Renew My Church to Ministry

I am starting a new series of sermons “Renewal of the Church”.    We need to cooperate with the Father God, so that the church might bear much fruit.

John 15:1‭-‬2 NIV “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

The church is struggling for renewal today. The nature of the struggle which is conformity to the world or transformation according to God’s will. It’s also God’s plan that all members of the body function according to the measure of faith He has given us and for us minister as the grace of God directs us. 

For an audio recording of the sermon click the YouTube link at the end of the manuscript.

To see a video of the entire service, click this link https://youtu.be/jgj9WmDtizA

Sermon Scripture

Romans 12:1‭-‬6 NIV Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;

Ephesians 4:7‭-‬13 NIV But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Text:

Romans 12:1‭-‬2 NIV Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Ephesians 4:7‭, ‬12 NIV But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.‬12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

 Introduction

I am starting a new series of sermons “Renewal of the Church,”.    We need to cooperate with the Father God, so that the church might bear much fruit.

John 15:1‭-‬2 NIV “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

The church is struggling for renewal today. Romans 12 spells out the nature of the struggle which is conformity to the world or transformation according to God’s will. When you get an opportunity read Romans chapter 12.

This struggle between conformity and transformation is the same struggle that the Corinthian church had between the carnal and the spiritual that resulted in Paul writing a letter,  that we know today is 1 Corinthians, which gives instructions concerning the type of conduct that should not be tolerated in a Christian Church.   Among the myriad problems in the Corinthian church were: claims of spiritual superiority over one another, suing one another in public courts, abusing the communal meal,  and sexual misbehavior. We talked about one of those things when we took the Lord’s Supper today.

Paul wrote to demand higher ethical and moral standards. 

In addition to Romans 12 also read 1 all of 1 Corinthians.

It’s also the same struggle as the church in Laodicea that Jesus addressed in His revelation to John, between the cold, the lukewarm, and the hot.

Revelation 3:14‭-‬18 NIV “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

God’s plan for the church is for each person to present himself or herself as a living sacrifice, not conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that we can fully demonstrate God’s will. 

Romans 12:1‭-‬2 NIV Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

It’s also God’s plan that all members of the body function according to the measure of faith He has given us and for us minister as the grace of God directs us. 

As it says in:

Ephesians 4:7‭, ‬12 NIV But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

So my prayer is and yours should be that God renews not just Christ Church but the entire Body of Christ  so that every member of the body answers the call to the ministry of believers. 

According to scripture, we all have a Christian duty toward others.

First, we have a Christian duty to serve each other. 

1 Peter 4:10 NIV Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

It is in our service that all will see God's grace in action as we demonstrate our faith. Service is the embodiment of Christian love toward others.

Second, we have a Christian duty to encourage one another. 

1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

It is easy in this world to become discouraged.  It is through encouragement that people can rise up and overcome any obstacle they may encounter. So, it is our Christian duty to help them believe, overcome and stay faithful in a discouraging world.

Third, we have a Christian duty to help carry burdens for others. 

Galatians 6:2 NIV Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Nobody should have to walk alone in the valley of being burdened. We need to walk with others and share in and lighten the heavy load many carry on their shoulders. Jesus removed our greatest burden at the cross. Therefore, we -- just as Jesus did -- need to help our brothers and sisters.   

Lastly, we have a Christian duty to pray for each other. 

James 5:16 NIV Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

The heavy loads we carry just don't stay in the natural world, but also belong in the spiritual. We must pray for each other. Sometimes when we are tired and burdened we just don't feel like praying. So, we as Christians must intercede for our brothers and sisters and pray on their behalf. Powerful and effective prayer will make all the difference.

So let’s look at our call to ministry from two viewpoints.

1. A scriptural understanding of ministry

2. A practical application of ministry 

I. Scriptural understanding of ministry.

A. Romans 12:3–6 contains several insights that describe ministry.

Romans 12:3‭-‬6 NIV For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;

In verse 3 in it Paul talks about the grace that was given to him and then he says that all believers are given faith to express grace but not all to the same degree.  We all have a ministry but we don’t all have the same ministry.  We don’t all function in the same way.

Romans 12:3 NIV For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

In order for us to execute our individual ministry every believer has gifts given to them by grace.

Romans 12:6 NIV We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;

All believers have gifts given to them by grace, but not all have the same gift.  

This Scripture passage calls us to be renewed in our minds toward the church because God has given every member of the body a call to ministry.

Romans 12:2 NIV Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Everybody has a gift and everybody is called to minister so none of us should think we are more important than anybody else.   

Romans 12:3 NIV For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

B. The passage that we read at the beginning, in Ephesians 4:7–12 adds to this concept.

Ephesians 4:7 NIV But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

Every believer is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ

Every believer! 

Compare that verse

Ephesians 4:7 NIV But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

with  with Romans 12:3

Romans 12:3 NIV For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

2. Paul said that God gave different believers different roles to fulfill so that the body of Christ may be built up”  So, God gives some gifts to believers so they can prepare other believers for ministry. 

Ephesians 4:11‭-‬12 NIV So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

God gives us these gifts to be used not hidden or neglected.  He gives them so that we can fulfill His purpose that the gospel be preached everywhere and to everybody through the church.

Scripture says that all believers have been created in Christ Jesus for good works.

Ephesians 2:8‭-‬10 NIV For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Scripture also says that all believers are priests,

1 Peter 2:4‭-‬5‭, ‬9‭-‬10 NIV As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.‬ 9‭-‬10 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

What does that mean.  It means that every believer  now has direct access to God.  

God has called us to serve Him from our hearts by first of all offering our lives as living sacrifices.

Romans 12:1 NIV Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

When we do that we are able to serve the Lord and use our gifts, abilities, time, resources, and energy to help make disciples of all nations. 

This does not mean each believer can serve independently of others. As we read earlier.

Romans 12:4‭-‬5 NIV For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Each person is given gifts to use in serving within the church. With each person serving together, we can make major accomplishments in changing lives and reaching people for Christ.

Although our gifts and ministries may differ, no believer is exempt from serving God to build up the body of Christ.  So we need to value our gifts as precious from the Lord and we need to use them to fulfill our purpose in God’s plan of salvation.   

 II. In addition to the scriptural application of ministry there is also a practical application.  

Now that we understand that we all have a ministry let’s look at some  practical applications.

A. Today Christ ministers through His body the Church.

John 14:12 NIV Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

If we confine ministry to the pastor or the church staff, we miss God’s plan for the church. This confines too few people to a work that is too big to be done.

Matthew 9:35‭-‬38 NIV Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

C. So it’s “all hands on deck” Everybody is a servant, not a spectator. 

Leave the stands and get on the playing field. Leave the balcony and get on the stage. We are players; God is the coach! We are actors; God is the director!

D. I must warn you, there will be a price to pay for ministry  

Matthew 16:24‭-‬27 NIV Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

We must die to ourselves and live in obedience to God’s perfect plan. 

Commitment calls for a living sacrifice!

Romans 12:1 NIV Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

God has equipped His church and given gifts so that none of us have to stand alone.  As we read earlier we have all been given grace and a measure of faith and gifts to be used in ministry.  No one should just be along for the ride.  We all have a purpose and a ministry that only you can do.  I can’t do your ministry, you can’t do mine but both ministries are equally important.

I encourage each of you if you don't already know your spiritual gift to identify it because we need it to operate in the church for us to accomplish the task that God has for us.  If you are sitting on your gift then the church iis missing it like a part of the body missing a finger.  It can’t function at the optimal level without that finger as small and insignificant as you might think it is. It still keeps the body from functioning as God would have it. 

Sermon Audio

Prayer Is for Real

Photo credit:  Dayle's Blog

This is the manuscript of the ninth and final sermon in the "Listening To Heaven's Infallible Teacher" series from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in Matthew Chapters 5-7.  

Matthew 7:7 NIV “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Prayer is for real! It cannot be explained away psychologically as an expression of wishful thinking. It can't be ignored as the residual of some ancient social custom. Prayer is neither child’s play, nor is it a religious exercise. It is as much a part of life as breath itself. Prayer is first a relationship. It’s a dynamic conversation between two individuals who love, care for and enjoy one another.  It is an interaction between you and God.  

In this portion of the Sermon on the Mount, Christ unequivocally said, “Prayer is for real! Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you

In this assertion that prayer is for real, Jesus offered a pattern, a promise, and a proof (3 Ps).

For an audio recording of the sermon click the YouTube link at the end of the manuscript.

To see a video of the entire service, click this link https://youtu.be/EmR0sSs7sUU

Scripture:

Luke 18:1‭-‬14 NIV Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Sermon Scripture 

Matthew 7:7‭-‬11 NIV “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Text

Matthew 7:7 NIV: ““Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Introduction

Personal comments

Prayer is for real! It cannot be explained away psychologically as an expression of wishful thinking. It can't be ignored as the residual of some ancient social custom. Prayer is neither child’s play, nor is it a religious exercise. It is as much a part of life as breath itself.

If you surveyed books on prayer in a Christian bookstore, you'd find varied and often conflicting advice. Some authorities insist that successful prayer is scheduled; others favor impromptu prayer. One writer says fasting should accompany prayer, but another tells us to pray in any circumstance. Still another says that prayer is best done when alone, though someone else urges us to join with others. Some claim that prayer requires careful preparation and thought, while a conflicting authority says prayer should flow spontaneously from our hearts.

Prayer is first a relationship. It’s a dynamic conversation between two individuals who love, care for and enjoy one another.  

It is an interaction  between you and God.  

But the question still comes, though often unspoken, “Can we, in a scientific age, continue to believe in prayer?” This question is not unique to today. People have always questioned the value and effectiveness of prayer, even in the time of Christ. Some have honest doubts, some are skeptics, and still others question the value of prayer because they have observed professing Christians misusing prayer.

Naming and claiming stuff in prayer out of selfishness. 

In this portion of the Sermon on the Mount, Christ unequivocally said, “Prayer is for real! Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you

In this assertion that prayer is for real, Jesus offered a pattern, a promise, and a proof (3 Ps).

1. First the pattern.

Jesus offered a pattern for prayer in Matthew 7:7, our text today. It is a pattern of asking, seeking, and knocking. The followers of Christ recognized that he, more than any other person, could teach them how to pray.  

Luke 11:1 NIV One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

They were fascinated with his preaching, yet they never asked him to teach them how to preach. They would sit for hours and listen to him teach, yet they never asked him to instruct them in how to teach. But when they heard him pray, they came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray” 

He more than anyone else could give the perfect pattern.

Jesus continues to stand as the supreme authority on prayer. His whole life was immersed in the spirit of prayer. He knows what it can accomplish, and he knows the power it can apply to any situation. In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus outlined the pattern to be followed. Ask, seek,  and knock.

A. “Ask.” 

To ask means that we acknowledge our need and admit our own helplessness. We all experience times when we can only come before Christ asking. We are very much like a blind person on a corner who asks for someone to take them safely across the street. He asks and at the same time has nothing to offer in return. 

When we pray we can't be self righteous like the Pharisee in one of Jesus' parables.  Jean read it for us this morning.   

Luke 18:9‭-‬12 NIV To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

Well, prayer has nothing to do with personal merit or the promise of doing better in the future. Real prayer is expressed in the words of the tax collector.

Luke 18:13 NIV “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

Asking means that we acknowledge that we have a need.

When we ask for something, we have to address our need to a person.  We can't ask some inanimate object for a response. So, when we pray, we address ourselves not to a thing, but to a personal God who hears and cares.

In telling us to ask Jesus was saying that God is always approachable. He is present with his ears open, and his hands extended.  Remember what I said earlier, prayer is a relationship.  It is an interaction between you and God.  It’s a dynamic conversation between two individuals who love, care for and enjoy one another.  

Asking also means that we can pray specifically. 

Philippians 4:6 NIV Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Max Lucado, one of my favorite authors gives three reasons to be specific in prayer 

• A specific prayer is a serious prayer. If I say to you, “Do you mind if I come by your house sometime?” you may not take me seriously. But suppose I say, “Can I come over this Friday night? I have a problem at work, and I really need your advice. I can be there at seven, and I promise I will leave by eight.” Then you know my petition is sincere. When we offer specific requests, God knows we are sincere. 

 

• Specific prayer is an opportunity for us to see God at work. When we see Him respond in specific ways to specific requests, our faith grows. Let me give you an example.  The book of Genesis relates the wonderful prayer of Abraham’s servant. He was sent to Mesopotamia, Abraham’s homeland, to find a wife for Abraham’s son. How does a servant select a wife for someone else? This servant prayed about it.

Genesis 24:12–14 NLT “O Lord, God of my master, Abraham,” he prayed. “Please give me success today, and show unfailing love to my master, Abraham. See, I am standing here beside this spring, and the young women of the town are coming out to draw water. This is my request. I will ask one of them, ‘Please give me a drink from your jug.’ If she says, ‘Yes, have a drink, and I will water your camels, too!’—let her be the one you have selected as Isaac’s wife. is how I will know that you have shown unfailing love to my master.” —

Could the servant have been more detailed? He asked for success in his endeavor. He envisioned an exact dialogue, and then he stepped forth in faith. Then scripture says,

Genesis 24:17‭-‬20 NLT Running over to her, the servant said, “Please give me a little drink of water from your jug.” “Yes, my Lord,” she answered, “have a drink.” And she quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and gave him a drink. When she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels, too, until they have had enough to drink.” So she quickly emptied her jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw water for all his camels.

Wow she said the exact words. The servant had an answered prayer. He saw God at work.

• Specific prayer creates a lighter load for us to carry. Many of our anxieties are threatening because they are ill defined and vague. If we can reduce the challenge into a phrase, we bring it down to size. It is one thing to pray, Lord, please bless my meeting tomorrow. It is another thing to pray, Lord, I have a conference with my supervisor at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow. She intimidates me.Would you please grant me a spirit of peace so I can sleep well tonight? Grant me wisdom so I can enter the meeting prepared. And would You soften her heart toward me and give her a generous spirit? Help us have a gracious conversation in which both of us benefit and Your name is honored. What you have done by being specific is you have reduced the problem into a prayer-sized challenge. 

Now this doesn't mean that we can make demands or put conditions on our prayers.  I am also not suggesting that 

 the power of prayer is in chanting the right formula or quoting some secret code. 

Don't think for a moment that the power of prayer is in the way we present it. God is not manipulated or impressed by our formulas or eloquence. But He is moved by the sincere request. After all, He is our Father, and as His children we honor Him when we tell him exactly what we need. 

We don't have to filter out our requests before offering them to God, but like a little child, we are to open our hearts to God. He is a good and loving Father who will answer those requests that he knows are best for us. And he will answer them in such a way as to fulfill his will for us.

Matthew 6:9‭-‬10 NIV “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

To pray is to seek God’s will. Many times we do not know what God’s will is, so we simply let our request be made known and ask God to grant it only according to his will. This way we can pray with confidence, knowing that if we pray according to God’s will, he will hear us.

B. Ask then “Seek.” 

Seeking requires effort. In the model prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, in which Christ told us to pray for our daily bread, he was not instructing us to sit down and passively do nothing. 

Matthew 6:11 NIV Give us today our daily bread.

Rather, he was indicating that we should ask God to give us the opportunity to earn our daily bread. When a farmer prays this prayer, it means that he is asking for the opportunity to prepare the ground, plant seed, cultivate the crops, and tend the plants. 

And when we pray, “Thy kingdom come,” we are praying that we will become so committed in the matter of personal soul winning and building up one another that God’s kingdom will be consummated soon.

C. Ask, seek and  “Knock.” 

The third step in Christ’s pattern of prayer is to knock. Knocking carries with it the concept of effort plus persistence. Jesus illustrated this with the story of a man who continued to knock late at night on his neighbor’s door until the man got up and honored his request. 

Luke 11:5‭-‬8 NIV Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

So here's the question, How long must we keep on praying? 

Here's the answer, pray until the answer comes.

Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

Luke 18:1‭-‬5 NIV Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ”

So the pattern is ask, seek, knock. 

II. There's A promise that comes if we follow the pattern 

Matthew 7:8 NIV For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

In Matthew 7:8 Jesus offered us the promise that if we ask, we will receive; and if we really seek, we will find; and if we continue to knock, the door will be opened to us. The verbs ask, seek, and knock are present imperatives. This means that Jesus is telling us to keep on asking, seeking, and knocking. We are never to be discouraged in prayer.

God promises that he will always answer our prayers. He may not answer them in our way, but he will always answer them in his way, which is the best way. He alone has perfect love, perfect understanding, and perfect wisdom.

The question is, “Who is this promise made to?” It is certainly not a blank check written out to everyone in general. It is a promise made to followers of Christ who are sincere enough to keep on asking, seeking, and knocking. Prayer is for real when the pattern is followed and the promise is accepted.  But keep in mind we can only be confident in this if our prayer is in God's will for us.

III. We have the pattern, ask, seek, and knock, we have the promise if we follow the pattern now here's the Proof.

Matthew 7:9‭-‬11 NIV “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

The proof is in these 3 verses. Here Jesus used the analogy of a father responding to the request of his son. Then he drove home the point that if we as frail, sinful human beings desire to answer our children’s requests, our heavenly Father surely desires to answer the requests we bring to him. 

Proof that prayer is for real is found in the God to whom we pray. It is found in his nature, his resources, his wisdom, and his love. 

Conclusion

Prayer can become real in your life if you follow these simple steps: First, decide what your need is and get it clearly focused in your mind. Second, in light of what Scripture teaches, determine if your desire is right. 

As you talk to God, get in such a place or such a state of mind that other things will not distract you. Remember that you are talking to God and not to a human being. Share with God what you will do to help bring about the answer to your own prayer. Answered prayer is more often a cooperative effort between a person and God than simply unilateral action on the part of God.

God has graciously chosen to give us the privilege of being His partners in both the physical and spiritual areas of life. Through prayer we work with Him in defeating the powers of evil and in bringing about the fulfillment of His loving purposes in the world. God established the partnership from the very beginning.

Genesis 1:28 (NLT)28  Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” 

Genesis 2:15 (NLT)15  The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.

Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)  For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

2 Corinthians 5:20 (NLT)20  So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

God has a long history of accomplishing His will through people.  Often having the people who have been doing the praying do the work. 

When Jesus was teaching His disciples, He left no doubt as to who God would rely on to carry out the work of His kingdom.

Luke 10:1-3 (NKJV)1  After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.2  Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.3  Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.

God does very little on earth without you.  When we pray “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth”  we are opening ourselves up to being used by God for Him to accomplish just those things.  We all have a role to play and so that we can perform that role we have been given talents and spiritual gifts. 

Ephesians 4:11-16 (NKJV)11  And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,12  for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,13  till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;14  that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,15  but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ--16  from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Since we are in a partnership and we know who the stronger and more dominant partner is we want Him to do the heavy lifting and He does but prayer shows that we want to and are willing to do our part, no matter how small that may be. 

Prayer is consenting to cooperate with God.  He works with us He doesn’t overpower us. 

Since we are in a partnership and we know who the stronger and more dominant partner is we want Him to do the heavy lifting and He does but prayer shows that we want to and are willing to do our part, no matter how small that may be.

Prayer is consenting to cooperate with God.  He works with us He doesn’t overpower us. 

Matthew 6:10 (NKJV)10  Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.

This is what the partnership is all about.  Prayer is God’s way of getting His will done on earth.  The emphasis is His will not ours.  God takes our requests which we through prayer and meditation become our desires which should match God’s desires for us. When we pray we should be asking God what actions He wants us to take as His partners. 

When your prayer is finished, never forget to be grateful to God and express that gratitude through thanksgiving. Be willing to accept God’s answer, whatever it may be, remembering that God’s will is always best.

Partners with God—what a privilege! What an incentive to pray!

Invitation for Salvation 

I heard a story once about a man who worked for a train company. He manned a junction booth at an old bridge that crossed over a river. He had to manually operate the rail switches on the dated bridge tracks, otherwise the train was likely to derail and go careening off the bridge.

The man had a preschool-age son who loved to accompany his daddy to work. He was fascinated by trains and enjoyed watching them as they passed by. Sometimes he’d even get to sit in his dad’s lap and help operate the switch controls. It was the perfect playground for a little boy.

One day the boy was standing down by the river when a train was approaching the bridge. As the boy took a few steps out so he could better see the train, he tripped and tumbled headlong into the swirling waters. His father, seated in the control booth, saw the accident and knew immediately that he had only a few seconds to act before his son would be out of reach. He also knew with gut-wrenching clarity that he could not retrieve his son and get back to the booth in time to secure the train’s safe passage over the bridge. If he went for his son, the train would probably derail, fly off the bridge, and kill all the passengers on board. . After a brief pause, the girl continued. “I’ve been told that that’s what God did for me, that basically he sent his Son to die on a brutal cross so I wouldn’t have to. I’m not sure I understand it all, but if that’s true, if that’s what God is like, then that’s the God I want to believe.”

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