FILWP - The First Response
The last 3 weeks have been a heart gripping and captivating time as we’ve been learning on the emphasis of ‘Spiritual disciplines’… We are in the last week of our talk series ‘FILWP’, I want to assure you that God is very much interested in your daily life and not just your Sunday evening lives.
Jesus desires that our pursuit for Christ-likeness is a consistent upward journey. And in order to see the evidence of Holiness and Christ-likeness in our daily lives, we need to create space for Spiritual habits and disciplines.
🔥Every disciple of Jesus Christ holds certain disciplines close to their heart.🔥
We are called to be disciples, we are called to be followers and not just spectators or fans of the gospel message.. It is very easy to live our lives inspired by the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.. But It requires habits and spiritual practises to advance in our journey from a fan to a follower of Christ!
QUESTION— Are you advancing? Or are you Stagnant? in your relationship with Jesus?
So in these last few weeks, the Spiritual disciplines are our guide to ensure that we are not stagnant, these disciplines are our guide to help us build our lives as followers of Christ and not just fans. The Spiritual habits help us kick start the journey of Holiness that God wants us to experience..
Second Week— WORD
Third Week— WORSHIP
Today, we closing out with one of the equally important spiritual discipline in every Christ followers life..
In fact, let me start by narrating how this particular piece looks in most of our lives… I picked up this reading from a blog that I read recently.. by the time I finish reading this part, I am confident you would know what spiritual discipline we are talking about..
It is sporadic at best, erratic most of the time and often more prosaic than powerful. It is an untapped resource, an unexplored continent where countless treasure remains to be unearthed. It is talked about more than anything else, and practiced less than anything else. And yet, for every Christ follower, it remains one of the necessary disciplines we must cultivate in our spiritual lives if we are going to continue to be conformed to the image of Christ.
— PRAYER
Explanation
Prayer for a Christ follower is first and foremost a way of life… rather than just some order or patterns for a season of life, or derived from a season of church history. The scriptures help us see some of the glimpses in the life of the early disciples and their approach towards prayer..
It says that “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer” (Acts 1:14).
And Paul in his writings is exhorting and even commanding the Christ following communities to these specific prescribed habits when it comes to prayer. In his writing to the Romans, he tells to “be constant in prayer” (Rom. 12:12),
To the people in Colossae, he asks them to “continue steadfastly in prayer” (Col. 4:2),
To the church in Thessalonica, He is almost commanding them to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17), When He is writing to the community at the church of Ephesus, He reminds them to be “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication” (Eph. 6:18).
In all his writings and conversations about prayer, one thing that stands out, is the attention Paul wants to bring to a ‘Passionate persistence to prayer topped up with thanksgiving’
And as community of Christ followers, who are living and representing Jesus Christ in our cities, at our work places and everywhere we go.. these reminders are essential for all of us even today!
And so for us to really grow in Christ likeness, as much as we need to cultivate the discipline of the intake of the scriptures, as much we have to build an appetite for our worship.. All of this is possible with a consistent and passionate devotion to the discipline of prayer.
We all love eating a meal that is served well to us. Especially at some restaurants that give a bit more attention to the presentation of the food along with the quality as well. But how many of you have avoided or not focused on the sides and have dived right in to the mains on your plate.. You think you don’t want to waste your time consuming the sides and want to fully enjoy just the main thing you’ve called for..
🔥Prayer is no side dish that you can conveniently avoid, Prayer is our main course!🔥
It is the lifeline to our faith in Christ.. It is the fuel that keep our passion and fire for God burning. Prayer helps us have a posture of worship and reverence to God. And It is the best way to communicate with God!
🔥Prayer changes us while it is changing the things around us.🔥
Today God wants to re-ignite the passion for a life of prayer in our lives..
Let’s just read this writing of Pauls letter to the community of Colossae. He uses a few phrases as he is reminding them on the beauty of prayer.
2 Be persistent and devoted to prayer, being alert and focused in your prayer life with an attitude of thanksgiving. 3 At the same time pray for us, too, that God will open a door [of opportunity] to us for the word, to proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I have been imprisoned; 4 that I may make it clear [and speak boldly and unfold the mystery] in the way I should.
Colossians 4:2-4 AMP
Everyone is devoted to something. Most of us are devoted towards many things.
How do you know what you are devoted to?
When you make something a priority, when you sacrifice for it, when you give time to it, you know you are devoted to it.
Jesus expects all his disciples to be devoted to prayer. Jesus himself was devoted to prayer! We often find in the 4 gospels that He would move away from the crowds and his own people very frequently to pray.
15 But the news about Him was spreading farther, and large crowds kept gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their illnesses. 16 But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray [in seclusion].
Luke 5:15-16 AMP
Jesus modelled the consistent devotion for prayer and he charged his disciples with the same principle.. And as a result of that we see Luke also capture the devotion of the early church towards prayer and reading of the scripture in Acts..
Why is it then we find it so difficult or so taxing to model a consistent lifestyle of prayer for ourselves..
🔥Prayer is often looked at as an obligation rather than an invitation from God.🔥
A lifestyle of prayer is an invitation by God through Jesus Christ to understand God’s heart for you.. It is a time of this restful communion with God that brings renewal in our lives. Most of the time, we miss out on the fact that this conversation between God and humanity was initiated by God himself!
He longs to interact with you.. He desires to help you know Him and your life and your destiny better.
But we all have some barriers to a consistent prayer life…
A lack of sensing the nearness of God may also discourage prayer. When our awareness of the greatness of God and the gospel is dim, our prayer lives will be small.
I want to share with you a few ways for a passionate, persistent lifestyle of prayer..
1. By Praying
Prayer is an expression.. and we get better at our expressions the more frequently we do it.
Just like any child who learns to communicate better, the more the child continues to have more conversations.. The best way to learn how to pray is to pray.
Plan your time of prayer.. Set aside a time in your daily schedule and as much as possible, stick to it..
Don’t wait for things go out of hand before you start praying..
If you don’t know what to pray, pray the scriptures..
And do this even when you don’t feel like doing it..
🔥To be fully devoted to anything, our feelings need to take a back seat.🔥
To build a life of prayer, Lets learn to pray.. a passionate, persistent lifestyle of prayer includes
2. By meditating on Scripture
Meditation is the missing link between scripture reading and prayer. The two are often disconnected when they should be going hand in hand.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable and pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my [firm, immovable] rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14 AMP
Meditation was a catalyst that catapulted David from the truth of God into talking with God. The great reason why our prayers are ineffective, is because we do not meditate before them.
*** JOHN 15:7 REFLECTION & MEDITATION ***
If you remain in Me and My words remain in you [that is, if we are vitally united and My message lives in your heart], ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.
John 15:7 AMP
Just go to church meetings & I get whatever I want
First part of the verse (Abide) and the last part is a blessing of that obedience. In between is the real tension
The more you abide, the more your desires are shaped.. The more your heart and mind is renewed.
The more we are made Christlike
3. By praying with others.
The disciples learned to pray not only by hearing Jesus teach about prayer, but also by being with Him when He prayed. In a similar way, we can learn to pray by praying with other people who can model true prayer for us.
But we pray with them to learn principles of prayer, not phrases for prayer.
Conclusion
The Great assurance for every Christ follower is that our prayers are heard!
You answer our prayers with amazing wonders and with awe-inspiring displays of power. You are the righteous God who helps us like a father. Everyone everywhere looks to you, for you are the confidence of all the earth, even to the farthest islands of the sea.
Psalm 65:5 TPT
The discipline of prayer is cherished well with this understanding that our conversations, our petitions, our cry before God is not in vain! He hears your heartbeat, He is aware of the things that are on your heart and mind.
And when you really sit down and understand the power, purpose and practise of Prayer…You cant help it but make Prayer your first response! That is the difference between a passionate prayer and a mundane prayer..
Your times of devotion to prayer is not your last option after exhausting every possible way.. But we learn to create room for the supernatural intervention of God through our prayers in those situations.
And so this year Zealous,
For every desire you want to fulfil, back it up with a decision
For every promise of God you want to see come to pass, seek God for His purpose first
For every goal you want to check off your list, back it up with a process and learn to fall in love with it
🔥The journey to be the Radiant One is backed up with healthy spiritual disciplines.🔥
Disciplined intake of scripture | The treasure
Consistent expression of your worship to Jesus | The essence
A Passionate persistence for prayer | First Response
9 “So I say to you, ask and keep on asking, and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking, and you will find; knock and keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who [h]keeps on asking [persistently], receives; and he who keeps on seeking [persistently], finds; and to him who keeps on knocking [persistently], the door will be opened.
Luke 11:9-10 AMP