You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
Our passion is to experience and express grace.
Join us.
I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had
nowhere else to go.
My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.
Anybody know who said that?
Anybody know?
Was it me at a recent session meeting?
Could have been, could have been, but no, wasn't me.
It was the most powerful man in the world, surrounded by the wisest counselors in the country.
Is that helping anybody yet?
Abraham Lincoln, very good.
Abraham Lincoln, driven to prayer.
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.
We've been talking this summer about the friend that we have in Jesus.
Our relationship with him, walking in the pathways of his grace.
Getting to linger with him over a meal as he insists on doing this with his people and
as he calls us to make a high priority in our lives.
We started by saying a significant part of our relationships with God is his word.
That God speaks to us and we must listen to him.
Bible's open, right?
God speaks to us.
That is amazing, isn't it?
But there's another side of that coin in relationship with God that I think may be even more remarkable
than the fact that God speaks to us is that God listens to us.
That's part of the conversation.
See, God invites us into conversation with him so God listens to us and we speak to God himself.
There are the titles of our sermons for today and next week.
God listens to us.
We speak to God.
We're going to talk for a couple weeks about prayer.
It's another classic means of grace.
A pathway where we walk with Jesus, find his grace to come into our lives.
See how closely the Bible and prayer are connected to one another?
They feed one another in our relationship, our conversation with God.
Right now, my preferred method of praying is to be reading scripture and praying along with those words.
Maybe just one verse or one section at a time as I hear God's word speaking to me.
The words that come into my heart to speak back to him.
I even pray out loud typically.
I know not everybody does.
I will pray out loud to help me experience those actual conversations.
I want us to ponder this morning that remarkable reality that God listens to us.
And think about how prayer then is a consistent way that God brings his grace into our lives.
Let's read from Hebrews chapter 4 as we begin.
We've heard parts of this passage referenced already this morning.
It's a wonderful call to prayer that we'll come back to later.
Let's give our attention to God's voice as he speaks to us in his word.
Hebrews 4 beginning at verse 14.
Since then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens.
Jesus, the Son of God.
Let us hold fast our confession.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Pray with me.
Our Father, we seek now to find your help.
We've opened your word before us.
It is eternal and powerful and perfect.
And we want to have a relationship with you.
We want to know you.
And that is, honestly, Father, it's too glorious for us to, in some ways, imagine, certainly for us to make it happen.
It's a relationship we don't deserve.
An audience with you is one we could never earn.
And so would you help us even now?
We need your grace.
We ask for it in the precious name of Jesus, your Son, whom you love.
Amen.
If you had been in the D.C. airport last week, you might have overheard my phone conversation while I waited for my connecting flight.
I'll give you a sample.
Speak to an agent.
I would like to speak to an agent.
Zero.
Speak to an agent.
Fine.
Mortgage transfer.
Back to menu.
Speak to an agent.
I know you want more info, but I want to speak to an agent.
And this went on for quite some time.
Conversation with an automated recording.
And then I finally got an agent who introduced herself, who got my name and promptly said,
let me put you on a brief hold.
The third time I think that I said speak to an agent,
a couple people sitting nearby smiled understandingly.
Because I think we've all been there, right?
Needing help and wanting to know that someone is listening and that they're there to help.
I think all of us who have ever prayed have been there too.
Some of you have told me that this morning.
Hearing nothing but an automated recording,
as though our prayers are hitting the ceiling and bouncing back.
Getting nowhere.
Wondering if I'm wasting my time.
Is anyone even listening?
Even biblical authors like King David have felt this tension.
He says things like,
God, why are you so far from my groaning?
Why do you not answer me?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
Those are real feelings, right?
Many of us have had them.
And at the same time, the Bible teaches us over and over
that while we may feel God doesn't hear an answer,
while we feel that our prayers are doing absolutely nothing,
the foundational reality of our relationship with God
is that he is a prayer-hearing, prayer-answering God.
Oh, you who hear prayer,
to you shall all flesh come.
Psalm 65 too.
Part of God's very nature is that he hears prayer.
When his people pray, God listens.
It's who he is.
He demonstrates that part of who he is throughout
the story of his relationship with his people.
Just flip through one page after another.
It's the pattern of our relationship with him.
All the way back to when the people of Israel cried out
under unjust oppression in Egypt.
What happened?
Yahweh heard and he sent them a deliverer.
Hannah prayed to God in her distress over not having a child
and she wept bitterly.
And God heard her cry and gave her Samuel.
King Jehoshaphat came before the God of Israel seeking military aid
to protect his people, praying,
we do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.
And God delivered them again.
Jonah prayed to God from where?
Where was Jonah in his most famous prayer?
In the belly of a whale.
He described it as the very depths of hell.
And when he prayed, his prayer went from the depths of hell
all the way up into God's holy temple.
The presence of God.
The prayer went all the way there.
God heard.
And God commanded the fish to spit Jonah out.
Incredible, isn't it?
Can you believe it?
God always hears prayer no matter how far away we feel.
No matter how much we are struggling.
No matter how far away from him we truly are.
In the New Testament, that pattern continues.
The early Christians devoted themselves to prayer
and God added to their number daily those who were being saved.
What amazing things happen when God's people pray, right?
A church gathers to pray in Acts.
Just a small congregation gathered in a home.
And why are they gathered to pray?
Because Peter is in prison and he's facing death.
And they are gathered and praying
when all of a sudden their prayer meeting is interrupted by Peter.
Because God has heard their prayers,
has sent an angel to set Peter free
and restore him to his church family.
This is why the Heidelberg Catechism says
that our prayers are more assuredly heard by God
than we feel we actually desire what we're asking for.
That's why theologian J.I. Packer says
God is always more ready to hear than we are to pray.
See, when we feel prayer doesn't do anything,
that assumes that we can see all the results, doesn't it?
We may not even be looking in the right direction.
And often it assumes that prayer is about changing God,
when in reality it's about changing us.
God uses prayer in our relationship with Him.
It's part of the conversation.
So He's using it in our relationship to bring His grace into our lives,
which is impossible unless He hears.
His hearing our prayers is foundational.
But then how?
How is prayer actually a pathway of grace where we meet Jesus?
Isn't it just something where we're asking God to do some stuff for us?
Giving Him the list?
Before that, prayer actually helps us to see our nature rightly.
It positions us appropriately in relationship to God.
See, it's not just about getting something from God.
In prayer, our hearts are reoriented.
They're reset.
Hebrews 4 talks about our weaknesses.
And it tells us we should draw near to God because we need His grace.
See, when you pray, you are posturing yourself toward God,
not as the strong one in the relationship, right?
Not as the one with the answers.
Not as the one calling the shots,
but rather as the dependent one.
That's the true nature of our relationship to God.
See, that happens before God answers your prayer
or does anything for you, doesn't it?
I'm speaking merely of the grace of having your heart shaped in humility,
which is needed and not natural for very independent,
resourceful people like you and me.
Prayer slows us down.
We're doing less in that moment,
so we have to trust God more.
And that's right.
Jude reminds us in his letter that part of building yourself up
in faith in God is praying as you wait for God.
Prayer teaches us even as we do it,
not to rely on ourselves,
but to place our trust in Him.
Recognizing this deep dependence,
this great need for prayer
is one of our core commitments as a church.
It's something we're committed to
because it's so vital
and we so quickly forget the blessing
of coming to God as we truly should,
empty-handed as weak people
to a strong Father.
Many times we'd prefer to ignore that reality
about ourselves.
I really love the way theologian B.B. Warfield
explained this over a hundred years ago.
It's a bit long, but I think it's worth it.
He's talking here about the impact of prayer on our hearts.
What does it do to us as we pray?
He says,
No one can take this attitude,
this posture of dependent prayer,
even once without an effect on his character.
No one can take it in a crisis of his life
without his whole subsequent life
feeling the influence in its sweeter,
humbler, more devout, and restful course.
No one can take it habitually
without being made
merely by its natural reflex influence
a different man
in a very profound sense
from what he otherwise would have been.
Prayer, thus, in its very nature,
because it is an act of self-abnegation,
meaning of humbling ourselves,
a throwing of ourselves at the feet
of one recognized as higher and greater than we
and as one on whom we depend
and in whom we trust
is a most beneficial influence
in this hard life of ours.
How? How is it?
It places the soul
in an attitude of less self-assertion
and predisposes it to walk simply
and humbly in the world.
As a result, it is impossible to conceive
of a praying man, therefore,
as destitute of grace.
There's so much there.
Go back and read this later,
but let me just ask you,
would you benefit from walking more simply
and humbly in this world?
I would.
Start praying regularly.
Throw yourself at the feet
of the strong one.
But Warfield's conclusion is really
where I'm pushing us this morning
to realize that it is impossible
because of the nature of this relationship,
it is impossible to conceive
of a praying man
as destitute of grace.
That they're inextricably connected,
our prayers and God's grace coming to us.
We don't merely pray for grace.
In praying,
we are actually experiencing grace.
See, prayer is doing something.
It is making a difference in you
even when you don't realize it.
It's making you a different person.
It's shaping your heart differently.
It's posturing your entire life differently.
Hear it from someone else
who has long been with Jesus,
Andrew Murray.
Though in its beginnings,
prayer is so simple
that the feeble child can pray,
yet it is at the same time
the highest and holiest work
to which man can rise.
It is fellowship
with the unseen and most holy one.
The powers of the eternal world
have been placed at its disposal.
It is the very essence of true religion,
the channel of all blessings,
the secret of power and life.
The very essence of true religion,
relationship with God,
the channel of all blessings.
It is the way we walk in his grace.
It is the way in which they come to us,
the secret of power and life.
It points our hearts and our lives
to true north.
It orients us correctly.
See, prayer is not just a lifeline
to grab as a last resort in crisis
when things are really spinning out of control.
It is to be the life-giving air
that we breathe moment by moment
on our knees.
We always, in every moment,
need help.
We're designed to be dependent
on our God.
Apart from me,
you can do nothing,
Jesus says.
So come to me
and depend on me
and live this way
and talk with me.
Imagine if that were actually true.
Imagine that every morning
before you could walk
or talk
or even drink coffee.
I know that some of you
don't function right
without your coffee, right?
I won't ask for a show of hands.
Many of you have confessed that to me.
Imagine if in order
to function the way you were made,
you needed to call the helpline
and you needed to get reset for the day
to factory settings.
You had to lie in your bed,
call in,
punch the numbers
and get strength
to even get started.
You wouldn't forget,
would you?
Not with coffee on the line.
You wouldn't overlook it
to think you were okay
on your own,
would you?
You wouldn't skip over it
to get to more productive activities,
would you?
You wouldn't be able to.
You wouldn't be able
to do anything more productive
until you did it.
Prayer, see,
sets our self-reliant hearts
back in the right perspective.
It's part of why we need it so much.
We are dependent.
We are needy.
We are the children.
I can't do this life on my own.
I have to start, God,
in relationship with you,
coming to you.
And if that's true,
then it is equally important
that the person who answers the helpline
is actually helpful, isn't it?
That they don't put us on hold.
That they can effectively address our needs.
I mean, it is one thing
to admit our need
and to call in.
But it's another
to find the source of grace
to meet that need.
To actually hear a voice
on the other end.
Someone who actually answers
and really helps.
How about this?
What does Hebrews tell us?
Verse 16.
Let us then with confidence
draw near to the throne of grace
that we may receive mercy
and find grace to help
in time of need.
We need to draw near to,
to walk closely with,
to enjoy relationship with God
because what is it that we need?
We need grace.
And he sits where?
On the throne of grace.
He's reigning on the thing
that is characterized
by what we most need
so we can expect
to find with him
mercy
and grace.
Gifts
that we don't deserve
in all their forms
that come through Jesus himself.
Comfort.
Right?
Wisdom
whenever we ask,
he says.
Strength
when we're weak.
Peace
when we're anxious.
All of his various
undeserved gifts
that come to us
through prayer.
Whether we get
the answer
that we were specifically
looking for
or not
because prayer
reminds us
about God,
about who he is,
that he is naturally
by his very nature
gracious
and caring.
Even better
than we sometimes
expect he could be.
Even better
than we think
we're experiencing
him to be.
Even better
than we know
how to ask him
to be.
Cast all your anxieties
on him
because he
cares
for you.
he cares
for you.
That's the God
to whom you pray.
The pastor
doesn't feel like that.
I know.
But it doesn't look
like he's
I know.
And he wants you
to know
he cares
for you.
That's why
you can count
when you come
to him
on finding
grace.
I don't know
what the grace
will look like
but you can
count on him
for that.
Andrew Murray
again
in the infinite
tenderness
and pity
and patience
of the infinite
father.
What is he like?
Infinitely tender
and pitying
and patient
in his loving
readiness
to hear
and to help
the life
of prayer
has its joy.
That's where
the joy
comes from.
I think
this image
is famous
because it
does such a
great job
of capturing
that joy
in our
relationship
with God.
John F.
Kennedy
was the most
powerful man
in the world.
In the Oval
Office
sitting behind
the Resolute
desk
very few
people got
an invitation
to come in
there with
him,
right?
Except
John F.
Kennedy Jr.
pictured
happily playing
underneath the
desk.
What's going
on?
Why is he
there?
Who invited
him in?
His father
did
because he
was his
son
with
unparalleled
access
to his
father.
Look at
how much
fun he's
having in
that grand
place of
power.
But I want
you to
notice he's
not the
only one
having fun.
Look at
the smile
on his
father's
face.
I think
his father
is enjoying
his presence.
What a
beautiful picture
of our
relationship
with God
who joyfully
welcomes
us into
his presence.
The throne
room of
heaven to
the throne
of grace
because Jesus
makes us his
sons and
daughters.
Amen.
This is where he
wants you to
come.
This is what you
can expect to
find on his
face when you
do.
Just as we
did for the
Bible the last
couple of
weeks, we've
put together some
resources to
help guide you
in speaking
to God.
This QR code
is also in the
bulletin so
don't stress
when it goes
away.
There are
copies, hard
copies if it
helps you to
have it printed
in the
narthex.
But books
or things to
listen to or
models for
prayer that
might help you
if you're
feeling stuck or
frustrated right
now in your
conversation with
God.
Kids, you
often teach us
so much about
how to pray.
It's the way
we're supposed to
relate to God
as his children
and so you
often teach us
in that.
There are ideas
here for you
too that speak
your language.
I'm going to
talk more about
some of these
next week but
there are ways
we can follow
God's direction
in turning our
hearts toward
him in regular
conversation.
I want to
encourage you as
we're thinking
about this just
to give some
attention to your
prayer life,
your walk with
God, how you
talk with him.
Think about one
way in which you
might be able to
give attention to
that.
Maybe to change
something, maybe to
enrich something that
you're doing even
this summer.
We're going to talk
next week through
the Lord's Prayer
one phrase at a
time about the
many different ways
we pray, the
different things we
talk to God about.
The way you pray
doesn't need to look
like the way I pray
or the way someone
else prays but
there are a lot
of different ways
that God guides
us, the different
kinds of things
we're to say when
we're talking to
him.
So we'll talk about
that next week but
for today I want to
focus on just the
very beginning of
that prayer.
We prayed it
together earlier.
I want you to
remember the way
the prayer starts.
That we're talking
to whom when we
pray?
Our Father.
Father.
Our Father.
You're talking to
your Father so
before we talk next
week about some
things to say I
don't want you to
get too hung up on
saying the right
thing.
If you're a
father you know
how secondary that
is to just getting
to talk with your
child to hear what's
on their heart.
He is listening in
love.
He's not here to
critique your
prayer.
He loves hearing
from his child.
Puritan Thomas
Watson.
Were a man to
petition his enemy
there were little
hope.
But when a child
petitions his
father he may hope
with confidence to
succeed.
The word Father
works upon God.
It touches his
very bowels.
Right at the heart.
See Jesus tells us to
call God Father.
Not only does he do
it and do you think
God hears and
answers when Jesus
prays to him?
Most of us would say
yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah I think so.
Jesus says you call
my Father your
Father.
You come to him with
the same relationship
because of what I have
done for you.
that is why we can
confidently draw near
to God because he
calls us to come.
Let us with confidence
draw near.
Jesus knows our
every weakness.
We have a sympathetic
high priest who has
come down and met us
and brought us back
into the throne of
grace confidently.
Boldly.
He says pick up the
phone and say speak to a
Father.
Speak to a Father.
And he answers.
Oh what peace we often
forfeit.
Oh what needless pain we
bear.
All because we do not
carry everything to God
in prayer.
And we can come
consistently over and
over confidently in
prayer because our
Father delights to give
good gifts to his
children.
That's grace.
That's who he is.
And he knows that there
is no better gift that
he can give us than his
very self.
Right after Jesus teaches
us to pray the Lord's
prayer he comes back in
Luke 11 to talk about
what it means that God
is our Father.
And what his heart is
and how he loves us like
that.
And he tells us that
what God as our Father
loves to do when we pray
to him is to give the
Holy Spirit to those who
ask him.
To meet us with his
very self.
To walk with us.
To listen to us.
To remind us of his
delight in our
relationship.
That he's so glad we're
here.
And talking with him
again.
That father-child
relationship is designed
even though we don't
always experience it
that way.
It's designed to be so
close.
So personal.
That in the Old
Testament you would
never call God your
father when you
prayed.
It wasn't right.
It wasn't okay.
That was out of respect
for his distinct
holiness.
That he was utterly
beyond us.
But Jesus
always
calls God
father
when he prays.
Every
single
time.
Every
Father.
My father.
Father.
Every time Jesus
prays in scripture
except one.
Except one time.
When Jesus is on the
cross.
and the wrath of
God towards our
sin is being poured
out on him and
Jesus cries out
my God
why
have you
forsaken
me?
The only time
he doesn't feel
in the same way
the nearness
of his father.
Why?
Why did the
father turn his
face away?
so that
his wounds
Jesus
wounds
would bring
many
sons
to glory.
Sons
and daughters
from every tribe
and tongue
and people
and nation
sitting here
this morning
that we would be
brought to glory
so that we would
be welcomed
under the
desk
into his
presence
to the very
throne
of grace
so that we
would be invited
to sit at
this table
and share
this meal
with a God
who is so
holy
that apart
from him
dealing with
our sins
we could never
sit and eat
with him
the way he
made us
to
and he
made us
for himself
so he
had to deal
with our sins
to have us
back with him.
Jesus used
this meal
to explain
what he was
doing
as he went
to the cross.
he sat
with his
disciples
that night
and he took
bread
and he
broke it
and he
gave it
to them
as I
ministering
in his
name
give this
bread
to you
he said
take
eat
this is
my body
given
for you
do this
in remembrance
of me
and then
in the same
way after
supper
he took
the cup
and he
said to
them
this cup
is the
new covenant
and my
blood
which is
shed
for many
for the
forgiveness
of sins
drink
from it
all of you
for as
often
as you
eat
this
bread
and you
drink
this
cup
you
proclaim
the
Lord's
death
until he
comes
you say
there is
no other
way
for me
to know
my
father
than that
his
son
would bring
me
into his
presence
if you
have never
trusted
Jesus
to pay
for your
sins
to welcome
you into
relationship
with your
heavenly father
or if
you have
but you're
not willing
today
to be
honest
to approach
him
honestly
about your
sin
to trust
him
to be
the only
one
whose
blood
can cover
you
and forgive
those sins
then don't
come eat
this morning
don't do
something
outwardly
that you're
not presently
believing
inwardly
that's
hypocrisy
and God
warns us
against
approaching
him
that way
in relationship
he welcomes
us to
come
honestly
we invite
you this
morning
if you're
in one
of those
places
today
not to
come
eat
but
we invite
you to
pray
to talk
with God
about it
to confess
your sin
even now
to him
we invite
you to
come let
us pray
with you
to observe
the body
and blood
of Jesus
given
for you
we're so
glad you're
here
wherever
your heart
is
but if
you are
weak
and needy
and desperate
and have
no other
way into
relationship
with God
other than
the blood
of Jesus
that you
have trusted
for yourself
then you
come
confidently
boldly
to the throne
of grace
and to this
table this
morning
because of
Jesus
not because
you've been
good
not because
you're a
Presbyterian
but because
you have
a father
who delights
in you
as his
child
who sent
his son
for you
so that
you can
confess
your sins
even now
and receive
his grace
afresh
as you
take and
eat and
drink
let's pray
and we'll
come do
that together
Jesus
we're so
humbled
by your
love
that is
so far
beyond
anything
we could
deserve
that brings
us into
a place
we never
else
could be
except that
you loved
us
and gave
yourself
for us
would we
come crawling
would we
stand
on our
knees
boldly
but humbly
knowing there's
no other
way
that we
could be
with you
and for
you
to welcome
us in
use these
very common
elements
to remind
our
doubting
weak
hearts
that you
have done
it
that it
is finished
and that we
have a father
who loves
us
do that work
by your spirit
we ask in the
name of Jesus
amen
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