4 Purposes of Prayer

Greetings guys. This is Pastor Keith. I am sorry that I cannot be with you this week in person but I wanted to continue our study that we began last week and so I'm coming to you via video and I'm providing this lesson for those who are watching.

This is for the men of set free ministry and I'm going to be continuing the lesson that I began last week. The last week's lesson was about the subject of prayer and ultimately the title of the message is if God is sovereign why do we pray.

God’s Sovereignty, Foreknowledge, and Divine Decree

But really that question is is a little bit broader and so I wanted to go over it again because what I did last week is I broke down the presuppositions of the question. The question if God is sovereign why pray.

It's actually based on several presuppositions which are true but need to be understood in their context. So I've said not only if God is sovereign but I've said this if God is sovereign and he knows the future perfectly and has already determined what he will do why pray.

And so that's the way we're formulating the question. And what we did in our lesson last week is we broke down the three premises of the question. The question first begins with the question if God is sovereign.

And I noted if you remember last week that really we need to take the word if out and put in the word since since God is sovereign because we should never wonder if that is the case. The Bible clearly teaches that we serve a sovereign God a God who rules the universe and that he actually upholds the universe by the word of his power.

The world does not continue to spin simply because of its own power or its own momentum. The world continues to move and spin and do as it does because of the command of Almighty God. If at any moment God were to remove his hand from creation creation would cease to exist in him.

The Bible says in him we live and move and have our being. And it says that he upholds the universe by the word of his power. So we need to understand that God is sovereign. So we should never put the if there because or since God is sovereign and knows the future perfectly.

And we talked about in our lesson last week that God does know the future perfectly. He is not limited by space or time. He is the all present one not only omnipotent and omniscient and omnipresent now but he is the one who is omnipresent through time.

God is not bound by either space or time. He lives in a transcendent position above space and time. And so we said this he knows the future perfectly. Yes he does. Yes he does know the future perfectly.

But then the next one is that he is already determined what he is going to do. And that is something that we do learn from the Bible. The Bible says God has a plan that he is working out and that he has determined the end from the beginning.

We see this in several passages. Psalm 139 reminds us that God saw our unformed substance before we were created and in his book were written every day of our lives when yet there was not one of them.

God created us knowing how many days we're going to live. He knew exactly the day we're going to be born. He knew exactly the day we were going to die. And how does God know those things. Because they are part of his divine decree.

God has determined these things. He has decreed that these things will be. And therefore we know that God has already determined what he is going to do. The Bible says in Proverbs 16 9. The heart of the man plans his way but the Lord establishes his steps.

Proverbs 19 21. Many are the plans of the heart of a man. But it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. And so ultimately we know that God has already determined what he is going to do. He has done so by divine decree.

So yes he knows the future perfectly. Yes he's already determined what he will do. So the question then is why do we pray. And the question usually comes to me like this when I'm teaching on the subject and I have an open forum where people have an opportunity to ask questions.

Usually the question comes somewhat like this. Doesn't it seem that because all of this is true our prayers would be purposeless. In fact doesn't this make all spiritual discipline purposeless. Bible study discipleship witnessing worship all of that useless.

If God knows the future he's already determined what he's going to do. What is it that we contribute. And do we contribute anything. Isn't it that what everything that we do is useless. That's really the heart of the question.

The question is the heart of the question of is everything that we do ultimately useless. And the answer is no. But we want to know why. The answer is no. Why does God's sovereignty not cancel out our responsibility especially our responsibility to pray.

But I would respond by saying also that we can answer this question by first establishing another question. And that is this. What is the purpose of prayer. Why do we pray. You see there's an assumption in this question.

The assumption in this question if God is sovereign and knows the future perfectly and already determine what he's going to do. Why pray. What's the assumption in the question. I'll tell you what the assumption is.

The assumption is that we pray to somehow change God's mind. That the purpose of prayer is to change God's mind or to tell God something he does not already know. So I would ask you this. What is the purpose of praying.

Is it to change God's mind. No. Is it to tell God something he doesn't know. No. Is it to tell God to do what he what we want him to do instead of what he wants to do. No. As if we know better than him.

Is it to thwart his will and replace his will with our own. No. Even though I do think sometimes that's the way people treat prayer. I think people treat prayer as if prayer is my opportunity to tell God you're gonna do it this way.

In fact I remember hearing a preacher one time say those very words he said God sits up and takes notice when I put a demand on his will. And when I heard that I was flabbergasted because when someone says I'm putting a demand on the will of the Almighty they're putting themselves in the position of the authority over the Almighty.

No that is not right. The purpose of prayer is not to change God's mind. The purpose of prayer is not to tell God something he doesn't already know. The purpose of prayer is not to make God do what we want instead of what he wants.

And the purpose of prayer is certainly not to thwart his will. Even if we could change God's will or change God's mind. Would we want to do we know better than the Almighty. Are we wiser than infinite wisdom.

Are we smarter than infinite intellect. Do we have more insight than he who sees all things. The answer is obviously no. So what I want to do in my time today is I want to share with you four purposes of prayer in light of the sovereignty of God.

For purposes for prayer. The question is why pray. I want to give you four reasons why we should pray. And if you have a notepad I would encourage you to take notes today. And the title again you have four reasons to pray.

I'm going to give you four purposes of prayer and light of the truth of God's sovereignty. Number one prayer has been appointed as an act of worship. Prayer has been appointed as an act of worship. Consider the great prayers of scripture and how much worshipful language is found within them.

If we go to first Samuel to we see the prayer of Hannah after the birth of Samuel and it is a prayer of exaltation. It is a prayer of adoration. It is a prayer of worship. If you go to Psalm 90 verse 1 and 2 you see the prayer of Moses and it opens with a proclamation.

It is a prayer of worship. If we go to Daniel chapter 9 verse 4 it opens with a proclamation a prayer of worship. And Matthew chapter 6 verses 7 to 13 we see the prayer of Christ which opens with God's holiness.

Think about the prayer of Christ the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done in heaven and on earth. You see that prayer begins with a word of worship.

One of the failures of modern Christianity is equating worship with singing and music. I've not. I can't tell you how many times this has happened. Where I will be at a church and be talking to someone.

Maybe it's the pastor or a church member or something and be talking to someone and they say hey how is the worship here. Inevitably what that question means is not what is the heart of the people in worship.

In this place the heart of the question is what's the music like. When you when somebody asked what's the worship like they're asking what's the music like. And you see that's a problem. We have learned to establish one way to worship and that's singing.

But that's not the way that we worship. That's not the only way that we worship. Dr. R .C. Sproul was at a church and he was asked to preach and they had the time of music as is often the outline of the worship service.

We begin with music and then we have the time for preaching and the pastor literally came up to the podium and said now that worship has concluded Dr. Sproul will come up and preach. And Dr. Sproul came up and in his very winsome yet firm way he said understand this worship has not ended because we are now going to worship by studying the Word of God.

You see the sermon is a part of worship. In fact it is the central part of worship because it is where we hear from God's Holy Word. And the singing is part of worship and communion is part of worship.

Offering is a form of worship and praying is a form of worship. When we pray we are worshiping God. We are adoring God. We are venerating God. When Jesus cleansed the temple remember that Jesus goes into the temple.

He sees the people using the temple as a house of trade. And he goes in and he turns over the table of the moneylenders and he shouts my father's house will be a house of prayer and you have made it a den of robbers.

Think of that. He says my father's house is a house of prayer. He didn't say house of worship but that's what it is. Because prayer is intimate worship. Prayer is worship. When we pray we call God our father.

Romans 8 says we call God Abba father which is intimate. There's intimacy in our prayers. We're praying from father to son. We're speaking to the father from the son. And therefore prayer is an act of worship.

Where I get to. I get to express my love to my father in heaven. I get to express my appreciation to my father in heaven. I get to express my adoration of my father in heaven. I get to express my heart of gratitude God.

Thank you for just being God. Thank you for being always accessible. Thank you for being always there. Thank you that I don't have to walk through this world alone. Thank you that nothing can separate me from the love of God through Jesus Christ my lord.

Thank you for sending your son into the world to die for me. Thank you for giving. If all I ever did for the rest of my life is pray. Prayers of thanks. I would never run out of things to pray for. So the first purpose of prayer is that prayer has been appointed as an act of worship.

Prayer as a Means of Spiritual Growth

Number two prayer has been appointed as a means of spiritual growth. Prayer has been appointed as a means of spiritual growth. In Paul's letter to the church of Thessalonica we see a list of actions which believers are to practice in regard to personal growth and holiness.

In fact if you have your Bibles turn with me to 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 16. 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 16. This is what we have. Rejoice. Always pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances.

For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. People ask me sometimes pastor what's the will of God for my life. Rejoice. Always pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances. That's the will of God for you.

Actually the Bible says this is the will of God. Your sanctification. And our sanctification is our growth in faith. Our sanctification is our growth in the spirit. Our sanctification is growing in the Lord.

That's what sanctification is. And prayer has been appointed as a means of growth a means of spiritual growth. A W pink said this. What is prayer. Prayer is not so much an act as it is an attitude and attitude of dependency dependency upon God.

You see that's what we do when we pray. We show ourselves dependent. A lot of people think they're independent. Back. A lot of people claim their own independence. They celebrate their own independence.

I pull myself up by my own bootstraps. Baloney. Baloney. You're utterly dependent. As I said earlier this very world spins at the command of Almighty God. The heart in your chest beats at the command of Almighty God.

You are absolutely and utterly dependent upon God. So we pray so that we might grow in our spiritual life and understand more our dependence upon God. Think about how we grow in prayer. First. Prayer causes us to humble ourselves.

This is why I believe praying on your knees is good even though I know it's not always possible. Some people have a physical limitation. They can't get down on their knees. But for most of us who are still physically able getting down on our knees is a posture which reminds us of the position that we're taking spiritual.

Some people like to play or pray prostrate on the ground which means face down prone on the ground. And I think that's helpful too. Because again what do we see when people are in the presence of God in scripture on their face on their face because they understand who it is they are speaking to.

It is God. I think people take a very half-hearted approach to prayer often. And that approach often comes in a sort of just well God. Hey how you doing. You know it's good to talk to you today. Whatever whatever.

There's no humility in that. There's no humility in our prayers. And that's what praying should do. It should drive us to humility who it is we're speaking to. If you're gonna go have an audience with the king.

If you are going to go have an audience with the president. You would be humbled by experience. You would prepare yourself for that. You would be ready for it. Are you ready. When you go into the presence of God in prayer.

You see prayer teaches us to be humble. It spiritually grows us in our humility if we pray as we are it also causes us to exercise our faith. Because we pray we're showing who we trust. This is why prayers that command God are foolish.

Because that's not showing a trust in the will of God. That's showing that you're trying to demand the God who is with your own will. And that's foolish. And it causes us to express our utter dependency.

It reminds us the reason why we pray is because in him we live and move and have our being. I have a friend named Shane. He's a pastor of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Jacksonville. And he often reminds us when we talk because we have prayer meetings every every month or so our pastors will get together and pray together.

And one of the things that he reminds us he says remember this. The amount of time you prayed yesterday was the amount is commensurate to the amount that you felt you needed God. The amount of time you prayed was commensurate to the amount of time you believe you needed God.

And oftentimes our prayer life demonstrates how little we consider our need of God. And so therefore prayer is a means of growth spiritual growth. We pray and we humble ourselves. We pray and we exercise our faith.

We pray and we express dependency. That's growing us in our faith. So prayer has been appointed as an act of worship. Prayer has been appointed as a means of spiritual growth. Number three. Prayer has been appointed as an avenue of petition.

Prayer as an Avenue of Petition

Prayer has been appointed as an avenue of petition. God does not just determine the end but he determines the means to the end. He has appointed prayer as one of the means by which he brings about the end that he has determined.

In fact James chapter 4 3 tells us this clearly. It says you have not because you ask not. And you do not get what you ask for because you ask for the wrong thing that should tell us everything that yes God has appointed that we ask him for things.

He knows what we're gonna ask. He knows that we're going to ask. And he knows the heart from which we ask before we ever ask it. But he has appointed us to ask him for things to petition him for things because it shows our dependency upon him.

But also to understand that the answer will not always be yes. I don't demand God. As some foolish preachers would say that we are to demand God. We do not demand the Almighty. We go before the Almighty with a spirit of supplication.

Lord if it be thy will we pray according to the will of God not in opposition to it. And if you think that you can demand God you don't know God. If you think you can command God you don't know God. The scripture tells us that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

What does that tell us. If we ask something that is not according to his will he doesn't even listen. You may not like to hear that. But God when you ask of him your will you need to be willing to say Lord not my will but thy will be done.

You say that's praying without faith. That's foolishness. If you think that I've heard preachers say that if you say to God thy will be done then you're praying without faith. Hogwash absolute garbage.

And I'll prove it to you. When Jesus Christ prayed to the father on the night before we went to the cross he said Lord if it be thy will take this cup for me. Nevertheless not my will but thy will be done.

That's Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ said nevertheless not my will but thy will be done. If Jesus Christ can pray that prayer in that way then I ought to be able to pray that prayer in that way without shame.

Because I know my will isn't right. All the time I know what I want is not always commensurate with the will of God. I know that what I asked for is not always what God wants for me. I've got a I've got a bunch of kids and my youngest son just turned five years old.

And if I gave him everything that he wanted he would eat nothing but junk food. He would do nothing but watch TV and play with his toys. He would never do schoolwork. He would never eat vegetables and good meats.

He would eat candy and he would suck on lollipops and he would drink sodas. And he would do everything his little heart wanted to do if it were up to him. But I am a good father and therefore I do not let my son do everything his unlearned heart desires.

And then I look to God and I say God I'm gonna tell you how to run your kingdom. That's foolish when I look to God I'm looking to God as Abba father. I'm looking to God as my father who is in heaven and I'm saying Lord I'm gonna tell you what I want.

But what I want may not be right. You say well what if it's healing. Isn't it God's always. Isn't it always God's will to heal. No it's not. It is not always God's will to heal. And if anybody tells you that they're lying to you it is not always God's will to heal.

And that's hard to hear when you're praying for somebody who's sick. That's hard to hear when you're praying for someone who's on their deathbed. But you must understand this everybody dies healing and this life is always temporary.

There's going to come a day where every one of us young or old is going to pass from this life into the next. There is no one on this earth currently who never died. And the only two people in history that we know of that never died or Enoch and Elijah who were taken away by God.

Other than that we know that is universal that it is appointed unto every man to die once and after this is judgment. And therefore if I'm praying for a person who's sick this may be the day that's been appointed for them.

And I have to understand that God's will is perfect and I have to trust that he has a plan greater than mine. Because if I put a demand on his will I remember this. This happened several years ago. I was a sick person.

We were all praying for them and I prayed that God would heal them. This man came up to me and said I have already gotten confirmation from God that this person's already healed. So you can quit. Praying for their healing.

They are already healed. Don't pray that they be healed anymore because that would be a lack of faith. The person didn't get healed. The person died and the man who said that was a liar. The Bible calls them false.

Prophets says if you if a prophet says something is going to happen and it does not happen. Do not listen to that person for they're not speaking on behalf of God. Prayer is an avenue for petition but it is not an avenue for demand.

We do not demand the Almighty. We petition the Lord. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us of our trespasses lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil. Those are the petitions that Jesus taught us to pray.

Daily sustenance daily protection. Never in that prayer we taught to manipulate Christ or to manipulate God by laying a demand upon his will. We petition the Almighty and we trust that he knows better than we.

Prayer has been appointed as an act of worship. Prayer has been appointed as a means of spiritual growth. Prayer has been appointed as an avenue for petition. And finally number four prayer has been appointed.

Period prayer has been appointed. This final one is the simplest one you want to know. Why do you pray. Because you're commanded to. If we had no other reason to pray than this it would be enough. God has commanded it.

God has said pray. Jesus said when you pray not if you pray he says when you pray pray like this. He didn't say if you decide to pray or if the whim hits you to pray or if you decide it's good for you to pray.

No. Jesus said when you pray because it's appointed that we pray. It's commanded that we pray. It's not an option. Christians are a praying people. In fact you show me a man who does not pray and I will show you a man that does not know God.

You show me a man that does not pray and I'll show you a man that has not yet met Jesus Christ. Now all of our prayer lives are going to be different. Some of us have prayer lives that are that are very vibrant and and spend hours and hours in prayer.

Martin Luther is known as to having said I have so much to do today that I'm gonna have to spend at least three hours praying to get it all done. Because he believed like I said earlier that his prayers actually mattered in and his prayers were important and and his prayers were appointed by God for his good and his growth.

So Luther knew he was going to have to pray to accomplish all the things he was going to accomplish. Every Sunday morning at Sovereign Grace Family Church. We pray here in the church we pray I think five times in the worship service we pray when the call to worship happens and we read scripture.

We pray again when the elders come up and we do one at a time will come once once in a service one of us will come up and pray the prayer of supplication where we go to God on behalf of our members and those who are sick.

I pray before I preach. We pray before we have communion. And then we pray before we leave. You say all that's that's too much praying. No it's not enough because it's been appointed by God that we be people of prayer.

It's been appointed by God that we that we speak to him. And that's why we come to this place is to do that as a body corporate prayer. Some of us even gather before church starts and we gather together and pray in a little room together so that we are prepared to go do what we're about to do which is worship God if God is sovereign.

Why pray. It's because God is sovereign that we're praying. It's because we trust him and we know we need him and we're petitioning him and we're speaking to him. And we know that in him we live and move and have our being all about him and prayers keep us focused on him.

Ultimately our prayers are always subject to the will of God because he is sovereign he is unchangeable and he has a plan that we cannot fully understand. This is why last week when we open this lesson we read in 1st John 5 14 and 15 the great qualification for prayer and the great qualification for prayers that our prayers should be according to his will.

It's his will that we pray. It's his will that we adore him in prayer. It's his will that we confess our sins to him in prayer. It's his will that we supplicate or ask of him in prayer. And it's his will that we thank him in prayer.

And so our prayers should be according to his will and as he says in 1st John 5 14 and this is the confidence that we have toward him that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us as his children God gives us the ability to ask anything from him.

But as his children God also tells us we will not receive everything we ask for because ultimately it is the will of God not the will of Keith Foskey not the will of anyone else but the will of God that will stand.

And this is great comfort. It should be great comfort to us in our prayers because we don't know what God's plan ultimately is. But we know that he has a plan for everything we know he has determined the end from the beginning.

We know that he knows the future perfectly. And therefore when we pray to him we're praying to the only one that can be trusted. Some of you heard this story before but I'm gonna close with this story.

The Rug Shop Illustration of God’s Hidden Providence

The story about the man who went to the rug shop. He was looking for a rug to adorn his living room in this particular shop was known for having some of the most beautiful rugs in all of his city. So he went to the rug shop and he saw these ornate rugs hanging from the pulley system that they had in the ceiling and you could literally walk by and you could look at rug after rug after rug that was hanging from the ceiling and they were beautifully ornate wonderfully looking rugs that were from all over the world with with specialty fibers and specialty dies and they were the most beautiful rugs he'd ever seen.

But he came to this one rug and he saw that it was ugly. And he was surprised because this was a high-end outfit. This is a high-end dealer. These were not. These were not twenty-five dollar Walmart area rugs.

These rugs were hundreds and some thousand dollar rugs that were handmade and he noticed a rug that was just unsightly. He noticed that the rug was disjointed in the weaving was incorrect and sometimes mistaken and backwards and there were problems with it.

And finally he couldn't bear to not know. So he went to the owner of the rug shop and he said sir can you explain to me how you have this whole room full of beautiful rugs but this rug is so ugly. Nothing fits together.

And the owner of the shop said that's easy that rug is backward. You're looking at the wrong side. So he took the turned it and when he turned it it was the most beautifully ornate and perfect looking rug the man had ever seen.

But he couldn't see the beauty of it because he was looking from the wrong side. This is a great illustration because when we look at our world we look from our perspective. We can't see things from God's perspective.

We can't see the future perfectly. We can't see what God has determined that he's going to do. We can't see how his plan is working out. So to us the world looks ugly and distressed and broken and out of joint.

But one day it's going to turn around. One day we're going to see Christ as he is and one day we're going to be with him in glory if we know him. And on that day we will see the beauty of his plan and we will know that there was never a prayer that we prayed that truly went unanswered.

Because sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes the answer is wait. But there was never a prayer that we prayed that wasn't part of the plan. Sometimes our prayers are meant just to grow us. Sometimes our prayers are meant to teach us patience.

Sometimes our prayers are meant to teach us persistence. But no matter what our prayer should always be Lord thy will be done. For if our prayers are not predicated on the will of God then we're really not trusting in the one to whom we're praying.

Do you trust in God today. Do you trust in God with your whole life. Do you trust God enough to give him your prayers and let him be the one who decides how he manages those prayers. I hope that you do.

I hope that you truly trusted Christ. I hope that your faith will be strengthened as you understand the purpose of prayer better from having learned this lesson. And I hope that in the days weeks months and years to come that you will understand that prayer has been appointed by God for our good and for his glory.

So may we glorify God in our prayers. Let us pray father in heaven. I thank you for your word. I thank you to have this opportunity and though I can't be in person with these men I thank you for having the technology to be able to give them this lesson remotely.

And I pray Lord that this lesson would reach them and that you would use it to bless them and encourage them. Draw men unto yourself by the preaching of your word and draw us all to a better understanding of your will as we seek to fulfill it in this world.

Father help us to love you more and give you all glory and honor for all that you have done and are going to do in Jesus name.