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Feb 03
Sunday’s message was on Prayer in a series called Impact. While it certainly is not as flashy or maybe as thought provoking as Vision or Leadership, without a doubt, it certainly has the most potential for impact. I read several sermons on prayer preached by men like Spurgeon, G. Campbell Morgan, D. L. Moody, R. A. Torrey, A. W. Tozer to name a few. I was challenged by a question in one of Tozer’s sermons, “Why do our prayers not get answered?” I know the standard answer, sometimes it is yes, sometimes it is no, and sometimes it is not yet. This can be true, but it also can be a cop out!
We attempted to get below the surface and delve into the question of Why is it that Elijah prayed and it stopped raining, started raining, fire fell from heaven, the widow of Zarephath’s child was resurrected and yet when we pray nothing happens? It could be complicated, but it may not be so complicated. Could we consider that we are guilty of the James 4:2 problem of being sinful, prayerless, and praying with the wrong motives.
I have heard recently that the Boomer generation which I am a part of is the most materialistic generation ever. Could it be that the reason that our prayers are not answered is because they sound more like My kingdom come, My will be done on earth and lets forget heaven.
A. W. Tozer recorded in his sermon “Prayer for Revival” most likely preached in the 1950s that the two objectives of our prayer should be 1)A Restoration of the Vision of God 2) The Church delivered from her babylonian captivity. Those who were around in the 1950s might say that would be more appropriate today. My analysis is that this message is relevant every day and to every generation, because we are all bent towards a worldly, selfish drift and away from a proper view of God in His holiness as King over all including our lives.
I closed the message with these words: “The purpose of prayer is to make us like Christ. Move us away from the world, the flesh, and the devil. Eradicate humanism, materialism, pragmatism, and selfishness from our lives. We attempt to do the work of God with the means of the world. We depend on talent, technology, and money. The world offers us fame and fortunes(even in the church and especially in the church). Christ offers a cross and an unseen kingdom. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. . .until next time.