Audio transcription
Why are we so happy not to pray? Or, to put it another way, what motivates our prayer lives? What can sustain us here? What breathes urgency and revives our intercession? This seems like a very relevant topic for every Christian to think about. And with that topic on the table today, we turn to a classic John Piper clip of a sermon he preached in the late 1980s. It was sent to us by Summer, who lives in Niceville, Florida. Thank you very much, Summer. Here is Pastor John addressing negligence in prayer.
Even though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but have divine power to destroy strongholds. (2 Corinthians 10:3-4)
So ministry is war. Fighting for the faith in my heart is war. Fighting for the souls of men is war. All aspects of the Christian life are wars. If I were to ask you: “What is the most crucial text on war?” » what would you all say? Ephesians 6. Let’s read a little bit.
We do not fight against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers that reign over the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. (Ephesians 6:12-13)
Next comes the armor list. Life is war. The enemy is awesome and you can’t see him.
Universal spiritual conflict
Most people don’t believe it. How are you going to get them to pray if they don’t believe it? I mean, they’ll say they believe it, but watch their lives. There is a certain casualness in times of peace in the Church, a casualness towards spiritual things. There are no bombs falling in their lives, no bullets whizzing over their heads, no mines to dodge, no roar on the horizon. All is well in America, the Disneyland of the universe. Why pray?
In times of war, newspapers run headlines about the plight of the troops. In times of war, families come together, talk about their sons and daughters on the front lines, and pray with heartbreaking concern for their safety. In times of war, they are alert, they are armed, they are vigilant. In wartime, they spend their money differently than in peacetime. There is austerity and simplicity of life, not because they have value in themselves, but because there is something so great that there is such a great cause for which one to spend your money on rather than padding your den.
In times of war, everyone is affected. We all discounted the luxury liner. Perhaps you have read this beautiful story by Ralph Winter: The luxury liner becomes the troop carrier. Formerly, where they slept three, they sleep nine. Previously, where they had placed fifteen place settings, there are tin plates. Everything changes in war.
“There is a casualness in times of peace in the Church, a casualness towards spiritual things. »
It is clear that people do not believe that we are at war. Every house has a candle until the boys come home in wartime. People don’t believe that we are in a war worse than World War II, worse than any nuclear World War III imaginable. The victims don’t just lose an arm, they don’t just lose a leg, they don’t just lose a life; they lose everything forever in hell. If we believed that life is a war, things would be different.
Wartime Walkie Talkie
Now the connection with prayer and war is not left to our conjectures.
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. Therefore, remain vigilant with all perseverance, making supplications for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:17-18)
It is not necessary to have any exegetical ability to see that prayer is the power that wields the weapon. “Take) . . . the sword of the Spirit. . . pray.” Take it, pray – RIGHT? Prayer is the power that wields the weapons of war. Prayer is not a civil tool.
Here is a text from John 15:16 which requires a little exegetical finesse because not everyone is used to dealing with conjunctions. I’m going to read it very slowly and I want you to look for the words so that. This is an absolutely crucial logical connection if you want to understand the value of prayer in a life of war.
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to bear fruit and your fruit to endure, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you.
Think now. Put your thinking skills to work. You understood? Why will the Father answer the prayers we pray in Jesus’ name? Answer: because Jesus gave the mission to go and bear fruit. Or reverse the situation: why did Jesus give us the mission to go and bear fruit that would remain? So that we can enjoy having our prayers answered. So why is there prayer? For war – in wartime, not in civil times.
“If we want to keep a heart for prayer, we must simply believe and feel that life is a war. »
I never tire of telling Bethlehem Baptist Church that the main reason prayer does not work properly in the hands of believers is that they are trying to take a wartime walkie-talkie and turn it in domestic intercom through which they call the cleaning lady to bring another one. pillow. It works poorly. It’s made for tanks. It’s made for the trenches. It’s made for war. It won’t work when you install it on your yacht. This won’t work at the lake cabin. This will not work in the second, third and fourth car.
Let me give you a little rhyme. I didn’t know it was a rhyme until I read my manuscript a second time. (Just like this phrase.) Until we believe that life is war, we will not know what prayer is for. Will it hold? Until we believe that life is war, we will not know what prayer is for.
What is prayer for?
Here’s what I believe happened. God sent his Son into the world on a mission. The Son comes to us and says to us: “My Father wants me to extend my mission to you. It’s dangerous. You can not lose. The mission will succeed. He gave me these transmitters here. I will give each of you a transmitter. They are coded on the general’s frequency. As long as you remain in combat, fighting his war in his own way, you will always have free access to the General through the transmitter. Now go ahead and use it. I will do whatever you ask for the war, for the cause.
But what did millions of Americans do? They stopped believing in war. Life is peace, not war. There is no urgency; there is no surveillance; there is no vigilance; there is no strategic planning – just easy peacetime prosperity. They take the walkie-talkie, they try to install it in domestic places, in luxurious places, and it doesn’t work. They can’t understand why it doesn’t work. It works poorly. They don’t receive any signals.
My first point this morning is this: If we want to mobilize a movement of prayer in our churches and our cities, if we want to simply maintain a heart for prayer, we must simply believe and feel that life is war. We must adopt a wartime mentality and get rid of the peacetime mentality that is imposed on us all day long by television, radio, newspapers and magazines. They all say, “Don’t believe it. Stuff your life. “’Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14; 8:11). Until we feel the desperation of a bombardment and the thrill of a new strategic offensive, we will never pray with the Spirit of Jesus. That’s point number one.