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Introduction:
Would you like to know the one verse that will revolutionize your
prayer life? It is probably the most important verse to produce
proper prayer. If you follow this one verse, I guarantee your
prayers will improve in nature, consistency and effectiveness. Galatians
2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no
longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I
now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved
me and gave Himself for me.” Do you see why this passage is the
key to plugging in with an electrifying prayer life? Who could
deny that Jesus’ prayer life is a stellar example of prayer in
spirit and truth? If we crucify ourselves with Christ, allowing
Him to live through us, His prayer life will become ours. When
Jesus is on the throne of our hearts, true prayer will be the
natural result. In fact, in many ways our prayer lives demonstrate
whether or not Jesus is truly our king. Therefore we ask, “If
Jesus were running our lives, what would our prayer lives look
like?”
In prayer, we are God’s warriors connecting to Him to
fight the battle against the enemy (Ephesians
6:12-13). When in war, or business and sports for that
matter, if you were to concentrate all your force in a particular
location to overcome the opposition, you would call it a “Power
Play.” When we pray properly, that is exactly what we are doing.
We are focusing the strength of God in a particular place to
overcome the opposition. Therefore, as a reminder of Jesus’
prayer life, I have developed the following acrostic from the new
phrase “POWER PRAY.”
Jesus
Prayed,
Offering
Himself as part of the answer to His prayers;
praying
With
others and alone;
praying
Extended
prayers and brief prayers;
praying
Regarding personal decisions;
praying
Persistently;
Relying
on the Father;
Asking
on behalf of others;
Yearning
for the Father’s glory above all else. Discussion: I.
Jesus
Prayed. Once
again, we have to state the obvious. Jesus’ effective prayer
life began with praying. He was not just a believer in prayer, an
expert on prayer or a teacher of prayer. He was a prayer. This is
all the more impressive considering who Jesus was and is. In John
14:6-11 and 17:25, Jesus explained that He knew and
was connected to the Father in a way that we are not and cannot be
on this side of eternity. However, despite that connection, Jesus
prayed (Hebrews
5:7). If Jesus, God the Son, needed prayer while on earth,
how much more must we pray? If we want to POWER PRAY, we must
first pray. II.
Offering
Himself as part of the answer to His prayers.
In John
17:11-12, Jesus prayed that the Father guard the disciples
once Jesus was no longer in the world. However, note Jesus’
promise to the disciples in Matthew
28:20: “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the
age.” Jesus prayed, but then expected to be used in the answer
to His prayer. Another example is one of His most awesome prayers,
uttered while hanging on the cross in Luke
23:34. “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what
they do.” What was Jesus doing while praying this prayer? He was
offering the only sacrifice by which His prayer could ever be
granted. Jesus prayed, but was willing to be part of His
prayer’s answer. Remember Ephesians
3:20. God can do exceedingly, abundantly above all we ask.
However, He will do it through the power working in us. Therefore,
we must not pray and then sit back and wait. If we want to POWER
PRAY, we must work and pray, offering ourselves as part of the
answer to our prayers. III.
Praying
With others and alone. In Luke
9:28, Jesus took Peter, James and John with Him to pray.
In Luke
9:18, He had been off praying alone. We must recognize
these two different forums of prayer. The same Jesus who talked
about locking ourselves in a closet to pray (Matthew
6:6), prayed with others. We, too, must learn to pray by
ourselves without trotting our prayer experiences out to gain
approval from men. But having grasped that habit, we must also
learn to join our prayer forces with other Christians, certainly
in the assembly, but also outside of it. When was the last time
you prayed by yourself? When was the last time you prayed with
other Christians? When was the last time you prayed with other
Christians outside of an assembly? If we want to POWER PRAY, we
must learn to pray with others and alone. IV.
Praying
Extended prayers and brief prayers. As I teach on prayer, I am often caught in a paradox. At
times, I try to convince us that we do not have to pray for
lengthy periods of time, we just have to pray. However, in the
same sermon I will ask how much time we invest in prayer, knowing
full well that time invested in prayer is an indicator of
devotion. Perhaps you have picked up on these seemingly
contradictory approaches to prayer. Looking at Jesus’ prayer
life has helped me fill out this picture. Jesus did both. In Luke
6:12, Jesus prayed all night. We must learn to apply
ourselves to prayer for long periods of time. In Matthew
26:36-40, Jesus rebuked Peter, James and John because they
could not pray with watchfulness for even one hour. However,
prayers can also be short and powerful. There are times when
bursts of prayer are appropriate. On the cross, Jesus uttered
three one sentence prayers. “My God, My God, why have You
forsaken Me” (Matthew
27:46). “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what
they do” (Luke
23:34). “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (Luke
23:46). Are there any issues for which we see the need for
watchful, vigilant prayer? If we saw the need, could we do it? Are
there moments when a burst of prayer is needed? Have we developed
our spiritual senses to recognize those moments and pray? If we
want to POWER PRAY, we must learn to pray extended and brief
prayers. V.
Praying
Regarding personal decisions. Jesus’ all night prayer (Luke
6:12-14) was the night before He selected His circle of
intense trainees. Moments ago we asked if there were any issues we
thought important enough to apply ourselves to extended, watchful
prayer. Jesus clearly thought some decisions were that important.
So should we. We should pray for wisdom and guidance (James
1:5-8). However, make sure you are praying with faith that
God will grant your request. Remember Psalm
119:105. God’s word guides us. Regrettably, too many
people pray about choices but neglect to look into the Bible to
find God’s guidance. Finally, remember that God works all things
together for good to those who love Him (Romans
8:28). If you have based your decision on guidance from
God’s word, you can truly pray that God work it together for
good. Let me add that too many act as though our decisions are a
standardized test in which only one choice can work. That is not
necessarily the case. Sometimes multiple choices fit equally well
within the realm of God’s word. We are free to pick the one we
want and then we can ask God to work it out for good to His glory.
At other times, we may realize we made a choice that was not
governed by God’s word. At those times, we need to ask God’s
forgiveness, work to reconcile the issue in any way we can and
still request that He use it to glorify Him in whatever way He
can. If we want to POWER PRAY, prayer must become a part of our
decision making process. VI.
Praying
Persistently.
In Mark
1:35, Jesus arose before daybreak to go to a solitary
place to pray. In Matthew
14:23, Jesus sent the multitudes away and prayed through
the evening. If we read through the gospels, we see these were not
one time occurrences. They were examples of Jesus’ consistent
and persistent prayer habit. Further, not only did Jesus pray
persistently. He was persistent with some particular prayers. In
the garden, He prayed the same prayer three times (Matthew
26:39, 42, 44). By the way, this kind of repeated praying
is called importuning God and is illustrated by Jesus’ parable
in Luke
11:5-8. I know we feel uncomfortable with praying the same
thing repeatedly. However, when some issue is important enough to
us, we will learn to repeat and persist in a particular prayer
until God says, “Yes,” or we are absolutely certain He has
said, “No.” We must not allow prayer to become a once in a
while foray into communication with God. We must purposefully
pray. If we have to get up early and go to a solitary place, so be
it. If we have to send everyone away from us and pray into the
night, so be it. Further, we must intensely believe that God
listens to our prayers and that our prayers can and do impact God,
and therefore intensely and persistently offer some particular
prayers. Whatever the case, if we want to POWER PRAY, we must
persist in prayer. VII.
Relying
on the Father.
I do not believe we can fully comprehend what took place
spiritually on the cross. Just as our sins separate us from the
Father (Isaiah
59:1-2), our sins separated Jesus from the Father. That is
part of why Jesus prayed “My God, My God, why have your forsaken
Me?” in Matthew
27:46. I cannot imagine what that must have been like for
Jesus, who had a connection with the Father that none of us have
ever experienced. However, even in that time of abandonment, Jesus
also prayed, “Into Your hands I commit My Spirit” (Luke
23:46; Psalm 31:5). The psalm from which He quoted is an
amazing example of trusting the Lord, even in hard times. Read Psalm
31:9-16. Notice specifically the phrase, “My times are
in your hand.” As we pray, we must pray trusting that God will
do what is right, He will do what is best and He will do it in His
time, not ours. If we want to POWER PRAY, we must rely on the
Father. VIII.
Asking
on behalf of others.
One of the most powerful aspects of Jesus’ prayer life is His
focus on others. John
17:9, 20 and Luke 22:31-32
are excellent examples of Jesus’ intercession on behalf of
others. Further, Jesus’ intercession for us has not ended. Romans
8:34 and Hebrews 7:25 both demonstrate that Jesus,
while at the right hand of God, never ceases to make intercession
for us. How powerful is that? The most amazing example of Jesus’
intercession, and the most challenging, is found in Luke
23:34, uttered while Jesus hung on the cross. “Father,
forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Jesus taught
us to love our enemies, bless those who curse us, do good to those
who hate us and pray for those who spitefully use and persecute us
(Matthew
5:44). While on the cross, Jesus modeled this, interceding
on behalf of the people who shouted out, “Crucify Him, Crucify
Him!” We must learn to intercede and pray for others, even our
enemies. If we want to POWER PRAY, we must learn to ask on behalf
of others. IX.
Yearning
for the Father’s glory above all else.
Read through John
17. Notice how the Father’s glory is the root of every
aspect of this prayer. Notice what Jesus prayed: “Glorify Your
Son, that Your Son also may glorify You” (vs.
1). “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished
the work which You have given me to do” (vs.
4). “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You
have given Me out of the world” (vs.
6). “I have given to them the words which You have given
Me” (vs.
8). “I have given them Your word” (vs.
14). “And I have declared to them Your name, and will
declare it…” (vs.
26). Every personal request, every intercession was
ultimately rooted in glorifying the Father. This is the heart of
effective, fervent prayer. Jesus’ prayers were rarely,
“Father, here is what I want.” They were always, “Here is
what I want, because I know it is what You want and what will
glorify You.” The rare exception to that can be seen in Matthew
26:39. In that case, Jesus did say, “Father, here is
what I want.” However, notice that when Jesus offered that kind
of prayer, His mindset was “nevertheless, not as I will, but as
You will.” It is as if Jesus were saying, “Father, here is
what I really want. However, what I want more than that is Your
will and Your glory. If my desire can fit in with Your plans,
please, grant it to Me. If not, I want Your will more than I want
Mine.” We must pray in this manner.
If we want to POWER PRAY, we must yearn for the Father’s
glory above all else. Conclusion: I have never been big on religious fads. I have never put a fish on my car, honked because I loved Jesus or passed on an e-mail that would save every person that read it. But there was one fad I did like. There was one fad I wish would not just be a fad but would be an actual guide to each and every Christian’s life. Do you remember the W.W.J.D (What Would Jesus Do?) fad? Galatians 2:20 provides a basis for that question. What would Jesus do? I can tell you one thing He did do. Jesus prayed. Not only did He pray, He POWER PRAYed. Jesus plugged in to the Father. Crucify yourself with Him and let Him live through you. Then you will plug in as well and you will POWER PRAY.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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