UNITY THROUGH PRAYER
1. A religious man once made a confession.
2. He said, “I am a promise breaker.
3. According to this man he had a friend who was preparing to take a mission trip.
4. He promised to pray for his friend while she was away.
5. He really did intend to pray for her.
6. She took her trip but the man forgot to keep his promise. He did not pray for his friend.
7. This man’s honesty surely gives us some insight about a human weakness.
8. We intend to pray for others or perhaps make that promise but the promise is not kept.
WHEN WE LOOK AT THE BIBLE WE FIND THAT THE FIRST CHRISTIANS BELIEVED THEY SHOULD PRAY FOR EACH OTHER.
A. In the songbook racks you have already found a sheet with some scriptures on it.
B. If you will take that paper out of the rack we will look at the passages that are listed.
C. These passages are divided into two categories.
D. Some of the verses describe how Paul asked others to pray for him.
E. The other passages demonstrate that Paul prayed for those he knew.
F. The first passage comes from Rom. 1:8.
G. Paul
said that he prayed for those in
H. The
final chapter of Romans (Rom. 16) shows that this apostle knew a lot of people
in
I. Though
Paul had never visited
J. When Paul closed the Roman letter he also referred to many others in a general way.
K. Paul
said to the church members in
L. Paul prayed on a regular basis for people who were far away.
M. He prayed for people living in a place he had never visited.
N. A different group of people is described in Eph. 1:16.
O. To these people Paul said a similar thing; I “cease not to give thanks for you.”
P. Paul said he “made mention” of the Ephesians in his prayers.
Q. The word mention means remember.
R. When Paul prayed he remembered to pray for others.
S. You have likely noticed the map at the bottom of the page you have.
T. Paul prayed for people in the areas marked by the arrows.
U. These were not the only places, but these arrows show that Paul prayed for people in many areas.
V. When Paul thought about and prayed about his fellow Christians he prayed with joy.
W. This is what the next reference on our sheet tells us.
X. Paul was grateful to God because he knew that others had found the truth.
Y. He knew that he was not the only one trying to serve God.
Z. This map shows where many congregations of the New Testament church existed.
AA. This apostle knew there were others who loved God just as much as he did.
BB. Thus, Paul thanked God for his fellow Christians and said he had joy in his heart.
CC. Paul knew many fellow Christians and this fellowship with others gave him joy.
DD. Some of Paul’s Christian friends Paul lived in Colossee.
EE. This is one of the places that is not marked on the map.
i). Nevertheless, Paul earnestly prayed for those in this place.
FF. Paul also prayed for the Thessalonians.
GG. He said to them, “we always pray for you.”
HH. These references suggest Paul prayed for the “average Christian.”
II. Paul prayed for the tentmakers, masons, housewives, and merchants.
JJ. Paul also prayed for those who were more visible in the church.
KK. There was a young man named Timothy.
LL. Paul wrote two letters to this young evangelist.
MM. Paul said to this young man, “I pray for you.”
NN. “I pray for you during the day. I pray for you during the night.”
OO. “Timothy, I pray for you unceasingly.”
2. THE REFERENCES ON THE SHEET YOU HAVE PROVE THAT PRAYER WAS A SIGNIFICANT PART OF PAUL’S CHRISTIAN LIFE.
A. Furthermore, Paul did not believe that he was the only one who prayed.
B. Sometimes we can look at others and think, “That is their job.”
C. Let’s look at the second section of references on the sheets that were distributed.
D. We
know from the first set of references that Paul prayed for those in
E. He
had never been to
F. Now
we find from Rom. 15:30 that Paul expected those in
G. He said to these Christians, “Brethren, pray for me.”
H. Paul not only asked for Christians to pray for him he said, “Strive in prayer.”
I. Think of the word strive as a contest where people help each other.
J. The word describes people working together to accomplish a goal.
K. Paul
said to those at
L. The next reference on the sheet is even more interesting.
M. The Corinthian church was riddled with problems.
N. In the letter we call 1st Corinthians Paul called these Christians spiritual babies.
O. He said that they were not able to bear the meat of the word.
P. Yet,
Paul asked the spiritual babies at
Q. Paul asked the spiritually weak and immature to remember him when they prayed.
R. If we decide to ask someone to pray for us we probably want the best person we can find.
S. We want the most faithful Christian we know to pray for us.
T. This is not wrong.
U. The Bible says that the prayer of a righteous man avails much.
V. However,
2 Cor.
W. Paul even asked those who were weak and spiritually immature to pray for him.
X. The next reference takes us back to the book of Ephesians.
Y. In the first set of references we learned that Paul prayed for the Christians in Ephesus.
Z. In a different part of the Ephesian letter we find that he said to these Christians, “Pray for me.”
AA. Paul wanted the Ephesians to pray for a specific thing.
BB. Paul said, “Pray that I may speak the word with boldness.”
CC. It is one thing to ask someone to pray for us.
DD. It is another to say to someone, please pray about this specific issue in my life.”
EE. In some cases Paul’s requests for prayer were general; in other cases his requests were specific.
FF. The second to the last reference is Phil. 1:19.
GG. Paul knew that these Christians were praying for him.
HH. This passage indicates Paul’s confidence in prayer.
II. This man believed that others were praying for him.
JJ. Those in Philippi must have promised to pray and they kept their word.
KK. Paul said, “I believe that God will answer your prayers.”
3. THERE WAS SUCH A TIGHT BOND BETWEEN CHRISTIANS IN THE FIRST CENTURY THAT GOD’S PEOPLE FREQUENTLY AND FERVENTLY PRAYED FOR ONE ANOTHER.
A. When preparing this material I stopped at this point.
B. I thought I would set aside the lesson and return to it.
C. I closed the file and decided to see if I needed to respond to some e-mail.
D. Here is what I found in my in-box:
E. “Dear brother and sisters in Christ; we need your prayers so much.”
F. “A precious sister in Christ has an injured son” (this woman and her son live in Russia).
G. The son who being described was stunned by a large charge of electricity.
H. He is 16 years old and, when that e-mail was written, had been unconscious for 6 hours.
I. As of the last report he was in an ICU unit.
J. As I was looking at this piece of mail another message arrived.
K. A small church in the Caribbean is about a year old.
L. They are making progress but there are many difficulties.
M. The preacher, who Teresa and I both know, started this work about a year ago.
N. One of the large hurdles this man is facing is getting land for a church building.
O. The government is not cooperating.
P. Thus, in his note he said, (in capital letters), PRAY, PRAY, PRAY.
Q. The note closed by saying, “Thank you for being prayer partners with us.”
4. We sometimes talk about what it was like to be a first century Christian.
5. We demonstrate how people became Christians – faith, repentance, confession, and baptism.
6. We show how the first century church worshipped.
7. We deal with the things God’s people were to both do and avoid.
8. Here is another way to identify the first century church.
9. God’s people prayed for each other and they asked others to pray for them.
A. As I was typing these words the phone rang.
B. It was a preacher that I met within the last six months.
C. It was a brief call and as it ended he said, “Pray for me.”
10. Most of us have heard of the Mayo Clinics.
A. The doctors who started these clinics were Will and Charles Mayo.
B. Dr. Will Mayo once said,
“I have
seen patients that were dead by all standards.
We knew they could not live.
But I have seen a minister come to
the bedside and do something for him that I could not
do, although I have done everything
in my professional power. But something
touched
some immortal spark in him and in
defiance of medical knowledge and materialistic common
sense, that patient LIVED!
1. We want to be the church described in the New Testament.
2. Are we using prayer in the way that Paul and other first century Christians used it?
3. Are we praying for others—here and in many other places in the world?
4. Do we ask others to pray for us?
5. Let’s think about that as we stand and sing an invitation song.
Romans
1:8 - First, I thank my God through
Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole
world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve
in my spirit in the gospel of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of
you, always in my prayers
Ephesians
1:16 - cease not to give thanks for you,
making mention (of you) in my prayers
Philippians
1:4 - always in every supplication of mine on behalf of you all making
my supplication with joy
Colossians
1:3 - We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying
always for you
2
Thessalonians 1:11 - To which end we also pray always for you
2
Timothy 1:3 - I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers in a pure
conscience, how unceasing is my remembrance of thee in my supplications,
night and day
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Romans 15:30 - Now I beseech you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by
the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to
God for me
2 Corinthians 1:11 - ye also helping together on
our behalf by your supplication;
Ephesians 6:19 - And on my behalf, that
utterance may be given unto me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness
the mystery of the gospel,
Philippians 1:19 - For I know that this shall turn
out to my salvation, through your supplication and the supply of the
Spirit of Jesus Christ
1 Thessalonians 5:25 - Brethren, pray for us.
