You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us.
Pray with me.
Father, there may be no truer statement about us than that one.
That we need you every hour.
Father, we often don't feel the truth of that.
Sometimes we feel it intensely.
Would you keep our hearts in a place of dependence on you?
Father, in this hour specifically, we need you because we need you to speak to us.
We are going to be looking at your word.
We want to be guided by your spirit.
We want to hear from you and we need to hear from you.
And so, Father, would you speak?
And would you speak clearly and powerfully and in a way that would alter our hearts?
Our hearts need to be changed by your spirit.
Would you indeed do that work that you do so well?
Would you speak through me?
Father, would you speak to me this morning as I need these words desperately myself?
And would you make your words clear even when mine aren't?
Father, I ask that you would speak.
And we ask you in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Some of you who know me know that it might be fair to describe me as a little bit stuck in my ways.
As a guy who likes a good schedule, likes to make plans,
and isn't particularly good when those plans are altered.
My wife is not in the room anymore since she's teaching kids worship,
or she would stand up and tell you that's true.
I don't do great with plans being changed.
And so, this morning was, like most of the next several weeks,
scheduled to be a sermon on Ephesians.
And I had no intention of that changing.
In fact, that would have been very difficult to convince me there was any good reason to change that.
But there's going to be a little bit of a different kind of sermon this morning.
Maybe it won't be too weird.
But as I prepared for this and considered what God was doing,
I kept feeling the Spirit leading me back to prayer.
We've talked about it a lot already this morning.
We've done it some this morning.
But I felt we needed to open God's Word and talk together about prayer.
Over the past few weeks, you've heard about prayer a lot, probably.
Prayer in sermon applications.
Talking about prayer in congregational meetings, in officers' retreats,
in search committee reports just this morning.
We've said pray in small groups.
Pray on Sundays at 8.30.
Now come and pray at 10.
Pray on second Tuesdays of every month.
Pray, pray, pray.
And as I thought about that, I thought, those are all great things.
And I think, though, many of us receive that in a way that is perhaps not what we would expect.
We hear that and no one is upset about that or disagrees that that would be a good idea.
But many of us, if we're honest, we think,
oh yeah, that's exactly what I expect you to say.
I mean, y'all are a church after all.
So, of course, you're going to talk about praying.
That sounds very spiritual.
But it also can sound very impersonal or impractical.
I'm so glad you said that.
Of course.
That's what I would expect you to say.
That's standard sermon application.
But it doesn't grab your heart at all.
And others of us hear that and we're all in.
We're marking our calendars.
We're going to be there at 8.30 and 10 next Sunday.
And we're going to be at all of those prayer times.
Because it sounds to us, it sounds right too.
We're going to be there.
We're going to grab every prayer card and list we can find.
But in reality, it doesn't grab your heart at all either.
And so I relate to those feelings.
I remember as I was coming out of seminary,
I heard a lot of professors talking about how important it was to pray.
And to pray all the time and to have a life characterized by prayer.
And I thought, that sounds very spiritual and very right.
I agree with that.
In fact, I'm not going to be like all those other guys who say it's important but don't do it.
I'm going to be a praying pastor.
I was convinced of that coming out of seminary.
That would be such a good thing to be.
Would be a praying pastor.
But that's hard to put on a calendar and call it done.
And so you get out of seminary and you go to a church and there's lots of stuff to do.
And plus, you know so much at that point at 25 years old.
And you've just learned all this wonderful stuff in seminary.
And you're ready.
So really as things come up, you've pretty much got it for a while.
You know?
And all of a sudden this idea of being a praying pastor becomes not as important.
I understand that feeling of, that sounds right but it doesn't impact me personally.
I get that feeling.
And so I think it would be good for us to talk for a few minutes about prayer and about what God's Word has to say about it.
Because I think as long as it remains one more item on our calendar or our to-do list, it will continue to feel that way.
Like the thing you're supposed to say and the thing you're supposed to do.
But, you know, really, is He talking to me?
God's Word tells us it's much more than that.
Look at 1 Thessalonians 5, 17.
Just three words.
Two in the Greek, actually.
Pray without ceasing.
Pray unceasingly, the verse says.
Pray all the time, right?
This is not the only place where God's Word tells us this.
Pray without ceasing.
In fact, it's rejoice always.
It's pray without ceasing.
Give thanks in all circumstances.
For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Like, did you come to church wanting to know what God wants you to do?
All right.
Here it is.
God wants you to pray all the time.
And you're not surprised, are you?
Most of you, this may be your first Sunday in a church and you could have told me that, right?
Praying, that's a good thing.
Yes, God would want me to pray.
But what does He mean?
Pray without ceasing.
Is He exaggerating?
I don't think so.
There are words in the Greek for often or a lot.
And He says unceasingly.
Does He mean quit everything else so that you can do nothing but pray the rest of your life?
I don't think so.
The Bible is clear.
We're to do other things with our mouths.
To praise God.
To rebuke a brother in sin.
To give a reason for the hope we have.
All of those we're going to do.
It's not that we have to continue having words of prayer come out of our mouths every moment of every day.
That's not what without ceasing means.
What God is teaching us here and in many other places in His Word is that prayer is not merely an activity, but really a lifestyle.
It's not only one thing to put on the list, but it's also the way we do everything else on the list.
It's an attitude of the heart, a disposition, a mindset with which we approach all of life.
That's what praying without ceasing means.
That's what's so important for us as a church that we can't miss at any time, especially in a season like this.
And when we talk about prayer and prayer, and prayer is a lifestyle God has called us to.
I'd say it this way, a praying lifestyle is what it looks like for us really to believe what we say we believe.
I mean, churches are pretty good at talking a good game.
We've got lots of lists of things we believe, things we think are important, things we all can agree on.
It's not too difficult to figure out from the Bible that prayer should be a priority for Christians and churches.
But what I'm suggesting is that the nature of our prayer lives reveals a lot about some of the fundamental beliefs that we hold most dear at any church,
and particularly at Southwood Presbyterian.
What fuels a praying lifestyle?
How would that happen that prayer would not be merely an activity, but really a lifestyle?
I think three particular beliefs that we hold dear here, that if we really believe them, would fuel our lifestyle of prayer.
Three, you notice I'm not going to make this sermon too weird.
I don't want to go, you know, three points should keep us on track.
So this will be not too unfamiliar to you.
The first one, one of the things that we believe passionately is that God is at work.
That's foundational.
It's the bottom line of what we believe about all of life, that God is in charge and in control.
We often call it His sovereignty.
That He is the King.
He's the one at work.
That He's up to something.
Sometimes we treat that as something we can just pull out in the hard times and say,
you know, God's sovereign.
He'll bring something good out of something bad.
That's what it means.
But it's true all the time, isn't it?
That He's always the one working.
He's constantly committed to seeing His kingdom advance.
He's the one primarily at work.
And He's using us as a part of that.
But He's up to something.
He has been since He created.
He's been up to something in this world.
He's been on a mission.
And we Presbyterians say we believe that.
But you know what we usually do?
We say that God is the one mostly at work.
But we usually plan.
And then we think.
And then we plan some more.
Because we're so smart and organized that we're going to figure it out.
And then once we have a good plan, we pray for the plan.
Right?
Because that's important.
You should do that.
Listen to the way church historian Richard Loveless says it.
But he says something that I think is a good critique for us.
Here's where Pentecostals reflect the authentic revival tradition of Protestantism.
What he means is here's something the Pentecostals get right that we mess up.
When they commence a venture, it is with hours of prayer.
While with ordinary evangelicals, he could have said Presbyterians, it is with hours of talk and organization.
The result is often that charismatics achieve supernatural results while the rest of us obtain what is organizable.
Do you relate to that?
Are you very comfortable with what's organizable?
I feel kind of a safe place to be.
We'll get exactly what we kind of plan out to get and we'll be in control of it.
It makes those of us who like control feel really good, doesn't it?
Anybody else like that?
It's a high level of control.
We're often happy with that.
We joke that as we entered a season of transition here at Southwood,
the first thing we did was create a committee to decide which committees we needed to create.
A very, very Presbyterian thing to do, right?
You know what would be even more?
Presbyterian.
Praying.
All the time.
Because we believe that the vital work that needs to be done is the work done primarily by God rather than us.
That He's committed to this.
That He's at work.
That He's the one in control.
You may think that sounds a little bit weird to say that praying would be a very Presbyterian thing to do.
Because you may think churches that talk about God's sovereignty, that He's in charge, means there's no need to pray at all.
The Bible says exactly the opposite.
It says God's sovereignty is the reason we pray.
That He's at work and has told us our prayers are part of that work.
In fact, that they're powerful and effective.
The reason prayer is not a waste of time is that the one to whom we pray is powerful and active.
Otherwise, what are we doing?
The reason prayer is not wasting your time is that you're praying to the one who's at work.
To the one who's powerful and active.
That's why I said at the congregational meeting back in February that we don't just pray for the work of the church,
but that prayer is the work of the church.
It's coming before a sovereign God and pleading with Him.
And we struggle to believe that that's true because we struggle to believe that God is the one at work rather than us.
That's the truth.
Why should we pray without ceasing?
Because God never ceases to be sovereign.
The one who watches over His people never slumbers nor sleeps.
So we should be coming to Him all the time, moment by moment, even when it seems we could rely on our own planning and gifts.
Commentator F.F. Bruce writes,
I love that description of it.
What does it mean to have a spirit of prayer moment by moment?
It means that I sense that God's here.
That He's at work.
And when I feel that, the natural thing to do is to pray.
When He's present, I want to talk to Him.
I want to ask for His help.
This is what happens when we realize God is here and He's at work.
Not just in the big things, but in every moment.
Do we really believe that He's always with us?
That He's always the one at work?
Do we really believe He's the one who will enable us to make it through the long day with the kids?
That He gives life to dead hearts?
That He loves Huntsville more than we do?
It doesn't mean we quit forming committees altogether.
It means that every committee we form is driven and surrounded by prayer
because we believe God's there and He's at work there.
And it means He's our hope for that committee.
Not that the members are spiritual or smart or savvy,
but that He's sovereign.
That's why we pray for them.
In addition to God's sovereignty,
the fact that God is the one at work,
another thing we believe deeply is that we are in need.
God is at work and we are in need.
And I think this is the primary reason why for many of us,
prayer remains an activity rather than a lifestyle.
Because we struggle regularly to feel our need in a deep way, don't we?
Pastor Bert Parsons says,
Prayer is hard because coming to the end of ourselves is hard.
You feel that?
You have a hard time coming to the end of yourself?
Do you struggle to pray without ceasing
because you don't feel needy without ceasing?
Not every moment of every day do I feel desperate for help?
I do.
That's one of the reasons I struggle with it.
You see, if you start reading through the prayers in the Bible,
you'll notice really quickly a deep sense of God's sufficiency
along with a deep sense of our insufficiency.
It's there almost everyone you flip to.
A realization of our inadequacy and need.
It's the words of Psalm 86.
Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I'm poor and needy.
That's why I'm praying to you, because I need help.
Answer me, God.
Help me.
We are the ones who need help,
who need to be changed.
You know, prayer is not primarily about changing God
or changing the circumstances of our lives.
It's largely about changing us, isn't it?
Paul Miller so helpfully says,
prayer offers us not a less busy life,
but a less busy heart.
In the midst of overwhelming circumstances
and things that I don't know how to handle,
prayer reorients me to a God
that I can trust to a posture of dependence on Him.
Miller goes on in his book on prayer,
and he says,
if you're not praying,
then you are quietly confident
that time, money, and talent
are all you need in life.
Ouch.
That's tough, isn't it?
If you're not praying,
you're quietly confident
that time, money, and talent
are all you need in life.
You'll always be a little too tired,
a little too busy.
But if, like Jesus,
you realize you can't do life on your own,
then no matter how busy,
no matter how tired you are,
you'll find time to pray.
I love this last part.
Time in prayer makes you
even more dependent on God
because you don't have as much time
to get things done.
I hate that part about prayer.
I love getting things done.
I'm a list guy.
And so any minute that I spend
not checking a box on the list
is often viewed as a wasted minute.
How come we're not getting
things accomplished?
Where's the efficiency?
I hope I'm not the only one
that struggles with that.
But it doesn't feel productive sometimes
because I'm confident on my own.
I think if I could just get started
using my gifts and my plans,
we'd get somewhere.
But I slow down to pray.
I asked myself this week,
was what Miller said really true?
Is that how I really view prayer
and how it impacts me?
And I found it, for me, it really is.
It's why I only prayed
before the really hard tests
when I was in school
or sometimes the ones
I didn't study for.
Then I would pray.
It's why you pray before the big game
rather than all of them.
It's why when I came out of seminary
wanting to be a praying pastor,
I didn't often hit my knees
until I ran out of options,
until I'd exhausted
all my wealth of wisdom
that I'd learned in seminary,
until I got overwhelmed
and in over my head.
It was my need that drove me to prayer.
I've seen this again in the past few weeks
in the life of this church.
You know who's been driving the need?
You started to hear things, right?
People are talking about prayer.
We always talk about prayer,
but it's been a lot more lately, hasn't it?
It's starting to bother you a little bit?
We're talking too much?
You know who's driving a lot of that,
leading the charge on that
with the officers?
Our search committee.
As they've begun considering
the task in front of them,
as they've seen the enormity
of what they've got,
they feel an acute sense of need
and thus they're helping us
remember the need for prayer.
I'm so thankful for them
and for what they've done for us
in that regard
because seeing our need clearly
fuels heartfelt prayer.
It's been a wonderful thing
to have them lead us in that.
But listen to me.
Dear friends,
Southwood,
the enormous task
in front of us,
in front of Southwood,
is not merely finding
a new senior pastor.
It should cause us to stop
and think,
why are they the ones
feeling needy and desperate
with an enormous task
in front of them?
Why don't we all feel that way?
The enormous task
is not finding a new senior pastor,
but reaching Huntsville
and the world
with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Amen?
That's the enormous task
in front of this church.
That's what God's put us here for.
For His glory to fill
the whole earth.
For His kingdom to be advanced
all around us
where we already are.
That everyone we can reach
would know the grace
of King Jesus, right?
That this is what we're here for.
That's enormous.
He has called us now
to be transformed
by the gospel
so that we can be agents
of transformation
in our culture.
He wants Southwood now
to be turned inside out
by grace
so that He can use us
to turn Huntsville
and the world upside down.
With the good news
of the gospel.
Now.
We're not in a waiting game
or holding period.
The enormous task
in front of us
is reaching Huntsville
and the world
with the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
That's a big task.
Consider that for a second.
And then ask yourself
the obvious question.
Seriously, God?
Us?
Reach Huntsville
and the world
for Christ?
Us?
The ones who have
trouble reaching our spouses
to hold a marriage together?
The ones who have
trouble reaching our kids
to keep them on track?
The ones with trouble
reaching our neighbors
to have even a conversation
with them?
Us?
Southwood,
do you see our need?
We all should have
an acute sense
of our need
in light of the enormity
of the task
that God has given us.
It's a high calling.
And we are clearly
inadequate
on our own.
We need Him.
We need Him
every hour.
We need Him
now and today.
That might
not just get you up
at 8.30 and 10
on Sundays
to pray.
It may wake you up
in the middle of the night
praying.
It may have you
crying out to God
as you drive to work
or discipline your kids
or serve on the PTA
or plan a budget
or watch the news
or coach a ball team
or in the midst of life
and wherever you are
you might all of a sudden
find yourself praying
because what God
has called you to
is so much bigger
than what you're capable of.
And that's when prayer
begins to become
a lifestyle
rather than merely
an activity
when we have a regular
sense of our need.
Now those are two
very important things
that we believe.
God's sovereignty
that He's at work
and our need.
But I'd suggest to you
that just the two of those
aren't actually enough
to fuel a lifestyle
of prayer.
Let me explain it this way.
You may have a need
that you're aware of
and you may know
a very powerful person
who would be capable
of meeting that need
but that won't be enough
for you to bother him
when he's busy.
That reality in itself
won't be enough
for you to text him
in the middle of the night
and for you to call
every few minutes
and think that you could talk
to this very important
powerful person
about what's on your heart.
One more thing
is necessary
for that to happen.
And so while the law
or your own guilt
can drive you
to schedule a time
to pray
occasionally at least
only the gospel
can drive you
to a lifestyle of prayer
because that one thing
that's needed
is relationship
and the gospel
gives us that.
The one thing
you have to have
is a relationship
and one more thing
we believe passionately here
is that the gospel
changes everything.
This is what I mean
with regards to prayer.
Because of the gospel
of grace
the powerful person
with the provision
for your needs
those two things
you feel
is not just
some powerful person
out there somewhere
he's your father.
Isn't he?
So praying
can become a lifestyle
because I have a father
who wants to hear my needs
and won't reject me
when I cry out to him
at some crazy hour.
Think of all the things
a child will wake
his father up for
in the middle of the night.
You can laundry list them.
A cup of water
gotta use the potty
can't find blankie
had a bad dream
keep going
do any of those things
stop a young child
in the middle of the night
for crying out for daddy?
They don't do they?
Why?
Why is that?
Why do we love that?
He doesn't think twice
about coming to his father
who loves him.
That's how Jesus
taught us to pray
isn't it?
He said
you say
our father
so prayer is
crawling into the lap
of my father
not
climbing the ladder
to my father.
I'm not trying
to earn his affection
by scheduling in
some times
to pray
I already have
his affection
so I pray
whenever I feel
the need
whenever
something strikes
prayer becomes
reveling in his love
all the time
not reaching
for something
I don't have
yet.
In fact
if you've ever
fallen asleep
praying
anybody ever
you're not going
to admit that
are you?
Have you ever
fallen asleep
praying?
Did you wake up
feeling guilty?
Frustrated
like a failure
or an annoyance?
You ever had a child
fall asleep
in your arms?
A child
falling asleep
in a father's arms
is a precious moment
that a father
cherishes.
He loves that
and we never
grow up
or get too big
or too strong
or too independent
to fall asleep
in our father's arms.
Maybe you've never
thought about prayer
that way.
Maybe you thought
we shouldn't make
such a big deal
about prayer
because we're
a grace church
and we talk
about grace
and the gospel
and prayer
that seems like
it's a little bit
maybe that's getting
a little bit too
legalistic
or something like that.
Listen,
a grace church
that's not a praying church
is a contradiction
in terms.
A grace church
that's not a praying church
is a contradiction
in terms.
You pray
because you now
have a relationship
with God
so you can talk to Him.
If we really believe
what we say we believe
that the gospel
changes everything
that we have
a new relationship
with God
by His grace
that we're actually
His sons and daughters
not just pretending
to be
then we'll talk to Him.
We'll pray.
Do people ever ask you
about your relationship
with God?
Sometimes feel a little bit weird.
My relationship with God?
What do you mean
my relationship with God?
Well, Christians talk
about having a relationship
with God, don't we?
You've heard that.
Would your spouse
say your relationship
is healthy
if you haven't told him
how you feel
for months?
Would you say
your relationship
is healthy
if the only times
you ever talk
are when you schedule
the conversation?
Listen, I love
scheduling conversations.
We do this a lot.
Sometimes there are things
you need to talk about
and you need to put it
on the calendar
and you need to have a meeting
and talk about it.
And I'm very,
that's very important to me.
Scheduling things
is a good thing.
But if that's the only time
I ever talked to my wife,
I wouldn't work
in a relationship, would it?
That's not what
a relationship is like.
It's great to repent
during Lent, for example,
but we should always
be repenting.
It's great to pray
during a senior pastor search,
but we should always
be praying.
I hope that we come together
and pray a lot
in the next few months.
Scheduling that
is a good thing.
There's great encouragement
in praying with others.
We should do it.
We should have to reschedule
the room we're meeting in.
So many of us
should want to gather
and pray.
But I hope way beyond that
that you know
you've got a Father
who will hear you anywhere,
anytime,
that you'll pray to Him.
One of my favorite prayers
in the Bible
has always been
Jehoshaphat
in 2 Chronicles 20.
You may remember
the situation.
He's the king
of God's people, Judah.
And the Moabites
and the Ammonites
are coming to attack them.
And Jehoshaphat prays
in 2 Chronicles 20.
In verse 6,
he says this,
O Lord,
God of our fathers,
are you not God in heaven?
You rule over
all the kingdoms
of the nations.
In your hand
are power and might
so that none
is able to withstand you.
God,
you're sovereign
and powerful, right?
We're coming to you
because we know
you're at work.
Look down at verse 12,
what he says at the end.
We're powerless
against this great horde
that's coming up against us.
We do not know what to do
but our eyes are upon you.
Do you hear his need?
The sense of his need there?
We're powerless.
We don't know what to do.
That classic line,
we don't know what to do
but our eyes are upon you.
That's beautiful.
But why?
Why is it Yahweh
that his eyes are on?
Because the God of his fathers
from verse 6 by verse 12
has become what?
Our God.
Oh, our God.
The one in relationship with us.
The one who loves
and cares for us.
We look to you.
Our Father
is the one who's sovereign
to meet our needs.
Listen, if you leave this morning
thinking merely
that you should probably
pray a little bit more,
then you'll be just where I was
coming out of seminary.
Probably where you were
when you came in this morning
if we're honest.
I knew prayer was a good thing.
You really want to pray more
but you'll be missing
the long-term motivation
that changes your life
not just a couple of meetings
that you go to.
I've shared with you before
Paul Miller's analogy
that focusing on prayer like that
is like trying to drive
by focusing on the windshield.
You don't look at the windshield.
You look through the windshield
to what's beyond it.
Look through prayer
to your Father
who in His kind provision
is the one at work
and meeting your needs.
Then prayer becomes
not a have to
but a get to.
Not a to do
but a need to.
Not a duty
but a delight.
Then we'll pray
at meetings
and gatherings
and worship services
and small groups
in hallways
and parking lots
over meals
over coffee
by ourselves
with our kids.
It might not
be just a spiritual
platitude
that doesn't mean much
to you anymore.
It might start
becoming a lifeline.
A lifestyle
where we pray
without ceasing.
Where we desperately
need our Father
to get through
each and every moment
of each and every day.
and that's exactly
what this table
that's set before us
reminds us of
this morning.
What a gift
that we come now
to a table
where the Father
spreads it before us
and says you're needy
and I've come
to meet your needs.
A Father who's provided
lavishly
for our deepest needs
through sending
His Son
for us.
That's the kind of
Father we pray to.
He comes
and prepares
this table
at which we get
to feast.
What a kind
and gracious
Father we have.
Remember the words
of institution
that Jesus gave
in 1 Corinthians 11.
Paul repeats them.
Paul said,
I received from Jesus
what I passed on to you
that the night
He was betrayed
He took bread
and when He'd given thanks
He broke it
and said,
this is my body
which is for you.
Do this in remembrance
of me.
In the same way
also He took the cup
after supper
saying,
this cup is the new covenant
in my blood.
Do this as often
as you drink it
in remembrance of me.
For as often
as you eat this bread
and drink the cup
you proclaim
the Lord's death
until He comes.
This is as I said
the Lord's table.
Not a Southwood table
or a Presbyterian table.
He's the one
who sets it
and He invites
all of those
who are in relationship
with Him
to come.
The ones who
know Him
as Father.
Those who by faith
have cast their hope
not in themselves
but in Jesus
He says,
come and eat.
And if that's not you
if this all seems
a little bit bizarre
if you hear me talk
about prayer
and a lifestyle
of dependence upon God
and you think
I don't even know
what that would mean
then let me invite you
not to come
to this table
this morning
but to consider
to consider the possibility
that someone offers you life
not found in yourself
where it all doesn't
hang on you
where it's not all up to you
and the burden's
not all carried by you
and that Jesus
would offer you
that kind of life.
Come and consider Jesus
and who He is.
We'd love to talk with you
not about fixing your life
but about the Savior
who is working
on our broken lives.
We'd love to have
that conversation with you.
Let's pray.
Jesus we came to the Father
completely dependent
on your grace
not our goodness.
We live today
completely dependent
on your grace
not our goodness.
Would this meal
remind us of that
strengthen us
to that end.
We pray in your name.
Amen.
For more information
visit us online
at southwood.org
For more information
visit us online
at southwood.org