June 14, 2023
Author: Pastor Gordon Cook
June 14, 2023
“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.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father,
hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily
bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is
in indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” And he said to
them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say
to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived
on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer
from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children
are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell
you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his
friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever
he needs. 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. For everyone who
asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it
will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish will
instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will
give him a scorpion?
Luke 11:1-12
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock,
and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the
one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or
which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?”
Matthew 7:7-10
“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you
can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and 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. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making
supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be
given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the
gospel."
Ephesians 6: 16-20
Brethren when we open up the book of Acts one thing that you cannot
afford to miss is that there is a great, great emphasis on prayer. Let
me mention four passages Acts 1, Acts 2, Acts 9:16, and Acts 12. So I
don’t think any Christian would deny the importance of prayer—important
for our sanctification. It’s important for your family, it’s important
for the church. Dr. Joel Beeke says “We shall never see much change for
the better in our churches in general till the prayer meeting occupies a
higher place in the esteem of Christians.” You’ve probably heard the
story of C.H. Spurgeon when he was pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle
in London. He had a large group of people visiting the church and they
quite impressed with the size of the facilities and the number of folks
that were attending. Every week he would have up to 10,000 people
attending weekly and the question was asked to Spurgeon, how do you
explain the growth and the expansion of these ministries and he said,
“My people pray.” So, again we cannot argue if prayer is important.
James says the prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
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