First Things First

Many matters are important.  To hear God’s Word, to keep the Lord’s Day holy, and to worship God should be listed amongst your priorities.  But the one that should come first is prayer.

Communion with God is what we are made to enjoy.  It is a necessity.  Do I exaggerate?  Not at all.

Why did Jesus tell a story of a persistent widow?  Because we are to pray and never lose heart (Luke 18.1).  What did Paul teach Timothy?  That in every place we are to pray (1 Timothy 2.8).  And what did Paul say to people in Thessalonica?  Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5.17).

Why is prayer so important?  I offer the following reasons.

First, those who pray are saved.

Faith comes by hearing.  God’s Word needs to be preached.  And people need to listen.  The importance of hearing God’s Word proclaimed in public cannot be stressed enough.  Nor too can the importance of hearing his Word in private.  Too many neglect the private reading of the Bible.  But when you hear God’s Word what are you to do?

Your responsibility is to speak to God.

It is those who call out to him who are saved.  That is what Joel, Peter and Paul all taught (Joel 2.32; Acts 2.21; and Romans 10.13).  And each of us knows it is so.

No one can expect to be saved by an unknown god.  To have such a hope is to take a leap in the dark.  It is to indulge in wishful thinking.  But those who hear the message God has for us do something very different.  They respond to God’s good news.

We know that this news is true because Jesus Christ rose from the dead.  Before he died he said that he had authority to lay down his life and authority from God to take it up again (John 10.18).  That is exactly what he did.

He is the living Saviour in whom all undeserving sinners who turn to him find forgiveness.  Those who believe on him enjoy forgiveness for all the wrongs they have thought, said, and done.  What is true of the past is also true of the present and future.  Through faith in the Christ who died with the sins of sinners accounted as his a believer finds he is accepted by God.God freely offers forgiveness and new life to you.  There is only one way to experience it – through faith in Jesus Christ.  All who see the need to be reconciled to God run to Christ.  They ask God to wash them clean.  And they ask God to create within them a new spirit.

Those who pray enjoy salvation.

Secondly, those who pray show that they are true Christians.

Christians pray.  Prayer is a feature by which they are distinguished from others.  How do we know that is so? Consider both these questions and the answers to them.

What did Paul do after he was converted?  He prayed (Acts 9.11).

What does Paul teach all Christians to do?  To pray (1 Thessalonians 5.17).

What do we discover when we read biographies of Christians?  We find that they prayed.  Prayer was a priority for each and every one.  That is what John Bunyan did, even in prison.  And Bethan Lloyd-Jones described her husband, Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones, as a man of prayer.Each day you need food and drink.  Without them you would grow weak, become ill, and die.  Each of us needs to eat, drink and sleep.  No one can eat, drink or sleep for you.  Someone may put a cup or spoon to your mouth but you must swallow  and digest what is offered.

Similarly in the spiritual life, you can be encouraged to pray, but you must pray.  No one can do that for you.  The prayers of others are important.  But what you need to do is pray.  You  need to talk with God.

Christians know that.  They pray.  As the hymn writer, James Montgomery, says: ‘prayer is our vital breath.’

There are two types of prayer: secret prayer and public prayer.  Jesus taught the importance of both.  You are to go, he says, to your Father in secret (Matthew 6.6).  In secret you are to speak with him in prayer.

And you are not to neglect meeting with other Christians (Hebrews 10.25).  Some people do that.  Though they could, they do not attend all the meetings of the church to which they belong.  I think specially of meetings on the Lord’s Day.  But mid-week meetings can also be included.  Such behaviour indicates either a failure to take seriously God’s will for us, or a failure to sort out what our priority should to be.

Communion with God is to come first.  Christians see the worship of Almighty God as their greatest privilege.  It is also our first and most important need.

Thirdly, those who pray know what it is to be content.

Jesus invites us to cast all our cares onto him.  He promises the weary and the burdened rest (Matthew 11.28).  Those who take their fears, needs and worries to God in prayer know what it is to be refreshed.  They are filled with joy as they wait upon the Lord and find that he renews their strength (Isaiah 40.31; 41.1).

Difficulties come to all of us.  You find yourself struggling with illness, perplexed, and full of grief when a loved one dies.  You have fears and worries.  How do you cope with them?  Do you get angry or bitter?  Or do you take them to God?  Do you share them with him in prayer?Often we can make matters worse for ourselves.  We do so by neglecting prayer.  I do not want to give the impression that a person who prays will see all his problems disappear.  Sometimes God does answer a prayer in that way.  Neither you or I should ever limit his power.

However, at the same time we recognise that God who is all-powerful is also all-wise.  He knows best.  And he knows what is best for you.  Thus, although you may want a problem removed, God may use your problem to teach you more about him and his love for you.  He may use it to teach you more about yourself.  And he may use it to teach you to rely properly and truly on him.

Very importantly, we are to discover that through prayer God brings our thinking into line with his will for us.  That is why your better prayers are those which focus on God being honoured and loved by all people.  Numbered among your best prayers are those that are based upon and fashioned by the plans, purposes and promises of God.  To pray prayers based upon the teaching of the Bible is to pray according to the will of God.

God has given you the Bible and calls you to pray.  Both are essential for your spiritual well-being.  Through a proper use of both you can enjoy intimate fellowship and communion with God.

You need the Word (the Bible) so that you may know the truth by which you are set free.  You need the Word so that you may know God’s will for you and all people.  You need the Word so that you may know the promises of God, upon which you are to lean and which you are to plead in prayer.  And you need to know the promises of God so that you get this life into a proper perspective and prepare yourself for eternity.

But if you are to keep in step with the Spirit of God you also need to pray.  Prayer is your vital breath.  You need wisdom and understanding, as well as patience and a steady trust in God.  Communion with God in prayer is nothing less than an “absolute necessity” (J C Ryle).

EPC  5 June 2016