How To Pray

I think our messages will line up very well today. They're very foundational. So the sermonette was speaking about studying our Bibles, and today I'm going to talk about the topic of prayer. So very foundational things that go very well together. Do you ever struggle with how to pray? Do you struggle with what words to say? Do you question if you know whether you're praying for what God wants you to be praying for, so you'd be praying for something else? All of those I could say yes to. First of all, I'd like you to turn to Romans 8, verses 26 through 28. Romans 8, verses 26 through 28.

A foundational thing to keep in mind is because we have a weak and a sinful nature, none of us know how to talk properly with God. So that should give everybody a little bit of reprieve, I guess. But I'd like to start by reading some encouraging verses about where we can get help in our prayer life.

Romans 8, starting in verse 26. Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses, for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the heart, speaking of God the Father, knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because it makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. So we're very, very blessed that God is exceptionally patient, that God is understanding with us.

He listens to our petitions, whether we're eloquent or whether we're incoherent. And what this verse is implying is that even though we might not put every word or thought in its proper place, the ideas and the attitudes in our prayers are amplified. They're aided by God's Spirit flowing between God and ourselves. And that's a beautiful thing. In our weakness, the Holy Spirit helps us talk to God in ways we could never express in mere words. I saw one analogy which is not an analogy breakdown, and this one definitely can break down very badly, but I think it's an interesting one to make the connection. Because I'm sure some of you have done this yourself.

The analogy that was connected was, think of a babysitter might need the help of an older kid. They're babysitting to help understanding what a toddler is trying to say. And I've been around toddlers. I have no idea. And the kid will be like, what they're saying is they need this.

Oh! Interesting analogy along the way. So Jesus tells us the Father knows what we need before we ask Him. And I hope we take courage and confidence from that. There is no need to try to impress God with our persuasiveness, with some kind of pretend righteousness. God wants us to be ourselves. Now He wants us to come to Him, revering who He is, sovereign, ruler of the world.

But He also wants us to approach Him as family members. And I think in our prayers we should earnestly pray to understand how God is working, and molding, and shaping, and leading us to grow and to overcome. Because when we approach Him with that perspective, and pray in that way, God will respond. Paul finished this thought over here with probably one of... If people... You know, in top five verses people will quote when you say, what's your favorite verses? Romans 8, 28 is one that's very often brought up, but realizes in the context of the Holy Spirit helping us with prayer.

Verse 28 says, And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. So that should really bring us joy, that if our attitude is humble, and if it's focused on God's will, and on His plan for us, He will hear and He will respond. And more importantly, we will be drawing closer to God, and we'll be developing aspects of His character as we're learning to have that relationship with Him.

Today, what I'm going to do is we're going to review some of the suggestions in the Bible about what to pray for. Now, I'm intentionally leaving out the Lord's Prayer, because there's been so many sermons that have been done on that topic. So the way I approached this was I looked for different verses in the Bible that say, Pray for or pray that.

I can't touch them. I mean, I'm going to give you a handful of points along the way. This could easily have a second and a third sermon that came from this. But it's an interesting way that goes with study. You know, find some key words and see how often it comes up. So that'll be the approach I use. And first of all, if you will turn to 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 9. Our first lesson is this. We should pray others may be made complete. We should pray that others may be made complete. 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 9.

It says, So the first part of this statement is talking about how Paul and his team had to endure hardships. But he looked at that, and it wasn't a concern to him that they come across weak, but they rejoiced in the church being strong and exercising their faith. Then Paul states, Now, that word is better understood as restored.

See, the Greek noun for complete that's used here, this is the only time in the Bible it's used. But if you look at the verb, the verb shows up many times throughout the New Testament. And it is used in reference to restoring something to its original condition, to make it fit for its intended purpose. For an example, it's used for resetting a dislocated bone, or for outfitting a boat. So the idea of being complete carries this concept of God supplying whatever is lacking in a church's faith. It's a beautiful thing to pray for. Paul prayed that the Corinthians would be restored to full health, to unity, to usefulness, and he was using this metaphor as if the church in Corinth was a disjointed body.

And if you read the book of Corinth, it does come across as a disjointed body in some ways. But he's praying that their animosity might cease, their divisions be healed, and all of them behave in a way that represents the gospel of Christ. But no reason for us to pick on the church in Corinth, right? We're all very much works in progress. We all need to grow into completion. We all need to grow into perfection. God doesn't want any of us to be deficient in any of the traits that constitute the mind of Jesus Christ.

And that means being joined together in brotherly love, in unity, in harmony, in order. Do we pray for completeness, for restoration in the church, in our congregation? And I just encourage you, when you pray for that, please don't pray in the name of a corporate entity. Realize God's church was with the Big C, the body of Christ. Pray for people all over. Pray for the unity and the joining of all of us, so that we may be made perfect in whatever is amiss among us in any way, so that we represent God more in our fellowship, in our unity.

Let God's spiritual body be restored to its most pure, to its most effective whole. From the next point, turn to Colossians 1, verses 9 through 12. Colossians 1, verses 9 through 12. The second lesson we're taught is to pray others may abound in knowledge, discernment, and love. Pray others may abound in knowledge, discernment, and love. And again, we're going to read Colossians 1, starting in verse 9. It says, For this reason, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to praise for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

So, as we look at this prayer, we see beautiful examples about how we should pray. We should pray for believers in the body of Christ, for those we know, and for those we don't know around the world.

Turn forward to Colossians 2, in verse 1. This verse was one of those, I forgot all about this parts in the book of Colossians. Many of you are probably far ahead of me and said, Dan, you should know this. But Colossians 2.1 says, For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh. Paul never met this church. When you read the book, realize he's writing to people he's never met. So when you look that way, it puts a different perspective. Paul was in prison, and one of his disciples, Epaphras, had previously founded this church. And shortly after he helped find found this church, this group of false Gnostics came in, and they were causing division. So Epaphras informed Paul about the needs of the church, the attacks of these Gnostics. And this information led Paul into deep prayer. So what did we learn from that? I think one of the first things, and one of the reasons that many of us struggle with our prayers, is because we're not informed. We're not informed. We don't know the problems of our friends, of our neighbors, of our church, of our nation. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 7.4, The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure. See, the fools think their happiness and their pleasure is all that matters in life. And so that becomes the goal. It goes to that concept of their ignorance truly is bliss. But that's not true for the wise. They know that there can be joy even in the midst of suffering. Like being at a hospital. Like having caring, but candid conversations with people. The wise are not living for themselves, but they're living for God. They're serving others. Now another characteristic that we see and hear about Spirit-led prayer is to pray without ceasing.

Paul said, we have not stopped praying for you. So what that means is after Epaphras informed Paul about the situation in Colossae, he didn't just simply pray once and then move on.

He faithfully continued to pray for this church. And one of the things that struck me in putting this together was this fascinating characteristic about Paul. It's an inspiring one. And that is, when Paul looked around the world, everything he saw seemed to prompt him in prayer in some way. Paul always viewed people as those for whom Christ died. That's a different way to look at the world.

He saw them in relation to God and his plan for their lives. And so therefore, if you look in that world, it prompted Paul and it would prompt us always to pray for everybody around us. It's a different way to view things. So for us, if we hear of something bad happening, we should react by praying for God to act in this situation because we know he cares. And if we hear something good has happened, we should pray to God in gratitude because we know through it he can be glorified. Another part that we can take from this learning is that being earnest is essential in prayer. I think all of us easily believe in prayer, but I don't know anybody who prays enough. I mean, if you want to take that to its ultimate, there's always opportunities for growth, right?

Do we seize every opportunity to pray for others? I don't. We believe in prayer, and I think if we were to really put human nature in context, we believe in prayer if an emergency lands in our lives. We're eloquent in prayer if it involves our family or our person. But if it involves someone else, we may show less than enough interest sometimes in our prayers. Part of why we reflect and why we learn. Paul then prayed that they might be filled with the knowledge of God's will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. So he doesn't pray that they have a knowledge of the will of God. He prays that they might be filled with the knowledge of it. He isn't asking for just head knowledge. He is asking that they have an intimate knowledge that controls the believer's life. He's praying that church be controlled by God's will as they obey it, as well as while they are confronted by the heresies that were happening at that time. Spirit-led prayer is always asking for God's will to be done. So again, I think it's important. Let's reflect back on something we're surrounded by. But it's faulty. The prevailing idea of many is that we come to God and we ask Him for something we want, expecting Him to give it, if we have enough faith. Now stop and think about that. That is actually degrading to God. That's looking at God like a genie in a bottle. He isn't there to perform our pleasures and grant our desires. Instead, prayer is worshipful when we approach God acknowledging His sovereign authority and loving wisdom. We tell Him our needs and then patiently allow Him to deal with our requests as it seems best to Him. God intensely desires that His thoughts become our thoughts. Because when that happens, we reflect His image. If we think like God, then we will act like Him, which is the purpose of conversation. That's why we have prayer. That's why we are communicating and growing to learn God by what we ask as well as what we hear back and how we respond to it. Never forget that God answers every faithful prayer. You have to put that in context again, right? Remember, according to God's will. Not always in the way or when we think best. Often His answer is the opposite of what we feel to be best. But with time and perspective, we will see His wisdom compared to ours. Our goal should be to say in faith, God, do whatever you need to do in my life to see things change to help me grow.

And then learn to understand His will better and better. Paul prayed the church would know God's will and have the wisdom to apply it. It's another great prayer. It's about that wisdom as one of these valuable, precious commodities. Many Christians love and follow God, but there are these areas. We'll be fully transparent. There are these areas of our lives that are off-limits for God. We try to follow God in every other way except for a few high places. I think all of us sin, so whatever that is that we fall back on, it probably could be used in that example of a high place that we haven't fully given over to God. It's through prayer that many times our will is conformed to God's will. And that means that in the midst of prayer, we start to be able to accept a trial that we're going through, or a difficult person that we continually have conflict with, or any other events that comes along our way. We should pray churches around the world have the understanding of when and where to apply God's will in whatever different circumstances they're going through. We may not even know the circumstances, but that prayer is definitely applicable to people all over the world that are trying to follow God. And a result of being filled with the knowledge of God's will is that believers will walk worthy of the Lord. Now, that comes from the root word worth, which is what you would think it means. It means how much something costs or should be valued for. But play that out. When a Christian walks worthy of the Lord, we demonstrate the Lord's incredible worth in our lives. That's what walk worthy really means. Our lives show how much God really means to us. One final thought about this one before we go on to the next lesson. And this is one of those that I don't do like I should. I'm always blown away by Paul in this way. Notice Paul's prayers are God-sized. Paul's prayers are God-sized. There's nothing small about his requests. Look at the superlatives I'm going to read. I'll start in verse 9 again. For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you may walk worthy of the Lord fully pleasing him, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthening with all might according to his glorious power for all patience and long-suffering with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. Catch all those superlatives? It's filled with them.

When we listen to most prayers, when I give my prayers, I don't think... I think it could come across, probably, that I'm talking to a smaller God than is really the one I'm talking to. And you look at his example, and I think there's a lot there. When the Spirit of God is guiding our prayers, it calls upon the tremendous resources that we have access to.

Turn next to Philippians 1, verses 9-11. Philippians 1, verses 9-11. And we're going to see a similar prayer by Paul. So this is still continuing on this same lesson, and it's going to add one more piece. Paul's greatest desire for the church at Philippi was that they become rooted and grounded in the Word of Truth so that their love for God and their love for one another would continue to grow and to multiply. Philippians 1-9 says, So the difference in what Paul is saying to the Philippians is Paul prayed that their love might abound. It's one thing to have love. That's a beautiful thing. It's another to have abounding love. The word abound pictures something being filled to the top and overflowing. That's what abounding means, is to overflow. More than enough. And the more we grow in the capacity to love, the more room we have to abound, to fill it back up, to overflow. One way that we come to know we're developing is to see how much we shall love to the unlovable.

That's an area we all can grow in. See, we're going to rub elbows in life with some people who are more difficult than others.

All people will not appeal to us equally. One of the things we learn as parents, right, our kids will say, and you're right, you're not going to like everybody in that same way. It might be their disposition. It might be their dress or the way they do things. But when we're immature Christians, we may get angry at the drop of a hat. We can get quickly exasperated. But as we grow more, and as we grow to be more loving as God is, then these things should become petty. We look at the world differently. My last point will definitely get to that one, but we'll work our way to get to that one. Feeling slighted is something we should outgrow. See, what Paul is teaching is, we love with abounding love, and when we do that, we do not love them for their sake. We love others for Christ's sake. For Jesus' sake. It's a different thing, because if we're loving them for our sake, we're going to put our own little terms on this thing. We are here to be conduits of God's Spirit working through us. It's often been said about the Dead Sea that the reason nothing can live in it is because there is inflow, but there's no outflow. So any fish that swims into the Dead Sea is going to die.

Many Christians are also hearers, but never doing what the Word of God says.

We need to bear fruits, and grow, and increase in knowledge. Because if we don't, we'll feel farther and farther away from God. But Paul clarifies our love must be guided by godly knowledge, just like we heard in the sermonette. To be filled with the knowledge of God's will, we must have the desire to know God's Word. There's no shortcut. We have to be reading the Bible. We have to be learning. Many Christians only want to submit to God's will when things are good, when things make sense. But true submission means submitting even when we don't understand, and when it conflicts with our desires.

One thing we should pray for is the benefit of increasing in the knowledge of God, like Paul did, and growing in intimacy with God. The sense of this verse is that as their love abounded, so their knowledge would also increase, and then their judgment in spiritual things be better informed, and it's this cycle. And then it adds this phrase, in all discernment, which I've seen translated in all judgment, in all spiritual understanding. See, it's not simply this abundance of love that Paul is praying about, but that their love would abound more and more in real knowledge, in real discernment. Remember, the goal is to be able to discern good from evil, right? That's a prayer not only for us, but for others to be able to do. Let's continue reading through verse 11. Verse 10 says, That you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruit of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. It's a beautiful prayer. He prayed that the love in their hearts would be endowed with godly wisdom and excellence in their actions, so that they may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. It's beautiful. When a person uses the word of God that's been taught to them and bears fruit, then God blesses them with more understanding. We have to apply and exhibit God's nature and have his spirit guide us. We need to be more than just hearers, but doers, and move forward in that way. Let's move on to the next area of prayer that's recommended in Scripture. If you'll turn to 3 John, and then it's when the relevant part, but chapter 1, this is only one chapter, in verse 2. 3 John 1 and verse 2. When I look at this next verse, to me it sounds like a hallmark card, but obviously it means much, much more because it's spiritually based, but it has this hallmark card feel to it. The third lesson is this. To pray others may prosper, be healthy, and close to God. Pray others may prosper, be healthy, and close to God. 3 John 1 verse 2. Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prospers. In many ways, this is just beautiful, wholesome, concise request. Prosperity in every way is not associated with receiving wealth from God. That's not what's being discussed here. It's actually referencing more about having success in all we do. Success, this concept, is far more than achieving what we desire, but it's what we learn in the process of succeeding. It's this feeling that comes from accomplishing something. We get this re-energized feeling from the inside out. And it's something that's easy to teach kids and what we would long for for them, too. We would love to see our kids have success in their endeavors more and more and bigger and bigger ways. That's the concept. The second part of this prayer goes without saying, what would you be able to do if your health was failing?

Not that much, right? You could have all the resources in the world, and if you have no energy to enjoy them, what good is it? If you've ever had a health scare, or you know somebody very close to you who's gone through one along the way, you get that point where that health is wealth, that concept, and how much that means, and how true that is. And I believe that's what John was praying here, for good health so that they could appreciate every waking moment. So if you're blessed to have your health intact, then wake up each day and say thank you to God. And if you're going through a tough health situation right now, then I encourage you to keep asking God for His strength and healing.

Continue to live each day with courage, knowing that God will never leave you or forsake you. That goes back to the God-will part and the whole thing, right? Because even if we don't understand why we're going through a health challenge, take courage in the fact that God says He holds us in the palm of His hands.

It says that many places. And we'll never forget His children. So His healing power will restore us. Then comes the hard part. It's either in this age or the next. That's where we have to trust God's will. The final part of the prayer ends with this request for others to have a prospering soul.

What does that mean? When it's said and done, health and wealth don't compare to having this relationship with God. I think that's why the verse says, just as. Because nothing should compare to that. Health and wealth don't compare to having that relationship with God. That should be the predominant one. That's that just as concept. This prayer is focused on helping us realize the most important part of our life is our relationship with God.

And we should pray for that strong relationship for others around us. Because that gives us the hope, not just in this life, but in eternity. Turn now to James 5, verses 15 through 16. We'll continue on this lesson, but another example here that builds on this. So James 5, 15 through 16. The whole book or the whole chapter of James 5 is really links with prayer. But I'm going to focus on just these two verses. James 5, 15, it says, And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sin, he will be forgiven.

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. So here again, this concept comes over and over and over that we should pray for others. We should pray for one another. And we may see a brother struggling. We may see somebody with a problem. Rather than pointing out the flaws, rather than complaining to others along the way, this is saying petition God to give aid.

And this is the example where James says, if we do that on behalf of somebody, that effective prayer will make a difference. So now let's address this concept of confess your trespasses to one another. This is not saying that we should reveal every sin and every foible to everybody in the church. That's not what it's saying. But what it is saying is, confide our problems to a close, trusted, spiritually grounded friend so they can help us by praying to God for help to overcome it. If you want proof of the impact of the effective righteous prayer, the next two verses talk about Elijah.

Now, Elijah, I think, is a great example because he's a very real person in a lot of ways. He reveals so much about these people. But, you know, Elijah was this passionate prophet who struggled with depression, who struggled with suicidal thoughts and self-pity. But he prayed earnestly for droughts, and God responded. For three and a half years, there was no rain. Then he sought God again, and there was rain. The point of this lesson is to surrender completely to God in a way that transforms our life. I read something by a Christian author named J.D.

Greer, and he wrote, The Gospel has done its work in us when we crave God more than we crave everything else in life. More than money, romance, family, health, fame. We know that the Gospel has done its work when seeking His kingdom advanced in the lives of others, gives us more joy than anything we can own. We know the Gospel has done its work when we see Jesus as greater than anything the world can offer, and will gladly let everything else go to possess it.

Powerful. In other words, another way to say that is that Christ has truly become the treasure of our hearts. So, a couple takeaways from this one, and then I'll go on to the next lesson. It probably combines thoughts from the first and the second lesson of us, but never hesitate to pray. Don't hesitate. We should never think, well, I don't know what God's will is, so I'm not sure whether I should pray. Or we should never think, I don't know if my prayer will help. Maybe somebody else should pray.

I don't know if I'm spiritual enough. I can go on and on, but, you know, don't hesitate. Second thought is pray with intensity. Fervor means to have this intensity of feeling. Remember when Christ, before he was betrayed, prayed to God in such a way that his drops were like blood. And finally, pray submissively. Remember, God understands, and his understanding of every situation is much, much greater than ours. So, just because we really, really, really believe in something, we believe that physical healing is best for someone. Doesn't mean that God agrees with us. Many times, he's working out a much bigger picture that we don't understand.

And if we do this, then the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man will avail much. Now, realize that that's not actually the best translation of what that's actually saying. The original language says the prayer of a righteous man has a great power in its effects. And its effects are toward others, but also realize it has an impact on you, too. It's not about how you pray your prayer, but on who is praying it. We become transformed to be like God when we pray for things God would want us praying for.

It changes us, too. Turn now to John 17 and verse 15, and we'll go to the fourth lesson. John 17 and verse 15. The lesson here is that we should pray to have protection from Satan and during temptations. We should pray to have protection from Satan and during temptations. And again, this is both for us and for others. John 17 and verse 15. I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. So notice, Jesus did not pray that the Father would keep the apostles from trouble.

Because otherwise, they'd have to leave the world. Can't go both ways. It was important that they kept meaningful contact with the world so they could properly share the gospel. We wouldn't know what we know if they hadn't. To remove the apostles from the world would have left the mission unaccomplished. But Jesus did pray that the Father would protect them from Satan's powers and from Satan's deception. That was the prayer here. See, Jesus doesn't expect believers to be removed from evil and its pain and suffering.

He prayed, rather, that believers are protected through it. And it's a damaging lie. If you hear anybody try to argue that believers in Christ will not suffer in this world. That is not what the Bible says. Not at all. You want a classic example of that? Look at Christ, the beloved Son of God. And all He suffered... God didn't remove Him from that. And therefore, He won't remove us along the way. But He does promise to walk with us and to project and deliver us from the evil one. So, if you'll turn to Luke 22 and verse 40. I'd like to continue the lesson with that verse. Luke 22 and verse 40. Where we're stepping into now, for the context, is this is Christ and the disciples on the Mount of Olives.

Luke 22 and verse 40 says, When He came to the place, He said to them, Pray that you may not enter into temptation. So, before I go and actually expand on this, and there's an interesting tangent about this one that struck me. Two of them, actually. But think of the implications from Jesus telling His disciples to pray they would not fall into temptation.

First of all, for those who teach that Jesus' crucifixion automatically saves everyone who declares it, why would Jesus ask them to pray they wouldn't fall into temptation knowing that He was going to be crucified the next day? Another thought along those lines is, for those who preach, we only need to pray to Jesus. Notice Jesus advised them to pray to God and not to Him. So, you know, He knew who the supreme being was.

Anyway, we'll go back to the point now. Temptations, as we're shown in the Bible, are many times the result of our desires. They certainly aren't the result of God. It's our lack of connection and faith in God that brings many temptations in our lives. And the verse you can look at on that one is James 1, 13-14, where it says, No one should say, God is tempting me, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone. But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desires and enticed.

See, we're responsible for our desires and the temptations that result from them. That doesn't mean we don't face trials, which is another definition of the word temptation. But temptations we bring on ourselves many, many times. So where do those internal desires come from? They come from our self-centeredness. They come from the fact that we see ourselves as the center of everything.

And you're going to say, well, I don't feel I'm the center of everything. The proof is seen in that every time we get something, it doesn't totally fulfill us. We want more. And if we want more, we're kind of in the center of this little bubble of how we view the world. Temptations are presented to us in order for us to understand our own position with God.

They test and let us know our need for our supreme being to help us, just like Christ pleaded with God for support. Another thing to remember is temptation itself isn't a sin. And the classic example there is Matthew 4. Jesus was tempted. The question is what we do when the temptation hits us. When the sin lies at our steps, what do we do? Do we avert our eyes when tempted with the opportunity for lust? Do we take this deep breath of calm when something is just driving us crazy and our anger levels are going up and up and up?

Do we make the right choice when presented with a chance to lie or steal or cheat and know we'll get away with it? Jesus clearly modeled how to fight temptation. The night before he was arrested, before he was crucified, what did he do? He first went to the Mount of Olive to pray as was his custom.

That means taking time to pray was this habit, this routine of his. It wasn't foreign to him and it shouldn't be foreign to us along the way. Prayer is this key to overcoming and overcoming temptations. It is so important for fighting temptations that Jesus not only once but twice reminded his disciples, pray that you won't fall into temptation.

It's very important for all of us to try to remember along the way. As with the disciples, I think it's important to realize that none of us have the strength to overcome the temptation to deny Christ. You think you do. Again, you're giving yourself more credit than realizing our need for God. We will all face times of trouble where we may doubt God, where we may turn from Him into temptation. I guarantee you the devil and the world will try very hard to take advantage of those.

They will seek those opportunities. We need the strength of God's Spirit in us to help us with things that we can't of ourselves do with our own strength. That means seeking God before temptation comes to get our eyes focused on Him, to get our priorities set, so that we will have more strength to be able to escape the temptation when it comes.

The Bible says God will always provide a way out. We just must be willing to take it. And that's harder said than done sometimes. When Jesus prayed, Lord, if it please You, take this cup away from me, but let Your will, not mine, be done, it goes back to a lot of these things we're seeing throughout, where He was praying to the supreme being to allow Him to serve Him and to do God's will with wisdom and knowledge instead of His own will.

You see a theme running through a lot of these prayers that are suggested along the way. And Jesus loved God and wanted to please Him, and it's precisely what He's asking us as His students to learn along the way. He was teaching us by His example to give our hearts to God and to resist Satan. Alright, let's go to the fifth lesson. And this, I would argue, is probably one of the hardest things that we're asked to pray for.

If you'll turn to Matthew 5, 43-45. Matthew 5, 43-45. Here, we're directed to love those who are hostile to us. We're told to love those who are hostile to us. And we're going to start with Jesus explaining the misinterpretation of how people viewed God's expectations. Matthew 5, 43. You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. So, with each of the illustrations in Matthew 5, Jesus first stated the essence of what the traditional teaching of that day was. In this case, it was about love. And the phrase He was giving was an adaptation of Leviticus 19.18, which I'll read to you.

Leviticus 19.18 says, So, the rabbis and scribes of the day had kept part of this truth, but then they'd omitted part of what's in there, and then they'd added something to it. What they omitted in this tradition was the phrase, as yourself. That wasn't in there. That's a key part of Leviticus' text, but it didn't fit their scheme of proud self-righteousness. It simply was inconceivable that the day should care for any other person as much as they cared for themselves.

And along with that pretty significant omission was that tradition started to narrow the meaning of a neighbor. So, a neighbor only included those people who you preferred or who you approved of. That removed tax collectors and common sinners and pretty much everyone along the way, but for the end people. Now, rabbinic tradition also perverted the Old Testament teaching because it added hating your enemy. Love, said the ancients, was to be reserved for those you get along with. Enemies were to be hated.

And if you think about it, it's this logical extension of an all-consuming self-interest. I found this very interesting saying of the Pharisees that was discovered. It read, If a Jew sees a Gentile fall into the sea, let him by no means lift him out. If a man is written, thou shalt not rise up against the blood of your neighbor, but this man is not your neighbor.

It's little wonder that the Romans discharged the Jews as having a hatred of the human race.

So now we transition to the mandate that Jesus clarifies regarding how we should live, Matthew 5, 44. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.

It's one of the most powerful teachings in Scripture about the meaning of love. The scribes and the Pharisees were proud. They were prejudiced. They were biased. They were spiteful. They were hateful. They masqueraded as the custodians of God's law, the spiritual leaders of Israel. But to them, what Jesus said must have been the most offensive, devastating insult that could have hit them. They not only felt they had the right but the duty to hate their enemies. Not to hate those who obviously deserve to be hated would be a breach of righteousness. But the love that God commands of His people is love so great that it even embraces enemies. That's hard to live. And that has to start in prayer if we're going to transition and get there. The human tendency, see, is to base love on the desirability of the object of our love. We love people who are attractive. We love hobbies that are enjoyable. We love a house or a car because it pleases us. And, you know, on and on. But true love is needs-oriented. It's needs-oriented. Think of the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Good Samaritan demonstrated great love because he sacrificed his own convenience and safety and resources to meet another's desperate need. True love is needs-oriented. And one of the best ways to have the right agape attitude of love toward those who persecute us is to bring them before God in prayer.

It's hard. But that's what we're encouraged to do. Christ showed we must love them because of who they are. Because of who they are. Sinners falling from the image of God and in need of God's forgiveness and grace. Just like we were before God called us and showed us something different. And we're still sinners. But we're to pray for them that they will seek God's forgiveness and grace as we have done. See, this whole thing about struggling with others, conflicts, misunderstanding, slights, they happen everywhere. They happen in humans. And the Church is just one big family. So we're going to have these things here. We're going to have it in any church group. It's very difficult to love and bless and do good and pray for a person who has hurt us deeply. It goes against our human nature to behave positively towards someone we feel deserves shame or censure or punishment. But Christ says whoever persecutes us in whatever way and in whatever degree should be on our prayer list.

Why? Because talking to God about others can begin to knit our hearts with the heart of God. So if you put this principle into practice, it's this high hurdle for any Christian to clear. But as Christians, we know one thing that's taught over and over. And that is that forgiveness is one of the keys that Jesus taught for healing. And we're to become Christ-like.

Doing this is not just a teaching, but it's a command. I'll read a couple of verses to you along the way, very familiar, but just good to remind ourselves of. Luke 11.4. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us. As we forgive. Matthew 18.21-22. Jesus said to Peter, I do not say to you forgive up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. In other words, we must always be willing to forgive our brothers. And then the next one shows that ignoring this expectation is not only dangerous, it's deadly. Matthew 6.14-15. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Now, Jesus isn't telling us that we resolve to like everyone. That's not what this is saying. But that we act in good will toward those we do not like as well as those we do. Humanly, that seems unreasonable. That seems absurd. But that's only because of our carnality. It's because of our evil nature. A God by love doesn't merely involve feelings. It involves will. I think we mix those things up so often. I was listening to something earlier. Paul is saying, rejoice always. Again, I say rejoice. He wasn't saying having feelings of happiness while he was shipwrecked and being beaten. He was rejoicing in Christ. It's a matter of attitude, perspective, and will. With this love, our concerns for another's good overcomes any feelings of offense or resentment and retaliation. It motivates us to do good rather than react in kind to what caused our negative feelings. In Matthew 5, 44, Christ lists three different ways that people show ill feelings toward us. So we're talking about cursing, which indicates verbal denigration, tearing somebody down, destroying your reputation. Hatred implies this active, passionate feeling against others. And then spitefully using and persecuting means just harassing, always being on another person's case. And then he shows three ways that a Christian can combat these actions. We can bless, meaning we give good for bad. We can do good for our enemies, which is not merely restraining ourselves from retaliation. I'm doing good. I'm not hitting you. It's not what it's saying. And lastly, we can pray for their welfare. We ask God to change their hearts. It's this major test that God gives to his children. God wants us to do this so we may resemble him, because that's the way he is. That's why we have the hope we do, because he did that for us, and we're trying to become like him. It's this really hard thing to forgive those who hurt us. Honestly, just simply letting it go is easier said than done. But Jesus didn't flinch in telling us to love our enemies, bless our enemies, pray for our enemies. And just like it's impossible for light and darkness to coexist, it's impossible to love those we hate. Right? The only way to love our enemies is to forgive them. Once we forgive, then we can love anyone. And that's why we need to be coming and approaching God in that way. And praying for those who are our enemies or who treat us poorly. That's what separates us from the world. That's what may allow us to set an example that allows somebody to suddenly understand God and be called into the faith. You can't truly love your enemies if you can't forgive them. So don't get intoxicated along the ways by that delicious thought of revenge, but instead pray for them. Okay, now let's make it a little bit harder. We must not only pray for our enemies, we must pray that God would give us the ability to love them.

Another ouch. We must pray that God would help us forgive them because we can't do it ourselves. And again, Christ is the example. Think of Him. He was murdered in the cruelest way for doing nothing more than telling the truth and carrying out God the Father's will. But He prayed, Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.

See, what we miss along the way is not only what good forgiveness and love brings to our enemies, but what it brings to ourselves. It's been stated that to forgive is to set a prisoner free, only to finally discover that prisoner was you.

If Christ is kind to the ungrateful, if He's kind to the wicked, shouldn't we be also? That's the point that we're supposed to learn. It doesn't mean that we condone their wickedness, or we approve of their sins. It doesn't mean we make them our closest friend or confidant. It simply means that we share the love of Christ without discrimination. We show Christ's way is best by showing the same forgiveness He showed us to others.

The ultimate test of our spiritual health is how we regard those who are hostile to us. That's just such a learning along the way. It's one of those things we can intellectually get. I get love. When you have to practice it and really live that, it is very, very challenging. But when we focus on godly actions and attitudes, that's what's key. Look back over your week or your month, the last few days, has there been anyone who's triggered you? Have there been situations where you showed the love of Christ to somebody who was being hostile with you? Great! If so, did you avoid making excuses based on what someone else did to you? That's the classic with kids, right? But let me tell you what they did!

Christ next explains the motive for why we should live this way. In Matthew 5, verse 45, it says, One of the most common criticisms of Christianity over all the years has been Christians do not live up to their faith. And Jesus said a few verses just before, he said, Because if we are to be citizens of God in heaven, then we must have a much higher standard of love than the rest of the world does. Christians should stand out on the job because we're more honest or we're more considerate. We should stand out in the community because we're more helpful or more caring. We should stand out anywhere in society because we happen to exhibit a divine love in what we do.

The final thought I would add on this one is, if you think about what our greatest evidence of our sonship to God is, it's really in this. Remember, John 13, 35 says, Loving as God loves is where we give evidence that we are His children, that that is our nature. So, let's conclude. The Jews said something regarding prayer. There's a quote that says, But prayer can do everything. What do our prayers say about our theology? What do our prayers say about us? Are we letting the Holy Spirit prompt us to pray great things for our lives and for the lives of others? Are we thinking about others in the ways that are exemplified? I encourage you, let's have our prayers be filled with the knowledge of God's will and bear the fruits of God's nature.