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This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Gary Hashley, Tim Hebbert and Brad Kilthau.
Gary Hashley
The question today that we are going to look at says, "What about prayer? Is it really effective in accomplishing anything? Or is it just something we do when there is nothing else to do to make us feel better?" What about prayer? You know, there are those who say "Prayer, you know, if you pray in the right way, you can have anything you want." And there are those who say, "Well, prayer doesn't change anything." I don't think either of those perspectives is accurate. But there are those who get discouraged, because they wonder if prayer really makes any difference. I received a missionary letter from a friend of mine who is with, God's Helping Hands, a children's ministry in Michigan, and he tells about speaking. One of their teams was at a camp this past summer, and they met a boy named Danny. And Danny came and he talked to Chris after chapel. And he said, "Uncle Chris, I just wanted to tell you that I don't believe in God." Chris responds, "Why not?" And the boy says, "Because I tried praying to him and nothing happened, nothing changed. I heard no voice, not even a tingly feeling." Chris replied, "So you expected him to answer you your way?" And this boy said, "I prayed for five years and nothing happened." He said, "How do you know nothing happened?" He said, "Look, I haven't believed in God since I was five, okay?" And he says, "Tell me something, how old are you now?" And the boy answered, "Nine." So here's a boy that in his youth, in his young life had tried this thing called prayer. And whatever it was, he doesn't say what he was asking God to do. Maybe it was, you know, get his parents back together, maybe it was, heal Grandma. I don't know what it was, maybe he wanted a pony for Christmas. But whatever he had prayed about, he felt it was a waste of time to pray. And at nine years old, he was already saying, "I don't believe in God." And he based it totally on, "I prayed and nothing changed. I heard no voice, not even a tingly feeling." So part of that question I'd like to look at before I pass it off to my brothers here is, is prayer really effective in accomplishing anything? So I sat down today and I thought, okay, where are examples in scripture where prayer made a difference? And King Hezekiah in his life, in the record of his life in 2 Kings, we find two times when his prayer made a huge difference. In chapter 19, we find Hezekiah concerned because the Assyrians had showed up with an army way bigger than his, way stronger than his, and more equipped than his. And he goes to God and he prays for God to help them, and however God was going to help them, but to help them. And we find that in the night, God struck down 185,000 of the Assyrians. And when the Israelites came, they found that there were just all these dead bodies where the camp of the Assyrians had been. Another time in Hezekiah's life, the next chapter, chapter 20, God sends word to Hezekiah, "You're going to die." And it says, "Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and he prayed." And we find that God sends the prophet back and says, "God heard your prayer, and he's going to extend your life." And he did, 15 years longer. He was healed of the disease that supposedly was going to take his life, and he was now living on for more than a decade. Then I look in the New Testament, Peter's in prison, and the church gets together and prays. And an angel shows up, Peter thinks he's dreaming, angel shows up and gets him out of prison. He goes and knocks on the door where the people are praying, at first they don't even believe it. I don't think they were even praying in faith. They don't believe it until they find out, really it is Peter. And I think of James 4:2, which says you do not have, because you do not ask. So the part of the question I was asked to deal with, is prayer really effective in accomplishing anything? I would say yes based upon scripture, and I would say yes, based upon personal experience. I have seen God step in and respond to prayers in an outstanding, miraculous, over-the-top way. Does He always do what I ask him to do? No, because sometimes his answer is, "No Gary, I have a better idea," and I just need to trust Him in that. So Tim, we're going to shift over to your microphone, and does prayer just make us feel better when there's nothing else we can do? So grab that one and run.
Tim Hebbert
You know, I think the wording of the question, it says a lot, does prayer just make us feel better when nothing else will do? Implying that prayer is the last thing we do, not the first thing that we do. And when I look up just the whole process of prayer, prayer is not a button to push, but it's a relationship to be built. I know you guys agree with me, but I view prayer time as an intimate conversation with my father. And I can look to my earthly father, who's at heritage, and when I can get in to see him now, if I've got questions, if I'm needing advice, I still get it from him. Anytime I walk in and sit down and begin to have a conversation with him, I still have that sense. And do I feel better when I pray? Oh, absolutely. And I think I feel better when I pray, because I sense the intimacy. I'm not, I don't know where you guys are at with this, but I do ask, I do seek, I do knock. But I have learned over the course of my life to come with the only expectation that a sovereign God is going to do what He knows is best. But prayer reminds me that He listens, that He cares, that He's concerned, that He loves me. And so, yeah, that does make me feel better. Does it just make me feel better, just because I've said a few prayers? The person out there in the world that doesn't believe in God that thinks prayer is useless, that's what they're going to argue to you. That, "Well, it's just you saying some words and it makes you feel better." Well, for me, prayer is not necessarily about what I have to say, but shutting my mouth once in awhile and just sitting and soaking in the presence of God and letting his presence nourish me. So yes, that absolutely makes me feel better. But I think if we would start there more often than in there, maybe we wouldn't need to go any anywhere else. Because I think God wants us to bring things to Him first, not try to figure it all out on our own. And when, you know, we need an escape clause, "Okay now I'm going to go pray." But, anyway, that's my two cents. So Brad?
Brad Kilthau
Well, I think that's a good two cents Tim, I like that. That was good. And, you know, I think as we kind of finish this thought up today is, you know, prayer should be a basic part of the believers life. Somebody once said that, "Prayer is supposed to be like breathing for a Christian, easier to do than not to do." And it shouldn't be just like, "I got to do this," you know. And we do pray for a variety of reasons, I'll just give you just a few here." One is, prayer is a form of serving God, and you can study about that in Luke 2. Prayer is also, obeying God, because as we know in Philippians 4, those very famous verses six and seven, it says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God," and here it is what you're talking about Tim, "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus." Hey, if we got anything we need in life, God says, "Pray," it's a commandment. And if we look in the Bible, if Jesus thought it was worthwhile to pray, and he did a lot, it's obviously got to be for us. And then another reason to pray is that, God has his will, right? And we have to find that. And so prayer is a way of finding God's will. There are situations that come up in our life and yeah we've always got the answer, but as you guys are both saying, God's got the real answer. And so we find that in prayer. Prayer is also a way to prepare for major decisions. As we know in Luke 6, Jesus prayed all night before choosing the apostles, okay? And so, we should be doing the same. I don't think we should approach any major decision in our life without praying. In fact, I don't think we should do little decisions. Some of the guys through the years that I've mentored, some of the young men, I'll even tell them, "Hey, if you're out working in the field sometime and there's a bolt or a nut that's rusted into this piece of equipment and you can't get it loose, and you're struggling with it." I said, "Step back and pray that God would loosen it up." And they'll come back often and say, "You know what? I did that, and God loosened it up." You know, that's the way our God works. Prayer also helps us overcome demonic barriers in life. There's a lot of demonic barriers around us right now, and sometimes they box us in and prayer helps us to get past those barriers. Prayer also helps us get workers for the harvest. May we never seek to bring workers into the harvest without first praying that God would bring the right people for the right place and the right means of serving. Prayer is a great way to strengthen us to overcome temptation. In fact, in Matthew 26, we're told, watch and pray, as Jesus said to his followers, "Unless you enter into temptation, the spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak." And I think we could all say, "Yeah, our flesh is so often so weak." Prayer is a huge tool of overcoming temptation. And also prayer is used to strengthen others spiritually. We must not ever forget about that. And I think as pastors, we think of this a lot, maybe more than sometimes, other folks do in the church. But I don't know about you guys, but I'm always praying for somebody's spiritual growth, praying for their spiritual strength. And sometimes it has to come in a hard prayer because sometimes they're going through a tough time in life. Maybe it's financial, maybe it's their health. And they're asking me as the pastor to pray that their health would be restored or their finances would come in to meet their need. And often I'll find myself going to the Lord and saying, "Yes, there is that need, but would you please strengthen this person through that situation in their life? May they grow spiritually through this thing." Because really that's the main purpose of struggles that in our life. And Gary, you were saying how you're coming into the book of James and you're in your teaching series right now. And we find that's shared a lot in the book of James, of how testing strengthens us. And so that's a good thing actually in our life. So, you know, prayer again is a huge, vital, important part of our Christian life. And also somebody else once said this, "Prayer is like sharing the gospel with people. We do not know who will respond to the message of the gospel until we share it. But in the same way, we will never see the results of an answered prayer, unless we first pray." And yeah, when we pray and we see God answer those prayers, what an uplift of our spirit to see God working. Little things, big things, when we pray, and some people will even write this down in their morning devotion notes and carry that and look back and see how God answered that prayer. And it just lifts their spirit, encourages them and helps them to walk in their faith.
Gary Hashley
You know, there was a book that came out a number of years ago called, The Prayer of Jabez, just a little booklet. And there was one imagination scene in that book where he said, "He saw, in heaven, this mound of packages. This huge mountain of packages. And in his imagining, it was, he imagined asking God, "What is that mountain of packages?" And God's response was, "That's answers to prayers that were never prayed." And I wonder sometimes, you know, when James says, "You have not, because you ask not," we fail to pray. And like Tim, we fail to pray first, we see it as a last resort. But I don't want to get to heaven and find out that there really is a pile of answers and I just never bothered to pray.
Brad Kilthau
Right. And, you know, I guess when we think about our prayer life, you know, a lack of prayer really demonstrates a lack of faith kind of as Tim was alluding to, too. And a lack of trusting in God's word, because again, as has already been shared in our conversation, when we pray according to God's will, He promises to answer that. He promises to answer that prayer according to His will. And so if there's a decision in my life that needs to be made, or if there's a problem in somebody else's life, God's got the best answer. And so, if I pray to Him for his answer and for His will to be done, it's going to be perfect. And so that again, we're trusting in God when we pray like that. And so, yeah, God wants us to come to His throne. Jesus is our high priest right there. He opens the gate and lets us into the throne room with the father, and we can come in and pray at any time. And He loves to see us there approaching the father in that way. So good discussion guys that we had about prayer today, and there's a lot to say about it obviously, but we'll get to that maybe in another time.