How Long Has It Been?

            How long has it been since you really opened up and prayed a deep, fervent, from the heart kind of prayer? How long has it been since you found some place quite to go to, where you knew you wouldn’t be bothered by phone calls, dogs barking, kids playing, the TV going, and without worrying about the next thing on your list of things to do, and just poured out your heart to God? Was it yesterday? Was it last week? Was it last month or last year? In this lesson I want to encourage all of us to pray to God as if we were out sitting on a log somewhere with our father—someone who greatly loves us, cares for us, and is ready to listen to us when we are hurting. What is said to Him stays between you and Him and He has the ability to help, even in the direst of circumstances. Yes, we are to reverence and respect God, but at the same time, we are His spiritual children who look to Him with love and child-like confidence. Paul tells the Galatian brethren in Galatians 4:6, “And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” He is not just Father, but “Abba” Father. “Abba” is a term that a young child might have used to address his earthly father; it is similar to the way that a child in our culture might say “daddy.” In Romans 8:15-16 Paul said, “For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God.” We are God’s “children.” The Davis Dictionary of the Bible tells us that “Abba” is “a term borrowed from childhood’s language to express filial address to God” (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1965. 2). W.E. Vine’s Expository Dictonary Of new Testament Words tells us “‘Abba’ is the word framed by the lips of infants, and betokens unreasoning trust” (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1966. 9). When the time had come for Jesus to be betrayed by Judas, He went to the garden of Gethsemane with the eleven, and having taken Peter, James, and John a little further with Him before leaving them to watch, “he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass away from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; remove this cup from me: howbeit not what I will, but what thou wilt” (Mk. 14:35-36). Jesus was about to suffer unimaginably for mankind and He was troubled. What did He do? He went to a place where He could pray in private and pouring His heart out to His heavenly Father He cried, “Abba, Father.” What a tremendous example that is for us today!

It is Important to be Mindful of the Prayer Setting

            It isn’t always going to be appropriate to pray “Abba, Father” and “spill our guts,” as they say. When a prayer is said at a wedding, that is not the time, nor the place, to pray, “‘Abba, Father” (daddy), I’ve been having a difficult time with work lately and I really need your help right now.” People are probably going to start wondering what in the world is going on, and rightly so. That’s not the occasion for that kind of prayer. When a man is called upon to word a prayer at a wedding, he is being asked to say a prayer that is meaningful and relevant to that occasion, not to pray for himself.

            When called upon to pray in a funeral service, the prayer is to be respectful and appropriate. There are prayers that we say expressing our thankfulness for the food that we are about to eat. There are prayers that are said for the emblems that are taken during the Lord’s Supper. There are opening and closing prayers that are usually said at the beginning and end of our worship services. When praying in those types settings, we need to be mindful of them and pray accordingly. When we pray publicly, it should still be from the heart, in faith, and with sincerity, but relevant to the type of prayer that it is. The prayer for the offering should not be the same as the prayer for the fruit of the vine; it is a different prayer that is said for a different purpose.

            When we go off into a private place and pray alone, that prayer is special. That is a prayer that I can only pray by myself. It is a private prayer, it is between me and God. It is a prayer that is specifically about me, it is about my concerns, it is about my family, it is about my faith, it is about my hopes and dreams, it is about my sorrows, and it is about me and my God. It is about what I am thankful for. It is about those I love. It is about ways that I have come up short. It is about expressing my own feelings and adoration of God. When I am praying publicly, that is about us, but when I am praying somewhere in private by myself, that is about me and my God.

Prayer is Powerful

            When we bow our heads in prayer we are talking to the most powerful being in existence. He may be our spiritual Father, but He is also God. He has the ability to do anything that is in accordance with His will. “Elijah was a man of like passions with us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth for three years and six months. And he prayed again; and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit” (Jas. 5:17-18). When Samson prayed for that great strength that he had one last time to make that building collapse upon the Philistines in Judges 16:28-30, God gave it to him. When Hannah prayed for a son, God gave her Samuel. When Solomon asked God for wisdom, God made him wiser than any man that had ever lived and gave him riches that were without comparison. When King Hezekiah became sick and Isaiah told him to get his house in order because he was about to die, he cried out to God and He gave him 15 more years of life. God has the ability to answer any prayer. If I’m ever sick and laying in the hospital, I’m going to see the doctors, I want to have friends come and visit with me, I would appreciate the cards, but whatever you do, don’t forget to pray for me. Doctors may be good, but not nearly as good as God is. If it’s God’s will that the sick get better, and we’re praying for the sick, God, working through His providence, will see that that happens. God can make things happen that no one else can.  Do we need rain? Pray for it, God is the only one who is able to send it. Do we need wisdom? Pray for it (cf. Jas. 1:5).

            God is a needed and undefeatable alley in our spiritual warfare. Second Corinthians 10:3-5 says,

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh (for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds), casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

This is a war that we cannot win on our own. We need God’s help!

Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Eph. 6:12)

That is unsettling to me; that is a little discomforting! What do we need to do? Paul says, “Put on the whole armor of God” (Eph. 6:10), but that’s not all. We are to put on that armor of God “with all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” (Eph. 6:18). Prayer is a very powerful weapon in the fight against Satan and his influence. When Paul said, “be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might” (Eph. 6:10), that includes prayer. We cannot lose when we are fighting on the Lord’s side, but we can’t win when we aren’t.

Prayer is Often Neglected

            How many times have you thought that you needed to pray, but you just didn’t feel like it? Maybe we feel like we are just too tired sometimes and we put it off thinking we’ll just pray later. Maybe we aren’t really convinced that it will do any good to pray. Whatever the case is. How is God going to answer a prayer that we haven’t even prayed? “…Ye have not, because ye ask not” (Jas. 4:2). In order to have a fruitful prayer life we have to have a prayer life.

            Most of us pray during worship and before we eat, or maybe before we go to bed in the evening.  We pray at special occasions, but how many of us pray just because we feel the need or longing to pray? First Thessalonians 5:17 says, “pray without ceasing.” Our minds are always to be on the things above and not on worldly things (cf. Col. 3:2), but we aren’t just to be minding things above, but we are also to be of a prayerful disposition. No matter what situation we may find ourselves in we should be ready always to pray. Do we pray when we’re happy? Do we pray when we’re sad? Do we pray when we are afraid or confused?

            Having a healthy and constant prayer life is not something that just happens on its own or that happens overnight. Good prayer habits are something that needs to be developed over time. At first, we need to keep reminding ourselves to pray. It is something that requires a conscious effort, but in time, it will become something that is just as natural as eating our brushing our teeth. It will become something that we do without having to think about doing it.

            When is the last time you’ve had to decide how you would get the toothpaste out of the tube before brushing? Would you do it by rolling it up from the bottom, pushing it flat from the bottom up, just simply squeezing the bottom of the tube, or somewhere in the middle? Do I brush in small circles, up and down, back and forth, or a combination of the three? How do I apply the toothpaste to the brush? Do I wet the toothpaste before putting it into my mouth? Do I turn the water off while brushing or leave it running? Do I brush before or after breakfast in the morning? What a hassle it would be if we had to make all of these decisions every morning! But chances are, we do all of these things the same way each morning without even thinking about them; it is like we just do them “automatically,” because we have formed habits. This is true for just about everything we do on a regular basis. If we work at praying without ceasing, before long, it will just become a natural part of our lives and require very little effort.

How We Pray is Important

            Our attitudes are important when we pray. When we pray, it’s not so that we can be seen of others, or to impress other people, that’s not what prayer is about.

And when ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites: for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have received their reward. (Mt. 6:5)

Why does he say they have their reward? They had their reward because the whole purpose of their prayers was to be seen of men. If they were seen of men, then they got what they were after; they received the reward they were seeking—the praises of men.

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret shall recompense thee. (Mt. 6:6)

Does that mean that we can pray in public? No. But, what is your attitude; are you doing it for the right reasons or not? If we’re praying for the right reasons it shouldn’t matter if anyone else knows about it or not.

            We are warned in the same context of Scriptures not to use vain repetitions in our prayers:

And in praying use not vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. (Mt. 6:7-8)

That’s not saying that we can’t repeat things. It says not to use “vain” repetitions. When we’re praying, we are supposed to mean the things that are coming out of our mouths. We aren’t supposed to be just making noise with no thought or meaning behind it.

            In an article titled Do We Understand Prayer, by Arthur Pigman, I found this little story:

There was a man who obeyed the gospel, and he wanted the preacher to help him write out a prayer that he could use for his private prayers. He liked the prayer, and each night before he went to sleep, he would recite this prayer. After a while he decided to have the words of the prayer engraved in the headboard of his bed. Each night when he went to bed he would just read the prayer. After a while, he came to the point where he did not think much about the words of his prayer, and he would just say, ‘Those are my sentiments Lord,’ as he jumped in the bed and turned out the light.

The problem with that man’s prayer was that it got to the point where it didn’t mean anything anymore. It no longer had true meaning an sincerity behind it.

            It is important that we pray with the proper humility.

And he spake also this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and set all others at nought: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I get. But the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote his breast, saying, God, be thou merciful to me a sinner. I say unto you, This man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (Lk. 18:9-14)

            We’re not to give up on our prayers.

And he spake a parable unto them to the end that they ought always to pray, and not to faint; saying, There was in a city a judge, who feared not God, and regarded not man: and there was a widow in that city; and she came oft unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest she wear me out by her continual coming. And the Lord said, Hear what the unrighteous judge saith. And shall not God avenge his elect, that cry to him day and night, and yet he is longsuffering over them? I say unto you, that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Lk. 18:1-8)

Even if we don’t see the immediate fruits of our prayers, we mustn’t give up.

            When we pray, we are to pray believing that God will hear and answer our prayers.

But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. (Jas. 1:6-7)

Also, we must pray according to God’s will:

And this is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he heareth us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of him. (1 Jn. 5:14-15)

We can’t pray for things contrary to God’s will and expect Him to answer according to our prayers.

Conclusion

            When we read through our Bibles, one thing that might stand out as being a common element among all of the godly people that we read about in the Bible, so far as we have record, they were a prayerful people. They were fervent in their prayers. They were constant in their prayers. They were trusting and confident in their prayers and they were answered for their prayers. What about us?

            There is a song we sometimes sing that says,

How long has it been since you talked with the Lord and told Him your heart’s hidden secrets? How long since you prayed? How long since you stayed on your knees till the light shone through? How long has it been since your mind felt at ease? How long since your heart knew no burden? Can you call Him your friend? How long has it been since you knew that He cared for you?

How long has it been since you knelt by your bed and prayed to the Lord up in heaven? How long since you knew that He’d answer you, and would keep you the long night through? How long has it been since you woke with the dawn, and felt that the day’s worth the living? Can you call Him your friend? How long has it been since you knew that He cared for you? (“How Long Has It Been”?)

            If you’ve not spent some time alone with God in prayer lately, will you do it sometime today? Will you do it the tomorrow, and the day after? Prayer can be such a great blessing to us! But we have to use it.

            I have just one more thought, and then I’ll be done. In the epistle of First Peter, chapter 3 and beginning in the 10^th verse, we find a quote from the book of Psalms that Peter uses to make an application to Christians. But, rather than reading it from First Peter, I’d like go back to the 34^th Psalm, beginning in verse 13:

Keep thy tongue from evil, And thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; Seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of Jehovah are toward the righteous, And his ears are open unto their cry. The face of Jehovah is against them that do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

In the Gospel of John the man born blind said,

We know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and do his will, him he heareth. (Jn. 9:31)

That doesn’t mean that God literally doesn’t hear the prayers of the unrighteous, but He doesn’t answer them. If we won’t be obedient to God and do the things that He has told us to do, which are really in our best interests anyway, why should He listen to us and answer our prayers? If we want to be a child of God and cry unto Him “Abba, Father” David said, in short, “depart from evil, and do good” (Ps. 34:14). In other words, “repent.” If you are here this morning and you are not a Christian, will you “depart from evil, and do good.” Will you repent and obey the gospel this morning? Will you come forward in just a moment as the invitation song is being song and, having made up your mind to obey the Lord in all things and become a Christian, confess your faith in Him and be baptized for the remission of your sins?

            If you are a Christian, but you have gone down some other way other than the way of the Lord, will you return to the Lord’s way this morning? Will you “depart from evil, and do good?”