Detroit Conference: 1980
Table of Contents
Prayer in the Life of the Lord Jesus
Address—G.H. Hayhoe
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Life to turn first of all to Colossians chapter 4, Colossians chapter 4 and verse 2. Continue in prayer and watch in the same with Thanksgiving.
What's on my heart this afternoon? To speak a little bit about prayer, and particularly as we see it brought before us in the life of the Lord Jesus.
In the Gospel of Luke, the Lord Jesus is presented to us seven times in prayer, and in each one of these times I believe there is a different particular context. And in applying it to ourselves, I believe there can be some needed lesson for each one of us.
Well, how important prayer is in our lives because it's so easy for us just to go on our own way. Then when we get into a difficulty to turn to the Lord and want His answer. But I believe it ought to be the habitual thing in our lives.
But I want to say first of all that there are some things, if I can use the expression, that we should not pray about. Or you say just what do you mean by saying that? Well, when God speaks in His Word, we don't ask Him whether we should do the thing or not. If His Word speaks, the path is clear. We should be obedient. For instance, supposing there is a young person here.
Perhaps you have found a boy or a girl friend who's not saved.
And you say, well, I'm praying about it. Well, you better stop praying because the word of God says be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. And I can remember when I was a boy that as we were walking to meeting, my father said one time he said there are things that I don't pray about. He said, I didn't ask the Lord this morning whether I should remember him in his death.
He said I have his word which clearly says this do in remembrance of me. I should be exercised about where he would have me to be gathered, whether it's according to the truth of his word. But as to whether he would have me remember him. I have his word that speaks simply. And so I want to say before I start to speak about this, how that prayer is never with the thought of omitting the authority of God's precious word.
God's precious word is the direction for our pathways, but there are many things in life now that perhaps we don't have a direct word from the Lord, decisions that we have to make and so on. And so we can't turn to an actual chapter and verse that says you better go to the conference of Des Moines. No, you'll have to look to the Lord about something like that. And so there are many things in our lives just like that where we have to turn to the Lord.
And I believe those two things ought to characterize our Christian life, reading of the Word and prayer, not in God's words speak to us. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. And then when we have decisions, and when we find something, perhaps even the word, that we don't fully understand, then we can turn to the Lord and ask Him by His Spirit to help us to understand.
As our brothers.
To us this morning, if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
Another comment that was made by Mr. Darby has been a help to me and that is that.
Prayer is based on the privilege of having common interests with God. No, I think that's a very blessed thing. And I say to you, dear young people, isn't a very blessed thing that you can have common interests with God? Is he interested in your life and mine? Does he care about those decisions and how they affect our lives? Why, of course he does. He has planned. He careth for you.
And so he brings our souls into fellowship with himself.
It tells us your father knows what things ye have need of before he asked him. Well, you say, if that is so, why should I ask?
Well, I've used a little illustration like this. Supposing that you wanted to give a gift to someone and you decide on a certain thing that you would like to give to that friend. And then one day before you have given the gift, your friend says, you know, there's something I'd really like very much and it names the very thing that you had already planned to give.
Oh, you say. It's just exactly what I wanted to give them. Isn't there a common mutual joy?
Well, you know, in prayer we have the privilege of that common mutual joy, God bringing our souls into communion with himself to look to him for those very things that he knows are for our good and for our blessing. And so it's a very wonderful privilege that we have to be brought into this fellowship with God in prayer.
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I might also mention, too, that prayer is brought before us in the Scripture in three particular ways, and these three ways also ought to characterize our Christian life.
Yesterday about 1. And that was the case of Nehemiah. And Nehemiah was the King's cup bearer, standing in the presence of the king, and the king asked him a question, and before he answered, it says, so I prayed to the God of heaven, and I said unto the king. In other words, Nehemiah's soul was in the attitude of prayer. And I believe that's the force of that verse in First Thessalonians 5 that.
Says pray without ceasing. That is, we should, we should always be in the attitude of prayer so that at any moment when any given situation arises, we don't feel that there's something between US and the Lord, but that we can just turn to Him and talk to Him as our dearest friend. That's praying without ceasing. And I believe that's a very important aspect of our lives. Keep short accounts with God.
God, so there's nothing between your soul and God, so that at any moment you can just turn and talk to Him and make known your request to Him.
And then there is also private prayer. We remember how the Lord Jesus said in Matthew to go into your room and shut your door and talk to your Father who is in secret. Well, we ought to have such times. We find that with Daniel it was three times in a day he went to his room. I don't by any means suppose that there weren't many times that Daniel talked to the Lord when situation arose.
In his, in his work, and he asked the Lord about certain matters. I'm sure that was true of him. But there was also this time that he went to his room and prayed. And so, you know, dear young people, I speak especially to you. You have the privilege of doing this and I hope you value it. I hope that there is a little time set apart in your life when you get with the Lord.
Away from the family, away from others.
Is just to talk to the Lord and I think this is a very blessed privilege that we have that we can do just like Daniel. He wouldn't allow anything to rob him of that privilege. 3 times in the day. In his case, he went to his room.
And then the next instance says assembly prayer, we find that in the 12TH of Acts tells us about the Saints and how when Peter was in prison, it says they were gathered together in praying for Paul's, for Peter's release. And so this represents what I believe is a very important thing. We have it brought before us in the second of Acts. They continued steadfastly in the apostles.
Doctrine and fellowship and breaking of bread and prayers. I believe that is assembly prayer. And so we shouldn't allow our private prayer to ever interfere with the fact that we desire to be present at the assembly prayer meeting. Well, you say the assembly prayer meeting that there are long pauses and sometimes I wonder how much faith there was.
Well, isn't it interesting that the instance that God brings before us.
In the 12TH chapter of Acts, where the assembly was gathered together for prayer, there wasn't much faith there either because when Peter got released they wouldn't believe it. And when he actually knocked on the door, they denied that he was really there. They said it's his spirit and he had to continue knocking until finally they let him in.
So if the assembly prayer meeting isn't all that you feel it should.
Be, and perhaps we could be exercised about our own part in this too. If it isn't. Still, this brings out another thing that I wanted to speak of before I look at the passages in Luke. And that is a wonderful fact that God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things. This to me is very, very encouraging in connection with prayer.
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I might say that confidence is in prayer is the result.
Of obedience and communion. But God answers prayer according to his own heart. And how many of us have proved this? We prayed for something and we had to confess what a lack of faith there was in our prayers. And yet God was greater than our poor doubting hearts. And he came in and answered, He's greater than our hearts. We missed something by not having confidence.
But we didn't miss the answer because he answered according to his own.
Heart and I think this is a great encouragement for us. If you find, and I often have to say I find a lack of confidence in my heart. I'm encouraged by the fact that God is greater than my heart and knoweth all things. Now just one other thing and that is there is a solemn fact of allowing anything in our hearts that is anything in our lives that is unjust. This is a positive hindrance and so it does.
Say if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.
And it's a solemn thing to allow something in our hearts that we should be judging, while at the same time asking the Lord for something while we're not desirous to conform our ways into what is pleasing to Him. And so I just mentioned briefly these few thoughts in connection with prayer. I say it is a wonderful privilege that God has given. There's a lovely verse, I believe it's in the Psalms that says.
O thou that hearest prayer unto these.
Shall all flesh come? What a marvelous thing God does to your prayer. And this ought to encourage us now to turn to some of these passages in connection with the Lord. The Gospel of Luke in the 3rd chapter. Luke's Gospel, chapter 3.
And verse 21.
Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized.
And praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him. And a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art, my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased.
Now I think this is brought before us. This is the first instance in the Gospel of Luke where we find the Lord Jesus praying. And I believe it's in connection with the commencement of his pathway of service, tells us in the book of the Acts that he was anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power and went about doing good. And now I think this is something that we can apply to ourselves.
In the Gospel of Luke, the Lord Jesus.
Brought before us as the dependent man. I think each of us know that.
The Gospels have different characters, and so the Gospel of Luke has a character all of its own. It presents the Lord Jesus to us as a dependent man here in this world. Although he was and is Lord of all, although he is in control of everything, He took his place here among men. He became a perfect pattern for us. He could have accomplished that work upon the cross of Calvary.
And gone straight back to heaven, that was.
What was necessary to put away our sins? Why those 33 1/2 years of his blessed pathway? All He was marking out a path for us. He's an example for us. And more than that, He's fitted now as it tells us, to be a merciful and faithful High Priest, so that in every circumstance that we meet in our life, the Lord has trodden the path before us. He was a child, He was.
Was a young person, he was an adult and he walked through this world sent apart. He marked out the pathway for us and so here this very first time that we have prayer. It's in connection with the Lord at the commencement of his pathway of service. Was it an easy path All you know as well as I do, it was not an easy path. It was a difficult path. It was a path that was.
So trying.
To him he said, Reproach hath broken my heart. I am full of heaviness. I look for some to take pity. And there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. Not yet we find the Lord Jesus here at the commencement of His pathway in prayer. And I believe if you turn with me to a verse in Galatians. Galatians, chapter 6. Galatians chapter 6.
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And uh.
The fourth verse. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another, For every man shall bear his own burden.
I believe that this these verses have a reference to what took place when the Levites were taken and given to Aaron for service in the House of the Lord. It tells us that the tribe of Levi was presented to Aaron and his sons and each one was appointed to a service and a burden in the House of the Lord. If you asked any Levite what is your.
Service for the Lord.
Word he could tell you because he could say Aaron told me that this was the service that I was to perform. And what is your burden? Well, he appointed me to this burden. He couldn't, so to speak, do somebody else's work that was given to him. Well, we haven't got some human that we can go to and say now you please tell me what my life work is to be.
Now we have to go to the Lord. He is the Lord.
Of the harvest. But dear young people, I speak especially to you because you're starting out in life. I believe that the Lord has something for each one of you to do, and I believe that you're going to miss something in your life if you spend your life without finding out what it is. I believe that the service that He has for you to do, that you can do better than any other person, because if the Lord has called you to it, He has certainly fitted you for it, and He will enable you to do that.
Will serve us and he often tests us, but if he calls us to a work, I've sometimes said to my wife when we try to undertake something to the Lord, I said we don't need to ask ourselves can we do this? All we need to ask is does the Lord want us to do it? Because if he wants us to do it, then we become his charge. It says no man goes to work.
To warfare at his own charges when a man joins.
The army, he becomes the charge of the government. They look after his clothes, they look after his health, they give him the ammunition needed or whatever he is. He's their charge. And isn't it a lovely thing? The Lord has a place for you to fulfill. Just as in the body of Christ, each member has a part to fill, and the hand doesn't try to do what the foot is supposed to do unless it's an emergency. Each member has a particular place to fulfill.
Bill And then each one of those Levites had a burden to bear. Oh dear young people, that you and I want to know what the Lord wants us to do. Here we find the Lord Jesus at the commencement of His pathway in prayer. Have you really asked the Lord to show you what He has for you to do? I believe that He can and that He will.
Make it known to you, it tells us I.
Quote again that verse. If any man will do his will, he shall know, and I believe he will show you.
He may also give you a burden, and maybe you may feel that it's an unusual one because some of the Levites must have had to carry the boards of the Tabernacle, and some of them seemed to have it a lot easier, carrying perhaps the pins and other lighter things.
Occupying a very prominent and important place and carrying the ark on their shoulders and others may have felt, well, why can't we have the honors that that person is having there right out in the front? Everybody notices them, but the important thing was not whether the service put them in the public eye. Indeed, that could be dangerous, but the important thing was.
Have they received that little work to do? Had they been appointed to that burden? Every man according to his service and according to his burden. And it tells us that this service was from 25 or 30 years old up to 50. I believe it's simply the fact that it's a good thing for us to learn this before our best years are gone.
Before our best years and say oh I wasted my life. I like to start now.
Oh, how much better to start in the time of in the time of King David. It speaks about them even being in service in the temple at 20 years of age. And I think it shows us that if we're willing the Lord, then we'll show us. So isn't this a little pattern? The Lord Jesus had been baptized. He comes up out of the water and he is praying.
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He is praying now. I just suggest that in baptism the name of Christ.
Christ is placed upon us. There's a position in this world of bearing the name of Christ. And So what a what a responsibility. You see a man with a name on his shoulder, then you expect to see that he is worthy of that name that he bears. And so it's a responsibility to bear the name of Christ in this world.
So here we find the Lord Jesus in prayer at the commencement of his pathway of service. And again, I just want to impress upon each one and upon myself that you can discover this. And then isn't this lovely? And then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another? You say that sounds a little bit selfish. No, it just means this. It just means this, that instead of saying.
Oh, I wish I was doing what that other brother or sister is doing. You say, oh, I'm, I'm happy because I feel that I'm fulfilling the little service the Lord gave me to do. That's what counts. That's what counts. And you can really be happy in it. Oh, you say it's kind of difficult when you see somebody else have it a lot easier. Oh, but it's the master whom we serve that counts. It's the master.
Who is the Lord of the harvest?
Who died for us? Who has those nail prints in his hands to remind us of what it cost him to make us his very own? And ye are not your own. Ye are bought with a price. Have you prayed about it? Have you asked the Lord to really show you that what he has for you? And if you said, Lord help me to accept the burden, even if it seems to be a heavy one, even if someone else seems to have better health and better surroundings and a better meeting to serve in, just help me.
Lord, to be a light for thee, just where you've placed me. I believe that's what the Lord would have us to do. Now let's turn to the next one. I believe it's in the 5th chapter of Luke.
And the 15th verse.
But so much the more went there to fame abroad of him, and great multitudes came together to hear and to be healed by him of their infirmities, and he withdrew himself into the wilderness and prayed. Well, here's another instance that we find the Lord Jesus in prayer here. It tells us in the verse before.
A fame had spread abroad of him.
Great multitudes came out. Oh, you said that was a fine opportunity. Why did the Lord withdraw himself? Oh, I think this is very lovely. The Lord Jesus never, never sought popularity. All that he sought to do was his Father's will. Sometimes when people pat us on the back and make a great deal out of us, we can sort of go ahead.
Sort of on the Crest of all the public acclaim and all the people say.
Way to flatter us or encourage us or something. And you know, we can go along like that. There is no more dangerous time in our Christian life than after the Lord has used us in some way.
You know, when the children of Israel had one of the most remarkable victories at Jericho and they saw the walls of the city fall down flat, they went up and took the city and they didn't lose a single man. They just got a little bit puffed up. They just thought, oh, that shows that we can handle any other place. Let's go down to the city of AI. It's only a little place and we don't need to even all.
There, because it's going to be easy. Has that ever happened in your life? The Lord has used you and you've done something for him. And you say, oh, I can do the next thing. All right, because I did that all. Be careful. They were to get back to Gilgal. And what was Gilgal? Well, Gilgal was the place where the knife was lifted on self. It was the place where it wasn't using a sword on the inhabitant of the land. It was taking and lifting the sword on.
And it hurt too. And self judgment is very important. And let me say that if the Lord has ever used you and made you a blessing to somebody else, don't forget to pray. Don't forget to get down before the Lord and say, Lord, I'm nothing. I couldn't have done this alone. And I can't do the next thing unless I get help from above.
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And so in this lovely when the Lord Jesus says in philosophy.
Chapter 2 He made himself of no reputation. Oh, it's dangerous for us to seek a reputation of any kind when the Lord of glory in this world, the only one who had a right to a reputation, took the lowest place and made himself of no reputation. So I believe we could say that in this second instance in the Lord's life, we see an example for us set before us that the Lord Jesus as.
Dependent man here in this world, He didn't seek the acclaim of the world, He sought his Father's approval. That's what's counted. And so he goes into his Father's presence. We know with the Lord Jesus, his communion with his Father was always perfect. It was absolute with us. It's not always so, but I say this is a pattern for us and I believe a very needful pattern. So if there's anything that has taken place.
In your life where you feel the Lord has used you or perhaps given you a measure of popularity and people are beginning to patch you on the back, be sure to get on your knees. You need it. If the Lord is going to continue to use you and bless you, be dependent upon Him. The Lord Jesus said without me He can do nothing.
And so we have another case now if we turn on in the 6th chapter of Luke.
The 6th chapter of Luke and the.
12TH verse.
And it came to pass in those days that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples, and of them he chose 12 whom also he named apostles.
Well, we know that this was at the time when the Lord Jesus chose the 12 apostles who were to accompany him and his pathway of service. And we find those 12 apostles with the Lord all through right up to the very night of his betrayal, those 12 apostles were with him. And now I'd like to apply this in a practical way to ourselves.
Here, young people, there's no more important decision in your life than who is going to be your partner.
Who is going to be the one who is going to share a life with you? That is the most important thing. Don't treat it lightly. Don't allow yourself just to get carried away with some observation that you've made that you haven't been before the Lord about it. Isn't it remarkable that in this instance we find the Lord Jesus?
All night in prayer to God, all night in prayer in prayer to.
God. And if you only realize that the partner whom you have in your life is going to make you or break you in every way, naturally and spiritually, you will never really fulfill as you should what the Lord would have you to fulfill unless you have the right partner in life and the Lord Jesus.
Here before he chose those 12 disciples. Oh, you save it. The Lord knew everything.
Why did he do that? To be an example for us, to show us what an important thing a decision like this is in our lives. And then perhaps I could apply it in another way too. Perhaps you're going to do something in the Lord's service and there's someone who you'd like to have to be a helper with you. Perhaps some of the ones who have tried to do something for the Lord.
Can follow what I'm saying.
You ask somebody to help you, but you didn't pray enough about it, and that person wasn't really a helper at all. That person actually hindered you, wasn't really A1 mind with you in what you wanted to do for the Lord.
Oh, how very important it is, those who are our associates in life. The psalmist felt something of this, and in the 119th Psalm, I think it's the 63rd verse, he says.
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I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts. And so I wish to say to you that it's the matter of a partner. Be sure to pray a lot about it. Look into God's Word and be sure that this one whom you would like to have to share a life with you is one who fears the Lord, who wants to please Him that you have common interests in life.
Oh, it's so important.
Important And here, as I say, we find the Lord Jesus spending the whole night in prayer to God. So I want to just impress upon you in those momentous decisions of your life to be much before the Lord and to be sure that you have sought his mind because it surely is so important. And the Bible says too, you know, a prudent wife is from the Lord.
It isn't just that you had the.
Wisdom to choose yourself or the girl had the wisdom the brother read to us this morning that Rebecca was asked wilt thou go and she answered I will go. So whether it's the boy in making the choice of the girl responding to the choice all be much before the Lord that you would have the one whom the Lord would have you to do and if have for a partner and then too, if it's a service to the Lord.
Pretty much about who should help you. You'll find that whatever you undertake for the Lord, it's going to be so much happier if you have the right one with you.
You remember how Paul had Barnabas with him?
And Barnabas wasn't of one mind. And so there was a little bit of bad feeling when that kind of broke up. And Barnabas went back and took his nephew Mark, and they went off and sailed to Cyprus. And there was a little bit of bad feeling that came from that. And then the next time it tells us that when Paul chose Silas, he was commanded by the brethren.
It's commanded. In other words, others recognize that he had made a happy choice and we don't read in one single clash between between Paul and Silas. It's lovely to see the Lord can help you even in those kind of decisions in your Christian life. And now let's turn to another one in the 9th chapter of Luke.
The 18th verse.
And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him. And he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am? The answering said John the Baptist, And some Elias and others say that one of the old prophets is risen again. He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
Peter answering said the Christ of God, and he straightly charged them.
And commanded them to tell no man that thing, saying The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.
Well, here we find the Lord Jesus with the shadow of the cross before him. He knew just exactly what he was going to have to bear in the rejection of the nation.
He was in the pathway that his father had marked out for him. Because it tells us that he said I do always those things that please him. But were there difficulties in the path? Yes, and there will be in yours too, if you decide to follow the Lord. There is no promise that it's going to be an easy path. In fact it tells us in the world ye shall have tribulation. Another verse says all day that will live.
In Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And perhaps there are times when in following the Lord, the difficulties and trials could be totally overwhelming. Some have got so overwhelmed by the difficulties that they have thrown up their hands and say, well, I did want to follow the Lord, but oh, it's just too hard to pass.
And we have seen many dear young people who've started out well, and we don't.
Don't question their zeal, and we don't question their desire. But the difficulties were insurmountable, and they are to me. They are to you too, if you're trying to follow the Lord. How did the Lord Jesus meet all this rejection and shame that he bore along his pathway and finally to be taken and crucified? The very people that he had come to bless shouting away with him, Crucify him.
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And handing him over to the Gentiles to be nailed to that cross. How could the Lord Jesus endure all this? Oh, it says he was alone praying. He was alone praying. And you know, I want to say this too. Perhaps you have sought to do what we've just been talking about. You said I've tried to do the little service the Lord has for me.
I am trying to walk in the path that he has marked out for me and with the partner.
That He has for me. But all the problems and difficulties are just overwhelming. Are you praying? Are you praying? The Lord knows all about those problems. He knows. He knows every one of them. And as we sing in the little hymn, sometimes the young people, the Savior, can solve every problem. There is nothing too hard for Jesus.
There is nothing that he cannot do. There is no problem.
There's no difficulty that is so great that the Lord would have to say you just that's too much. You better turn back. Oh no, he is able. And so if you are facing and I, as I look into faces here, I know that there are young people who just said, oh, I've enjoyed these two or three days. But when I go back, when I go back, I can just see mountains. I can just see all kinds of things turning up. Isn't this lovely? The Lord.
Jesus was alone, praying. It's grand to be in company. You really get a boost for your Christian life when you're with other Christians and they sort of help you along. But you do have to meet some difficulties alone. Every man shall bear his own burden. And some things you just have to meet alone, and you just have to get before the Lord. As our perfect example, the Lord Jesus did, He's alone.
Praying and then he tells the disciples this.
This is the kind of a pathway it is. It's not an easy one. Paul was careful to tell the early believers about this, too. He didn't paint out an easy, pleasant pathway for them. He didn't say it's all fun. No, he said, we must, through much tribulation, enter into the Kingdom of God. And so isn't this very beautiful to see the Lord Jesus?
Alone, praying and talking to his disciples.
And saying, I know how difficult the pathway is. I know just exactly what's ahead. We don't always know what's ahead, but the Lord does. The Lord does. Maybe it's good for us at times that we don't know what's ahead. We just would cringe before some of the things that might come. But he knows. And the Lord knew it all. But he pressed on. Nothing would turn him back.
Now in this same chapter we have it again in the 28th verse of this 9th of Luke.
Says here.
28th Verse. And it came to pass, about an 8 days after these sayings, he took Peter, and John, and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. And behold, there appeared with him two men, which were Moses and Elias, who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease, which he should accomplish.
At Jerusalem.
Well, here we have again, the Lord Jesus went up into a mountain to pray, and I believe the reason this comes in here is what is it that will sustain us when we have to meet these difficulties. The Lord had just acquainted the disciples with the fact that He was going to be rejected. If I had read the intervening verses, you would see that He was telling them that they were going to have to take up their cross and follow.
And the 26th verse, maybe I could read it.
For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words of Him, shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when he shall come in His own glory, and in His Father's, and in the holy angels? He had acquainted them with the fact that it was difficult, but He warned them not to be ashamed.
And says, be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his minister. Will you say what will sustain you at a time like that? Well, here we find.
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The Lord Jesus went up into the mountain to pray. What will sustain you when it seems that the difficulties of the way are overwhelming? Well, we can pray and ask the Lord for grace, but God does more than that. What happened here? Oh, there was a whole Vista of the coming glory that was opened up, and the Lord Jesus, the fashion of his countenance was changed. Doesn't it remind you something about?
Stephen.
There he was before the Council and they were all against him.
What made his face like the face of an Angel? He said. I see the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And so instead of just looking at the difficulties, they're real. We can't meet them in our own strength.
Oh, what's ahead of us, brethren? What's ahead of us? Well, here was a little preview, and Peter speaks of this in his epistle when he's talking about what the Christians had to go through in his epistle, he said.
He said, and this voice which came from heaven, we heard when we were with him in the excellent glory. In other words, Paul, Peter never lost sight of that vision. It remained in his soul. And as he found difficulties, he was in prison, as we said, and the Lord released him. Many difficulties came in his life. But he said, I've never lost sight of that. What I saw on the mount of.
Configuration, He said, that just still shines before me, and it sustains me. And according to history, He was crucified upside down. What? What was it that sustained him? All that glory shining before him? And I wish to say that this is the only thing that will sustain us in our difficulties. Do we pray and say, Lord, help me to have my eyes upon thee. Help me to be looking.
So that I can say in the words a little hymn, The glory shines before me. I cannot linger here, though clouds may darken, or me, My Father's house is near. So here we find the Lord Jesus in prayer.
Just after announcing all these difficulties and hardships to the disciples.
But he's there on that mountain, and he's transfigured. His face shines as the sun. His raiment is white and glistening. And what were they talking about? They spoke of his decease that he should accomplish at Jerusalem. Oh, we can always.
Shall I say we can always see God's love revealed at the cross?
Always see His love in our circumstances, but we can always see His love revealed at Calvary. Sometimes there may be somebody here and you're going through deep waters and the devil whispers, does God love you that he lets all this happen? Oh, your answer is I know he loves me. He sent his Son to die for me. He settled the question of my sins so that I could be an eternal glory.
It's like casting the tree into the bitter waters. It makes them sweet. And so here in this occasion where we find the Lord praying, not so much in facing the difficulties, but rather that which lifts us above the difficulties. And we need to ask the Lord. Perhaps you have. I've asked the Lord. Oh, help me to have before me the reality of all. It's mine in Christ.
It sustains you, it helps you to go through some of the things.
That if you just look at them, they almost seem overwhelming. Well, may that view of coming glory be before us, says in Proverbs, where an old vision is the people perish. You lose sight of that. Why you just can't. You can't stand all the difficulties and problems that come by. Now let's turn over to the next chapter.
The 11TH chapter. Well, that was the 9th. It's the 11TH chapter.
And the.
First verse.
And it came to pass that as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done. As in earth, so in heaven give us day by day Our Daily Bread.
And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. We say I didn't know the Christians prayed the Lord's Prayer. Well, I'll tell you why I read it. The Lord was praying here, and the disciples asked him to pray. Did you ever feel you needed the Lord to teach you how to pray?
00:45:22
Well, it says, you know, we know not what we should pray for as we ought.
Now we don't pray in these actual words, brethren, but I would suggest that this lays before us a pattern. And while we're not praying for the bringing in of the Kingdom, but rather looking for the Lord's coming, I believe if I just look at a few points, you can see here that there is really a pattern prayer set before us. And I think sometimes we don't know how to pray because we haven't laid hold of this pattern that the Lord brought before the disciples.
I say again, I'm not suggesting you use these actual words because that was a special need at that time that the disciples were praying about. You have different needs. We're living in the dispensation of grace. But it is a model now. Just notice a few things about it. I believe there are 7 points in this prayer that are very instructive.
Our Father, which art in heaven here, realized that God's your Father.
No, I'm not applying it now in a practical way. When you come and talk, are you talking to God as if he's at a great distance from you and you have no feeling of nearness? It was brought out in the morning, in the meeting this morning. How wonderful. God is my Father. I can talk to one who knows and cares about me. He has a father's heart for me. When you start to pray, do you talk to God?
In the consciousness that he loves you more than your human father.
That he is the one who sent his Son to die for you, our Father, which art in heaven. Then here the next one. Hallowed be thy name. Always pray reverently. Always pray reverently. Never be flippant in your prayers. Talk to the Lord with reverence, because we need to remember the greatness of the person to whom we're talking. We're living in an age of irreverence, and we find.
Sometimes even prayers or characters.
By a lack of reverence the Lord was teaching reverence here. Hallowed be thy name. Always talk reverently to the Lord, And then thy Kingdom come. You see everything messed up in this world. Don't you have a longing for the time when it's going to be set right? Don't you? Yes, of course. I'm sure every Christian longs for the time when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. Now I know that our hope is.
The Lord's coming and he's going to take us out before this happens. But do you expect the president of the United States or do I expect the Prime Minister of Canada to set things right? No, I don't. I don't, but I do expect that there is one who's going to. And that gives me peace amidst all the unrest and confusion. So when I talk to God in prayer, if the things that are going on bother me, I can say, well, it's all going to be set right another day when my.
Has his rightful place and then the next one.
Thy will be done. As in heaven, so in earth.
Is this a real desire of our hearts?
When we pray, do we really want His will or do we want Him to change things and make them according to our will, or do we really want His will? And so I think this is a very important thing in our prayers that we wouldn't want to ask the Lord to give us anything that wasn't according to his will. And so thy will be done. Oh, you know, it's done in heaven, but what about on earth? Do we desire it?
Dear young people, do we really want the Lord's will? Is that boyfriend is not the one for you and that girlfriend is not the right one for you? Do you really want them? You couldn't really in your bottom of your heart want them unless it was the one the Lord wanted for you. And so in our decisions, let's remember this little model. Thy will be done, and then give us day by day Our Daily Bread.
Well, there's a lot of daily needs. Maybe bread.
Maybe a job, maybe where you're going to live, maybe a house. There's a lot of daily needs, but this is a pattern. Do we try to solve all our daily needs ourselves, or do we turn to the Lord? Do we turn to Him to solve? They had asked the Lord to teach them how to pray, so He's teaching them here. He's showing them, and we don't perhaps ask the Lord for the daily bread.
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Perhaps in our plenty we think, well, I think we have enough.
In our in our kitchen. But we do have a lot of daily needs. And if it's not bread, and it might be bread someday too, it was for our brother Willis when he was in the camp in China. We never know when it's going to be that way. But we have daily needs. Let's ask the Lord about them. And then to forgive us our sins, as we for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us.
Well, we know the Lord has forgiven our sins, but I think we can search our own hearts and ask ourselves when we pray, do we have any bad feeling toward anybody in the whole world? Do we have any bad feeling? Is there somebody that we haven't forgiven all? You said they did such a mean thing. Have we forgiven them? Have we forgiven them? If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not.
Hear me? And so here's something that we need to remember.
Never, never make intercession against the people of God. That's the only failure of an Old Testament St. recorded in the New Testament. It says Elijah made intercession against Israel. Make intercession for the Saints. Did somebody do something mean? Pray for them. Don't pray against him, pray for him. Pray for him, and maybe the Lord will come in in a remarkable way.
So I believe there's a little thought here. And then last of all.
Lead us not into temptation. In other words, are we able to meet the situations of life in our own strength?
Can we say, well, that's one situation I can handle. I can go out with friends. I know how far to go with them. I wouldn't. I wouldn't do the questionable things. I'll be careful. Be careful. Lead us not into temptation. Peter thought he was strong enough. Maybe all of us at times have thought we were strong enough. But this is a wholesome prayer. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Only the Lord can keep us. We don't know what we do when.
Were placed in situations if the Lord didn't help us. Isn't it a beautiful model for us? I'm not suggesting that we start repeating the Lord's Prayer, but I am saying we have a little model for us and may the Lord grant that we'll bear this in mind. The Lord was praying and now He taught them how to pray. Now there's just one more just before we close in the 22nd chapter.
22nd chapter in the 44th verse.
41St 1St Pardon me.
And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me, nevertheless not my will but thine be done. And there appeared an Angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
And being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the crown.
Well, this is the last instance where we have the Lord in prayer. We're all well acquainted with this very, very solemn occasion, the shadow of the cross, what it would cost the Lord Jesus to bear our sins, what it would cost him to be forsaken of God. All this and all its horror and reality was before him. But we find the Lord Jesus saying.
Not my will but thine be done and there are times when.
We'll never, never, never have to face what the Lord Jesus faced. We'll never have to bear sin if we're believers. He bore that for us. But I do believe, dear friends, that there are times in our lives when there is some very, very difficult situation that faces us, something that, shall I say, we actually sweat about. We really say, oh, this is just overwhelming. This is just too much for me.
And here we find the precious Savior 3 times in the agony of prayer, but he ever sought his Father's will.
He wanted to do his Father's will. He said not my will, but thine be done. Oh, I think it's beautiful. Perhaps we could characterize this one by perfect submission, perfect submission, submission in love because he was going to do the Father's will for our blessing. Oh, May God grant that pattern of the pathway of the blessed Lord Jesus may be an encouragement to us. And I'm just going to add one thing. It's not found here in the Gospel of Luke, but I.
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Enjoyed it very much that in one of the other gospels. I've forgotten which one. I think maybe it's Mark but I'm not sure.
When it speaks of this event in the Lord's life in the Garden of Gethsemane, it says he went away again and prayed, saying the same words. You know, that's been a comfort to me because sometimes you think, oh, the Lord's heard me say that. There's no use repeating it. Isn't it wonderful? Our perfect example when he prayed. And there are times when a situation is just overwhelming. And I guess you've done it too. You've said the same words. You've said the same.
Words and the Lord understood it was proper, it was right. Our perfect example did that. But the Lord knows the burdens that come into our hearts. But isn't it lovely that he's walked the whole pathway before U.S. President, He knows every situation and we find him as a dependent man in every situation of his blessed precious pathway in prayer 7 times, meeting all the things that you and I have to meet as he understands.
Yes, he's a merciful and faithful high priest. Let's not forget to pray. And when those things come that just seem to be overwhelming, let's remember that.
From Midnight to Break of Day
Pentecost to Midnight
Revival in House of God Pt 1
Repair in House of God Pt 2