Public prayer
Someone (who is not from here) once said to me, “What did you think of brother ______ prayer”?
“He was at the communion table and he prayed for everything but the bread and the fruit of the vine.”
“Are you going to correct him”?
Another person (who is also not from here) also came to me about a public prayer many years ago.
He said, “Brother _______makes a lot of mistakes when he prays.”
I responded, “That Christian is more nervous than most. What he is doing is unintentional.”
The response to my statement was curt and unchristian. I was told,
“He shouldn’t be used until he gets things straight.”
THERE ARE A
a) We are going to begin with Ps. 6.
b) It is thought this psalm was actually sung in the early church.
c) This psalm describes David when he was seriously ill.
d) He was physically weak (verse 2) and emotionally drained (verse 3).
e) READ 6:1-3; 6.
f) The phrase, “every night make I my bed swim” may refer to David’s tears.
g) Or, it may describe heavy sweating.
h) This psalm describes physical sickness.
2) The information just before verse 1 indicates this Psalm was given to the chief musician.
3) This psalm was put to music.
4) This suggests the words in this psalm were designed for public use.
5) A prayer that involved physical illness was made apparently public.
6) At a minimum it is public now.
7) Making this prayer public should remind us that praying for the sick in a public way is right.
8) Openly praying for those who are in bad health is a practice endorsed by God.
9) We have the right to specifically name people who are ill.
10) In examining David’s prayer we find that he gave some specific information.
11) He said, “all night I make my bed swim”.
12) This description tells us we may be precise when we publicly pray for people.
a) If we know of a person who is struggling with cancer, we have the right to state the problem.
b) If a person is in a comma, we are authorized to specify that condition when we pray.
c) When we pray as Psalm 6 describes, we are not praying a general prayer for the sick.
d) Neither are we making a general statement about a specific person.
e) We may make a specific statement about a specific person.
f) If we go to the doctor we likely try to describe our problem.
g) If we have a sore throat we make known that problem.
h) When we pray for people in public (and private too), consider the importance of being specific. In saying this I want to add an additional thought.
13) There are obviously some conditions where being specific is not the best choice
14) I know of a case where a man (now deceased) had AIDS.
15) This man became a Christian and the congregation publicly prayed for him.
16) This man was at services when people prayed for him.
17) However, those who did praying did not specifically say he had AIDS.
18) It was believed that publicly stating his condition would have been unwise.
19) There are some health concerns people have which are personal.
20) Those who lead pray do need to use some common sense.
21) If in doubt about a situation we can ask family members or the one who is afflicted.
22) When a specific condition can be made known in public prayer we should do that.
23) If we want God to help with a specific problem our request should be specific.
24) ANOTHER POINT ABOUT PUBLIC PRAYER IS FOUND IN PS. 18.
25) This psalm was also given to the “chief musician.”
26) The words would be set to music and apparently used in worship.
27) What I want to point out from this Psalm is the number of verses.
28) Psalm 18 has 50 verses.
a) David had received many good things from God and he was thankful.
b) This thanksgiving caused him to pray for a long time.
c) This shows us that public prayers do not need to be short.
d) I fear that sometimes those who pray think, “I have been praying long enough. Better stop.”
e) The prayer that was put into public use (Ps. 18) lasted for a long time.
f) If we wish to pray for a long time we have that right.
g) Like the previous right this decision needs to be made in conjunction with common sense.
h) There are some people who may find it difficult to stand in one place for a long period of time.
i) There may be a young mother in the assembly with a baby.
j) Someone with a medical problem may find it difficult to be out of their seat for a long time.
k) Leg problems and bad circulation cause some to have difficulty standing in place.
l) If we are going to pray for a long time we need to be considerate of our fellow worshippers.
29) If you have ever led a public prayer and felt “under the gun” (I better stop now) read Ps. 18.
30) Public prayer does not need to be short.
a) No one is going to go home before we finish.
b) We will be asked to pray again.
c) It is doubtful that anyone will collapse before we finish
31) If we are considerate of others we may pray without having a stopwatch approach to public prayer.
32) ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF PUBLIC PRAYER COMES FROM PS. 44.
a) The people of Israel had been defeated and suffered a great loss.
b) Even the king confessed his shame at the defeat.
c) This information is in verses 12-16.
d) Because the situation was not too good, the king and the people appealed to God for help.
e) This is stated in verses 23-26.
f) This public prayer tells us we should publicly pray during a time of loss or disaster.
g) Whether this is on an individual level or a national level praying about losses is appropriate.
h) I remember the Gulf War about 10 years ago.
i) That war started on a Wednesday.
j) The Bible class I taught started off with a public prayer for those involved.
k) I remember the morning the space shuttle blew up.
l) I was in a public gathering with some fellow Christians and a public prayer was led on their behalf.
m) Our nation now has a problem with China.
n) There are some Americans in a distant country who want to come home.
o) There are families who are burdened with anxiety and a sense of loss.
p) We have the right to pray for these people in public.
q) Even the golden rule suggests we should pray for those who are being held captive.
r) Public prayer during a time of loss, grief, or catastrophe is right.
s) In our world finding people involved in a calamity or crisis is not difficult.
33) MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PUBLIC PRAYER IS FOUND IN PS. 22.
a) This Psalm was also given to the chief musician.
b) This Psalm contains information that is found in the life of Christ.
c) I will start with verses 1-7.
d) Things didn’t look too good according to the first seven verses.
e) Was David helped? Did his prayer work? Ps. 23.
f) David received help.
g) The Lord also received aid from above. He was raised up and returned to heaven.
h) Ps. 22 along with Ps. 23 indicates that prayer can change things.
i) Public prayer can change things.
i) We are in the habit of having two prayers at each service.
ii) There is an opening prayer and a closing prayer.
iii) With the passage of time we may come to regard these as little more than the right thing to do.
iv) Perhaps some see the prayers as a tradition to be maintained.
v) Ps. 22 says that public prayer is not a tradition. It’s not something we just do.
vi) Public prayer is an avenue to God to get things done.
vii) Even in the New Testament this fact is clearly seen.
viii) My next reference (and this is related to Ps. 22 & 23) comes from Acts 4.
ix) Peter and John had been arrested.
x) They were later called before some officials and asked about their preaching.
xi) If the police begin to arrest people close to us most begin to get a little nervous.
xii) Peter and John were released and members of the church had a public prayer.
xiii) This prayer is recorded in Acts 4:29-31.
34) The first century church believed in public prayer.
35) They prayed for boldness and their request was answered.
36) God’s view of public prayer is reflected in the fact that the place where they were “was shaken.”
37) Public prayer can and does change things.
a) For anyone who prays publicly this is a important fact to remember.
b) When we pray we are not marking time and we are not fulfilling a tradition.
c) We are engaging in an act that God pays attention to.
d) We have an opportunity to pray in a way that will change things.
e) The example in Acts 4 is just one text that illustrates this point.
f) There is the example from Ps. 22 and 23.
g) We may cite yet another example from Mt. 24.
h) Jesus knew that Jerusalem would be destroyed. This could not be changed.
38) As the Lord was with His friends He said that prayer could change one thing.
39) Mt. 24:20.
a) Jerusalem would be destroyed. People would need to flee for their lives.
b) If I need to run from home I would rather do it in warm weather instead of 20˚ below zero.
c) Jesus said, “Pray that you do not need to flee in the winter.”
d) For those who lived in first century Palestine, travel on the Sabbath was very restricted.
e) Thus Jesus said, “Pray you do not need to flee on a Saturday.”
f) If we could go back in time surely some of the Christians publicly prayed about this matter.
g) They asked God to give them good weather and a day other than Saturday to flee.
h) Our public prayers can follow the same form.
i) Prayer can change things.
40) Someone once said,
a) “Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, and despise us.”
b) “They are helpless against our prayers.”
c) Public prayer is a powerful tool that we need to use to the fullest in our assemblies.
d) If you would like to have a public prayer offered on your behalf this morning we will do that.
e) If there is another way we can help you—now is also a time to make known other needs.