Prayer Within & Without

Scripture:

1Timothy 2:8

I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

 

Theme:

Prayer:  Within & Without

 

Introduction:

• The Apostle Paul around 66-67 A.D. wrote the First Epistle to Timothy. Timothy, Paul’s “own son in the faith”, was instructed and encouraged by such writings while accompanying Paul or sometimes leading a church in Paul’s absence.
• Paul first adopted Timothy, whose named means honoring God, during a visit to Lystra where Paul circumcised Timothy to be an evangelist for the faith.
• Timothy was young, but Paul’s high regard for his mother, Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois, served as high references.
• The result was a resume of ministerial activity through such places as Phrygia, Troas, Berea, Philippi, Ephesus, Macedonia, Rome, and Thessalonica ending in Ephesus where he settled and later found a “martyr’s grave”.
• The First Letter to Timothy was written (1) of counsels to Timothy regarding the worship and organization of the Church, and the responsibilities resting on its several members; and (2) of exhortation to faithfulness in maintaining the truth amid surrounding errors.
• This 2^nd chapter deals specifically with two primary edicts to the church through Timothy…1)that prayer be instituted as the primary resource of communication with God for ALL people, and 2)characteristics of how men and women are to carry themselves in the church and outside in the community.
• The 8^th verse, our text, instructs people on specific traits of effective prayer: 1)Pray everywhere, 2)lift holy hands, 3)pray without wrath, and 4)pray without doubting.

 

Body:

Prayer

Definitions by anonymous writers:

• The soul’s sincere desire for change…unspoken…unuttered.

–DESIRE

• Prayer is like the dove that Noah sent forth, which blessed him not only when it returned with an olive-leaf in its mouth, but when it never returned at all.

                —FAITH…any answer from God is the right answer

 

Paul’s four key requirements to effective prayer in the text:

“pray every where” —

• Not only “without ceasing” — 1Thessolonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.” BUT ALSO every where!
• The difference of places is taken away – Matthew 6:6, “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”
  • Jesus opens the door to a revolutionized institution of prayer through three ambiguities here:
  • Who is “thou”? —  One or many
  • What is the “closet”? – Environment, Mind, or Mouth
  • What is the “Door”? – Senses, thoughts, or lips
• Doesn’t matter where you are…the prayer is WITHIN you!!

“lifting up holy hands” —

• The sign for prayer itself, the lifting up of hands for the calling upon God.
• When driving next to a big truck, if you look at the wheels, you will drive right into them. Focus on God, on high, and your prayer will be directed the same.

“without wrath” –

• Without the griefs and offences of the mind, which hinder us from calling upon God with a good conscience.

“and (without) doubting” —

• Doubting is against faith, a key element of prayer — James 1:6-7, “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.”

 

Conclusion:

As Jesus taught, prayer was to be as the Lord’s prayer:

Matthew 6:9-13 :

“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”

BUT:

1. I cannot say “Our,” if I live in a water-tight spiritual compartment; if I think a special place in Heaven is reserved for my denomination.
2. I cannot say “Father,” if I do not demonstrate the relationship in my daily life.
3. I cannot say “which art in Heaven,” if I am so occupied with the earth that I am laying up no treasure there.
4. I cannot say “Hallowed be Thy Name,” if I, who am called by His name, am not holy.
5. I cannot say “Thy Kingdom come,” if I am not doing all in my power to hasten its coming.
6. I cannot say “Thy will be done,” if I am questioning, resentful of or disobedient to His will for me.
7. I cannot say “on earth as it is in Heaven,” if I am not prepared to devote my life here to His service.
8. I cannot say “Give us this day our daily bread,” if I’m living on past experiences.
9. I cannot say “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us,” if I harbour a grudge against anyone.
10. I cannot say “Lead is not into temptation,” if I deliberately place myself, or remain in a position where I am likely to be tempted.
11. I cannot say “Deliver us from evil”, if I am not prepared to fight in the spiritual realm with the weapon of prayer.
12. I cannot say “Thine is the Kingdom”, if I do not accord the King the disciplined obedience of a loyal subject.
13. I cannot say “Thine is the power”, if I fear what men may do; or what my neighbour may think.
14. I cannot say “Thine is the glory”, if I am seeking glory for myself. I cannot say “Forever and forever,” if my horizon is bounded by the things of time.
15. I cannot say “Amen,” if I do not also add, “Cost what it may,” for to say this prayer will cost EVERYTHING.

 

Prayer…

Within the soul, but without wrath.

Within the mind, but without doubt.

Within the mouth, but without pride.

Within the life, but without self.

 

What Prayer can do:

• Abraham’s servant prayed, and God directed him to the person who should be wife to his master’s son and heir (Gen. 24:10-20).
• Jacob prayed, and God inclined the heart of his irritated brother, so that they met in peace and friendship (Gen. 32:24-30; 33:1-4).
• Samson prayed to God, and God showed him a well where he quenched his burning thirst, and so lived to judge Israel (Judg. 15:18-20).
• Elijah prayed on Mount Carmel and God made fire fall from Heaven to burn up the alter, dry up the water, bring back the people to their allegiance to God, and slay the prophets of Baal. (1Kings 18)
• David prayed, and God defeated the counsel of Ahithophel (2 Sam. 15:31; 16:20-23; 17:14-23).
• Daniel prayed, and God enabled him both to tell Nebuchadnezzar his dream and to give the interpretation of it (Dan. 2: 16-23).
• Nehemiah prayed, and God inclined the heart of the king of Persia to grant him leave of absence to visit and rebuild Jerusalem (Neh. 1:11; 2:1-6).
• Esther and Mordecai prayed, and God defeated the purpose of Haman, and saved the Jews from destruction (Esther 4:15-17; 6:7, 8).
• The believers in Jerusalem prayed, and God opened the prison doors and set Peter at liberty, when Herod had resolved upon his death (Acts 12:1-12).
• Paul prayed that the thorn in the flesh might be removed, and his prayer brought a large increase of spiritual strength, while the thorn perhaps remained (2 Cor. 12:7-10).

 

• I Prayed, and….

 

#18