Selected Scriptures
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TRANSCRIPT
hidden page for editing transcriptIntroduction
Before we talk about the benefits of prayer, I think it is good to look into the meaning of prayer. What is prayer? According to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 98, it is defined as: ‘Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to His will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of His mercies.’ Here in this definition of prayer, we can see praising and thanksgiving unto the Lord, also confession of sins, and the last thing is supplication - or asking for things - agreeable to His will.
In other words, prayer is simply believers communicating with God personally or collectively as a group of believers. Therefore, it has nothing to do with unbelievers. Unbelievers may pray unto the living and true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but it is sure that, since there is no relationship between God and themselves, their prayers will not be heard.
This means that we, the believers, are so privileged to have this special right to go before the throne of grace boldly, in the name of Jesus Christ. Therefore, prayer is a privilege given to every true believer because we have a son-and-father relationship with God. Therefore, we can call God ‘Abba, Father,’ and we can go before His throne of grace boldly in the name of the Son, Jesus Christ. Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, we have this special right to pray unto the Lord.
Before we talk about the benefits of prayer, I would like to talk about two important things concerning prayer that we the believer must notice and take note in our heart.
Firstly, we must understand that our prayer cannot change God's eternal purpose and plan. Then a question may arise: why should we pray, since the sovereign God orders everything, and since we cannot change anything predetermined by God and His eternal purpose and plan, then why should we pray?
But we should understand that, though our prayer cannot change God's eternal purpose and plan, it does change the one who prays—the one who goes for prayer and earnestly prays unto the Lord. If we sincerely pray and ask of things that we need, and we ask for wisdom from Him, then God will reveal, and also God will change our motives and even our perspective concerning the things that are happening around us—especially things that happen in our lives, whether good or bad. We will understand what the will of God is in that situation.Therefore, we must understand that, though prayer cannot change God's eternal purpose and plan, we know that it changes the believer who prays according to the Bible unto the Lord.
Secondly, we must notice that prayer is not a spiritual gift. As mentioned above, it is a privilege given to every believer. When we carefully look into the spiritual gifts recorded in the Bible, we will see that prayer is not in the list. This means that every believer has this special gift or right to pray unto the Lord. We believers must pray, as our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and even the Bible commands us to pray.
If we look into Ephesians 6:10–18, there we will see the whole armour of God, which the believer must put on as we are living in this sin-cursed world, so that we may be able to stand against the temptations and even the fleshly desires. But one thing we should notice here, in verse 18, we are encouraged and exhorted to pray with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. This means that it is not enough to put on all the whole armour of God; we must also pray unto the Lord.
Prayer is not a spiritual gift given to certain believers, but is given to all and every believer. Therefore, we must pray unto the Lord. Without prayer, though we may put on all the armour of God, we will not be able to stand against worldly desires and the temptations of Satan. Only by prayer we can stand against all these things. This does not mean that we do not need to put on the whole armour of God—of course, it is compulsory—but only putting on the whole armour of God without prayer is powerless.
Only by prayer, then all the whole armour that we put on, will be effective, and we will be able to stand in the days of temptation. Therefore, we must keep in mind that prayer is like breathing. Some people say, ‘Yes, as a man without breathing cannot live, without prayer a believer will not survive spiritually.’
Therefore, we must take note that prayer is extremely important in a believer's life. Not only that, we must also know the benefits of prayer. Prayer is important, and in the Bible we can see several benefits of prayer. But out of those benefits, tonight I would like to draw attention to the important three benefits of prayer—only three will we look at.
I. Prayer Draws Us Closer To God (1 John 1:8-10; Psalm 66:18)
The first benefit of prayer is that it cleanses us from our sins and makes us to have a closer and intimate relationship with our God. Let me read 1 John 1:8–10. Let us turn our Bibles to the First Epistle General of John, Chapter 1, verses 8 to 10: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."
In this Word of God, we see that even believers—those who have been washed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ—as we are living in this world, we still sin against God. We are sinning in our thoughts, by our actions, and even by not doing the things commanded by God to do. It means that we have sins, and we have to confess our sins. If we say that, ‘I have no sin,’ then we make God a liar. We must acknowledge that we are sinners, only saved by grace, and in our Christian daily walk, we still commit sins knowingly and unknowingly.
Therefore, we are exhorted to confess our sins. As we see in the definition of prayer, there must be confession in prayer. Not only do we praise the Lord for who He is and we give thanks for what He has done for us, but we must also confess our sins unto the Lord so that we might be forgiven. This confession brings us closer to God. Even the sins we commit knowingly, unknowingly, or unconfessed sins may bring some friction between God and us. The relationship may be in jeopardy, but if we confess our sins sincerely before the Lord with humility, then God is ready to forgive our sins, and He is righteous also to forgive all our sins and unrighteousness.
Therefore, brethren, we must confess our sins sincerely before the Lord as we come before Him, as we make our supplications unto Him, so that our relationship may be restored, and we will have a very sweet fellowship with Him. Unconfessed sin God cannot forgive. Of course, God can forgive every sin, even the most heinous sin in this world, but He cannot forgive unconfessed sin.
Therefore, brethren, as we believers come before Him and pray unto Him, we must confess our sins. This confession in prayer will cleanse us from our sins, and our fellowship with God will be restored, and there will be a sweet fellowship with our God.
If we look into Luke 18:9–14, there we will see the parable of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ concerning the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the temple. Here, the Pharisee prayed without humility, thinking he was righteous before the Lord. But on the other hand, the tax collector dared not to look up to heaven but prayed unto the Lord, ‘Lord, be merciful unto a sinner.’ He confessed his sin, he acknowledged his sinfulness, and he asked for God's mercy. God forgave his sins, and he went home with joy and happiness.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, how important is the confession of sins! We need to confess our sins. The psalmist writes in Psalm 32:1–5, let me read for all of us: "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah." - verse 5, let us take note - "I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin."
Here, the psalmist acknowledges his sin, and asks for God's forgiveness. He confesses, and we see God forgave his iniquity. Also, in Psalm 66:18, the psalmist declares: "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord" - my Lord - "will not hear me." This simply and clearly tells us that if we keep our sins within us and do not confess them before the Lord, then our prayers will not be heard, and our prayer will not be answered. Therefore, we must confess our sins. This confession in prayer not only receives forgiveness from the Lord but also it restores our sweet fellowship, our sweet relationship with the Lord. Therefore, brothers and sisters, for our prayer to be heard so that our sweet fellowship with God may be restored, let us confess sincerely before the Lord our sins.
II. Prayer Overcomes Fear (Philippians 4:6-7)
Secondly, prayer gives us comfort and peace of mind. In other words, prayer overcomes fear. As we are living in this sin-cursed world, full of troubles, sorrow, suffering, and even future uncertainty, if we pray honestly unto the Lord, we will have peace of mind because the Bible, the Word of God, promises us so.
Let us turn to Philippians 4:6-7. Let me read for all of us. Here the Apostle Paul exhorts, "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
The Bible clearly promises—the Word of God promises us—that if we pray earnestly unto the Lord with thanksgiving, trusting in Him, and if we ask for things agreeable to His will in the name of Jesus Christ, then here is the answer. The promise is here: ‘The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep our hearts and minds through our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus.
In this world, if we look around at what is happening, and if we turn on our televisions, there we can see no peace—only war, fighting, hatred, and so on. There is no peace in this world. As we know, because of sin, all the people in this world are suffering, many kinds of trouble and difficulties, and there is no peace at all.
But we are promised here that as we come before the Lord in prayer - the peace of God - God will grant us peace in our hearts and our minds as we commit ourselves and our cares and pray unto Him. This peace is none other than internal calmness and security.
Of course, when we think of the future of our children, especially in Myanmar as we are in this political chaos, when we think about tomorrow, when we think of next month—of course, no one knows what will happen. The future is not bright at all, humanly speaking. But when we pray and commit ourselves unto the Lord, when we commit our children and even our situations to Him and trust in Him, then we can have this peace of mind—the peace that God has promised us even in this kind of situation.
Of course, in this world, we will have tribulation; we will face many troubles. But if we go before the Lord in prayer, then we will have this peace of mind—the peace of God, which passeth all understanding.
Even the unbelievers and the worldly people may wonder when we enjoy happiness in the Lord, when we rejoice in the Lord, even in these kinds of situations, difficulties, and troubles. Yes, the worldly people will not understand what we have in Christ by Jesus—the peace of God.
Yes, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ promised His disciples before His ascension - Peace I leave with you, and my peace is not as the world giveth. But the peace of Christ that we have is supernatural peace, which passeth all understanding. Even sometimes the believer, we ourselves cannot understand it. It is beyond our knowledge and imagination.
Though we are faced with difficulties and troubles, when we pray and have fellowship with the Lord, confessing our sins before the Lord, then we are filled with joy and happiness, and we have peace of mind. Because Jesus said in John 16:33: "I have overcome the world." Yes, nothing can destroy—nothing can put away—the peace that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ if we pray earnestly and have sweet fellowship with the Lord. Yes, in this world, we will face temptations, sins, and fleshly desires as we are still in this body. But if we pray, then prayer will keep us from falling into temptation and sins.
III. Prayer Keeps Us From Yielding To Temptation (Matthew 26:41; 1 Peter 5:8)
If we look at Matthew 26:41, and also in other Gospels—Mark 14:38 and Luke 22:40—there we see our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on the night He was betrayed. He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane with His disciples, but the disciples could not wait for Him.
While our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was praying, submitting His will unto the will of the Father, the disciples were sleeping. When Jesus came and saw them sleeping, Jesus said: ’Watch and pray, lest you fall into temptations.’ (Matthew 26:41).
Therefore, the third benefit of prayer, which we are going to meditate on tonight, is that it keeps us from yielding to temptations and sins, and even our sinful desires.
Of course, the believers are Satan's target. He tries to tempt us; he tries to lead us into sin. He tries to mar and even tries to destroy our Christian testimony and witness in this world. As we see in 1 Peter 5:7, we see that we are exhorted to: ‘Cast all our cares unto the Lord in prayer because God cares for us’.
And in verse 8, we are once again reminded of Satan's active working in this world, especially upon the believers: ‘Our adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, is walking here and there, trying to find whom he may devour." (1 Peter 5:8)
Therefore, we must be very careful. How can we resist all these temptations and our fleshly desires and sinful desires? Only by praying always in the Lord. We must pray earnestly so that we might not fall into temptations.
Men are prone to sin. How can we resist this temptation? Yes, we need to put on the whole armour of God. On top of that, we must pray earnestly unto the Lord. Only by prayer and in fellowship with the Lord then will we be able to overcome our sinful desires and even the temptations of Satan.
Satan is so cunning. He will try his best to lure us and make us fall into temptation and sin. Therefore, brothers and sisters, don't put your confidence in your wisdom, knowledge, past experience, or past achievements in your spiritual walk. Rather, daily—every day—we must trust in the Lord. Put our confidence in Him, put our cares in His hand, so that we will be able to overcome the temptations and sins through Christ, who strengthens us, we can do everything.
But how can we get the strengthening power of Christ? Only by praying—only by going unto the throne of grace. Confess your sins. Confess our sins and also put our trust and confidence in Him and trust in Him—not putting our trust and confidence in ourselves, because we are so weak. We are nothing without Christ. Therefore, we must go to Christ; we must go tom God the Father in prayer for help. By so doing, we will be able to overcome the temptation and sin.
Conclusion
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, tonight, we meditate on the three important benefits of prayer.
Prayer cleanses our sins at the confession of our sins. Of course, if we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins, and our relationship and the sweet fellowship will be restored.
The second benefit is that when we pray, trusting in our God with humility and sincerity, then the peace of God will keep us, especially our hearts and minds. This peace of God that we have is a supernatural one. Unbelievers will not understand it. Even in times of troubles and difficulties, and even in times of prosperity, we can have this peace of God in this sin-cursed world.
The third benefit is this: If we pray, confessing our sins and praying earnestly unto the Lord, trusting in His power, then we can overcome temptations and sins. Even our adversary, the devil, Satan, may try his best to put us down in our spiritual walk with the Lord, but he will not be able to overcome us. He will be defeated by prayer.
So, brothers and sisters, knowing all these important benefits of prayer, acknowledging the benefits of prayer, let us continue to pray earnestly, fervently, and consistently, so that our fellowship with God will be restored, our sins will be forgiven, and we will have peace even in this sin-cursed world, in the most difficult times, we will also be able to overcome the temptation of Satan.
May the Lord help us. Let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father we thank Thee for Thy words. We thank Thee for the privilege to pray unto Thee. Lord, as we come before Thee in prayer, forgive us of all our sins. We acknowledge that we are sinners, just saved by grace. Forgive all our sins committed knowingly, unknowingly, in words, in thoughts, and in our actions.
Lord, once again, we pray that Thou would also continue to bless us with spiritual discernment, as we are living in this sin-cursed world full of confusions. Even in the midst of the temptations of Satan, Lord, give us wisdom from above, so that we may know how to approach Thy throne of grace and always have fellowship with Thee.
Lord, help us and bless each one of us here as we pray unto Thee. All these things we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
THE BOOK OF 1 JOHNThe Benefits Of PrayerThe Benefits Of PrayerSelected Scriptures
Message 5: To Fight the Good Fight of Faith is to Hate the WorldMessage 5: To Fight the Good Fight of Faith is to Hate the World1 John 2:15-17
Message 8 – Asking and ReceivingMessage 8 – Asking and Receiving1 John 3:20-24
Message 9: Our Confidence in PrayerMessage 9: Our Confidence in Prayer1 John 5:14-15
Message 10: To Pray or Not to PrayMessage 10: To Pray or Not to Pray1 John 5:16-17
Am I a Committed Christian?Am I a Committed Christian?John 21:18-23
