Introduction

How long do you think you can hold your breath? Thirty Seconds? A minute maybe? Most Navy seals can hold their breath for about 2 ½ minutes. After extensive training, a small number of people in the world can hold their breath for over 10 minutes. In 2012, German free diver Tom Sietas held his breath underwater for 22 minutes and 22 seconds. Now I wondered what would have happened if Tom Sietas had tried to hold his breath for 25 minutes? Twenty-five minutes is not a very long time in the vast expanse of a person’s life, but it is a very long time to hold your breath! Even the most skilled and best trained “breath holder” cannot go very long until they need to fill their lungs again with life-giving air. Without air we die.

It’s always seems strange to me that we are so dependent on air to live. Our physical bodies are remarkably strong in some ways, but absolutely totally fragile in others. Without air, I’m done in about a minute. It is sobering to think that, for most of us, just a few minutes without air leads to our death. I think that one of the reasons that God made us that way is to help us to understand how totally dependent we are on Him.

Hymn writer James Montgomery wrote these words, “Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath, The Christian’s native air.” Where there is authentic spiritual life, there will also be prayer. It is the “vital” breath of the believer. Prayer is one indication that a person is truly spiritually alive.

It is essential to the child of God. If there is something wrong with our prayer life, it affects our whole life. Prayer is as vital to our spiritual health as breathing is to our physical health.

I think some of us (myself included) have seasons where we try to hold our breath spiritually. It is like we are trying to win a Guinness book of world records prize for the longest time between prayers. If you struggle with prayer, my objective this morning is not to make you feel bad but to help you to see the tremendous value of a vibrant prayer life. My goal is for you and I to view prayer as a vital and life giving privilege given to a child of God.

God created prayer for our benefit – Matthew 7:11, Psalms 40:17

God created prayer for our benefit, not as a burden. God appointed men and women to pray because it is a privilege and a blessing.

Prayer was given by God to be a means by which we can express ourselves to him. It is a way to connect the eternal soul living in each one of us to the One who created that soul. Through prayer, God stoops down to our level:

He listens to us.
He blesses us.
He gives to us.
God is rich and full and generous. He loves to give good gifts to his children. Prayer gives us the tools needed to express our desires and needs to the One who can supply all needs. As a perfect Father, God finds great pleasure in supplying the needs of His people.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:11, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” When we pray, we admit our littleness and God’s greatness. The nearer people are to God, the more they realize how much they need Him and how abundant His resources really are. God is awesome and powerful and we are poor and needy.

Let’s consider King David. He was a man with great wealth and power and influence. Listen to his words in Ps 40: As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God! – ps 40:17

Prayer gives us access to God’s abundance– 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Prayer is God’s plan to supply man’s great and continuous needs with His unlimited resources. When Paul charges us to “pray without ceasing” in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, he is not talking about making prayer a legalistic routine. Plenty of people perform rituals flawlessly and accurately without giving much thought to the meaning behind ritual itself.

The “ceaseless prayer” Paul is referring to is marked by a person who is continually mindful of the fact that God is rich in resources and we are poor and needy. Through prayer we have access to the very God who can perfectly meet us in every one of our many needs.

It is a privilege to pray, but to call it a mere privilege is to fall short in our description of it. Let me explain: Do you ever take a deep breath and say, “Wow, that breath was really a great privilege!” It is a privilege, but you probably don’t think of it like that because breathing is more than a privilege. Breathing is essential!

Prayer is a privilege to the Child of God much like fresh air is a privilege for our body. I love the smell of pine trees in the mountain air and at the same time without air, I don’t function very well. Prayer is a privilege in the same way as that air is a privilege. It is not a duty to pray, but a necessary pleasure. It is God’s gift to us as His children and it is a vital part of our spiritual lives.

Prayer is a gift of power given to God’s people – James 5:16

The main job of the church is not to grow rich and powerful by natural means. Money, possessions and financial success is of marginal significance in God’s eternal kingdom. Material successes don’t mean very much to God.

If one of you took a $20 bill out of my wallet, and gave it back to me as a gift, it would not really be very beneficial or helpful for my family. You are simply giving back to me a $20 bill that I already owned.

In the same way, God made everything and He already owns it all. He doesn’t need us to acquire things for Him. We aren’t going to impress Him very much by collecting things that rightfully belong to Him anyway.

The Bible is careful to not call us owners, but stewards of God’s resources. The man who is truly rich in God’s eyes is not the man who is wealthy but the man who is continually accessing God through prayer.

Prayer is a source of spiritual revenue. It is the basis of our reputation and the measure of our character in God’s economy. A life founded upon prayer is one that really matters to God and one God can use powerfully in His unfolding will in this age.

For this reason, God is vitally concerned that His people pray:

God’s people are made better through prayer.
God does some of His best work in our lives during the time we spend in prayer.
God does some of His best work in the world through the prayers of His people.
When God’s people pray, changes happen on a global scale!
Do you believe that the prayer of a righteous person could affect more change than an army? James 5:16b says, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” If a righteous person or a group of godly intercessors can affect the decisions of the God of the universe, I believe that means they are one of the most powerful forces present on the earth right now.

Prayer Affects God – Romans 8:31-32, Matthew 7:11, 21:22, Jeremiah 33:3, James 4:2

Pray affects God. It prompts God to move in ways that he may not have otherwise moved. The whole of Scripture tells us that he hears and answers the cries of his people. One of the great purposes of the Bible is to stress the great importance of asking God what we need both for this life and for our eternal life. He tells us that He will not withhold any good thing from us. Romans 8:31b-32 says, “If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” God turned over His own Son for our good. Wouldn’t He be willing to give us whatever we need?

Let’s recall again the words in Matthew 7:11, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

God encourages us to pray. He gives us the certainty that He will answer our prayers in accord with the generosity of his promises and according to the abundance that He possesses.

God will not ever run out of resources.
God does not have to be careful in what he gives to his people.
He always has more than enough.
He is never greedy or stingy.
Matthew 21:22 says, “22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” The “whatever” in that verse covers everything. We are invited to ask God for anything and if He believes it is a good gift for us to have, He will grant it.

God does not ask us to prove to Him that we’re needy. He already knows that! He challenges us to ask for His help. God says in Jeremiah 33:3, “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”

God invites us to ask for big things – Ephesians 3:20, Romans 11:34-36

God seems more concerned that we will ask for too little than He is concerned that we will ask for too much. If we make huge requests of God, it will never restrict His ability to provide. (God never says, “that’s costs too much. I can’t afford that!”) According to Ephesians 3:20, God is able to do “far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” He almost paralyses us with this complete freedom to ask for whatever we think is best.

Think of it: we have unlimited access to the God who runs this world. We can ask anything we want to ask of the very God who rules with infinite wisdom and power. AND… he promises to consider every request of His people.

God uses our prayers to affect the outcome of real events. You and I never inform God of anything that he does not already know. God does not learn or improve. He already knows everything there is to know and He is already perfect. We never add to His wisdom and He does not need our advice about what He should do next. He is already perfectly wise. These are the most basic things regarding the nature of God. Paul wrote in Romans 11:34-36,

34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Never-the-less, God uses our prayers to affect the outcome of real events.

God uses our prayers to affect the outcome of real events – Romans 8:26-34, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

“Prayer causes things to happen that do not happen if the prayers don’t happen” (John Piper) The Almighty God who rules and reigns in the universe is concerned with our praying. He wills it. He commands it. He empowers it.

In the next few weeks, we’ll get a glimpse of how Jesus prays. Do you ever wonder what Jesus is doing right now? If you were to step into Jesus’ heavenly office, you’d probably find Him in prayer. Romans 8:34 says that Jesus is “at the right hand of God,” and he is committed to “interceding for us.” Jesus knows no higher law, no holier business and no greater use of His divinity than to pray for mankind.

Earlier in Romans 8, it speaks of the Holy Spirit living inside of each of God’s children and one of his roles is to “ intercede for us with groanings too deep for words.” Do you see that God is deeply concerned about prayer? Two members of the Trinity are praying for us at the good pleasure of the third.

Prayer is at the very center of the heart and will of God as he relates to men and women. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” It is God’s will that we pray and He is honored by our prayers.

Application:

Our elders asked me to insert this teaching on prayer this week before we continued on with our study of Romans 8. There is a reason why prayer is so important in the life of Canyon Verde. For the last 8 years or so, I have gotten up early on just about every Wednesday morning to intentionally pray for God’s people. Here’s why I do that:

I am convinced that a group of 2 or 3 or 8 people gathered together to earnestly seek God’s will for those in His church is a powerful and effective use of time.

Imagine this: a group of intercessors gather in my little office can pray in a way that can affect what God does in this world. If we really believe what the Bible says, that means that a prayer circle, like the one that meets on Wednesday mornings, has access to more power than an army, a nuclear bomb or the President of the United States.

Here’s what that means for you:

We take your prayer requests seriously here at Canyon because God takes prayer seriously. When we say that we want to prayer for you, we really mean it. We believe that the very best thing we can do for you and your family is to lift your prayer requests up to our powerful, sovereign, all-knowing, all resourceful King
Join us for prayer on Wednesdays. Intercessory prayer is not a show. It is serious and it’s for the serious-minded disciple of Christ’s. Our prayer team meets and prays PERIOD. We don’t gossip. We don’t make commentary about your requests.
We simply pray for you.
We pray scripture over you.
We stand with you.
Maybe the Lord is calling a few more of you to come and join us for this vital time of ministry.
Prayer is available every week by the cross after church. Some of our elders and intercessors are available to go before the Lord and pray with you. We keep it off to the side and out-of-the-way so that we can engage in the spiritual discipline of prayer without interruption. Most of you are struggling with your health, with a relationship or with a tough decision right now. Instead of keeping that to yourself, let’s ask God for some big things! Let one of our intercessors stand before the Lord with you in prayer. It’s important and it’s powerful
Be anointed with oil by an elder if you are sick. We are going to begin offering the opportunity to be anointed with oil. James 5:14 says, “14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” Are you sick? Do you have cancer?
Now that we have local elders, we can begin to offer you the opportunity to be anointed with oil. Anointing oil is a tangible symbolic representation of our faith in Jesus Christ. In Scripture, oil sometimes symbolizes being set apart and consecrated to God—given over fully to him and his purposes. Anointing oils have no “special power” in and of itself. It is Jesus Christ alone who performs miracles and answers our prayers of faith…with or without anointing oil. The oil is merely a “point of reference” for our natural minds to connect with the spiritual process.
Prayer is important for your spiritual health. It is our vital breath as believers. It is important to this church. But…most of all, it is important to God. We encourage you to be engaged in the prayer ministries that we offer here at Canyon. I hope this morning that you have a renewed vision of prayer as a life-giving privilege given to a child of God.