Word of God and Prayer

Word of God and Prayer

2 Samuel 7:18-27 April 7, 2019
Introduction:
A. I could not think of a better day to wrap up our series on prayer than on a child
dedication and communion Sunday because:
1. Throughout our lives as parents there is not anyone we pray for more than
our children
2. Communion is the time when remember our relationship with Jesus and what
He has done for us. And I believe the primary purpose of prayer is to build
our relationship with God.
B. So, this morning I want to close this series on prayer by talking about - prayer and
God’s Word! We will look at – the priority of God’s Word in prayer, how to
pray God’s Word, then a simple method for praying God’s Word!
• Let’s start with the
I. Priority of God’s Word in Prayer
A. Start by introducing the final book I would recommend on prayer – Tim Keller.
1. This book is the one I recommend for those who have been praying for a
while and understand the foundations of prayer. This is the book that will
stimulate you to excel to the next level of prayer and addresses some of the
misguided practices of prayer today.
2. And, really, my first and last point today are addressed in greater depth in his
book.
B. Many today are setting the Bible aside when it comes to prayer and are looking
for a mystical experience in prayer where they are seeking to get beyond words in
prayer, a wordless prayer where they just experience the tranquil presence of God.
Much of this is right on the edge of some practices called contemplative prayer or
centering prayer.
1. I know a woman, who use to come to MVC, who would practice this by
setting a chair in the center of her living room, putting the Bible up on the
shelf, pulling the drapes and turning off the lights and just clearing her mind
of everything until she experienced the presence of Jesus.
2. When she left MVC, she told me very clearly that I have a sinful trust in
God’s Word!
C. Listen to what Keller says about this these practices. Read p56 & 57
D. Prayer in God’s Word uses words and is based on truths about God and life that
are shaped by God’s Words.
1. Yes, in the Psalms we are told to contemplate the beauty, the glory and love
of God. But, Biblical contemplation is an engagement of the mind based on
the truth of God’s Word, not a setting aside of the truth.
2. Read P62
E. Another thing I hear a lot from people is “God told me this” and “God told me
that”
1. Listen to this amazing story about George Whitefield, the man God used to
spearhead the Great Awakening.
2. Read p63
F. My point here about the priority of God’s Word in praying is that a conversation
“with” God in prayer is a conversation primarily built off of God’s Word as He
speaks to us through His Word and we speak back to Him through prayer about
the things He has said to us in His Word,
1. Hear me clearly – that does not mean God never speaks to us through our
thoughts and prompting in prayer.
2. But rather the Bible teaches and models that God’s Word should drive our
prayer life.
• Secondly, let’s look at…
II. How to pray God’s Word
A. Turn to 2 Samuel 7
B. Context – great promise that God made to David that he would have a descendant
who would be a king forever who would reign forever over a forever kingdom!
C. Now listen to David’s prayer after God gave him this promise, that teaches us
how to pray God’s Word and promises
1. As I read v25-26 note that David has his motives right in this prayer! Read
2. Point out
a) V25a-b word You spoke … confirm it
b) V25c – do as You have spoken
D. The best way to pray God’s Word is simply to ask Him to confirm what He said
He will do or has done in your life.
1. The way to see God’s promises and truths moved from the pages of Scripture
into our lives or from our heads to our hearts is through prayer!
2. Asking God to fulfill, to accomplish, to bring about, to carry out, to perform,
to do in your life what He said in His Word He would do or has done
• Finally, I want to close this series on prayer with a simple ….
III. Method of Praying God’s Word
A. This method is SIMPLE and LIFE CHANGING.
1. It is the method I wish I learned this 46 years ago when I first started having
devotional times with God in His Word.
2. It is the method that I have been practicing more and more since I first read
of it in Keller’s book,
3. It is the method I am going to encourage people with from now on when they
ask me how do I have a daily devotional time with God in His Word,
4. It is the method that Martin Luther used, the man who turned the church and
the world upside down in the 1500’s.
B. We learn of his method in a letter that he wrote to his barber when his barber
asked him how he prayed. Here is his answer summarized simply in my words.
CPAP
1. capture the heart of the text
2. Praise, thank, and worship God from the text
3. Admit/confess sin from the text
4. Petition/ask God to do for you in light of the text
IV. Communion
A. Let’s start by practicing it in preparation for communion. Consider the text I put
on the screen as communion is being passed. Ask God is there anything you
should thank or worship Him for, anything to confess, anything to ask Him to do
or confirm for you all in light of that verse.
B. Passage 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
C. Pass