Prayer -- the watering

Last time I came to you I talked about the importance of encouraging one another.   I hope you have all received and given gifts of encouragement to one another in one way or another.   Yes encouragement is like sunshine to the plant, it brings out the best in a plant and allow it to grow healthy and strong.  Without sunshine, a plant is stunted and never reaches its full potential. Last December,  I planted some beans in our back garden.  Unfortunately I chose a  wrong spot and they were shaded from the sun for most of the day. Despite lots of tender loving care, lots of watering, lots of fertilizers and compost,  the  plants never took off and we ended up buying beans rather than harvesting beans.   People, like the beans, without encouragement, never reach their full potential. 

Just as sunshine is vital to plant growth, so is watering.   Without water, after a while, a plant simply wilts and dies.    I believe in our Christian experience, just as encouragement is like the warmth of the sun, so prayer is like watering - it brings life and brings growth and brings fruit.   It changes a hard unyielding  soil into a pliable soft and thoroughly usable soil for the seed of God’s word.  Some of you may have seen pictures of farmers in Asia standing in paddy fields knee deep in water, planting seedlings of rice.  The water is crucial not only for its planting but also for its subsequent rapid growth.    As we pray, so will God’s Spirit be able to soften hearts to the gospel of Jesus and the seedling of God’s Word will have a chance to bring a harvest.

I believe we are at a very crucial stage of world history.  Apart from the wars and violence and mass murders and other human tragedy and physical catastrophe which we see on the TV screen,  what is happening  and which never made it to that small box in our lounge is the large scale evangelism that is happening  all round the world especially in Asia and in Africa and South America.  It has been reported in our own baptist self denial pamphlet that it has been estimated that daily  28,000 people are turning to Christ in China, and daily 20,000 people are turning to Christ in Africa.   Further more, many Christians around the world are praying and gathering people to pray that by the year 2000, every people group that has at least 2000 people will have had the opportunity to hear the gospel in their own language. It is not possible you might say.   It is possible.  With the advent of the video machine, most people are able to hear the gospel through video in their own language.   Some of you may have seen the the film Jesus based on the book of Matthew.   It is now being transcripted and new sound track in new tribal languages are produced and added onto the video every two weeks.   The film has been a powerful evangelism tool among people who have never heard the gospel. 

But without prayer, none of these efforts will succeed.  

Although prayer is so vital, most people find prayer difficult.  We find lots of excuses not to pray.
And when we finally get down to prayer, we wondered what we should pray, how we should pray. We often get distracted, the telephone will ring, or people will visit us, or the baby wakes or we fall asleep on our knees.  What we have managed to pray we waited a long time and nothing seemed to have happened.    We get discouraged and we choose to do everything else except pray.   

Today I would like to share with you some of what I have discovered about prayer that might encourage you to pray.  And together we might see the advance of God’s kingdom in our land and in our world.  

Prayer is a partnership with Jesus

If I was to ask you to draw a picture depicting prayer, I wonder how many of you would draw it this way :    

Well in fact prayer is not a tug of war with God.   The amazing thing about prayer is that God is on our side.  And we are pulling the rope together with him.    The other end of the rope could be a mountain, a wall, a door…..whatever.   But God is on our side.   We are not trying to convince a God who is not interested, gone away on holiday or asleep.    No, God is more keen to answer our prayer than we are willing to pray.    In fact God waits for us to pray so that his work can be carried out in this world.  

The most profound principle of God’s working in this world is that he wants to do his work in partnership with us.   He does not want to do it alone.    God can do everything by himself, but he chooses not to.   He does not need your help or my help, but he chooses to want your involvement and my involvement.   And one of the most important involvement we can have with his work is through prayer.    

You might remember an incident in John’s gospel.  Jesus and his disciples were walking through a wheat field and Jesus’ heart was burdened for the people who have yet to learn about him.  And seeing the ears of wheat fully ripened wavering in the wind, he said to his disciples: Lift up your eyes and look on  the fields, for they are white unto harvest.   The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few.   Pray to the Lord of the harvest that he may send forth labourers into the field…..

I used to think what a strange request !!  Which owner of fields will wait for his servants to tell him what to do…..  But that is the way our God acts…. In partnership with us. 

As we see our world getting from bad to worse, as we see our children and our young people struggle in an environment of violence, abuse and evil, as we see our society move towards putting money above moral values, above personal worth and above family values, as we see people lose hope and getting more and more desperate, looking for a solution for their problems, looking for something that is real, for someone who really cares and not take advantage of them,  we need to pray and say God, send your labourers into this world of ours it is ready for harvest….

Not only does God desire us to pray in evangelism, he often uses his people’s prayer to bring protection to his own servants:-

An amazing story of God’s intervention through the prayer of his people is found in Wesley Duewel book Touch the world through prayer:
During the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya in 1960, it was a very dangerous thing to travel through the country. At that time, missionaries Lora and Matt Higgens were returning to Nairobi through the heart of Mau Mau territory.   As they were just 17 miles outside of Nairobi, their Land Rover stopped and despite all their effort it could not be started.  As it got dark, they prayed for protection and slept inside their car. Before they slept they claimed the promise of Psalms 4:8:
I will lie down and sleep in peace for you alone O Lord make me dwell in safety.  

The next day, they managed to repair the car and drove safely back to Nairobi, blissfully ignorant of what had happened in the night. A local pastor later was to tell them that during the night, a member of the Mau Mau three others saw the stranded car and decided to kill them while they slept.  But when they came closer they suddenly saw 16 men were standing around guarding the car, they became frightened and quickly ran away.   So the Hugens assumed that these were angels God had sent to protect them in answer to their own prayers.

When they were back in America, a friend of theirs Clay Brent asked him whether he had been in any danger.   Matt Higgens asked him why and Clay said on 23^rd March God had placed a heavy burden on his heart to pray for the Higgens and so he gathered the men of the church to pray and 16 of them prayed a long time together until the burden was lifted.   And that was the very night they were sleeping in the Land Rover.    And God answered their prayer for protection by raising up others to pray.    And presumably God in his grace sent one angel for the effort of each of the prayers !!!

The surprising thing is of course, why didn’t God send his protection simply in response to the Higgen’s own prayers.   Why did he want to involve 16 other people ?    I don’t really know, but I suppose it does fit in with the general principle that God wants his people to be involved in what he does.

For this reason, it is important that when we pray, we pause to hear what in fact God wants us to pray and also how to pray.   For apart from the regular and mundane things that we need and we want, there are things on God’s agenda that we must find out.

How then do we hear what God is saying ?
First, we need to believe that God really wants to speak to us. 
Secondly, we must learn to carry on a two way conversation with him, not only speaking but pause to let him speak to us. 

Initially we will hear our own voice as well as God’s voice as well as many other voices. But we will learn to distinguish those soon enough, because God’s voice is always in tune with the scriptures, and characterized by his love and concern for people. As long as we are willing to be still and open to hearing God, we will hear him speak. When I say being still I do not mean that we stop doing everything ( we can in fact stop doing everything and yet our minds will race like wild horses all over the world.)   It could be while you are ironing, working in the garden, doing the dishes, having your shower, but tune in to God, and give him time and space.  At other times, the Holy Spirit may speak to you out of a passage of scriptures you are reading or you have memorized and bring things to you to pray through.  At other times it may be while you are watching the news or reading the newspaper of situations and you could ask God what he wanted to do in the situation.

Another way I find helpful in listening to God and to keep myself awake  is to write down my prayers in full (not just in headings)  in an exercise  book and as I write I ask God what he wanted me to pray for.   Because my hand is always slower than my mind, there is in fact space in between one prayer and another.   And I often find God speaks to me and tells me what to pray for .  I remember once I was praying for a couple who wanted to have child but were unable to do so. I have been praying for them for a while and one day as I was writing down the request in the prayer diary, I seemed to hear the Lord say: you don’t have to pray for that any more, they are going to have a child. And so I turned my prayer into praise.  (I found two weeks later, that was in fact true ).    Now what works for me may or may not work for you.   And we must individually develop our own prayer style.   But using the prayer diary was one of the most successful method of prayer I have used so far and not only do I not fall asleep as I pray, but I have a clear and precise record of what I prayed for and months and years later I could check and tick off prayers that have been answered and my faith is strengthened as I see God answer those feeble prayers of mine.

One final thing I want to say about partnership with God in prayer is that sometimes not only did God tell you what he wanted to pray, but he also gave you the pain and the sorrow of his heart as we prayed.  Several times I found in a small prayer group as I was praying for a certain group of individuals that tears just come rolling down my cheeks.  Now I am not normally a very emotional person and I certainly have not worked myself up to great feelings and emotions, because it came so suddenly, that I believed God was using my tears to show me his heart and as much as that was a embarrassing thing, it was also very precious.  When Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus, it was not because he can’t reverse the situation but because his heart went out to the people he loves and when he saw that they were heart broken, so he was too.  

Prayer is inviting Jesus to come into our midst
Prayer is inviting Jesus to come into our life and our situations: 
In the passage I read at the beginning, it was a church that was doing really well.   It probably had a lovely church building with very capable leaders and plenty of money.   It had a good orchestra and wonderful singers and was making all the right noises, and everybody was contented and happy.  It was going through the motion of running a church as it had always done for the last 50 years.   But there was one thing lacking :   Jesus was not there.   There were plenty of noises, but no life, and no light and no fire.   Have you ever drunk a bottle of  fizzy drink that has had its lid open and left out for a while.  It was warm and has lost its fizz ?   Can a church be like that ?   lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold.  Well that was how Jesus described the church at Laodicea.      But where was Jesus ?  Outside, and knocking.  But there were  so many thing going on in the church no one could hear him. Everyone is too busy to listen.   But the invitation is given : if anyone hears my voice:  and open the door, I will come in…..and eat with him and he with me…..

So often in the busyness of our lives we have forgotten that Jesus wants to be involved in what we do.  Being a perfect gentleman , Jesus does not push himself into our lives unless He is invited.  Just as he knew perfectly what was happening in the church in Laodicea, so he knew what is happening to you and to me, and he wants to share our joy, our pain, our burdens.   But he does not barge in uninvited.   Prayer is my request to Jesus to come in.   Prayer is the opening of my life and the lives of those around me for him to bring his power and his love and his healing. 

You may remember the story in John 6  about the disciples rowing very hard on the lake of Galilee after a long day’s ministry with Jesus, feeding the 5000.  But Jesus was not with them.  He took time out to pray.  As night fell and the wind rose and so were the waves and for every 5 metres they were going forward, they went back 10 metres — not making too good progress.   And the story was that Jesus was walking on the waves and they invited Jesus into their boat…..and the amazing thing was that : immediately the storm stopped and they got to where they were intending to go.    (John 5:16-21) 

Several years ago I had a very bad combination of classes to teach on a Friday.   On one particular Friday, I was really stressed out.  Having taught all morning and doing some extra work in the lunch time, I was exhausted before I faced the afternoon classes.   I had two of the worse fourth form to teach and they were difficult at the best of times and on a Friday afternoon, they were just unmanageable.  I survived the first fourth form with absolute no reserve mentally or physically and then I faced the last fourth form with horror.   They were lining up outside thorough high and excitable like anything and one look at them I knew I was in trouble.  So in desperation, I cried out to the Lord, Lord could you help.  Send a calm and a peace among them.  I can’t cope any more. Then a strange thing happened, without any exertion on my part, they quieted down, came into the classroom, calm and subdued and did everything I set out for them to do with no complaint and no noise.   I couldn’t believe my eyes.   Thank you Lord I said and though exhausted still I was the one who got really excited instead.   

Reading through Paul’s letter, one realizes that Paul prays a lot for the many congregations that he had ministered to.  And Paul urges us to pray without ceasing.   But what an impossible task.  How do we pray without ceasing.  I believe we can if we keep reminding ourselves to have our hearts and minds are open to Jesus, constantly inviting him to come to our situations, constantly inviting him to come into other people’s lives. We do not need to twist his arms, we do not need to make a long speech to persuade him, we do not even need to tell him what is happening.  He knows and he wants to act — and the only thing that will release his power in people’s lives is when we invite him to come …… 

Over and over again, we notice in scriptures, Jesus ask for our invitation to do what we want him to do and at time it seems to be too obvious to ask.  For example  he asked the blind man what he wanted him to do and of course quick as a shot came back the eager request : Lord I want to see.   But they had to ask. The problem of the Laodicean church is two fold: first they were too blind to see their own poverty and secondly they were too proud to ask for God’s touch.    Herein lies the essence of prayer.   It is not that Jesus does not know, or that he was unwilling, but we must give the invitation for him to do so.    Prayer is then the invitation for Jesus to come into our lives and do what he delights to do.  

Sometimes people are in a situation that requires prayer and we are the only Christian that they know.  And we are a little embarrass to know how to say the right words. And we are embarrass that maybe nothing would happen when we pray.   But that is not our responsibility.   Our only responsibility is to ask and invite Jesus to do what he wanted to do.   Jesus you are welcome here.  Come and minister to this folk as you have wanted to ….. come and bring the your peace, your healing, your touch on this person.  and then trust the Lord to do what he always wanted to do.    You may not see anything immediately, and you may, but the rest is up to Him….  He loves those people a lot more than we could ever do….

Prayer Brings in God’s Kingdom and Rule and pushes back the kingdom of darkness
Whether we like it or not, as Christians we are involved in a spiritual battle.   How the battle goes depends lot on whether we pray.    Our prayers are weapons in God’s hand to drive back the enemy and to establish God’s kingdom and rule on this earth.  That is something that takes time.   Because the enemy fights to resist the advance of God’s kingdom.   That is why sometimes  we don’t see any answers and sometimes the answers came much later than we think they ought.   

But we must continue to pray and not give up.   If you have been to a limestone cave you would have seen the formation of those stalactites and stalagmites.  Each of them is formed by thousands of drops of water dripping from the ceiling of the cave and over the ears, almost imperceptibly they build up until they become huge columns supporting the cave.    Our individually prayers, like those water drops may seem insignificant, but over time, if we do not give up, will become a mighty force which overthrows the enemy.    God wants us to pray.  God wants to build his kingdom and heal people’s lives through our prayers.   Let us pray and not give up.