Pray Like Jesus

Let's go to John chapter 14 If you'll take your Bibles now and go to John chapter 14 We're continuing in our study through the gospel of John for those of you who are new to our study Chapters 13 to 17 of John are known as the upper room discourse This is a private conversation that Jesus has with his disciples in some upper room of some home Unknown in Jerusalem where Jesus is sharing the last Passover meal with his disciples just before he's crucified By the time we get to chapter 14 Judas has now exited the room So Jesus is still here with the 11 and he is sharing very private Intimate things as a final word of exhortation before his crucifixion. We need to take these things to heart Because as followers of Jesus today, he speaks to us as much as he did to them then And so as we look together here, we have already looked at chapter 13 the first part of chapter 13 Jesus teaches us to serve like he serves and then the latter part of chapter 13 where Jesus talked about love and we we are to love as Jesus loves and And then last week we looked at the first part of chapter 14 Where Jesus taught us to go where he goes when we depart this earth and we talked last week about heaven and how to get There today. I want us to look further in chapter 14. We're gonna read verses 12 to 14 just three verses So if you have your Bibles there John 14 starting at verse 12 Says most assuredly I say to you he who believes in me the works that I do he will do also and Greater works than these he will do because I go to my father and whatever you ask in my name That I will do that the father may be glorified in the Son if you ask anything in my name I Will do it. I've entitled today's teaching pray like Jesus Let's do just that. Let's pray together father. We thank you now for your word as we open it up together We pray that you would speak to our hearts afresh That as we draw near to you Lord, thank you that you promise you were Always there where two or more are gathered you're in our midst And so Lord help us now as we study this passage together be glorified We pray and we're grateful in Jesus name and everyone said amen Well prayer is one of those things that almost everybody has done at some point or another in his or her life Maybe you've prayed a prayer of desperation or a prayer of celebration, but most people at some point

pray but fewer Pray as a matter of spiritual discipline. What do I mean by that? Well when we talk about spiritual disciplines, they are simply habits Practices and experiences that are designed to develop grow and strengthen one's spirit to build the muscle so to speak of one's character as a follower of Christ and So for example Bible reading Bible study when you take your Bibles and you have your own quiet time that falls under the category of spiritual disciplines Fasting every now and again is a spiritual discipline attending church like you're doing today That's a spiritual discipline and so is prayer and just like the word implies Disciplines are things that we do Because we know we need to do them not always because we want to do that. Can anybody relate? There's not always this sense of yippee. I get to be disciplined in this area or that area But nevertheless it is something that we know we should do because it's needful and so therefore you and I discipline ourselves to do what is important not what is convenient and So here's the basic definition of prayer when we talk about prayer as a spiritual discipline What it means is simply this it's communing and connecting with God That's what prayer is. It's communing and connecting with God. It is sometimes talking to him It is sometimes just being still and listening to him It can be audible. It can be inaudible as we just simply pray from our hearts It can be making requests for yourself. It can be interceding for others There is no right way to pray and the only wrong way is to not do it at all There is no designated prayer position You can pray standing you can pray sitting kneeling lifting your hands closing your eyes opening your eyes You can pray on the run. You can pray at rest You can pray in public. You can pray in private. You can pray in the morning you can pray in the evening and every time in between and A survey that was done a little while ago by Barna group. They surveyed a cross-section of Americans about their prayer life. And for those who said they prayed at least one time

within the last three months, this is the stats that Barna produced. Those who said, yeah, I prayed at least once in the last three months, the majority, 82% prayed silently by themselves, 13% audibly by themselves, only 2% prayed audibly with another person or in a group, and also only 2% said they prayed collectively with a church. So, you know, we prayed for the elections just a moment ago, we prayed at the beginning of our Bible study, you know, you're praying collectively with the church, but only 2% of Americans say they even do that. And so prayer is an important thing for us to understand. In fact, the Bible tells us in Colossians 4.2, devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. In 1 Thessalonians 5.17, Paul says, pray without ceasing. Now, how is that really possible that you pray without ceasing? I mean, it just means being in an attitude of constant prayer. It doesn't have to be long and lengthy and lofty prayers. We'll talk about that in a minute. It can just be these quick prayers as you're driving to work, as you're taking kids to soccer practice, as you're in the grocery store, just this constant communication with God and just, you know, lifting up your heart to Him, whether it's praying for someone or praying for some need that you have or whatever it might be, we're to be in this constant attitude of prayer. Now, what in the world does Jesus mean when He says here in our text, look again at verses 13 and 14, when He says in verse 13, and whatever you ask in my name, that I will do. And then in verse 14, if you ask anything in my name, I will do it. So, what exactly is Jesus saying here? Is Jesus giving us a blank check? Does He really mean anything when He says anything? Ask anything in my name and I will do it. So, for example, like if you're a little low on cash, can you pray that God would give you success in robbing a bank? And God will do it. Or if your neighbor ticks you off, can you pray God blow up his home and God will do it? By the way, as silly as that sounds, actually there's a story in the Bible of His disciples who did just that. Yeah, the story is found in Luke 9, you don't need to turn there, I'll just summarize it for you. In Luke chapter 9, Jesus with His disciples are making their way from the upper region of the Galilee to Jerusalem. And the quickest route is to pass through Samaria. Well, as many of you know,

there's long-standing animosity between Samaritans and Jews. Long-standing prejudice between the two groups. And so, as Jesus and His disciples are making their way through Samaria, they try to find lodging at one of the villages within Samaria. And the Samaritans say, you can't stay here, you're Jews, we don't want you staying here in our village. And the Bible says in Luke 9, 54, and when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them like Elijah did? Like, Lord, blow up their home. We don't like what they're saying. They're ticked off. And so they're praying, God, smoke them. You know, that's their prayer. And Jesus is standing there and He's like, in verse 55 of Luke 9, He turned and He rebuked them and He said, you do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. Now, by the way, if you heard me as I read, who were the two who said, should we just smoke them, God? Can you? It's James and John. Now, they were brothers. And these were hand-picked disciples of Jesus. And James and John were also known in the Bible as the Sons of Thunder. Yeah, they were hotheads. They were living up to their name. It's like, how about we barbecue these Samaritans? That would be a good thing, wouldn't it? These are the guys that Jesus picked. Well, Jesus didn't do what they asked. So, no, anything doesn't mean anything without the last part of verse 13. Look again in your Bibles. Jesus said in verse 13, whatever you ask in My name, that I will do. Underline, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. That the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you're taking notes, I'm going to give you three musts in prayer. The first is, it must be glorifying to God. That's what we just read there in John 14, 13. Jesus said that the Father may be glorified in the Son. James and John did not bring glory to God and thus God did not give them whatever they asked It's qualified here God will only do for us what adds to his glory not ours and God will never do for us anything that detracts from his glory The Bible says in Isaiah 42 8 God speaking through the prophet Isaiah. I am the Lord

That is my name and my glory I will not give to another So when we pray it better glorify God Because you don't want to mess with God's glory You know that bumper sticker we see every every once in a while If you if any of you from Texas, you love this bumper sticker says don't mess with Texas. Don't mess with Texas Well, I think there needs to be a new bumper sticker that says don't mess with God's glory You start messing with God's glory. There's gonna be problems Case in point Acts chapter 12 many of you might be familiar with this story, but in Acts chapter 12 Herod Agrippa is king over Judea and it tells us that on one occasion he comes out to the people he's in Caesarea and he's and he's giving this public address to the people and he comes out and he's shining royal garments and The Sun is glistening against the shiny garments and as he speaks the people say they're in Acts 12, this is the voice of a god not of man and they ascribe deity to King Herod Agrippa and Herod doesn't do anything to correct them. He just kind of drinks it in like you're like a god It's like well, I didn't want to say, you know, but and you know what happens in Acts 12 I'll read it to you Acts 12 23 then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him Because he did not give glory to God and he was eaten by worms and died The moral of the story is you touch God's glory you're gonna become fish bait ladies and gentlemen He died eaten by worms. That's not a good way to go out And so sometimes our prayers are full of selfish ambition and do not glorify God Why do we think God will answer those prayers? So when we pray things like Lord, you know make me successful and famous is God obligated to do that But if on the other hand we were to pray Lord Open doors for me and give me a platform so that I can make your name famous Help me to use the talents that you have given me To glorify you in a big way. You see God will give you success as long as you give him the glory when you don't He won't That's the way it works

So when Jesus says here ask whatever you want, he qualifies it that the father may be glorified So make sure that your prayers glorify God make sure that your prayers are not self-centered But Christ centered things that would bring glory and honor to his name Number two when we pray it must be in accordance with God's will Now this is 1st John 5 14, let me read it to you Now this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will He hears us Now I will be honest with you and I will tell you that over the years I've gotten pushback from some Christians who believe that if you and people have told me this that if you Begin a prayer or end a prayer with some reference to if it be God's will That some say that's a weak prayer that you're not really praying in faith You're not really praying with confidence or with boldness that you need to declare what God's will is They would say to you that's not really showing confidence if you don't declare God's will Okay, can I just say to you if you go around just declaring God's will that's not confidence. That's arrogance Okay, be very very careful, you know, what is more biblical to do is you defer to God's will you don't go around declaring God's Will you defer to the will of God in the first place? Listen, this is the example that Jesus set for us You remember in the garden of Gethsemane? Just before Jesus is crucified He's agonizing in prayer to the Father He's agonizing so much that Luke records in his gospel that Jesus perspires droplets of blood It's actually a medical Phenomenon called hematidrosis. It's when you're under such excruciating agony that the capillaries in your in your forehead break mingle with sweat and you perspire droplets of blood Jesus was under such agony and he referred to it as a cup of Suffering that he prays to the Father and listen to what he prays there In Luke 22, 42, he says, Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from me, this cup of suffering. Nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done. Now what was our Lord doing?

He was deferring to the will of the Father. He was saying, in essence, if there's any other way to accomplish this plan of redemption without my having to suffer on the cross, that would be my preference. But it's not about my preference. It's about your will, Father. And he defers to the will of the Father. In the same way, he taught us to pray. When his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray. And Jesus then teaches what we commonly refer to as the Lord's Prayer. In Matthew 6 and verse 10, part of the Lord's Prayer is, this is Jesus modeling it for us, saying, your kingdom come, your, what? Will be done on earth as it is in heaven. What is Jesus teaching us even in the Lord's Prayer? Defer to the will of the Father. May the will of the Father be done. Defer to His will. Now listen, there are some things clearly in Scripture where God makes His will known. So there are some things you know you can pray because you know it's in alignment with His will. Example, 2 Peter 3, 9, God wants none to perish but all to come to repentance. I know it's God's will for me to pray for the salvation of my friends and family members. And I can say that definitively. This is God's will. He wants as many to be saved as possible. Now on the other end, He's given us all a will. And so my friends and family may not will or choose to be saved. But nevertheless, I am praying in accordance with the will of God that they should be saved or might be saved because that's the will of God. He makes it clear in Scripture. But there's a whole host of other things that you and I are going to encounter in the course

of life that we don't necessarily know exactly is it His will. So don't go around like definitively declaring it. You know, you might wrestle with these kind of life questions like, should I move to Pittsburgh? Should I take that job? Should I marry that person? Should I buy that house? Well okay, then defer to the will of God as you pray through that. But don't go around like declaring. Like do you know how, do you know how that, that gets people in trouble? It's like, you know, some young lady who's like, you know what, I'm going to declare that that guy, he's my future spouse. I declare that in Jesus' name. I see him and God, I declare that by faith with confidence and boldness. You make him know that he's to be my future spouse. It's like, stop that. First of all, sister, you go around praying like that, you're going to end up doing everything you can to make that happen. And it may not be God's will. And if it's not God's will, sister, you're going to be stuck with a three ring circus. The engagement ring, the wedding ring, and the suffering. Do you know what I'm saying to you? Stop that. You can say, Lord, this is my preference. I think this person's, the will of yours for me. But if not, make it clear. I said in the first service, let him get hit by a bus so I know clearly. That's extreme. So I wasn't going to say it this service. But you know, sometimes we need to pray desperate prayers without violence to anybody, but just something like, you know, Lord, please make it crystal clear because I want to be in step

with your will. And we don't always know what his will is. So we pray, Lord, your will be done. Now it's okay, as Jesus modeled for us in the Garden of Gethsemane, to make your request known. Like, Lord, this is my preference. This is what I would like. This is what I want. But then at the end of the day, say, but Lord, but your will be done. Because if my will is not your will, I always want your will. Because God's will is always best for us. And we don't always see it at the time. And we sometimes will, you know, get discouraged, feeling like, you know, I thought this was God's will and it turned out not to be. But if we rest in the character and nature of God, that he is our father in heaven who loves us and always wants his best for us, then we won't want to settle for anything less, even if it's not getting what we wanted. Because in the long run, what God wants is always better than what I want. And so we have to pray in accordance with his will and surrender to that. E. Stanley Jones said this, quote, prayer is surrender, surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out a boat hook from a boat and catch hold of the shore and pull do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God." End quote. And so, 1 John 5.14, this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. Show of hands for a moment, how many of you could testify that there are some prayers, looking back, that you are glad God did not answer? Can I see your hands? Amen. Look around. Look around. Now, at

the moment, you're like, I can't believe this. But then, after time has passed, you're like, thank you, God. Thank you, Lord, you didn't answer that one. I won't elaborate on that, but let's move on to number three. It must be asked with right motives. When you pray, you have to pray with right motives. Now, this is out of James chapter 4. Listen to what James 4, this is the middle of verse 2 and verse 3. It says, yet you do not have, because you do not ask God. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss. And IV says, you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Now, context is important to everything in the Bible. And I just read a verse and a half. So, I want to read some verses ahead of what I just read, and a couple of verses after what I just read, so you get the full context. Because in the full context, what James is talking about here is conflict that people have with one another, because they are not being Christ-like. And so, let me read verses around it. This is James 4, verse 1. What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something, but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. And then what I read, you do not have, because you do not ask God. And when you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. Next verse, you adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Ok, now that's the context. So, when he says there, hey you have not, because you ask not, that's one important thing. Sometimes we don't simply receive from God,

because we don't bother to ask Him. But the other thing that he says there is that when you do pray, you don't receive, because you ask with wrong motives. And when you look at the verses around it, what James is telling us basically is this, if you are living and acting like the world, don't expect God to answer your prayers so that you can continue to live and act like the world. That's what he's saying. You know as Christians we need to be separate and come out from the world. Not to isolate ourselves, because the world still needs what we have in Christ. We need to continue to be relevant to the world. We need to continue to engage the world. But I'm talking about living and behaving in a way that now honors Christ, instead of just living and behaving like the way the rest of the world does. Because James says here, the reason why you are not receiving answers to your prayer is because you are expecting God to bless a lifestyle that you should have left. So, stop asking God for things that are going to simply bless a worldly way of living when what God's people need to be is living in a righteous way, which is what James then says about prayer in the next chapter. Listen to James 5.16, the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Or NIV says it's powerful and effective. And the word man there is just universal, man or woman. In other words it's the righteous person in Christ who prays, who will receive, because you are praying now with right motives instead of wrong motives. So, this is the challenge for us. Make sure that we are praying in a way that honors God, out of a heart that is righteous before Him. And by the way they don't have to be long lofty prayers. God just wants to hear your heart. God just wants to hear your heart in

the simplicity of how you word it. Don't worry about like church lingo. Like just pour out your heart to God, that's what He wants. He just wants to hear what you have to say. And it doesn't have to be long drawn out prayers either. I love a quote by J. Edwin Orr, he used to advise brief, earnest prayers, especially in prayer meetings. And he said this, he said, quote, when one prays in a meeting for his first three minutes everyone prays with him. Should he continue a second three minutes everyone prays for him. And should he continue for a third three minutes the others start to pray against him. You ever been in a prayer meeting like that where somebody just drones on and on and you're like, oh God, please shut their mouths. This is like, they're saying it over and over again. We get it God, please. If you've never prayed that way, don't look at me so piously, OK? I have. I'm like, please, some of you pray that, like for me, like please tell this guy to shut up, it's 11 o'clock, I gotta go get a burger, alright, well. Jesus advised against showy, lengthy prayers. In Matthew chapter 6, he said this, and when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward, but you, when you pray, go into your room and when you have shut your door, pray to your father who is in secret place and your father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore, do not be like them, for your father knows the thing you have need of even before you ask him. This is how he wants us to pray.

Oswald Chambers said, quote, we tend to use prayer as a last resort, but God wants it to be our first line of defense. We pray when there's nothing else we can do, but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all. And I close with this prayer that was retrieved from the coat pocket of a Confederate soldier who died in the Battle of Gettysburg. He's an unidentified soldier, but this prayer was retrieved from his coat pocket. And this is what it said. I asked God for strength that I might achieve. I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey. I asked for health that I might do great things. I was given infirmity that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy. I was given poverty that I might be wise. I asked for power that I might have the praise of men. I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God. I asked for all things that I might enjoy life. I was given life that I might enjoy all things. I got nothing that I asked for, but everything I had hoped for. Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered. I am, among all men, most richly blessed. Romans 12.12 says, be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. Amen? Lord, we thank you for your word today, a reminder to us to be praying people. And I ask, Lord, that you would stir our hearts to be men and women and young people of prayer. Forgive us, Lord, for being so busy that we neglect this wonderful access that we have to the throne of grace. Forgive us when we seek your hand more often than we seek your face. Lord, stir us that we would be a praying people, that we would be a praying church, that we would understand the power of prayer if we would simply pray in a way that glorifies

you, if we would pray in accordance with your will, and if we would pray with right motives. Lord, we know that you are faithful to hear our prayers and to do your best for us always. Thank you for being our father. Thank you for hearing our prayers. Glorify yourself in our lives and in our church and in our nation, we pray. In Jesus' name, and everybody said, amen.