Quote from Forum Archives on March 24, 2003, 12:35 pm

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

DARING TO DREAM AGAIN #5/9
IT’S ALWAYS TIME TO PRAY
March 23, 2003

Text: 1 Samuel 1:1-20

When it was evident the ship was going down, the captain called out to
his crew, “Does anyone here know how to pray?” One replied, “I do.”
“Good,” the captain replied. “You pray while the rest of us put on
lifejackets—we’re one short!” (Frank Patrick, “In the Need of Prayer,”
Daring to Dream Again, Wheaton: Mainstay Ministries, 2003, pp. B153)

In both Bible studies and recent sermons, we have talked about the need
for prayer before. We have talked about how a lot of prayer happens in
the midst of crisis, but frequently lags during “good” or normal times.
After 9-11, talk of prayer was frequent. This week, as the liberation of
Iraq began, there has been a lot of talk of prayers. Now don’t
misunderstand me; we definitely need to be in a lot of prayer, and crises
like these warrant additional prayer.

But I remember a rhyme that has been around a long time - one we taught
our children when smaller:

Tick, tock goes the clock,
It tells the time of day.
When to eat and when to sleep,
But it’s always time to pray.

There are many men and women from the Bible who could teach us about
prayer. David prayed consistently, good times or bad. Daniel prayed
consistently, good times or bad. Jesus prayed consistently, good times or
bad. Consider some of the examples of Jesus’ prayers: he prayed at his
baptism; he fasted and prayed during his time in the wilderness; before
he chose the 12 disciples, he prayed; at his transfiguration, he prayed;
on the night of his betrayal, in the garden where he was arrested, he
prayed; as he hung there on the cross, he prayed, “Father, forgive them,
for they don’t know what they’re doing.” The Bible says Jesus “often
withdrew to a lonely place and prayed.”

Our heavenly Father is keenly aware of his children’s limited resources.
That’s why He graciously offers his personal help. God encourages men and
women to share with him their deepest spiritual longings. And He doesn’t
turn away even from a barren woman’s desperate prayers for a son.

While it is necessary to pray when crises occur, it’s also necessary to
meet alone with our Father in prayer. And when life seems “out of
control,” it’s especially important to make time for God instead of
running around all over the place, talking to all kinds of people, and
sending emails to everyone we can think of. Today, it seems, we’re quick
to seek “counseling” or the opinion of others, before we seek the Lord.
Don’t forget that it’s always time to pray.

That’s what Hannah did. Her barrenness made her life miserable. We read
from the Adult Journal:

“At Shiloh she dared to dream again, making a bold offer to the Lord:
‘Grant me a son, and I will give him back to you.’ The Lord responded
with a miracle child she called Samuel, which meant, ‘heard by God.’ With
the birth of Hannah’s special son, her offering him back to God for a
lifetime of service, and then watching him grow in his work for the Lord,
she must have felt she not only knew God’s will for her life, but that
her greatest dreams had come true. Unfortunately, many Christians do not
experience the same sense of satisfaction. The following prayer is
intended to help you in the process of personally partnering with God and
recognizing his blessing on all you do. ‘Lord and Master, as your servant
I sincerely want to please you. I don’t need to know your plans for my
entire life, so help me focus on today. To the best of my ability to
discern, this is what I sense are your expectations: (fill in the blank
with your prayer). Please empower me to serve you in this way. I want
your dreams for me to be my dreams as well. Amen.’

Use this prayer every day until the end of the Adventure. It should set
you on a path of learning to empower everything you do for God with
prayer. It’s usually easier to see a few days ahead than to see a few
years into the future, to say nothing of a few decades. Hopefully the
four remaining weeks of the Adventure will give you a sense—as Hannah
had—that you have been heard by God. And that experience can prepare you
to see bigger dreams fulfilled in the months and years to come.” (Adult
Journal, Daring to Dream Again, Wheaton: Mainstay Ministries, 2003, p.
36)

As William Walford wrote:

Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer,
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Father’s throne
Make all my wants and wishes known:
In seasons of distress and grief
My soul has often found relief,
And oft escaped the tempter’s snare
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer.

Last Sunday and throughout the week, the Spiritual Adventure talked about
establishing God-given goals for our lives. We are challenged to review
our list of goals, reflect on whether they are God-given or
self-centered, and whether we know the difference. The key to arriving at
the right conclusion is prayer.

In a Family Circus cartoon by Bill Keane, the family is playing a
question-and-answer game. The father draws a card saying, “Let’s see who
has the answer to this one. . . . What is the greatest source of power in
the world today? A cloud of pictorial thoughts rises from the 3 oldest
children—a high-voltage tower, a huge elephant, a strong wind bending
over trees, the sun, Superman carrying Lois Lane, a nuclear plant, some
batteries. The mother’s image of the greatest source of power is
different. Over her head is a cloud that pictures her little daughter
kneeling in prayer on her bed at night.

So it was with Hannah. During one of their pilgrimages to worship at
Shiloh, she met the Lord in fervent prayer. Her need was for a child. It
was a traumatic stigma for a married woman to not have children in that
day. Her prayer was so fervent that Eli misunderstood what was going on
and accused her of drunkenness. Sort of unusual, but it happened.
Nevertheless, Hannah persevered and poured out the desires of her heart
to Eli and to God.

Hannah was not only fervent, she was honest before God. She made a
promise, and she meant it. Hannah was troubled, and she went to God in
prayer. Now I would be surprised if this was the only time Hannah prayed.
She obviously knew the Lord well enough to be able to approach Him and
talk to Him about her deepest need and greatest concern. She had
accompanied Elkanah to worship at Shiloh on many occasions. So it was
that she entered into this fervent prayer for this need. And her promise
to God was made with no reservations. She meant it, and she fulfilled her
promise after God gave her a son. Her conversation with God was a
meaningful part of her life.

Prayer is every bit as important for the Christian. Now I know that
Christians pray. We share prayer requests every Sunday morning in worship
and Sunday school. We activate our phone prayer chain for special needs
and requests that come up throughout the week. Prayer requests come to us
over the airwaves, over the internet, and through e-mail. Prayer
requests, intercessory prayers, are a necessary and vital part of our
spiritual life. But don’t forget that prayer is also conversation with
God. It is our means to be with God, just as Adam and Eve were with God
during His visits with them. I know that God is infinite and all-powerful
and all-knowing. But stop and consider how narrow conversation becomes
when the only agenda one party brings to the conversation requests for
the other to act upon. “I need this, my family needs that. My church
needs this. Please do this; please do that.” Again, bringing our needs to
God is appropriate. We are told to do this. But try this in your prayer
life from time to time, if you don’t already: go to God in prayer and
don’t ask Him for any favor. Don’t bring a request or a need for yourself
or anyone else. Go to prayer and just be in relationship with God. Be in
conversation with God. And give Him a chance to speak with you. Don’t do
all the talking for awhile and then say, “Well, that’s my prayer time for
now. I’ve gotta go.” If this is typical, the start your prayer time by
saying, “Here I am God. What do You want me to learn from You today?”
Granted, Hannah came to God with her request for a son, but we also
realize that she knew God well enough to know what would honor Him. Her
promise to God was based upon her knowledge of His revealed will -
knowledge that comes through regular communication with Him.

As we learned last week, to know the will of God is the greatest
knowledge you’ll ever have. And to do the will of God is the greatest
work you’ll ever do.” Put things in the right order. Let’s start with a
willingness to do God’s will. Then we come to him in prayer and ask what
His will is for this day, like in the Adventure prayer: “Help me focus on
today. . . . To the best of my ability to discern, this is what I sense
are your expectations.” When He reveals this to you, then we do it. Move
from being self-centered to Christ-centered. Consider these suggestions
for prayer this week:

1. Continue to pray “anytime and anyplace.”
2. Add to that some specific moments of prayer in a quiet place where the
busyness of life and the clamor of other people won’t intrude.
3. Don’t ask God what His will is, and then decide whether or not you’ll
do it. Bring to Him your willingness to do His will. Ask Him what it is,
then do it!

Those who wanted to celebrated St. Patrick’s day last Monday. Here is an
eighth-century Irish prayer known as “Saint Patrick’s Breastplate:”

I rise today
With the power of God to pilot me,
God’s strength to sustain me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look ahead for me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to protect me,
God’s way before me,
God’s shield to defend me,
God’s host to deliver me. . . .
Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me; Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me;
Christ to the right of me,
Christ to the left of me;
Christ in my lying, Christ in my sitting,
Christ in my rising;
Christ in the heart of all who think of me,
Christ on the tongue of all who speak to me,
Christ in the eye of all who see me,
Christ in the ear of all who hear me.
(––“Saint Patrick’s Breastplate,” Old Irish, eighth-century prayer.)

(Adapted from Pastor’s Manual, Daring to Dream Again, Wheaton: Mainstay
Ministries, 2003, pp. B153-B163)

Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN

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