How to Pray

I want to speak to you right now on the subject of Prayer with particular reference of the question how to pray if you're a new Christian you may ask how do I pray what do I do next if you're not a Christian you may be curious as to how Christians pray maybe you're on the tour Christian and you might find there are things you still need to learn on the question how do we pray I want to read from Hebrews chapter four verses 14 to 16 since then we have a great high priest that is passed through the heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast our confession but we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are and yet without sin let us then or let us therefore come with confidence one version says boldly unto the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need when we God be pleased to bless the reading and the teaching of this his most holy and infallible word brief word of Prayer Heavenly Father I asked now for the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus by your spirit to rest upon every mind of every person who may be watching at this moment in order that their perception of what I say will be heard received as you intend cleanse my tongue that I will be your transparent vehicle to pass on all that needs to be said nothing that doesn't need to be said help me to be very very clear very very simple may this be life-changing and the word that brings great honor glory to your name I ask in Jesus name Amen the question how do we pray well we learn from this wonderful verse hebrews chapter 4 verse 16 it's a great verse and the writer is speaking to discouraged Christians we know this the Epistle to the Hebrews is written to Jews who have made professions of faith in Christ they were discouraged I mean they were at rock bottom so much so that toward the end of this letter the writer says don't give up cast not away therefore your confidence they were discouraged but early in this letter the writer tells us how to pray maybe they were discouraged because they hadn't been praying enough I wonder if I could be talking to someone right now you are discouraged maybe you don't admit it to anybody maybe don't even want it to admit it to yourself but if you're honest you are discouraged well if you're that person I want to speak to you as though there were no one else listening because God understands this and sometimes we get discouraged because we haven't been praying as we should we can never pray too much there will be no praying in heaven now when we get to heaven we'll have praise worship fellowship big with our friends worshiping the most holy gods throughout eternity seeing the angels who knows what all that will be there'll be no sickness no death no pain but there'll be no praying the reason is what would you ask for you're not going to be praying for people to be saved because everybody in heaven will be saved the praying that will be done must be done now I don't know if you've ever heard the hymn sweet hour of prayer sweet hour of prayer and the last verse of that ham it's not always in the hymn books but in the original it says we say farewell to thee sweet hour of prayer while passing through the air because we won't pray in heaven well now we're on earth now let's say you're discouraged and you're wanting to know just what to say and I want to be as clear as I know how to be well the first thing is this we must remember that Jesus the Son of God that's why he's referred to here funnily enough it's the only time in the whole Bible we have these words just hear Jesus the Son of God he may be referred to Jesus Christ Christ Jesus Lord Jesus Christ but here Jesus the Son of God he's passed into the heavens that refers to the Ascension of Jesus after he died on the cross after he was raised from the dead he ascended to heaven this Jesus we must never forget who he is son of God why does the way to put it that way Jesus the Son of God well it's because we must never forget that he was a man as though he were not God he was God as though he were not man and we have one who is our advocate in heaven there's a man in glory Jesus the Son of God and he has never forgotten what it was like to be tempted that's the wonderful thing sometimes we get through a problem I'll go through a trial and we'll forget all about it we just say God be with me and he's with you and then later you forget Jesus has not forgotten so he sympathizes with you and it doesn't matter what your weakness is it doesn't matter we've all got weaknesses the King James Version says infirmities you have them I have them what maybe mine may not be yours what may be yours may not be mine we've all got them and sometimes they are so embarrassing we don't want to tell anybody we have that weakness we're sensitive to criticism we're afraid that someone might say how could you have that weakness and call yourself a Christian listen we've all got weaknesses and listen I'm not gonna tell you mine because you might say oh I thought I had problems or you're not gonna tell me yours you're afraid that I might moralize you or discourage you but here's the wonderful thing Jesus will not moralize you Jesus will not make you feel second-class Jesus will not make you feel guilty in fact he is actually touched that's the way the King James Version put a piece touched he's moved he's not turned off he is sympathetic and the reason the writer puts it this way is so you won't be discouraged from praying you see there are people who say I'm not worthy to pray how can I pray I'm such a sinner or I'm such an awful person or I don't even know how to pray and so how could I qualify I want you to know that Jesus understands that and that's why the writers making it as easy as he knows how to let you know whatever your weakness is whatever it is he sympathizes and he accepts you now the way the writer puts it here because he's speaking to Jews he says we have a great high priest now that's language of Zion that you may not be familiar with but in the old days before Jesus came to this earth there were the priests and once a year there was a new high priest he was called back and Jesus Snell is the fulfillment of the ancient priesthood and Jesus is our high priest and he is at the right hand of God it's so interesting if it weren't for this letter to the Hebrews we wouldn't even know that Jesus is called our high priest and here's the thing he's at the right hand of God and as John Calvin put it many years ago he beckons the attention of his father to look at himself to keep his gaze away from our sins he's there interceding and what does he pray he's praying for you and if you put a prayer request to him he passes it to the father well we need to know this on how to pray so you just begin by talking to God now Jesus gave us what we call the Lord's Prayer some would refer to it as the our Father and I will tell you that my wife and I pray this prayer every day I don't think we ever met seven days out of seven every a week 365 days a year maybe we might miss it once or twice but we make it a point to pray this prayer our Father who in the old King James Version I guess we're still married to the way we were brought up to speak like this who art in heaven hallowed be thy name that means holy is your name and it's a prayer that everybody will esteem the God of the Bible as holy and respect him how would be your name your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one that's what the original Greek really is saying some versions would just say deliver us from evil but it the evil one that if the devil has brought you into any kind of trial you ask to be delivered from it and then is the benediction thine is the kingdom the power and the glory for ever and ever now that's one way to pray is the Lord's Prayer but you don't have to pray that every time God wants you just to talk to him and we come now to the verse that I want to emphasize verse 16 where the writer says let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need that may ask you a question what would you suppose is the first thing you should ask for when you turn to God the first thing it's right here it's right here this may surprise you but I can tell you when I first saw this seven years ago it changed my life they changed my prayer life and I've come right to the answer the first thing you ask for is mercy yes that's the first thing he says let us come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain or receive mercy you say really that's the first thing you ask for some might say well that's the way a person gets converted they they say God be merciful to me a sinner true that is the way you're saved you realize that you are a sinner and you don't deserve to be forgiven and you just ask God for mercy by the way what is mercy it's when God withholds from you what you deserve namely justice and if God gave us justice we wouldn't be able to do anything we couldn't lift our heads but God wants us to ask for mercy first of all and I just want to say to you if you're a new Christian or if you're an old Christian I'm an old one I'm 84 years old and I want you to know I have never outgrown the need to ask God for mercy because when you're asking for mercy that means you've got no bargaining power you've got nothing to give an exchange you just say have mercy on me and I don't care how long you've been a Christian you never outgrow the need to ask for mercy and that would urge you new Christian old Christian mature theologically minded whatever ask for mercy first of all and you know what I do it every day I do I I never forget this I don't just rush into the presence of God and snap my finger and say you've got to do this for me you got to do that God doesn't have to do anything he's obligated to none of us and I never forget the prayer or the plea of the leper there was a leper we're told in Matthew chapter 8 a person in those days with leprosy knew his place I mean people ran from a leper and he knew event but he saw something in Jesus that made him think that he can approach Jesus he wouldn't approach anybody else that's for sure not even a priest but he said to himself there's something about Jesus I believe once the crowds not around I'll go up to him and he did he did and you know what he said he said Lord if you will you can make me clean and notice this if you will it's a way of saying you don't have to I don't deserve it I wouldn't be surprised if you say no he just went on bended knee and said if you will you can make me clean jesus said I will the Bible says that God is rich in mercy and he's not happy when people just rush into his presence snap their fingers expecting that kid demand things that's not respecting the God of the Bible as he deserves to be respected so never forget the first thing you asked for is mercy now interesting verse Hebrews 4:16 it answers a lot of questions and if you want to ask certain questions about prayer or grace or God's goodness the answers are all here for example who does the writer refer to well he says let us come let us then that means simple people like you and me and then he says let us come with confidence the next question that is how how well with confidence King James Version boldly and then where do we go throne of grace why that we may obtain what mercy and find grace to help when in time of need I like us to go over this verse it is the time that we have today and I'll try to be simple and right to the point who is he talking about he says let us that means ordinary people that means Gentile Jew doesn't matter the color of your skin it doesn't matter how important you are let us and imagine we're talking about going to a throne you see when you think of throne you think of royalty or a sovereign or a monarch and nobody ever goes to the monarch unless first invited well you and I are invited and it doesn't matter what is your social class your politics your education your wealth whether you're rich or poor he just says let us come and not only simple people like you and me but sinful people this is so important could I be speaking to someone right now you know that you are a sinner by the way can I tell you how you know this it's the work of the Holy Spirit you see a person never would see himself or herself as a sinner because we all want to thank the best of ourselves we say I'm a pretty nice person I will get to heaven because I've been good and so forth a person like that is a thousand miles away from knowing the God of the Bible but when you know you sinned whatever it is whether it has to do with pride jealousy sexual sin whatever when you're aware of this admit it God already knows he just wants you to see what he sees and admit that you are a sinner and so the qualification necessary to come to the throne of grace is the awareness that you don't deserve to come as I've been saying if you think you could snap your finger and expect God to salute you no you're disqualified but to the person who says I know I'm a sinner and I'm sorry for my sins God says come you're the one I want to talk to so says the writer let us come and then he says with confidence or boldness now imagine this going into the presence of royalty with boldness I've never been in the presence of royalty so I wouldn't know but I would imagine if one went into the presence of Her Majesty the Queen now you would be nervous you would feel awkward you certainly wouldn't feel bold but we can with this one whose King Jesus seated on the throne of grace you know why can feel bold well it goes back to the high priest that I referred to while ago you see the high priest Jesus on Good Friday over two thousand years ago died on a cross and the blood his that He shed was the most precious commodity in the history of the world more precious than the gold of South Africa the Diamonds of South Africa was the blood that Jesus shed and I'll tell you something never forget this that blood satisfied God's justice yes when Jesus shed his blood he paid your debt and that's the reason you come boldly you're not coming because you're a good person you're coming because the blood called the new and living way the blood of Jesus that gives you entrance into the most holy place a place where the high priest would never go except once a year and then with blood he was prefiguring the blood that Jesus would shed one day on the cross and that has been done and because of that reason you go with confidence no because of that a good you are you know a mistaken idea is that we get to heaven because of what we've done for God wrong wrong we get to heaven because of what God has done for us well then some people say well we pray because of what we've done for God is if because I'm an old man I can pray with more boldness than you it's nonsense nobody is able to pray with more boldness we're all sinners saved by grace and the truth is the reason we can pray with confidence is because of this blood and so I don't come with any more boldness than anybody the person who would just saved today could come with a same boldness that I as a Christian I think I've been saved now seventy five seventy seven years that doesn't qualify me to come more bolder than you it's the same blood level playing field as as one might put it and because of the blood that Jesus shed we come with boldness knowing that we're accepted where are we going the writer says to the throne of grace now the Bible speaks of many Thrones now by the way never forget that the God of the Bible is essentially the god of justice yes he will in no way clear the guilty he must punish sin and he's determined to punish sin but the wonderful thing is your sin has been paid for your punishment is over in taken care of because God punished Jesus for what you did and the throne of God is today called a throne of grace yes as I speak today it is a throne of grace I must tell you that one day it will be a throne of judgment hmm Hebrews 9:27 it is appointed for all of us to die you see we're all gonna die we all will die but then after death the judgment the people don't like to think about that but you need to you need to you're going to stand before the god of judgment and in Revelation chapter 20 verse 11 the Apostle Paul sorry I've puzzled John in the book of Revelation said there was a great white throne and from him heaven and earth fled away in the books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into outer darkness you see it's not a question of whether you're going to come to God's throne it's a question which throne well I can tell you one day it will be throne of judgment you may say well I I don't think I'll go to God look here you're going to go there one day you may win the battle and run from God but God will win the war and you'll be some understand before him good news as I speak it's a throne of grace the Bible says by grace are you saved through faith that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works lest anyone brag about it what is Grace well someone put it like this love that looks upward is adoration love that looks across is affection but love looks down is Grace by grace are you saved through faith that not of yourselves gift of God God won't have boasting in his presence he gets all the glory and when you come to God you realize he's a gracious God and you won't compete with his glory you bow to him and thank him for his goodness and mercy the question then follows why why pray why do we go to the throne of grace what's the point well the writer has this worded very carefully he says that we might receive wars one version says that we might obtain what's the point look in our hearts there's nothing there that we draw from some people say you need to get quiet and discover how good you are or discover the goodness in you listen Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 9 says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked I look into my heart I think Oh God I didn't know anybody could be this bad in fact a man by the name of Isaiah when he saw the glory of the Lord he said woe is me I'm undone and so when you see yourself as a sinner it shows a work of the Holy Spirit so you go to obtain because you go outside yourself it's not in you but it's in him and you go to receive from outside yourself what mercy mercy that's what you asked for and you never outgrow asking for mercy and here's the good news one thing follows you find grace to help but the point being when you come to the God of the Bible and you ask for mercy you realize that you've got no bargaining power you can't make deals with God's here Lord I'll do this if you'll do that no when you ask for mercy you admit you need it because you don't deserve it when's the last time you asked God for mercy well I might put it this way when's the last time you ever asked a friend for mercy you probably use any other word in the dictionary you don't ask somebody for mercy you're in pretty bad shape when you ask for mercy oh the number of years to kill I'll never forget this is then what were yesterday my wife Louise and I were driving in Miami Beach on Collins Avenue in front of those hotels for 17 miles I'm told that just one hotel right after another I've I've gone there many times but one evening we were driving and Collins Avenue in front of the famous Fontainebleau Hotel and just enjoy this side I think we're driving around 35 miles per hour just enjoying the sight I came to a traffic light it was green and before I knew it it turned yellow and all of a sudden it was red Wow I was going 35 miles per I just went on through but I looked in the rearview mirror there was a blue light going off and on off and on oh it's an awful feeling and I knew what I had done well I pulled over got out of the car those days you did that now they make you wait in the car but in those days I got out of the car walked back to the policeman and he was sitting there like this I knew that he knew that I knew what I'd done wrong so there's no use to play the game why did you stop me I don't understand it you know you play that game sometimes I knew what I'd done wrong and I just said to him sir please don't give me a ticket he said really why shouldn't I give you a ticket you went right through that red light you went right through that red light why shouldn't I give you a ticket all right give me one reason well I said where we live I think when the light turns yellow it stays yellow a little longer than this light he just nodded he said that wasn't going to work and I said we were going 35 miles per hour he said the speed limit is 25 but he could arrest me for something he had never stopped before I said please don't give me a ticket he said give me one reason I've got no reason I'm just asking for mercy he gave me my driver's license back and says go on don't do it again I felt so lucky well the truth is he could have thrown the book at me but he didn't you see god knows what we're like he's got enough on all of us to bury us embarrasses but he's a God of mercy and he wants us to acknowledge him and we asked for mercy but the writer says something follows it follows we find grace we find grace to help but then the question is when when when the writer says in time of need it's a wonderful thing about the God of the Bible in time of need in time of need God is never too late he's never too early he's always just on time who are we talking about let us come how boldly where - to the throne of grace why that we may receive we may obtain what mercy and find grace to help when in time of need I want to pray Heavenly Father I ask you to take this word and apply to that person so discouraged show him show her that you're the God who is rich in mercy and you give us what we need never too late never too early you're always just on time and we bow and worship and thank you in Jesus name Amen

Channel: RT Kendall

Views: 993

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Id: svHswHGwsEc

Length: 33min 11sec (1991 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 11 2020