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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

John Shin

Christ: Our Example in Prayer

Because I'm not known to project my voice very well.

Heavenly Father, we thank you so much, Lord, for this blessing and this privilege to worship you out here in your glorious nature.

Lord, as we study now into the topic of prayer and the example that Christ set for us, Lord, help us to apply the lessons that you want us to learn in our lives.

So for those of you who didn't know, today is a day of prayer and fasting for the World Church.

And so we're going to be breaking our fast with potluck today.

But I think this comes an opportune time to talk about what the purpose of prayer is in our Christian walk.

A time of prayer and fasting, and those 2 elements are commonly seen together in the Bible.

What is it about prayer that makes it vital for our Christian walk?

What would you say is the most fundamental reason that we pray?

When you go on your knees and pray, what's the main reason for doing so?

But when you say that you pray, aren't you assuming that you have the belief that God is really out there listening.

Wouldn't you say then that unless you have this clearly established in your mind that There's a real God out there who loves you and cares for you and who's listening to your prayers.

Wouldn't you say that it is impossible to pray an effectual prayer without that knowledge and that conviction in your hearts that God is really listening to you when you pray, that He cares what you're praying about?

You know, I had a good friend in college who comes from a Hindu background.

His parents were Hindu and he was an atheist.

And I remember we used to have long debates late into the night and we'd talk about the existence of God and we'd come to a point where he would say on an intellectual basis, he would say, you know what John, you make a good point.

God probably, something, some being like a God must exist out there.

I think the probability that such a being exists is greater than the probability that no God exists.

And then I would try to convince him, hey, well then why don't we pray and ask this God to reveal Himself to you.

And that's where he would stop because he would say, you know John, no matter how much in my head it makes sense that something like a God is out there, I can't bring myself to believe that when I kneel down here and speak, that someone is really listening.

And he had this mental block, and that prevented him from praying.

When we pray, A lot of the questions about how to pray, about what to say, a lot of these questions will be answered if we truly believe in our hearts that God is indeed listening, that we have the ear of the God of the universe when we get on our knees and we pray.

Psalm 6 9 says, The Lord has heard my supplication, the Lord receives my prayer.

Listen to this quote from Gospel Workers, page 258.

It is a wonderful thing that we can pray effectually, that unworthy, erring mortals possess the power of offering their requests to God.

What higher power can man desire than this?

Feeble, sinful man has the privilege of speaking to his Maker.

We may utter the words that reach the throne of the monarch of the universe.

We may speak with Jesus as we walk by the way and He says, I'm at thy right hand.

We may walk in companionship with Christ.

When engaged in our daily labor, we may breathe out our heart's desire, inaudible to any human ear, but that word cannot die away into silence, nor can it be lost.

Now listen, it rises above the din of the streets, above the noise of machinery.

It is to God, it is God to whom we are speaking and our prayer is heard.

Ask for humility, wisdom, courage, increase of faith.

To every sincere prayer an answer will come.

It may not come just as you desire or at the time that you look for it, But it will come in the way and at the time that will best meet your need The prayers you offer in loneliness in weariness in trial God answers not always according to your expectations But always for your good.

Christ has said, if ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.

Again he says, if any man serve me, him will my father honor.

If we live according to his word, every precious promise he has given will be fulfilled to us.

We are undeserving of His mercy, but as we give ourselves to Him, He receives us.

He will work for and through those who follow Him.

So then the question remains, have you ever wondered if God knows everything already, Doesn't He know what's on our hearts?

Why must we pray for them in order for God to hear us?

Why doesn't He just do that which He knows we need Him to do for us?

You know, growing up, when we were a lot younger, my sister, she would get to bed late at night and she'd be very tired and she would sort of cheat on her prayers and she would lie down in bed And she would say, Dear Lord, you already know everything that I need to pray, so goodnight, amen.

And you know, even at that young tender age, Something about that sounded very wrong to me.

But I couldn't argue with her because she would say, well, are you saying that God doesn't know what I'm going to pray for?

And I would say, well, no, obviously He knows.

Well, listen to the words we have from Inspiration, Steps to Christ, page 93.

Prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend.

Now listen, not that it is necessary in order to make known to God what we are, but in order to enable us to receive Him.

Prayer does not bring God down to us, but brings us up to Him.

When Jesus was upon the earth, He taught His disciples how to pray.

He directed them to present their daily needs before God and to cast all their care upon Him.

And the assurance He gave them that their petitions should be heard is the assurance to us.

The point of prayer is not to bring God down to us or to inform God of what we need, but it is to bring ourselves up to Him.

Now, for those of you who have children, what happens if you supply every want and desire of your child before they even know to ask for it?

You know, before they even know to say, ask for an allowance, you start to give them an allowance.

Maybe, before they even realize that they want to learn how to drive, you say, let's go out and get your learner's permit.

And then you provide them a car when they get their driver's license.

I think we all agree that the child will not appreciate the gifts that you bestow on him or her.

These are good gifts, but until the child understands his or her need for these gifts, when you give it to them, it can actually hurt them.

Isn't it true that they can take you for granted?

And I think any parent here would agree that, yes, sometimes I feel taken for granted when I provide good things for my children.

Much the same way with our Heavenly Father.

He waits until we acknowledge our need to Him, Not because he's unwilling to give us his gifts, but because he knows that we're not yet ready to receive them.

And so in the process of confessing to God that we have this need, that we have this desire, and earnestly praying to him for its fulfillment, That thought process brings us to a point in our lives where when the Lord blesses us with the gift that he had in store for us all along, that we can benefit fully from it.

Christ: Our Example in Prayer

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