Writing with a Reason

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I want to share a prayer tool we use at Muddy Creek Baptist. It’s a prayer guide that encourages daily prayer. And more specifically it helps us daily pray together. For instance, on the third day of the month all of us are praying for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world. We are focused in a spirit of prayer with a spirit of unity bringing petitions and thanksgivings to our heavenly Father who is the One who hears prayer (Psalm 65:2). Simple, right? And beautiful at the same time.

This booklet contains 31 prayers for each day of the month. (Click to see the Table of Contents.) Muddy Creek Baptist Church began using this on January 1, 2021. The Sunday before, a group of us met after the morning worship service and made a covenant together to daily pray for loved ones who were spiritually lost or spiritually asleep. There’s a section in the back of the booklet–“Prayers for Salvation & Renewal of the Faith.” We wrote names down, prayed together for these loved ones and friends, and committed to fervently pray each day. We also decided to come together again this summer to hear testimonies of what the God of Prayer has done. Of course we have shared testimonies along the way. All of us rejoice together over what our God has done and continues to do, and we continue to persevere with one another in prayer.

Ephesians 6:18 emphasizes “perseverance” in prayer. This characteristic in prayer cannot be over stated. The Greek word used in this text is “proskarteresis.” It simply means to persevere; endure; and persist. I love what The Theological Dictionary of the Testament says about this word and how it is used in this verse of scripture.

Perseverance in prayer and intercession is part of the spiritual warfare. Prayer, which has its roots deep in the life and power of God, knits the church together with a firm bond. It is not just a pious discipline but serious work which demands persistence.

We are baptized into one Spirit and called to be knitted together with a firm bond. Unified, biblical prayer does this. Whether it’s spouses praying together, families, friends, a Bible study group, or, as history has shown, when a nation humbles itself to seek the Lord together through fervent, sincere prayer, mercies abound. It has been said, “Prayers arising from my needs are preparations for future mercies.” How true; how true.

When a local church prays together, the benefits and blessings, and I can confidently say–the power of prayer, is multiplied. This is unified prayer. Think of Acts 4:23-31. Peter and John had been arrested. Acts 4:23-24 says that immediately upon their release these men went to their church family and lifted their voices “together to God” in prayer. I love it! They didn’t go home and sulk and have a pity party. They didn’t go to the grocery store and buy a carton of ice cream and sank into their sofa cushions mumbling, “Woe is me.” (I actually don’t say that when I eat ice cream, but maybe someone does. I prefer little to no talking when I have ice cream in my hands.) Peter and John went to their church family and prayed about what had happened and what they wanted the Lord to do. Notice below what they requested God to do. And God answered their prayer.

Acts 4:29–30 (ESV) — 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

And God answered their prayer. The Sovereign Lord did exactly what they (as a church) prayed.

Other accounts are in Acts 1:14 and Acts 1:24, which says “they prayed”; and Acts 2:1: “they were all with one accord.” “They” believers unified together in a matter lifting up prayers to the Lord. They were unified in the same purpose and the same faith and they prayed together.

Another significant passage is Acts 12:5. Peter had been arrested by Herod, who had just murdered James, the brother of John, with the sword (Acts 12:2). Herod was planning on doing the same to Peter. When Peter was in prison awaiting the sword, the church had gathered together to pray for him. This wasn’t the three minute prayer where one person prays and the others listen and then say “Amen” in unison together at the end. This was a different situation that demanded a different type of prayer meeting. A group from The First Church of Jerusalem “were gathered together praying.” They were praying “earnestly” for Peter. Acts 12:12 tells us that upon his miraculous release, Peter ran straight to his church family. They were still going at it. He interrupted their earnest, unified prayer meeting on his behalf.

The last reference is from from Acts 2:42. It is a description of the believers in this first church. We are told that these believers in Jesus Christ “continued steadfastly” (NASB) in four expressions of unified faith as a church body of believers. That forth expression of the church is that they devoted themselves to “the prayers.” The scripture texts literally says, “the prayers.” Some translations leave “the” out before the word “prayer.” This actually changes the description of how these Jewish believers prayed. Okay, I’m going to stop and leave that sitting there lest I extend this post beyond its purpose. I encourage additional study on the culture of prayer at that time, and throughout Church history.

I offer this prayer guide as a free download. I have a .pdf version and a MS Word version. The Word version allows editing to insert your local church’s name on the cover and in a few of the prayers. This makes it more personal, and it does make a difference in unifying your local church body. If you download and use this, please send me an email. I’d like to hear how other churches are using this. Just imagine for a moment. Christians, whole churches, praying in unison each day across this country, and even beyond. Just imagine the incense of united prayer rising into the heavens in the name of our Christ.

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Another observation from watching Jesus pray in the Gospel accounts is from a question from the Disciple. They asked Jesus, “Teach us how to pray.”

Luke 11:1–2 (ESV) — 1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say …”

My 2nd observation from watching Jesus pray is to do what the disciples did. Watch, learn, and do. Observe and listen to the Master and put what you observe and learn into practice.

That sounds pretty simplistic, I know. Read the life of Jesus and watch, learn, and then put into practice. The Old Testament is also full of examples of men and women of prayer. Do the same: read, watch, observe, listen, learn, and imitate.

Let’s go with an example of my point. I’ll go to someone other than the perfect Son of God to help you relate a little easier. Elijah. We read in the OT all the miracles of Elijah. He constantly defied natural laws. He experienced supernatural power. But what was Elijah’s secret? The NT gives us the secret behind all those miracles. The Apostle James tells us the secret.

James 5:16–18 (ESV) — … The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

Elijah prayed. He was a man of prayer. He was just like you and me. He was a man of human passions, tendencies, and weaknesses, but the difference was he prayed. He believed in the God of Prayer and prayed. He didn’t have all the answers but he didn’t let questions stop him from the doing of praying. As Samuel Chadwick speaks about Elijah as man of prayer,

He did not argue about prayer. He prayed. Praying solves problems of prayer.

Too many of us want the answers before we step into the proverbial prayer closet. Questions are legit, but they should never be hindrances to the doing. If that is what is keeping you from entering the secret place of prayer, then you’ll never do anything great with God. From my own experience, and others throughout Church history, take what you know, even if it is simple or vague, and go meet with God in secret. The best school of prayer is praying.

The disciples saw and heard Jesus pray and they wanted that intimate and powerful bonding relationship with the Father. Jesus gave them instructions and said, “…pray like this.” In other words, now go and pray.

One last word on this. We know that prayer changes things. The largest mountain that prayer changes is us. As I step into the secret place and pray, the Spirit of God will teach me, mold me, bend me, lead me, and over time answer questions that I left on the other side of the door, outside of my place of private prayer. Watch, learn, and do

My last post listed biblical sites of Jesus stepping away from others and spending solitude time in prayer. Sometimes the “away time” wasn’t very far away physically. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus was a short distance from Peter, James, and John. Close enough for them to hear Him pray. My point is, sometimes your “away place” may not be as isolated as you would like, but that should not discourage you from focusing on the Father and praying.

When I read the occurrences of Jesus praying there are a few things I’ve concluded that have helped in my own prayer life. Of course I need to be careful not to venture too far…this is holy ground and it is impossible for any of us to grasp the fellowship that went on between the Son of God and God the Father in those private times of prayer.  So I tread carefully as I share my thoughts. Here’s one observation.

This was a pattern in Jesus’ life. Those times (listed in the previous post) were not the only times He stepped away to pray in the secret place. He regularly got alone with the Father. This was who and what Jesus did daily, just as He taught and instructed the Disciples to pray daily. Yep, daily. When Jesus gave them the pattern and model of prayer, that we call, “The Lord’s Prayer,” it was to pray daily.

Matthew 6:11 (ESV) — 11 Give us this day our daily bread,

Now are you ready for the obvious thump? If Jesus knew the need and benefit from daily prayer with the Father, then … (thump!).

That is what struck me. If Jesus, then me–even more.

It doesn’t matter if your mind can wrap around the “what” or the “why.” Jesus gave us His example and taught us that we should and NEED to pray to the Father daily. I’ll promise you this, if you begin setting aside time to seek the Father in prayer with the aid of Scripture, you will realize the “what” and the “why.”

Deuteronomy 4:29 (ESV) — 29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Jeremiah 29:13 (ESV) — 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

Luke 11:9–10 (ESV) — 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

The scripture quotes could go on and on. Jesus’ example and the supporting and exhorting scriptures throughout the Bible has helped motivate me through the years when my mind, my flesh, or my soul are weary and/or weak. If Jesus, then me-even more so!

Matthew 6:6 is the epicenter of our lessons because it is the epicenter of private prayer. When Jesus teaches the disciples about prayer He invites them (and us) to the place of one-on-one prayer with God the Father. Speaking from my own experience, this verse holds treasures beyond comprehension. You can not exhaust the depths of these words of instruction from our Master. Dig and dig and you will continue to unearth lessons that will change your prayers and prayer time. Take these words in this verse of scripture and unlock the door to the private place of prayer.

This Secret Place that Jesus tells His disciples about, that He tells them to go to, comes from His personal experience. He is NOT sharing with us something different than He, Himself believes, lives, and knows to be true.

We read of Jesus going to the Secret Place:

• After being baptized by John the Baptizer in the Jordan River to being his public ministry, and BEFORE being tested by Satan in the Wilderness, … where was Jesus?  Alone with the Father. Alone—1-on-1 with the Father.
• Luke 6:12-13 says that AFTER spending the night in prayer ALONE with the Father, Jesus came down off the mountain, called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles:

Luke 6:12–13 (ESV) — 12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles:

• We read of Jesus AFTER healing multitudes of people that He went to bed for some needed rest and then…

Mark 1:35 (ESV) — 35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

• AFTER Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 men + women and children, it says,

Matthew 14:22–23 (ESV) — 22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,

• BEFORE Jesus went to the disciples on the sea … walking on the water … He was ALONE in the Secret Place with the Father.
• We also read in Luke 9:18 of Him going off to be alone to pray. It was AFTER THIS ALONE TIME WITH THE FATHER—that He returned to the disciples and asked the question that has sounded down thru the ages of time, “Who do you say I am?” and Peter answered, “Christ, the Son of God.”
• We also see Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, BEFORE surrendering his life to be a sacrifice for the sins of the elect, and crying out, “My God, My God, Why has thou forsaken me?”  Before they came to arrest Him, tortured Him, and nailed Him to the cross, and then was smitten by God for you, Jesus withdrew alone to pray to the Father.

There are patterns here. Before every big event we see Jesus meeting with the Father in secret. Prayer. Prayer. Prayer. Not public prayer, but private prayer. Not prayer with others, but 1:1 with the Father. He knew the necessity, do we?

These few incidents recorded in the Gospels are not all of the times Jesus went away to be alone in prayer. This was a daily occurrence. As He taught the disciples to pray daily, He prayed daily. If Jesus understood the necessity to commune with the Father daily in solitude, then … go ahead … apply it to yourself.

When I read these occurrences of Jesus slipping away to pray, I have a few conclusions. I’ll share those in my next post. In the meantime, I encourage meditation on these occurrences recorded in scripture and follow Jesus’ example as one of His disciples. Amen.

Earlier this summer my wife and I received an alarming phone call from someone in the congregation. It was about a young teen in the community, which we all knew because of her friendship with the caller’s daughter, and this teenage girl had visited the church. This young girl’s parents and brother were vacationing out of state (the teen stayed home due to commitments to her job) and they were involved in a horrific car accident.  The mom broke both legs, both arms, her back, 4 or 5 ribs, and was fighting for her life. The dad broke an arm, leg, jaw, and had head injuries, but he was being released soon. The brother, who is blind, deaf, and autistic, had a punctured liver and needed a liver transplant, but there wasn’t any available so they didn’t think he’d make it. To add to this, the daughter, still back home in Virginia was not allowed to go and see her family in the hospital due to COVID. Death was knocking on the door of her mother and brother’s hospital rooms, and she couldn’t go see them.

You may know a story that falls close to this one in one aspect or another. This is real life. The next morning in our worship service, the church had a special time of prayer for this family. And we continued to pray for this family throughout the week and beyond.

I’ve never been in an accident of this magnitude, maybe you have. When you’re in a critical situation, whether it be medical or relational or (fill-in the blank), you’re hoping someone, somewhere is praying for you, right? You’re hoping that many are praying for you, often. This story reminds us of how much others depend on us to pray. This story illustrates that others need us to learn more about prayer and then pray. Over the years I have pursued the subject and the practice of prayer. And yes, I’ve barely, at best, scratched the surface. I’m still not sure I see a scratch mark on the surface, because the subject is so deep that we’ll never penetrate the reality of the effectual prayer of a believer. But that should never discourage us from pursuing. If we get a hold of just one lesson, one truth, our eyes will see the kingdom of God in a whole new way. Therefore we pursue to learn, and we learn so we can grow, and in growing, we minister to others.

The teen and her family? The Lord answered the multitude of prayers with healing. It was a very tough journey, but eventually all members of the family were released from the hospital and came home. They were not the same physically, nor will they be psychologically. Trauma, like this incident,  doesn’t vaporize from our memory, any more than our memories just drop such trauma and move on. These events affect us deeply in ways we rarely come to realize. There is healing that needs to continue beyond the initial event and beyond the release of the hospital, as in the case.

The obvious prayer is for their immediate needs. Yes, we pray for the immediate! We need our Father God’s grace and power NOW! But too often we stop praying for someone after we hear good news of a physical rescue or recovery.  Yet, doesn’t there remain the need to continue to pray for that person, or persons? A leg may be on the mends.  A broken relationship and the two people begin talking again. Stop and think about that for a moment. Does that mean it’s all better now and the work is done? Perhaps we stop praying for someone too soon.  It’s like we’ve got the ball rolling towards recovery and the ball will continue to roll down the road of recovery on auto-pilot.  But should that be our view of prayer, and how our compassion for the person(s) should be lived out? I guess we need to be slow in checking a person or situation off our prayer lists. Done.  Erase.  God answered. Next. Is that the love we are to have? Done. Next.

Praying beyond the obvious is praying beyond the immediate. We all pray for the crisis at the time of the crisis. We need to pray beyond the outward crisis. Another way to think of it is, we need to pray below the surface. Most often there are needs deeper than the surface that need our prayers. The Lord wants our compassion beyond the immediate and the surface. Where our true compassion is found, so are our prayers and tears. This is the difference between band-aid prayers and surgery prayer. When you know of a need, a deep need, don’t just put a single band-aid on, go beyond the obvious. Pray, my brothers and sister. Help carry that burden with the wounded one.

I think you can take my point and expand on it on your own from here, then apply.

Ephesians 6:18 (ESV) — 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,