Pray Great Prayers, Part 2

The third characteristic of great prayers is that they champion God’s agenda. God is greatly delighted when our focus shifts from our own world, and our own needs, to His world, and His agenda for His world. Great prayers champion God’s agenda – prayers that are prayed by people who understand what God’s will is for His world, and they passionately desire to see His rule, and His kingdom become a reality in their sphere of influence.

Let me go through my Old Testament example, here, of Moses. If you will, could you open your Bible to Exodus chapter 32 for just a minute? This is one that you just don’t want to hear someone talk about.

The setting is God’s great grace to a people. He has delivered them. The Red Sea has been parted. Fire by night; cloud by day. He has spoken. Moses is up getting the Law. And what God has already done is, there has been smoke coming out of the mountain. They have heard His voice. He has given the Ten Commandments to all of Israel, and Moses is up now to get them. And while Moses is up doing his job, the golden calf experience occurs.

The very first thing, He said, “Now, whatever you do, no idols. No other God before Me.” They all take an earring off, throw it in the pot. Aaron is a weak, feeble leader, who wants to please people, rather than honor God, and then he’s a liar, afterwards. Reminds me a lot of me, probably a little bit of you, when you’re honest, at times.

Under great pressure with people. Remember what he did? He puts it in, and he fashions this calf, a picture of strength. And he tries a little synergy, like, “Well, this is sort of a picture of the Lord your God, He who has delivered you. Now, come and worship.” And they end up in debauchery. And then, when he’s confronted, remember what he says? “You know, I just – I don’t know, Moses. I don’t know what happened. I just threw the gold in the pot, and then the calf popped out.” And God doesn’t even think it’s funny. And God says to Moses, basically, in Exodus 32, “Moses, I’ve got a Plan B. Step aside, and I’m going to eliminate this stiff-necked people, once and for all.”

Listen to what Moses says in Exodus 32, picking it up in verse 9. It says, “‘I’ve seen these people,’ the Lord said to Moses, ‘and they are stiff-necked people. Now leave Me alone so My anger may burn against them that I might destroy them.’”

Now, this is a pretty sweet offer: “‘Then I will make you a great nation.’ But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God, and he said, ‘Why should Your anger burn against Your people, whom You brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, “It was with evil intent that You brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth”?’” Here’s his plea: “Turn from Your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on Your people.”

Now, notice the basis of his prayer: “Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to whom You swore by Your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all the land I promise them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’ Then the Lord relented and did not bring His people the disaster that He had threatened.”

See, great prayers champion God’s agenda.

He says to God, “You made promises. You have an agenda.” And did you see where he went? “Don’t You understand?” Of course God did. “It’s Your reputation. What will the Egyptians think? What would the world think? What about Your promises?” See, he championed what he knew was God’s best, God’s will, God’s Kingdom, God’s agenda.

Great prayers are deeply personal, and great prayers are birthed out of brokenness, but then, they are people who champion God’s agenda. We looked at Nehemiah. He does the same thing in verses 10 and 11 of chapter 1.

After he has those verses of praying, and exalting God, and owning his stuff, then he steps up, and he says, “They are Your people, and Your great hand that You promised, whom You delivered.” He said, “Lord, You promised that if we sinned, that You would scatter us all over the world, but if we would repent, if we would come clean, from all four corners of the earth You would bring us, and in Your great name, You would rebuild the city, and You would do what You said You would do with these people.”

Remember what Solomon prayed? He said, “Lord, I can’t handle the job.” This is when he’s young and broken. He loses perspective later, but in 1 Kings 3:7 to 14, he says, “What I need is wisdom, because the weight of guiding and leading such a great nation, and thinking of all the promises that You have given to Your people, and now the stewardship of being a king over these people, will You please give me understanding, and wisdom, and knowledge, so that I could be the man You want me to be, to lead them in a way that would fulfill Your agenda?”

Do your prayers champion God’s agenda? When Jesus was teaching those disciples to pray, He said “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”

The fourth characteristic of great prayers are: great prayers take God seriously. People who pray great prayers actually think that when God says something, He means it. People who pray great prayers think when God makes a promise, since He’s God, and He can’t lie, and He’s all-knowing, and He’s good, and has all power, and He’s really sovereign – when He makes a promise, people who pray great prayers, they think God will actually keep His promises.

And I don’t know about you, but it is easy to fall into the problem-centered-prayer approach, isn’t it?

See, the difference is, you start focusing on your problems. You look at God through your problems. You look at life through your problems. Or you can pull back, and you can look at life through God’s promises. Is it hard? Sure. “I am with you always.”

Do you feel like you don’t have the emotional resources, the financial resources to fulfill My agenda? “But my God will supply all your needs according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus.” Is that real? Is it a promise? Do you take it seriously, or not? Would you bank your life on it?

Well, God, it’s overwhelming, and this happened, and this happened, and this happened, and this happened, and I’m overwhelmed! I can’t live one more day. “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Therefore, I will rejoice and be most glad in my weakness, and difficulty, and hurt, and adversity, for when I am weak, You’re strong.” See, people who pray great prayers are promise-centered. They take God seriously, they take His Word seriously, and they take His promises seriously.

I think this is one that we lose sight of is Jesus’ teaching. Talk about a promise. He says, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Boy, that’s a promise, isn’t it? With a condition.

Lord, thank You that You – you know what the word forgive means, literally? Lutrao, “to loose,” or, “to release.” He says, “Forgive, release, don’t give account of, don’t make it charged to my account of those things that I’ve done wrong.” A trespass is just crossing a line. It’s knowing what’s right to do, but not doing it. It’s then knowing something you ought to do, and choosing not to. It’s breaking a barrier that you know: this is what God wanted you to do, and you do it anyway.

God, will You please release me from that? And Jesus says there’s a promise: “Of course.” The prayer is, “As we release others.” You know one of the fundamental things that is a roadblock for answers to prayer? An unforgiving spirit in your relational world.

See, those people who have great prayers, they take God seriously, and they take His Word seriously, and they take His promises seriously.

And that means if there’s bitterness in my heart, if there is an issue with a person, I’ve got to deal with the horizontal issues, or the vertical issues are never right. If I say I love God, and hate my brother – what’s 1 John say? “I’m a liar, and the truth isn’t in me.”

Let me give you some examples of people who have done this. Great prayers take God seriously, and they are promise-centered, not problem-centered. And let me give you just three or four examples.

Number one: Moses. Do you see the pattern in these people? Over and over and over and over, as you read through Moses’ life, he keeps going back to – what? “Lord, You promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob this. You’ve got to fulfill Your promises.”

Nehemiah – what’s he do? Exactly the same thing. “You made these promises.” He reaches back into Deuteronomy, reaches back into Exodus, and said, “You said if we did bad, You would do this. You said if we repent, You would do that.” Promise-centered.

David, in Psalm 103 – classic passage. He takes that passage that when the Lord passed by Moses, and goes over it, over and over and over. “The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness. He will not hold your sins against you.” David, in Psalm 103, repeats those words and says, “As far as the east is from the west, then so God will take our sin from us.” He banks on it.

And people who pray great prayers, they’re not living with the baggage of the past. They believe that what God has said is true. And they know with confidence that when we say, “Forgive us our sins, even as we forgive those who trespass against us,” it’s true.

And you think about Paul, whether it’s Philippians 1, or Ephesians 1, Colossians 1 – those are Paul’s prayers. What’s he do? He’s got this reality, and he says – what? “I’m praying that you might” – what? – “know God’s will” – Colossians 1 – “in order that you might walk in a way that is blameless.” “I’m confident of this in you,” Paul prays in Philippians chapter 1, “I know that He who began a good work is going to perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus, and you’ve been filled with all this fruit of righteousness.”

And he takes this truth, and these promises, and these realities of what God has done, and he prays it into their life. He just prays prayers, because he takes God and His Word very, very seriously.

Second to final – Great prayers demand great courage. Why? Because they’re dangerous. Great prayers take us to places with God, and with ourselves, that are frightening.

Great prayers demand courage because they boldly demand of God that He live up to His character.

Genesis 18 – remember the picture? Abraham, the angel of the Lord, the Trinity shows up. And I don’t know how all that works – “Should We reveal to Abraham what We’re about to do?” And you know the story. And They decide, Okay, and the second Person of the Trinity, manifestation, speaks to Abraham, and tells him what He’s about to do: “And there’s perversion, and there’s sin, and We’re going to destroy it.”

And Abraham says, very interestingly, “Would the Judge of all the earth slay the righteous with the wicked?” In other words, “That’s out of character. Time out. Wait, time out. That can’t happen. You’re just; You’re righteous. You would never give anyone a raw deal. You’re the God of the universe. You’re always fair. What if there were fifty righteous? Would You still, would You still destroy it?” Can you imagine really talking with the God of the universe like this?

And what’s it based on? It’s based on His character. What’s Abraham saying? “Live up to Your character, God. A righteous Judge will be righteous. And I’m standing in the gap before You for those who are righteous, and demanding, reverently, based on Your character, that You do what You said You would do, that You would act consistent with who You are.”

It’s a powerful place of praying, and it’s a dangerous place of praying, because not only do they boldly demand God live up to His character, but they dare to stand in the gap, and become the very answer to the prayer.

Esther, we’ve got a situation. The whole Jewish nation is going to be wiped out. Mordecai, her uncle, comes to her and says – this is loose translation of the actual Hebrew, of course – “Honey, you may think you’re safe, but all of us Jewish people are going to die. Could it be that God placed you as the queen for such a time as this?”

And she asked all the people to fast, and they fast, and drink or eat nothing for three days. And she risked her life. She goes before the king. And remember what her words are? “If I perish, I perish.”

Nehemiah – what’s he ask? He prays, “Lord, please grant me success.” You study chapter 1 and chapter 2 of Nehemiah, what do you realize? He’s prayed for about four months, started alone. He ends up, we find, praying with a small group. And he realizes, God says, “Nehemiah, you’re the man.” Four months of prayer and guess what the answer is? “It’s you. I want you to go talk to the king. I want you to ask for a sabbatical. I want you to go rebuild Jerusalem.” And he does it at the risk of his life.

The final example there, and the greatest example, is Jesus. He’s in the garden. He prayed an actual prayer. He’s fully God, but he’s fully Man, without confusion. And in the garden, He says, “Lord, may this cup pass for Me.” Translation: You know, I know, from the foundations of the earth, We decided this is it, but maybe there’s a Plan B We could reconsider.

That’s really what He’s praying. “If there’s any other way” – as a human, as a man, and the dependence of the Holy Spirit, and knowing it was going to mean separation from the Father, knowing what was going to occur, He said, “If there is any way for this to bypass Me, may it be. Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.”

He’s the answer to the prayer, and we’re glad He is. And that is exactly what Jesus taught His disciples to pray: “For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.”

And that’s why the sixth characteristic is really a summary, is that: Great prayers ask the improbable, expect the impossible and receive the unthinkable because of Jesus. See, great prayers always go back to Jesus. It was in Hebrews 4: We have a Great High Priest we know about, but, literally, it talks about, He blazes a trail, so that we can come boldly before the throne of God. He commands us, “Go boldly before the throne of God, before the throne of” – what? To find mercy in our time of need.

My standing, my basis, my power, my effectiveness for the answers of moving God’s heart, for Him to do dynamic, supernatural, over-the-top things for His glory is solely based on Jesus, and what He’s done.

Jesus commands we boldly ask the improbable. “Seek” – right? – “and you’ll find. Knock, and it’ll be opened. Ask, and you’ll receive.” That’s what He’s saying: “Ask. Seek. Knock.” He commands us.

It’s because of Jesus’ promise we can expect the impossible. The promise is, “Ask My Father for anything. Until now, you haven’t asked. Ask, that you can receive” – why? – “so your joy can be made full,” as you become a part of what the Father wants to accomplish in the world.

And finally because of Jesus’ power. We are people of great, great power. Exceedingly, abundantly beyond what you could ask or think.

I want to confess that I don’t think I pray very great prayers. I’m on a journey, but when I look at this, when I look at the people we’ve looked at, when I see what it takes to pray great prayers, I think this is a direction that you say, “I want to be on the journey where I pray the way Jesus wanted me to pray, and understand it, at a level like never before.”