You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us.
Father, that's true.
Thank you for showing me that fresh, even while they sang that song.
The one who would speak your word is desperate for you.
Not in this moment only, but every moment.
And all of us, we struggle to grasp control, to be in charge, to have things our way.
And what we need is you.
And so we come to you this morning, a father who delights to give good gifts.
To his children.
To give the Holy Spirit to those who ask for it.
So we do ask that.
Father, send your spirit.
Send your spirit in ways we maybe haven't experienced him before.
That we would see our need for you.
And that we would delight, even.
In being dependent on such a good father.
Teach us.
Change us.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
We're in the middle of talking for a few weeks about what God tells us to be as a community.
As a church that he would use to see his kingdom advance in great ways.
We've said that we want to be here not merely to play church.
It's easy to do that.
But rather to be the kind of community together that by God's grace would storm the gates of hell.
That God would bring revival here and elsewhere through us.
And as we talk about what that looks like today, something you might expect to hear.
That we need to be dependent and prayerful.
We've been talking about that this morning.
It's the thing most people would associate with revival coming.
People would think about that first.
Easy to write it down and put that in your core values as a church.
But even as we did that, as leaders of this church, we said it's really important.
And that is really hard for us.
In many ways, something we seem allergic to.
Being dependent, prayerful.
And we'll talk more about that in a minute.
But first I want to share another story of God's powerful work with you.
I'm sharing these with you over these weeks because they involve normal people much like us.
In places very similar to the one where God has placed us.
Where God has worked in them and through them in ways that would make our mouths gape.
And our hearts leap with joy if we got to be a part of something like this.
Last week in the 1700s with the Great Awakening.
Today in the mid-1800s in New York City.
It was exactly 12 noon on September 23rd, 1857.
A tall, middle-aged, former businessman climbed creaking stairs to the third story of an old church building in the heart of lower New York City.
He entered an empty room, pulled out his pocket watch, and sat down to wait.
The placard outside read,
Prayer meeting from 12 to 1 o'clock.
Stop 5, 10, or 20 minutes, or the whole hour as your time admits.
It looked like no one had the time.
As the minutes ticked by, the solitary waiter wondered if it were all a mistake.
Jeremiah Lanphier was the last-ditch effort of the old Dutch North Church.
When many other churches had closed their doors and moved out of town,
they had decided, despite having very few people left,
to try hiring someone with no church experience or training,
to visit the neighbors and seek to revive the church.
And so, here he was.
The minute hand of his watch pointed to 1230 when at last he heard a step on the stairs.
One man came in, then another, and another, until there were six.
After a few minutes of prayer, the meeting was dismissed
with the decision that another meeting would be held the following Wednesday.
That small meeting was in no way extraordinary.
There was no great outpouring of the Spirit of God.
Lanphier had no way of knowing
that it was the beginning of a great national revival
which would sweep an estimated one million persons into the kingdom of God.
The meeting of six grew to 20 and then 40.
Within a month, it cleared 3,000.
Within six months, over 10,000 were praying daily at noon in New York City alone.
And the revival was spreading to Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis,
and many other cities all the way to the Pacific coast.
People gathering to plead for God's help.
Specific prayers for His deliverance.
General prayers for God to save dying people in a dying nation.
And many estimate around one million eternal souls
saved in that one year alone,
just a couple years before many of them would die in the Civil War
and face eternity.
All of this amazing work of God
called the layman's prayer revival.
In other words, mostly untrained Christians
gathering to cry out to God together.
In fact, one preacher said,
there is such a general confidence in the prevalence of prayer
that the people very extensively seem to prefer meeting for prayer
to meeting for preaching.
The general impression seemed to be,
we have had instruction until we are hardened.
It is time for us to pray.
Now, lest you get carried away,
we have also read of God using the preaching
of the cross of Christ from His Word
to bring revival.
But, prayer.
There is a reason you think of that
when you think of revival.
It is a repeated marker of revival.
When God works,
it is not always and usually
just among seminary trained preachers.
It is among untrained Christians
who cry out to Him.
Often, it begins with just a very few people
like this did.
Like others,
Zinzendorf's round-the-clock prayer
met three years round-the-clock
before seeing revival break out.
And then it ran for a hundred years
round-the-clock
until a great breakthrough
of missionary expansion of the Gospel
took place.
Over and over again,
God stirs His people's hearts
to pray
because they are desperately dependent
on Him to accomplish
the mission that Christ has sent them on.
And that is really the bottom line
this morning.
It is what I want us to see.
Here is a review of where we have been
the last couple of weeks.
First, we said that
the church must be focused on Jesus.
It is absolutely where it starts.
Last week,
a church centered on Jesus
must be on the mission of God together.
Moving outward toward others, right?
Today,
a church on God's mission
must be prayerfully dependent
on God's strength.
It is not profound, right?
But a spirit of utter dependence
reflected in a lifestyle of prayer.
prayer.
This is not something new.
It didn't start in the 1800s.
And in fact,
the early church
in the book of Acts
had prayer as a core commitment.
Did you know that?
Let's read Acts 2.
This famous description
of the early church
that begins it
at verse 42.
And they devoted themselves
to the apostles' teaching
and fellowship,
to the breaking of bread
and the prayers.
And awe came upon every soul.
And many wonders and signs
were being done
through the apostles.
And all who believed
were together
and had all things in common.
And they were selling
their possessions
and belongings
and distributing the proceeds
to all as any had need.
And day by day,
attending the temple together
and breaking bread
in their homes,
they received their food
with glad and generous hearts,
praising God
and having favor
with all the people.
And the Lord added
to their number
day by day
those who were being saved.
You hear what's happening
in these verses?
It's kingdom impact, right?
There's people being saved daily,
needs being met,
people being helped.
We would love to be on mission
like this community.
And because it is,
it's a community devoted,
among other things,
to prayer.
The words there,
the prayers,
likely indicate
even specific set gatherings
to pray together.
What I want us to do
for just a few minutes,
rather than unpacking
this particular passage
or talking about
how to pray,
which is another
helpful thing to do,
is simply give you
a snapshot of what
this looks like
in the early church.
The church that grows
from a few fledgling disciples
who really mess up
more than they do
anything right
into this mission force
that turns the world
upside down.
What does the beginning
of that church look like?
The book of Acts
tells that story.
And it is covered
with prayer
just a few places.
Places.
Chapter 1.
As soon as Jesus
leaves them,
His followers
gather to pray
and wait for the Holy Spirit.
Jesus has promised
to send them
so that they can be
His witnesses
on His mission.
And while they wait
for what He has in store
that none of them
really could even imagine,
what do they do?
They pray.
Verse 14.
Devoting themselves
to prayer.
As a matter of fact,
as they pray,
they realize
they need to replace Judas.
And so they pray
for God's direction
on who will replace Him.
Chapter 2 of Acts
includes the report
we just read
of their commitment
to prayer,
devotion to prayer.
In chapter 4,
they're being persecuted
and told to be quiet.
It appears the movement
could be squashed
by powerful authorities
before it even begins.
So they gather
to pray for boldness.
In the face of opposition,
let's pray for boldness
until God sends
His Spirit powerfully
to enable them
to continue
to preach God's Word.
Chapter 6,
they pray
when they are commissioning
the first deacons
to kingdom work
with the poor.
Chapter 8,
when the gospel spreads
to the Samaritans,
Peter and John
make a special trip
to hold a conference.
No.
To teach them theology.
No.
To pray for them
and the Holy Spirit
to lead them.
Chapter 9,
when their beloved Dorcas dies,
Peter prays
and she is restored to life.
Chapter 10 tells of this
glorious breakthrough
of the gospel
to the Gentiles
that will explode
the mission of the church
where Jesus has sent them.
Where?
To the uttermost parts
of the earth.
And there's been
great things happening
but they haven't gone there yet
and all of a sudden
it does.
What do you think is featured
when that happens?
The gospel explosion
that continues to this day,
when it starts,
what do you think
is talked about
in chapter 10?
Prayer.
God speaks to Cornelius
as he prays.
Gentile Cornelius
prays continually,
we're told.
Verse 2.
And his prayers ascend
to God.
Verse 4.
And then God speaks
to Peter
as he prays.
Verse 9.
And God tells him,
don't call unclean
what I have made clean.
You go and tell the good news
to Cornelius.
And the gospel explodes
beyond Jerusalem
and Judea
and Samaria
to the uttermost parts
of the world,
to the Gentiles,
the nations,
the mission of God
is happening
as people pray.
Chapter 12, though,
things take a turn.
Peter is imprisoned.
These followers of Jesus
are stirring things up
and the Romans
don't like it
and they're about ready
to be through with this.
Let's kill some of their leaders.
The church's existence
again seems threatened.
And so what do they do?
They gather,
verse 5,
for earnest prayer
for Peter.
It's almost like
they don't know
what else to do.
And I love this picture,
especially in chapter 12,
of them praying
because it's like me
when I pray.
Here they are gathered
around there.
They're praying.
They're pleading
for Peter's deliverance
from prison.
And Peter knocks on the door
and the servant goes
and gets the door
and comes back
and says,
it's Peter.
And they say,
shh, shh, shh.
We're praying for Peter.
He's in prison.
No, no, he's here.
God, no, no,
we're praying for Peter.
He's in prison.
He can't be here.
No, God has answered
our prayers.
It is Peter.
Chapter 13,
they pray when they
send out missionaries.
Chapter 14,
they pray as they
plant churches
and appoint elders
in town after town
and the church
of Jesus Christ
is now spreading
rapidly
and they're praying
picture after picture
on the early church
Facebook page.
They're kneeling
in prayer.
It's as though God
is telling us
something here,
isn't it?
Look at the power
of prayer
and how God works.
He handles these situations.
Southwood,
prayer is the work
of the church.
It is the devoted commitment
of those who need God
desperately.
Jesus, of all people,
Himself demonstrates
this pattern of praying,
doesn't He?
Pulling away
to be with His Father
when no one else
knows where He is.
When there are
important moments
coming up in His ministry,
we find Him alone
with His Father.
When you write the history
of the church
of Jesus Christ
and the work
of God's Spirit
to advance the mission
of God in the world,
it's covered
with prayer
on every page.
That's why Samuel Chadwick
said,
the devil laughs at our toil,
mocks at our wisdom,
but he trembles
when we pray.
He knows that the one
we pray to
is stronger
and crushes
the gates of hell
and the history
of the church
bears that out.
can ask us simply
to think this morning
about that.
Is that what the narrative
of our lives
and of our church
would read like
if someone were to write up
that story for us?
I didn't ask
if they would cite it
as being on our website.
I mean,
they're not going to look
at the screen
to see are we
a praying church.
I asked,
do you
and do we
pray?
Listen,
there is a lot
of prayer
in this church.
Many people
who are more faithful
in prayer
than their pastor is.
And I know that.
But I want to push us
this morning
to consider
why it's not
what it should be.
Why almost everyone
who looks at these
core commitments
and says,
yeah,
we should be about
these things
says,
dependent
and prayerful.
We got a long way
to go on that one.
Why is that?
Can we think about that
for just a minute?
I'd suggest
that a big part
of our struggle
is that we don't pray
because we don't
think or feel
like we need to.
That's in some ways
hard to argue with,
right?
I mean,
we do the things
that we feel like
we need to do.
All of us
runs our lives
that way.
The things
that are really
important are the
things that get
our attention.
You see,
dependence and prayer
are inextricably
linked to each other.
And as Derek said
earlier,
we're conditioned
all of our lives
to be not dependent
but independent.
We don't need much,
right?
It's not one
of our favorite
things.
We live under
the delusion
often that we
can take care
of ourselves,
provide our own
daily bread.
Why would we be
asking God
for that?
I got that
covered.
As I've examined
my own life,
practically speaking,
day in and day out,
I tend to trust
myself
more than I trust
God.
I don't want
it to be that way.
I wouldn't set out
to make it that way
but practically,
that's what I see
often in my life.
I've shared with you
before Paul Miller's
convicting observation.
If you are not
praying,
then you are
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 will find
the time to pray.
In fact,
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.
Nothing that removes
time to get things done
could possibly
be a good thing.
efficiency,
accomplishment,
achievement.
It's what drives me
and God says,
stop.
Rest.
Can I push just a little
further on this?
I know it's painful
enough to consider
not praying
because we don't feel
we need God,
but can I ask
why we don't feel that?
I hated realizing
this this week,
so I kind of apologize
in advance
for sharing it with you,
but I think often
we don't pray
because we're not
on a Christ-centered
mission
where we feel
our need for God.
We don't pray
because we're not
actually on
a Christ-centered
mission in our lives
or as a church
where we feel
our need
for God.
We don't believe
God will sponsor
our own self-serving
missions.
We don't talk to Him
about that,
but that's what
we're really up to.
I don't often feel
the need to pray
if my greatest goal
for the day
is checking off
my to-do list,
my priorities,
making a buck,
pursuing my comfort,
building my reputation.
I don't usually
pray about those things.
If you were here
last Sunday,
you've seen this wheel
with self
at the center of it.
This way our lives
often function
where that's what
it's really about
is me
and everything else
is here to serve
that end.
If that's what
I'm up to,
I don't need to pray
until I need
just a little extra help
in some of the hard spots
like the test
is really hard
or the presentation
is hard
or the relationship
is hard
and I'm frustrated
and it's not allowing
me to achieve
my mission
of a successful self
and feel the way
I want to about me
and so I better pray.
And so sometimes
prayer gets sprinkled in
and that's often
my experience.
Help me out
of this tight spot.
But if my mission
is truly
the glory of Jesus
and His mission
of restoration
in this world,
I promise you
I feel the need
to pray
real quickly.
When that's
what I want to see
my day
or my life
be about,
think about it
for a minute.
If my goal
is reflecting
the glory of God
by loving my neighbor
as myself
and I see my selfishness
leading me to hurt
even my wife,
the one person
I picked to love
out of all the neighbors
I'm supposed to love,
then help.
I need God
for this.
If I can't speak
of Jesus at work
without repercussions
and I'm surrounded
by people
who are desperate
for the hope
of the gospel,
I better pray.
If some of my neighbors
are impacted
by unjust systems
that might relocate
some of their
section 8 housing
without asking
for their input
in a way that would
negatively affect them
and the whole system
needs to be transformed
by the gospel,
I need God's help.
If I'm hearing
the call to shape
my life outwardly
towards others
but my grief
or my depression
or my anxiety
is just debilitating,
I need God.
If I'm working
and focused
on unity
in my city
but I'm encountering
infighting
within my own church
and competition
among other churches
and I can't fix it,
then I better pray.
If I'm longing
for my atheist neighbor
to see the glory
of Jesus
and His intellectual
sharpness
simply surpasses
mine,
I realize
I'm dependent
upon God
in prayer.
See, I know
we're praying
and I know
God's working
because those
are just conversations
I've had this week
with some of you.
That's what
drives us to prayer,
isn't it?
Don't you need God
for those
in a hundred
other situations
like them?
Maybe as you start
shaping your life
around God's mission
and His glory,
you'll find yourself
more dependent
and more prayerful.
Maybe as you
pray more,
you'll find yourself
strangely drawn
towards God's mission
and God's glory
and having a vision
for what that could
look like in your life.
God loves to do that
for His children.
Did you know that?
As you look to Him,
He loves working
that way
in our hearts.
Just think about
what a painful experience
it is for a parent
to watch a child
neglect their input,
go out on their own,
deny their need
for a parent
to their own harm.
It hurts, doesn't it?
It hurts when they're
two years old
and they insist
on letting go
of your hand
and run off
and scrape their knee
on a rock.
It hurts when they're
22 and you refuse
to heed wise counsel
and fall into
bigger trouble.
But even in the midst
of that painful reality,
when the child
then sees
his need for help,
does the parent
laugh at the crying
two-year-old?
Ha!
Served you right!
Letting go of my hand!
Hope it hurts!
You ignore the call
from the police station,
tearfully crying,
somebody help me!
No.
You pick your child up
off the ground
or from the police station.
You might think
God would ignore you
after all your
self-reliance
and refusal to come
and dependence upon Him
and prayer
and He never hears from you,
but He won't.
In fact,
Deuteronomy 8
tells us
God sometimes
makes His people hungry
so that He can feed them.
so that He can remind us
that what we really need
is Him.
So far from putting us off,
over and over again,
our Father invites us
to prayer.
This last point
is really short,
but it's really important.
I want you to know
what your Father says.
Listen to a few invitations
God gives
in His Word
to His struggling children.
He says,
Abide in Me.
Ask Me for what you need
and you will bear much fruit.
He says,
Come to Me
when you're weary
and burdened
and you will find rest.
He says,
Call upon Me
and I will always
be near.
He says,
Call upon Me
in the day of trouble
and I will deliver you
and you will glorify Me.
He says,
Ask,
Seek,
Knock,
and I will answer.
Jesus says,
in the Lord's Prayer
that we prayed together earlier,
You call My Father
Your Father.
And then watch
and see and learn
what a gracious
and generous
Father
He is.
That's the invitation
to us
and the promise
of finding our Father
all sufficient.
Over and over again
to rebellious,
self-reliant people,
God says,
Climb up here
in My arms.
Tell Me about it.
I want to talk with you.
What a glorious relationship
we have
because Jesus
has lived
and died
to make us
sons and daughters
of God.
We say our relationship
with God
is one where
we remain
desperately needy
and He remains
gloriously
sufficient.
We repent
and He forgives.
We depend
and He provides.
Prayer is weak people
prevailing upon
a strong Father.
That's what it is
for us.
Prevailing upon
Him to do
mighty things
in and through
and in spite
of us.
Are you willing
to be weak
this morning?
To find your
Father
strong?
He loves
to do great things
to show Himself
glorious
as we
see our need
for Him
and look to Him
and He's inviting
all of us back
to Him
into His strong
arms
today.
Here's the picture
I want to leave us
with.
One of my favorite
things about being
a dad was when
my little baby
would curl up
on my chest
and sleep.
I could lie like
that for hours.
I just loved it
except now
my girls are all
a little bit
older than that.
Mostly past
that stage.
They think
they're big girls
who can
usually handle
life
except when
they get
sick enough.
Seen that before?
When they're
sad enough
needy enough
to ask
to be held
and curl up
in my arms.
A little bit bigger
but they just
want to be held
right there.
Listen
I am far
from a perfectly
loving Father.
I've never
said no to that.
Not once.
Yeah.
Yeah come here.
Come here.
Let me hold you.
Let me remind you
how much I love you.
Experience
my love
and comfort
again.
I never say
you're not my child
because you haven't
been in my arms
recently often enough.
No.
Neither does
our Heavenly Father.
We're His children
not because
we've been there
praying recently
enough
but because
in love
He sent His Son
for us.
So when I say
come here
and rest
and let me
care for you
and experience
my love again
I'm not happy
they're sick
for sure
but
I am happy
they're in my arms.
Our Heavenly Father
doesn't enjoy
our pain
our emptiness
our desperation
but He does enjoy
us leaning on Him.
I want us to do that
together
this morning.
We pray a lot
when we come to church.
One of the things
we don't do
particularly often
together
is kneel
in prayer.
it reminds us
tangibly
and physically
in some ways
of that
posture of
dependence
on leaning
on God
together.
Some of you
may not be able
to do that.
I understand
that's just fine.
You can bow
right where you are.
Some of you
may be able to
but you're going to
need to move
to the aisles
where there's carpet
instead of wood
and I get that too.
Feel free to do that.
But I want us
who are able
to kneel together
this morning
we're going to pray
a prayer on the screen
together
and then spend
some time
privately
praying and meditating
upon God's Word
before I close us
in prayer.
Would you kneel
with me as we pray?
Join me in prayer.
O God of grace,
the world is before us
this day
and we are weak
and fearful
but we look to you
for strength.
If we venture forth
alone
we stumble
and fall
but on the beloved's arms
we are firm
as the eternal hills.
we believe you
accept your word
submit to your will
rely on your promises
trust your providence.
We have cast our anchor
in the port of peace
knowing that present
and future
are in nail pierced hands.
We yield to your sovereignty
all that we are
and have
do with us
as you will.
For more information
visit us online
at southwood.org
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