November 3, 2019
All Scripture from NIV unless otherwise documented.
Based on Book “How to Pray” by R.A. Torrey
1 Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. 2 And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. 3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) 4 And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. KJV ACTS 12: 1 – 5
Today I want to cover chapters two and three of Torrey’s book with a message titled “Six Elements of Prayer.” Chapter two is titled “Praying to God” and answers the question of, how to pray with power. I don’t know about you, but I want my prayers to be with power, and not weak
and useless prayers uttered up to a God that the Bible tells us that nothing is impossible for Him. If that is true, then we ought to approach God expecting that He can and will answer our prayers. The first thing that Torrey says about prayer in chapter two is something that sounds silly in some ways. He says that the first thing we need to do is offer our prayers “to God”. He said that “the prayer that has power is the prayer that is offered unto God.” Isn’t all prayer to God? Not really. Think about it for a minute. When you are asked to say a prayer, whether it’s at mealtime, over someone who is sick in the hospital or in Sunday School or at church, how many times do you really pray to the audience that is listening?
We think about what we should say so as not to offend someone, or so we can get the attention of someone or so we can make others feel good. We think about what people want to hear and we really don’t come into the presence of God at all. Have you ever said grace before a meal and then a few minutes later, when you begin to eat thought, did I pray?
Torrey suggests that in order to have power in our prayers, we must first “really come into God’s presence, really meet Him face-to-face in the place of prayer, really seek the things that we desire from Him.” How? That’s the big question we need answered. How do we really come into the presence of God to pray? We must “look to the Holly Spirit to lead us into the presence of God and not be hasty in words until He has actually brought us there.”
I’ve thought about that a lot lately. I was sitting in my deer stand meditating on that thought, asking the Spirit of God to bring me into that place where I felt the presence of God in prayer. And I find that it’s difficult. There are so many distractions that cause my mind to wander, and I find I must keep pulling myself back into the presence of God. What about you? The next time you pray, stop and ask yourself, am I really praying to God? Have I allowed the Holy Spirit to bring me into His presence? Do I believe that God is listening to my heartfelt prayers and petitions, or am I just going through the motions of prayer?
The second secret to effective prayer says Torrey, is to pray “without ceasing”. The NIV translate this as, “earnestly praying”, more accurately capturing the jest of what Torrey was trying to convey. The word translated “without ceasing” or “earnestly” in the NIV means “stretched-out-ed-ly.” It expresses the earnest and intense desire of prayer. It is the word used by Jesus in the Garden that says, “He prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” Torrey wrote: “the prayer that prevails with God is the prayer into which we put our whole soul, stretching out toward God in intense and agonizing desire. In Romans 15:30 Paul asked the brethren to “strive together with me in your prayers to God.” Torrey said that this word strive was used concerning athletic contests and means to “contend with”.
I think the jest of what Torrey was saying is that we should not just come into the presence of God and leave again without putting some effort into our praying. Just as it takes prolonged effort to compete in an athletic event, when we pray, we should put the energy and effort into our prayers. In the Greek, the words translated “Ask, seek and knock in Luke 11 represent a continuous act, rather than a one-time act. Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. That’s what Torrey means by praying without ceasing.
The third way that Torrey says that we receive power in prayer is by practicing united prayer. Acts 12: 5 says that “the church” prayed without ceasing. What were they praying for? They were praying that Peter might not come to harm in jail. They were praying that somehow Peter would be released from prison. They were asking the impossible, but they were praying together as one. And what happened? Peter was miraculously delivered from prison and showed up at the house where the church was gathered and praying. Why do you call the church office and ask for the prayer chain to be started for someone? Why do you submit a loved one’s name to the church office or mention them during our prayer time?
Because you believe in the power of united prayer. There is power in united prayer. And I believe that one reason that this is true is that even though we are praying about the same thing, when many people pray, they cover all the bases. I go back to the night our son was injured. There were many praying that he would be ok. Some, no doubt prayed that he would survive the night. Some prayed that the doctors would know what to do for him. Others prayed that he might not have any brain injuries. But one man praying for our son vividly praying pictured the biological process of his blood beginning to clot. Though so many were praying, all were praying for our son, this one man prayed about the one specific thing that he needed at that moment. Do
I discount everyone else’s prayer? No. Instead I see the power of the united prayer as everyone who prayed, and that united prayer was heard by God.
The fourth way that Torrey said you can have power in prayer is through obedience to God’s commands. Did you know that sin is an impediment to answered prayer?
Listen to a few verses that indicate that God turns his ear away from the prayers of those who are disobedient to His commands. Psalm 66: 18 “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;” Proverbs 28: 9 “If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable.”
John 9: 31 “We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will.”
1 Peter 3: 12 “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
1 John 3: 21 – 22 says: ”Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.” If you truly want to have power in prayer, if you want to have confidence that God hears you when you pray, then put away sin in your life and seek to obey His commands.
Closely related to this is to do those things that are pleasing to God. I had someone ask me once to give them a list of all the things that God didn’t want them to do. They wanted a detailed list of sins that they were to avoid. But it isn’t simply blind obedience to a list of don’ts that pleases God. Part of obeying God is to do those things that are pleasing in His sight. Torrey states that the true child of God doesn’t merely ask what is forbidden, he studies to know his Father’s will in all things. What are some of those things that we are to be doing to please God? How about love your neighbor as yourself? How about love your enemies and pray for them? What about helping the poor, the widow and orphan in distress? And how about bearing
one another’s burdens, to name just a few of the things we should be doing in obedience to God and to be pleasing in His sight.
And finally, in order to have power in prayer you need to call upon Him in truth. Psalm 145: 18 says, “The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” Torrey says that this expression “in truth” means either “in reality” or “in sincerity” and means that when you ask for something that it is sincerely desired. Do you ever ask God for something that you don’t really want? I’m going to give you an extreme example, I hope you can follow the logic. Let’s say you have a daughter that is in an abusive marriage and as a Christian, you don’t believe in divorce.
You might pray that God would mend the relationship. You might pray that your daughter’s spouse would quit abusing her. You might pray any number of things that you don’t really want because what you really want is your daughter to get out of that relationship. But as a good Christian, you pray for things to change so the marriage will be ok. In other words, your prayers are not in truth because what you are praying for isn’t what you really want.
Someone recently commented that somebody needs to light a fire under this congregation. But is that really their desire? If you pray for revival or for the church to grow, how will you feel when new people begin transforming your church into something that is different from what you are comfortable with? A pastor friend of mine took a church that wanted just that, and when he started bringing new people in and introducing them to different music, they fired him. Although they thought they wanted their church to grow, they didn’t want it to change.
When you pray to God, make sure that you are praying in sincerity that which you ask of Him if you want to have power in prayer.
Pray to God, pray without ceasing, pray in unity, keep God’s commandments, doing what pleases Him and call on God in truth. If you want to have power in prayer, consider these things as you approach God in prayer.