an atheist was taking a walk, hiking in fact, out in the Canadian wilderness,
standing in awe as he walked, and of just the natural beauty that was there,
that was there by a freak of nature, an accident,
when all of a sudden in his delight of daydreaming as he wandered,
this huge grizzly bear was belting down towards him, down the trail,
and he realised he had no chance, and before he knew it, he was flat on his back,
pinned to the ground by this huge bear, and this bear, one paw on his chest,
the other one up, ready to strike him, and without a thought,
he blurted out at the top of his voice,
Oh God, help me!
And the bear was momentarily startled by such a scream.
Everything went into slow motion at that point,
and the atheist all of a sudden realised the inconsistency of living his life confident
that God doesn't exist, and then calling out to him when he had his time of need,
and so he calls out a second time,
I don't believe you exist, God, and I don't care if you do,
but if you do, prove that you are good, and that you are powerful,
as people say you are, and make this bear a Christian.
He thought that was a pretty good move,
because if the bear was a Christian,
then he'd have to obey the command to turn the other cheek and not kill him.
And to his great surprise, in that instant,
the bear's demeanour just changed,
and he pulled back his paw,
and he knelt down beside him,
he clapped his paws together,
and he started to pray.
For what? I'm about to receive.
May the Lord make me truly thankful.
Now I'm pretty sure that story's not true.
Bears don't speak English.
And I'm not convinced bears pray,
but most humans on this planet,
at least some time in their lives, pray.
While it's true that prayer is practically a worldwide activity,
what we actually mean by prayer
is vastly different from group to group,
individual to individual.
The difference in what prayer is or means or how we go about it
is in what we think God is like,
and what we think our relationship with him is like.
You see, when a Buddhist spins his prayer wheel
or a Hindu sits in mystic silence
or the Muslim with his prayer mat
facing Mecca five times a day,
they are all reflecting the character of the God
or the gods they're praying to
and what they think their relationship with that God is like.
It's no different for the Christian.
Our prayer is shaped and defined
by the God to whom we are praying.
And so there are many Bible references
and multitude of Bible references
that shape the Christian prayer life.
And I'll just give you a couple.
Jeremiah 32, 17.
That shapes your prayer life,
as does the whole chapter of Romans 8.
It's the stunning picture of the Christian life
that is laid out before us,
where it says that we were once slaves to sin
and death and fear.
We were hostile to God.
We were unable to please Him.
There was a gap that we could not communicate with Him.
But we are now free,
sons of the Father,
co-heirs in His kingdom with Christ
through being united with Jesus
who died to free us.
We are now new.
We have a new life
which God Himself dwells in us by His Spirit.
It's because of the saving work of the Lord Jesus
that we are raised up from our low position
of being cut off from any access to God.
And have been granted free access
to the God who rules all things.
Or Psalm 145.
God, my translation of Psalm 145,
God bends His ear and delights to hear your prayers.
You see, prayer is not an addition or an appendix
to the Christian life.
It is the heart of who we are as Christians
and how we relate to the God
who is in charge of all things.
It's crucial for us because we sit in a room here
and I imagine most people say that they pray in this room.
But so does a Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist,
as I've already said.
Multitude of people, many people,
most people in this world pray.
But how does the Christian pray?
Today is the first Sunday in February
and it traditionally signals the start of ministry programs
as we've just seen a moment ago in the new year.
And as we kick off this new year of ministry,
we are doing what we've done in the previous two years.
And we're beginning the ministry year with a week of prayer.
And we do this to make a statement as a church.
It's a statement to God, to the world,
and to our own consciences
that we exist as a church
to do things that we cannot do
without the supernatural grace of God.
Everything good and worthwhile and eternal
and God glorifying that we want to do as a church,
we cannot do without the supernatural grace of God.
And so Prayer Week proclaims St. Paul's exists
mainly to do the humanly impossible.
And that's written on the back wall of our church
as you exit.
We have a stated objective to grow,
to be a healthy church with 150 call members
and 500 attending by the end of this year.
That is humanly impossible.
Our corporate objective was set at the end of 2011
for the three years up to the end of this year.
And the intention and vision behind our objective
is to see people know and treasure the Lord Jesus
for the very first time
through the people in the ministry of St. Paul's Chatsworth.
And here we are now.
Two thirds of that time is gone.
It's 2014 and January is over already.
And we have a fair way to go.
But our Lord has not called us to an impossible mission.
He's called us to a demanding one.
And I chose Colossians 4.2.4 for the beginning of Prayer Week
for that very reason.
Because if I understand this text correctly,
the human key that might unlock
the blessing of God's power and grace
in our mission to Chatswood
is devoted, watchful and thankful prayer.
This text gives me strong hope
that God will open a door for the word in Chatswood
and faith will come to many people
if we pray for him to do it.
In Colossians 4.2.4, Paul is urging the Colossians
to pray just like I'm urging us to pray today.
In fact, to pray for something quite specific.
I see two things that he wants them to pray for.
And we'll look at those first
before we turn our attention to
how to pray for them.
The two things are an open door
for the word of God
and for a powerful word to go through that open door.
Paul wants God to work both
in the recipients of the message
and in him, the proclaimer of the message.
So in verse 3 he says,
And pray for us too
that God may open a door for our message
so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ.
And there are at least three other times
in the New Testament
that Paul uses the exact same image
of an open door.
In Acts 14.27, in 1 Corinthians 16, verses 8 and 9,
in 2 Corinthians 2.12.
Each time the open door
seems to be a remarkable set of circumstances
that would have been very effective for the gospel.
And so when Paul says in verse 3,
Pray for us too
that God may open a door for our message
that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ.
I take into mean that God changes things
when his people pray.
Circumstances and attitudes
and receptivity of the gospel
change
so that instead of hitting a brick wall,
the gospel finds an open door
and becomes unusually effective.
Such as in the case of Duncan Campbell,
a minister of the United Free Church of Scotland.
On the Monday after Easter in 1952,
Campbell was seated on the platform
of Hamilton Road Presbyterian Church
in Bangor, a Northern Ireland.
I apologise
if I've murdered that.
Particularly to you, Katrina.
It's a church that Nat and I have visited twice
and a dear close friend of mine
was on staff there for a number of years.
He had just finished speaking
to the Faith Mission Convention
where he sensed the inner voice
say to him,
Bernare.
And I apologise again
if I've murdered that.
He bowed his head
while he sat on the platform
and he prayed.
Again, the name came to him, Bernare.
He prayed again
and the name came to him a third time, Bernare.
And so Campbell turned
while he was sitting on the platform
to the chairman of the convention
and said to him,
Brother, you're going to need to excuse me.
The Holy Spirit has just told me
that I'm to go to Bernare.
And the chairman objected.
You're the tomorrow speaker.
But he couldn't convince him
and off he got from the platform
and away he went.
Went to his hotel,
packed his two suitcases,
contacted the airport
and he'd have a flight to Bernare.
They said, no thing exists.
They said, well get me,
how do I get there?
Here's one island which is close.
He caught a flight to that island,
walked down to the,
the fishing port,
asked the fisherman,
how do I get there?
He said, there is no commercial way
to get there
but you can get on my boat
and I'll take you there.
It'll cost this amount of money
and it's almost exactly
what he had in his pocket.
Fisherman took him,
dropped him on the beach
and he was there
with his two suitcases,
climbed over a little bit of a hill
and thought, what do I do next?
He came to the edge
of a cultivated paddock,
saw a farmer work in the paddock.
He called the farmer over
and he says,
go to your pastor
and tell them
that Uncle Campbell has arrived.
We don't actually have a minister right now
was the reply.
He said, do you have elders?
Yes we do,
we'll go and tell your nearest elder
that Uncle Campbell has arrived.
Farmer looked at him quite quizzically
then amazingly started off
across the field,
left his work,
came back after some time,
Duncan Campbell sitting there
on the hillside,
sitting on his suitcases.
Farmer says,
the elder's expecting you.
He has a place ready for you
and he has announced
that the meetings will begin
at nine o'clock tonight.
While Campbell was speaking
in Bangor, Northern Ireland,
this elder had spent the day
praying in his shed
for God to send revival
to the island.
His wife in the house
overheard him pray,
Lord, I don't know where he is,
but you know where he is
and all things are possible to you,
so send Uncle Campbell
to Burneray.
And he was so sure
that God would do that
and that he would do it
in three days,
that he made all the arrangements
for the local church
and announced all the services
across the island
and great revival
broke out
across Burneray.
A great door
for the word
was opened,
a door that no person
could shut
because God had opened it.
And so my friends,
the first thing
we should be praying
for this year
is that God
would work in
all the circumstances
surrounding our people
and our ministry,
including the hearts
of everyone
who hears the gospel
to open a wide
and effective door
for that gospel.
Let this sink
not just into your minds,
but into your hearts.
The key to opening
the door of God's blessing
on our vision
to see people come to Christ
will be prayer
if God so chooses.
That's the first thing
that Paul mentions for prayer.
The second thing
to pray for
is the clarity
of the message
and boldness
of the messenger.
Verses 3 and 4,
pray for us too
that God may open
a door for our message
so that we may proclaim
the mystery of Christ
for which I am in chains.
Pray that I may proclaim
it clearly
as I should.
And so Paul exhorts
the Colossians here
to persevere in prayer
and follows it immediately
with a request
to pray for him
and for his co-workers.
The content of the prayer
is not for the personal benefit
of Paul
or his companions,
but for the preaching
of the gospel.
He mentions
he's in chains
for his preaching,
but he doesn't ask
for prayer
to be released
from those chains
in order to keep preaching.
He doesn't pray
for personal benefit,
he prays
for the effectiveness
of the message going out.
And we see here
at a number of points
in the New Testament
that Paul places
a significant importance
on his converts
and other Christians
partnering with him
in prayer
as he seeks
to win the Gentile world
for Christ.
He sees them
as partners
with him
in that task.
He earnestly desired
their help
and their support
as he laboured
to see the gospel
spread to the ends
of the earth.
And there is no better way
to express this partnership
than in accessory prayer.
When he calls
these Christians
to pray for him
and his colleagues,
he is calling them
to an ongoing activity.
This is a prayer
for the preacher,
for the evangelist,
for the community group leader,
for the music director
and for every Christian
who has the word of God
on their lips.
Friends,
let me say
how consistently aware
I am
that I need your prayers.
if Paul needed
their prayers
because he could
imagine himself
speaking the gospel
in such a way
that was not clear
or bold
or powerful,
how much more
can I imagine
that for myself?
The greatest preacher
and missionary
who ever lived
said that the effectiveness
of his preaching
depended on the prayers
of the church.
And if that's true
for Paul,
that's true for me.
100,
200,
300 times over.
What happens right now?
Right now
is the Bible's open
in front of you.
even as this word
of Colossians 4
is right in front of us
depends in great measure
on how you have prayed
up to this point.
And so there are
two prayer requests,
one for an open door
in the lives
of unbelievers
and for a clear
and powerful gospel message
to go through that door.
And it is with a real
sense of urgency
that I called you
to devote yourself
to pray like that
in 2014.
And this is,
brings me to how
we are to pray.
Paul mentions three things
in verse 2.
Devote yourselves to prayer,
being watchful
and thankful.
Pray with the devotion,
with watchfulness
and with thanksgiving.
The call of God's word here
is to devote yourself
to prayer
and it shouldn't come
as a surprise to us
given what he requests
prayer for
in verses 3 and 4.
If prayer is so great
and central to us
unlocking God's purpose
for the universe
and your life,
it is not surprising
that God would command us
to devote ourselves
to prayer.
The word be devoted to
or persevere in
or continue in
occurs six times
in the New Testament
connected to prayer.
Acts 1.14,
they all joined together
constantly in prayer.
Acts 2.42,
they, that is the early church,
devoted themselves
to prayer.
Acts 6.4,
the apostles said
that they would devote
themselves to prayer
and the ministry
of the word.
Romans 12.12,
be joyful in hope,
patient in affliction,
faithful in prayer.
Ephesians 6.18,
pray in the spirit
on all occasions.
It means to pray regularly
and to pray often.
Prayer is not infrequent
and prayer is not meant
to be hit and miss
for the Christian.
Being devoted to prayer
means that we are
not to be haphazard,
we are not to be forgetful.
It means that we take steps
to see that it is part
of our regular life
the same way that
eating and sleeping is.
I think it's also implied
in the word watchfulness
to describe the sort
of prayer life
that we are called to have.
Watchfulness is often used
as a reference in the Bible
to particularly
in the New Testament
the second coming of Christ
and the final judgment,
the end of all things.
The vision of the future,
God's plan and purposes
coming to their final end
in Christ,
is to govern not just
the content of our prayer life
but our devotion to it.
God is working out
his purposes
and he will bring it
all to completion
and so don't go to sleep
at the wheel.
Direct your mind to Christ
and his coming
and the fulfillment
of all our hope
and our joy.
Labor against distractions
and hindrances
and the temptation
towards prayerless praying.
Be vigilant,
my friends,
like a sentry on duty
outside the camp
at night
knowing that
if you go to sleep
the enemy
can overthrow
your mission.
This is the tempo
of prayer
I think that is often
missing
when the church
has settled
into the world
and is just using
prayer as
a domestic intercom
rather than a battlefield
walkie-talkie.
Paul urges the church
to be devoted to prayer
because of how
tremendously serious
the battle is
that we're involved in.
Heaven and hell
hang in the balance
for many people
this year
and so be watchful,
awake,
vigilant
and pray.
Pray the way
you would
if you knew
that two of your
unbelieving friends
would hear the gospel
for the last time
next Sunday.
And finally
Paul calls us here
to pray with thanksgiving.
It doesn't seem right
to pray
for God
to open a door
of faith
for others
without remembering
that he did
that very thing
for you.
Does it?
When we pray
for the salvation
of others
isn't the fervency
of our prayer
a mirror
of how thankful
we are
for our own salvation?
If we don't feel
thankful
for our own salvation
for the time
when God
opened the door
of our hearts
and unlocked it
so that we saw Christ
in all his glory
and beauty
then how can we pray
with devotion
and watchfulness
and urgency
for the salvation
of others?
I suspect
that we
grow in thankfulness
for our own rescue
as we do that
we will pray
with a new zeal
for the rescue
of others.
So friends
go to your word
and remind yourself
of the gospel
every day.
Amen.
On the back wall
of our church
just as you leave
in our welcome centre
downstairs
a bunch of stuff
that I've written
around the place
we have a core value
called devotion
to prayer
and I wrote it
and it's based
on this passage
Colossians 4
2
4
but I
the one who
penned those words
need
this word
from Colossians 4
to penetrate
my heart
and to shape
my life more
in 2014.
Prayerlessness
or haphazard
prayer life
makes me feel
like a hypocrite
more than anything
else.
More than anything
else.
I've always found
prayer to be
hard work.
I'm an activist
which means
I don't often stop
and for me
I've had to learn
to pray and walk
and I have to
take steps
to ensure
that prayer
deliberate steps
to ensure
that prayer
is incorporated
in my daily life.
our core value
says that as a
church we are
committed to
consistently bringing
all things to God
in prayer
intentionally
building prayer
into the centre
of our life
together
developing a
culture of
natural
and instructed
prayerfulness
when interacting
sorry
unstructured
prayerfulness
when interacting
with each other
encouraging
and equipping
for prayer
for personal
and family level
and incorporating
prayer into
every church
activity.
So friends
can I encourage
you to join
together in
seeing this
core value
written on our
hearts in such
a way that it
shapes our
actions and our
attitudes
into 2014.
in the immediate
can I call you
to join with me
in this prayer
week
in being devoted
to praying
that a door
would be open
for the gospel
among many
precious
unbelievers
and that we
would proclaim
the gospel
with clarity
and with power
and can I call
you to be
committed to that
devoted to that
throughout the
course of this
year here's a
really simple
way of going
on this
in terms of
the gospel
going out
pray one
plus one
one plus
one
equals one
it's bad
mathematics
but it's a
good point
commit to
praying for
one person
for one
minute
once a
day
and pray
that God
would bring
that one
person into
his kingdom
one plus
one equals
one
I've got
one plus
one in my
diary
in my
electronic diary
it pops up
every day of
the year
as a reminder
and my
one plus
one equals
and I've got
the initials of
the person
that I'm
praying for
brothers and
sisters pray
for a door
to be open
to the gospel
as we labor
to make it
known with
clarity and
with boldness
and with power
in our mission
field here at
St Paul's
let's pray
Father
you're
you're a God
who controls
all things in
this world
you have all
the power
where we have
none
and it is
your plan
and purposes
to call people
from every tribe
and language
and nation
under the
lordship of
the Christ
and we pray
Father
that you
would do
that in
our midst
and we pray
Father
that we
would not
sit back
in comfortable
mediocrity
but that we
would see
the mission
that you
put before
us as a
demanding
mission
but you
are an
even greater
God
and we
pray Lord
that you
would help
us to pray
in the same
way that the
Lord Jesus
taught his
disciples to pray
men who had
prayed all
their life
I pray
that you
would teach
us to pray
in a new
way
to pray
for your
kingdom
to come
to pray
for your
kingdom
to come
in the
hearts
of many
and so
Lord
as we
move into
2014
we pray
for every
instance
where your
word
will be
proclaimed
and I
pray Lord
it will be
done with
boldness
and with
clarity
and with
power
and we
pray Father
that you
would send
your spirit
and you
would unlock
the doors
of people's
hearts
so that
they not
just understand
the gospel
but they
see the
beauty of
it and
they would
receive the
Lord Jesus
with joy
and we ask
it for your
sake
Amen
for Lord
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