Mark 12:28-34 Communication Prayer/meditation
As John Grassmick says in the Bible Knowledge Commentary on these verses…”It is a commitment to the Lord that is comprehensive and whole hearted. The heart, as the control center of your life, the soul as your self consciousness, the mind our thought capacity and strength our bodily powers”
And when we learn how to love the Lord like this the result is love for others.
So in this series what I would like to do is help us understand that this type of loving God comes from instituting Spiritual Disciplines in our life.
Tonight we will look at prayer and how it impacts our heart, mind, strength and soul.
When we look at all the people of great faith in Bible…they prayed…Jesus prayed…He went off often early in the morning and prayed and in the account of Luke 11 when he came back from praying one of the disciples said “teach us to pray”, then Jesus taught what we call the Lord’s Prayer, which is an outline for prayer.
Many times we look at prayer as a thing that is on its own. What I would suggest is that you add prayer to your time of reading the Word. This way it becomes more like a conversation. You then start to develop a time each day of silence and solitude. You talk with Jesus and He talks with you.
So then applying last week we read God’s Word, then meditate on God’s Word then pray God’s Word in request to God that we can apply God’s Word.
If I should neglect prayer but a single day, I should lose a great deal of the fire of faith. Martin Luther
First
• Prayer…calms our heart (Heart love) (control seat)
When our heart is restless and troubled what do we do? Many times we feel good when you are able to get things off your chest, someone to talk to. But it feels much better when you not only are able to talk with someone who will listen, but someone who can actually do something about it.
Philippians 4:4-7 roles to mind
Jesus said “let not your heart be troubled”
• Prayer…is a discipline of the mind (Mind Love)
Be sober minded, for the sake of your prayers 1 Peter 4:7,
Contemplative/meditative 1 Cor 14:14-15
-We use our mind to realize Jesus can use any means He chooses…
crossing the Atlantic on an ocean liner, F.B. Meyer was asked to address the first class passengers. At the captain's request he spoke on "Answered Prayer." An agnostic who was present at the service was asked by his friends, "What did you think of Dr. Meyer's sermon?" He answered, "I didn't believe a word of it." That afternoon Meyer went to speak to the steerage passengers. Many of the listeners at his morning address went along, including the agnostic, who claimed he just wanted to hear "what the babbler had to say."
Before starting for the service, the agnostic put two oranges in his pocket. On his way he passed an elderly woman sitting in her deck chair fast asleep. Her hands were open. In the spirit of fun, the agnostic put the two oranges in her outstretched palms. After the meeting, he saw the old lady happily eating one of the pieces of fruit. "You seem to be enjoying that orange," he remarked with a smile. "Yes, sir," she replied, "My Father is very good to me." "Your father? Surely your father can't be still alive!" "Praise God," she replied, "He is very much alive." "What do you mean?" pressed the agnostic. She explained, "I'll tell you, sir. I have been seasick for days. I was asking God somehow to send me an orange. I suppose I fell asleep while I was praying. When I awoke, I found He had not only sent me one orange but two!" The agnostic was speechless. Later he was converted to Christ. Yes, praying in God's will brings an answer.
-We use our mind to believe Jesus can… Matt 7:7-11
Alexander the Great –Asked by a general if he would pay for his daughters wedding…I have been a faithful general. Fine ask my treasurer to discuss the cost. The general went to the treasurer and asked for a crazy amount of money. The treasurer went to Alexander and said you are not gonna believe this he wants this much money. Alexander smiled and said give it to him…the treasurer said why? Alexander said don’t you realize that by him asking for this crazy amount of money...he believes I am both rich and generous.
We pray in faith that Jesus can change our relationships, change our finances, change our attitudes etc.
We all have to come to the point that Reinhold Niebuhr when He prayed what most of you know as the “Serenity prayer”
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
At some point in life you will have to accept that Jesus can… but He didn’t at this time you need the next point the most.
• Prayer…gives us strength (Strength love) it also takes strength
Luke 21:36 Jesus here is telling us that the most important place to turn when it comes to strength is to be prayed up.
"Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A person is powerful on his knees." Corrie ten Boom
This displays the strength love for God
Another aspect of this strength love in prayer.. is that in order to pray we need to come to the conclusion that we are weak. That is difficult for many of us. Because we want to do everything humanly possible rather then rely on the Lord. Paul said “when I am weak He is strong”
Hudson Taylor said
"The prayer power has never been tried to its full capacity. If we want to see mighty wonders of divine power and grace wrought in the place of weakness, failure and disappointment, let us answer God's standing challenge, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not!'"
• Prayer…heals our soul. When our soul is healed we are more inclined to love Him with our soul. Psalm 116:4 “Oh Lord deliver my soul” GOSPEL “everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved” Rom 10:13
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