of prayer is that God would be lifted up, and that His will be put first: “Hallowed be Thy name;” “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven.” The first desire in our heart is to do the will of God, and then we mention our need:
Bread. Our soul needs to be fed. Prayer helps us to be quiet, “enter into your closet” -- get quiet, away from the cares and focus of the world. Focus on eternity, soften our heart, still our mind.
Forgiveness. We need it. But if we don’t forgive, we won’t be forgiven. (Matt. 6:15)
Forgive others. We put ourselves in bondage when we don’t forgive. Forgiveness frees us. There is that account in Matthew 18 of the servant with a great debt, which his lord forgave. But that same servant took a fellow servant by the throat and said, Pay me all you owe me. There was no heart of forgiveness. God can help us have a heart that is not bitter. We need that.
“Lead us not into temptation.” We don’t want to walk in this world with our own thoughts! We have the privilege of asking God to guide us and lead us. God promised His Spirit to guide us.
“Deliver us from evil.” In Genesis 32 it tells about Jacob and Esau. God used their lives to teach a spiritual lesson. They were twins; Esau was born first, Jacob second. There was a struggle within the mother, and when she asked God, “Why am I thus?”, He said to her, “Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people; and the elder” -- the flesh --“shall serve the younger” – the divine nature through Jesus. (Gen. 25:23) Jacob was seeking to be led of God, but he was afraid of Esau, who was coming against him with a great army. He prayed (v. 9-11), “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth which thou hast shewed unto thy servant. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother.” In Proverbs it says, “A soft answer turns away wrath.” Jacob wanted to be right with his brother, Esau, so he gave of his own self, his own wealth. Jacob’s servants were directed to tell Esau, when he asked, Whose are these, that “they be thy servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau.” Jacob humbled himself; he prayed for God’s help, he knew he needed the strength of God. He prayed all night, wrestling with a man, it says. Up to that point, he was still relying on himself, on his own two legs. After that, the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint; he halted upon his thigh. So Jacob went before his brother in a weakened state. He knew he could only rely on God now.
Pray with importunity (even when it is not convenient). Oh, to have the faith to continue to pray, like that widow woman in Luke 18, who asked over and over.
Ripon Special Meeting - 2014
(not verbatim)
Matt 26:36-44 “Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.”
I’ve been thinking about this matter of prayer. It was important to Jesus, He taught this by example. He was faithful in prayer. Jesus knew that he would be taken, then he would be put upon the cross and would bear the sin of all the world. He would pay the price of sin. He gave himself fully and completely. He understood that he didn’t have the strength within himself, but that there would provision made through God. Jesus was faithful throughout his life. He knew the power of prayer. He loved to be with his Father; he prayed for help. He prayed that if were possible to be done any other way – but he was willing. Those with him slept. He prayed, Help me to do Thy will. What is the will of God, He will show us that. We can pray, Help me to do Your will. These are the two parts of prayer: 1) learning what is the will of God; and 2) getting help to do it.
The disciples loved Jesus; they didn’t want to fail. Peter didn’t want to deny Jesus. Spiritual life comes through Jesus, and new appetites. But we still have the flesh. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (but we need this flesh: it’s how we live in this world!). By nature we will go down, because the flesh only thinks of the temporary. In the place of prayer, we can strengthen the spirit and put the flesh in subjection, to be doing what pleases God. The lesson we need to learn is that we don’t have the power or ability to serve God -- but we can get it from God.
We only have little glimpses of Jesus’ life, of when He prayed.
· All night. Before He chose his disciples, the apostles -- and Judas, a devil – he spent all night in prayer. He wanted to make the right choice. He gave Judas every opportunity. Jesus found help and strength in prayer.
· Early in the morning. Another time, after he healed the sick and lame, and they praised him, he arose early, a great while before it was yet day, and he prayed.
· With every step. In Luke it tells of when Jesus was baptized, that he was praying and the heaven was opened. Jesus took every step with prayer.
What attitude of the heart do we need to have, so that God hears our prayer?
· Is it a prayer of need? Or is it a prayer of self? God doesn’t hear selfish prayer. (like the Pharisee)
· With repentance. The result of sin can be hard. But does it move me to pray? What is my motive in prayer? Am I truly sorry I’ve sinned against the One who loves me, or do I just want God to remove the result of sin? Esau lost the blessing and the birthright; it was given to Jacob. But Esau felt it was his brother’s fault, and he didn’t repent. He only sought the blessing. (Heb. 12:17 “For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it” -- the blessing -- “carefully with tears.”)
· With humility. Manasseh, in II Chronicles 33, was king over God’s people. But he was wicked; his sin was worse than those in the land, than the worst heathen. So he was taken into captivity (v. 11), “and when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto Him. And God was intreated of him.” (v. 12, 13) When he humbled himself, and prayed, God forgave him. We understand that with a repentant heart God is merciful and will restore us again. Such mercy! God sent His Son, to take on Himself what would be death to us.
Jesus taught about prayer in Matthew 6 and Luke 11. The disciples said, “Teach us to pray.” Jesus started that sample prayer with “our Father.” That’s who we are praying to, the God of heaven. But even greater than the fact that He is the God of heaven, He is our Father. The outcome of prayer is that God would be lifted up, and that His will be put first: “Hallowed be Thy name;” “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven.” The first desire in our heart is to do the will of God, and then we mention our need:
Bread. Our soul needs to be fed. Prayer helps us to be quiet, “enter into your closet” -- get quiet, away from the cares and focus of the world. Focus on eternity, soften our heart, still our mind.
Forgiveness. We need it. But if we don’t forgive, we won’t be forgiven. (Matt. 6:15)
Forgive others. We put ourselves in bondage when we don’t forgive. Forgiveness frees us. There is that account in Matthew 18 of the servant with a great debt, which his lord forgave. But that same servant took a fellow servant by the throat and said, Pay me all you owe me. There was no heart of forgiveness. God can help us have a heart that is not bitter. We need that.
“Lead us not into temptation.” We don’t want to walk in this world with our own thoughts! We have the privilege of asking God to guide us and lead us. God promised His Spirit to guide us.
“Deliver us from evil.” In Genesis 32 it tells about Jacob and Esau. God used their lives to teach a spiritual lesson. They were twins; Esau was born first, Jacob second. There was a struggle within the mother, and when she asked God, “Why am I thus?”, He said to her, “Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people; and the elder” -- the flesh --“shall serve the younger” – the divine nature through Jesus. (Gen. 25:23) Jacob was seeking to be led of God, but he was afraid of Esau, who was coming against him with a great army. He prayed (v. 9-11), “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth which thou hast shewed unto thy servant. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother.” In Proverbs it says, “A soft answer turns away wrath.” Jacob wanted to be right with his brother, Esau, so he gave of his own self, his own wealth. Jacob’s servants were directed to tell Esau, when he asked, Whose are these, that “they be thy servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau.” Jacob humbled himself; he prayed for God’s help, he knew he needed the strength of God. He prayed all night, wrestling with a man, it says. Up to that point, he was still relying on himself, on his own two legs. After that, the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint; he halted upon his thigh. So Jacob went before his brother in a weakened state. He knew he could only rely on God now.
Pray with importunity (even when it is not convenient). Oh, to have the faith to continue to pray, like that widow woman in Luke 18, who asked over and over.
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