Scripture: Matthew 6:5-15
Listen Link: Listen link: www.lcepc.org then look for “sermons” tab.
I want to begin with the story of a young pilot. He had just passed the point of no return when the weather changed for the worse. Visibility dropped to a matter of feet as fog descended to the earth. Putting total trust in the cockpit instruments was a new experience to him, for the ink was still wet on the certificate verifying that he was qualified for instrument flying.
The landing worried him the most. His destination was a crowded metropolitan airport he wasn't familiar with. In a few minutes he would be in radio contact with the tower. Until then, he was alone with his thoughts. His instructor had practically forced him to memorize the rule book. He didn't care for it at the time, but now he was thankful.
Finally, he heard the voice of the air traffic controller. "I'm going to put you on a holding pattern," the controller radioed. Great! thought the pilot. However, he knew that his safe landing was in the hands of this person. He had to draw upon his previous instructions and training, and trust the voice of an air traffic controller he couldn't see. Aware that this was no time for pride, he informed the controller, "This is not a seasoned pro up here. I would appreciate any help you could give me."
"You've got it!" he heard back.
For the next 45 minutes, the controller gently guided the pilot through the blinding fog. As course and altitude corrections came periodically, the young pilot realized the controller was guiding him around obstacles and away from potential collisions. With the words of the rule book firmly placed in his mind, and with the gentle voice of the controller, he landed safely at last.
The Holy Spirit guides us through the maze of life much like that air traffic controller. The controller assumed that the young pilot understood the instructions of the flight manual. His guidance was based on that. Such is the case with the Holy Spirit: He can guide us if we have a knowledge of God's Word and His will established in our minds.
That story illustrates the place of prayer in our lives. For the next three weeks, as we prepare for our annual meeting, I want to do a miniseries reminding us of the place of prayer, the purpose of prayer, and the power of prayer. So, today I’m talking about the proper place of prayer in our lives. The Bible is like the flight manual, with all kinds of information and instructions for living. Your prayer life is the way you keep in touch with the Holy Spirit’s guidance. When Jesus gave us the instructions about prayer that we just read from Matthew 6, he was correcting what had gone wrong with prayer in the Jewish culture and the Gentile pagan culture around them.
The Pharisees made prayer a performance. The hypocrites, who loved to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others, were performing for the crowds, showing off their eloquent skills. The pagans, who kept on babbling, thinking they would be heard because of their many words, were performing in an attempt to influence God.
But that’s not the proper place of prayer. The proper place for prayer is in an intimate conversation with the Lord of the Universe, not a show of words. Also, The proper place for prayer is in an intimate conversation with the Lord of the Universe, in which we submit to his authoritative rule and trust in his benevolent care.
There is nothing wrong with asking Him for favors and blessings, as long as we remember that He is not obligated to our will, nor can we make him do anything for us just by nagging. Instead, we are obligated to His will. And He does encourage us to keep talking to Him with persistence and perseverance because we depend upon him. Our prayers ought to show that we need Him. It is not about how good we are at praying. It is about how Good He is to answer us.
The proper place of prayer often is a physical place, a place where you regularly meet with God. It is a place designated for prayer it may be where you keep a Bible and a journal close by. Perhaps you saw the movie War Room, in which Miss Clara had a closet all set up with a chair and post-it notes of prayer requests on the walls all around her. That was her battle station. One person I heard about set two chairs facing each other. Then she sat in one and talked to Jesus as if he were in the other chair, facing her. John Wesley’s mother, had so many children that the only place she could find for prayer, was on a chair by the fireplace, with her apron up over her face.
I have a couple of places for prayer. Every morning Kathy and I sit up and do our devotions together, after I bring her a cup of coffee. Recently, I also started sitting in the sanctuary on Thursday mornings, as you may have heard. Having a special place, away from distractions, can be a great help. You might say that every place is a place of prayer since you can talk to Jesus anywhere. But don’t settle for just that. Establish the place where you will pray consistently.
Another place for prayer is first place. Make it a top priority. That’s why Kathy and I usually pray first thing in the morning. If you haven’t set a daily time to be focused in prayer, it is very easy to assume, even with the best of intentions, that you’ll pray later. And as later is always in the future, it’s never in the present. So, whether it’s the first thing in the morning or before you go to bed, mark it on your calendar. Set your alarm clock around it. Treat it like any other appointment, and it will be hard to forget. This is a deliberate and proactive step to ensure that prayer remains a priority.
Prayer must be a priority if we remember that we depend upon God for our daily bread, as Jesus taught us to pray, Give us this day our daily bread. Funny how we never forget to eat. But we can still forget to pray. Truth is you need prayer even more than you need to eat. That is why worshipers developed the habit of regular fasting, to literally make prayer more important than eating at times.
And when an important matter indicates the need for prayer, a fasting prayer is a way of being more serious about prayer, making it a top priority. If you remember the story of Esther in the Old Testament, before she risked her life by approaching King Nebuchadnezzar to save her people, she asked all of them to fast for three days, to know God’s will for sure and to have the courage to act on it. As we prepare for our annual congregation business meeting in a few weeks, I’m going to be encouraging all of us to fast and pray. It is important that we seek God’s face as we seek his will for our future together, to know God’s will for sure and to have the courage to act on it.
The place of prayer is before the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the prince of peace. He is your Lord, and mine. You and I ought to live as loyal subjects, respectful and ready to obey His every command, knowing that it is for our own good and our best blessing. Jesus taught these principles when he taught us to pray saying, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
“For this is what the Lord says: in Isaiah 56:4-8, “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant—to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever. And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant—these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” The Sovereign Lord declares—he who gathers the exiles of Israel: “I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered.”
In the first part of that passage God himself names people who were formally excluded from temple worship and invites them in under the New Covenant. In the key part of the passage, God calls his house a house of prayer. It is by prayer that all nations will be blessed. It is by prayer that we ask Jesus to forgive and save us. It is by prayer that we submit to his Lordship and divine rule. It is by prayer that he governs our daily affairs and gives us wisdom to discern his will from the principles laid out in the Scripture.
The place of prayer in our lives is first place, special place and every place, and always before the mighty God who invites us into his awesome presence. So, as you pilot your little life, humbly admit your need of God’s help and pray to him “in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” The Holy Spirit guides us through the maze of life much like that air traffic controller. The controller assumed that the young pilot understood the instructions of the flight manual.
His guidance was based on that. Such is the case with the Holy Spirit: He can guide us if we have a knowledge of God's Word and His will established in our minds, and if we stay in touch with Him by regular consistent prayer. Keep prayer in its proper place.
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Let us also be mindful that just as we are invited into God’s heavenly throne room, we are also invited into the great dining hall to feast on his grace. Even in the presence of our enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil, Jesus the great high priest has prepared the table of His offering before us. May we be renewed, refreshed and revived as we keep the feast of the Lord’s supper. Come into His presence as his humble child and faithful servants.
It is now our sacred privilege to celebrate the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. All who humbly put their trust in Christ and desire His help that they may lead a holy life, all that are truly penitent for their sins and would be delivered from them, all that walk in love with their neighbors and intend to live a new life, following the commandments of God and walking henceforth in His holy ways, are invited to draw near with faith and to take this holy sacrament.
Come to the table, not because you must, but because you may. Come to testify, not that you are righteous, but that you sincerely love our Lord Jesus Christ and desire to be his true disciple. Come not because you are strong, but because you are weak. You stand in constant need of God’s mercy and help. Come not to express an opinion, but to seek God’s presence and pray for the Spirit. Amen.
Listen Link: Listen link: www.lcepc.org then look for “sermons” tab.
I want to begin with the story of a young pilot. He had just passed the point of no return when the weather changed for the worse. Visibility dropped to a matter of feet as fog descended to the earth. Putting total trust in the cockpit instruments was a new experience to him, for the ink was still wet on the certificate verifying that he was qualified for instrument flying.
The landing worried him the most. His destination was a crowded metropolitan airport he wasn't familiar with. In a few minutes he would be in radio contact with the tower. Until then, he was alone with his thoughts. His instructor had practically forced him to memorize the rule book. He didn't care for it at the time, but now he was thankful.
Finally, he heard the voice of the air traffic controller. "I'm going to put you on a holding pattern," the controller radioed. Great! thought the pilot. However, he knew that his safe landing was in the hands of this person. He had to draw upon his previous instructions and training, and trust the voice of an air traffic controller he couldn't see. Aware that this was no time for pride, he informed the controller, "This is not a seasoned pro up here. I would appreciate any help you could give me."
"You've got it!" he heard back.
For the next 45 minutes, the controller gently guided the pilot through the blinding fog. As course and altitude corrections came periodically, the young pilot realized the controller was guiding him around obstacles and away from potential collisions. With the words of the rule book firmly placed in his mind, and with the gentle voice of the controller, he landed safely at last.
The Holy Spirit guides us through the maze of life much like that air traffic controller. The controller assumed that the young pilot understood the instructions of the flight manual. His guidance was based on that. Such is the case with the Holy Spirit: He can guide us if we have a knowledge of God's Word and His will established in our minds.
That story illustrates the place of prayer in our lives. For the next three weeks, as we prepare for our annual meeting, I want to do a miniseries reminding us of the place of prayer, the purpose of prayer, and the power of prayer. So, today I’m talking about the proper place of prayer in our lives. The Bible is like the flight manual, with all kinds of information and instructions for living. Your prayer life is the way you keep in touch with the Holy Spirit’s guidance. When Jesus gave us the instructions about prayer that we just read from Matthew 6, he was correcting what had gone wrong with prayer in the Jewish culture and the Gentile pagan culture around them.
The Pharisees made prayer a performance. The hypocrites, who loved to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others, were performing for the crowds, showing off their eloquent skills. The pagans, who kept on babbling, thinking they would be heard because of their many words, were performing in an attempt to influence God.
But that’s not the proper place of prayer. The proper place for prayer is in an intimate conversation with the Lord of the Universe, not a show of words. Also, The proper place for prayer is in an intimate conversation with the Lord of the Universe, in which we submit to his authoritative rule and trust in his benevolent care.
There is nothing wrong with asking Him for favors and blessings, as long as we remember that He is not obligated to our will, nor can we make him do anything for us just by nagging. Instead, we are obligated to His will. And He does encourage us to keep talking to Him with persistence and perseverance because we depend upon him. Our prayers ought to show that we need Him. It is not about how good we are at praying. It is about how Good He is to answer us.
The proper place of prayer often is a physical place, a place where you regularly meet with God. It is a place designated for prayer it may be where you keep a Bible and a journal close by. Perhaps you saw the movie War Room, in which Miss Clara had a closet all set up with a chair and post-it notes of prayer requests on the walls all around her. That was her battle station. One person I heard about set two chairs facing each other. Then she sat in one and talked to Jesus as if he were in the other chair, facing her. John Wesley’s mother, had so many children that the only place she could find for prayer, was on a chair by the fireplace, with her apron up over her face.
I have a couple of places for prayer. Every morning Kathy and I sit up and do our devotions together, after I bring her a cup of coffee. Recently, I also started sitting in the sanctuary on Thursday mornings, as you may have heard. Having a special place, away from distractions, can be a great help. You might say that every place is a place of prayer since you can talk to Jesus anywhere. But don’t settle for just that. Establish the place where you will pray consistently.
Another place for prayer is first place. Make it a top priority. That’s why Kathy and I usually pray first thing in the morning. If you haven’t set a daily time to be focused in prayer, it is very easy to assume, even with the best of intentions, that you’ll pray later. And as later is always in the future, it’s never in the present. So, whether it’s the first thing in the morning or before you go to bed, mark it on your calendar. Set your alarm clock around it. Treat it like any other appointment, and it will be hard to forget. This is a deliberate and proactive step to ensure that prayer remains a priority.
Prayer must be a priority if we remember that we depend upon God for our daily bread, as Jesus taught us to pray, Give us this day our daily bread. Funny how we never forget to eat. But we can still forget to pray. Truth is you need prayer even more than you need to eat. That is why worshipers developed the habit of regular fasting, to literally make prayer more important than eating at times.
And when an important matter indicates the need for prayer, a fasting prayer is a way of being more serious about prayer, making it a top priority. If you remember the story of Esther in the Old Testament, before she risked her life by approaching King Nebuchadnezzar to save her people, she asked all of them to fast for three days, to know God’s will for sure and to have the courage to act on it. As we prepare for our annual congregation business meeting in a few weeks, I’m going to be encouraging all of us to fast and pray. It is important that we seek God’s face as we seek his will for our future together, to know God’s will for sure and to have the courage to act on it.
The place of prayer is before the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the prince of peace. He is your Lord, and mine. You and I ought to live as loyal subjects, respectful and ready to obey His every command, knowing that it is for our own good and our best blessing. Jesus taught these principles when he taught us to pray saying, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
“For this is what the Lord says: in Isaiah 56:4-8, “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant—to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever. And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant—these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” The Sovereign Lord declares—he who gathers the exiles of Israel: “I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered.”
In the first part of that passage God himself names people who were formally excluded from temple worship and invites them in under the New Covenant. In the key part of the passage, God calls his house a house of prayer. It is by prayer that all nations will be blessed. It is by prayer that we ask Jesus to forgive and save us. It is by prayer that we submit to his Lordship and divine rule. It is by prayer that he governs our daily affairs and gives us wisdom to discern his will from the principles laid out in the Scripture.
The place of prayer in our lives is first place, special place and every place, and always before the mighty God who invites us into his awesome presence. So, as you pilot your little life, humbly admit your need of God’s help and pray to him “in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” The Holy Spirit guides us through the maze of life much like that air traffic controller. The controller assumed that the young pilot understood the instructions of the flight manual.
His guidance was based on that. Such is the case with the Holy Spirit: He can guide us if we have a knowledge of God's Word and His will established in our minds, and if we stay in touch with Him by regular consistent prayer. Keep prayer in its proper place.
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Let us also be mindful that just as we are invited into God’s heavenly throne room, we are also invited into the great dining hall to feast on his grace. Even in the presence of our enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil, Jesus the great high priest has prepared the table of His offering before us. May we be renewed, refreshed and revived as we keep the feast of the Lord’s supper. Come into His presence as his humble child and faithful servants.
It is now our sacred privilege to celebrate the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. All who humbly put their trust in Christ and desire His help that they may lead a holy life, all that are truly penitent for their sins and would be delivered from them, all that walk in love with their neighbors and intend to live a new life, following the commandments of God and walking henceforth in His holy ways, are invited to draw near with faith and to take this holy sacrament.
Come to the table, not because you must, but because you may. Come to testify, not that you are righteous, but that you sincerely love our Lord Jesus Christ and desire to be his true disciple. Come not because you are strong, but because you are weak. You stand in constant need of God’s mercy and help. Come not to express an opinion, but to seek God’s presence and pray for the Spirit. Amen.
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