Prayer - The Mind

Our prayer journey so far:

Acts 4 – spiritual prayer – one voice, one heart – prayer circle

Acts 4 / Psalm 2 – using Scripture in prayer

Psalm 1 – Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

Importance of God’s Word becoming part of us – learn to Hagah – bring life to your spirit that will empower your praying

Have you done your homework? (Psalm 92)

Today I want us to look at the mind and how it can affect the effectiveness of our prayers – 3 passages of Scripture that speak of the mind…

1. James 1:5-8

The second half here sounds a bit harsh!

Starts well enough – a promise of wisdom – God gives generously without finding fault – great stuff!

Then we encounter the but of v6

God gives generously without finding fault, but there is a warning here that the one who doubts will receive nothing

James does not mince his words: like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind – unstable – double-minded

Surfing – teaching people to catch waves – how to read the wave and be in the right place at the right time – very hard as waves are all over the place!

James here speaks about being double-minded – having a mind that is like the waves of the ocean – all over the place

V6 must believe – literally ask in faith

What is faith?

It is believing God

Abraham believed God ( Rom. 4:3)

It is knowing that God is faithful

Abraham was fully persuaded that God had the power to do what he had promised (Rom. 4:21)

He considered him faithful who had made the promise (Heb. 11:11)

It is obedience

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice (Heb. 11:17)

Without faith our asking becomes a shot in the dark – hoping that God might be able to do something – the basis of the asking is a need and optimism that something good might possibly happen

If we have seen this particular prayer answered before we might be quite optimistic, if we have seen a similar prayer go unanswered we might be quite pessimistic

Are you double minded in your praying?

Are there some days when you are expectant and other days when your expectancy is low?

Do you find sometimes that faith seems to evaporate even as you pray and realise the size of your request?

Handbook of climbing – inside back cover – about the authors – they are qualified to speak – if I want to climb I would do well to listen to them – do well to learn the contents of this book and put them into practice

I could hold this book and say it contains all the information I need to climb well

I could affirm that I believe all the information to be correct

I could affirm that the authors are great climbers

I could even read a bit of it now and then

For it to be really effective though I would need to read it, do it, read it some more, do it some more and so on

Many Christians are double minded about the Bible – speak well of it, affirm it is good, affirm it is inspired, affirm that it contains all we need for life – and then do little with it

It is the rock, the anchor, that will stop you being like a wave of the sea

All too often unanswered prayer is attributed to the sovereignty of God when it is due to double-mindedness on the part of the person praying!

Spoke about this 2 weeks ago – Psalm 1 – but it is so important that we know God and know his ways if we are to pray with real faith

If you make God’s Word the rock on which you build your life double-mindedness will be replaced by faith, doubts will go, you will ask and you will receive

2. Col. 1:21-23

Were enemies in your minds

Outside of the Gospel we are alienated from God – our behaviour is an offense to him and our minds are in rebellion against him

The wonderful message of the Gospel is that through the blood of Jesus we can be reconciled to God (v19-20) not because of what we can do, but because of what Jesus has done for us

The wonder of new birth is expressed in

v22 holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation

This is how we are meant to live – able to stand in the presence of God – not in our own righteousness, but in the righteousness of Christ

Note the following verse though…

V23 not moved from the hope held out in the Gospel

Playing in the snow – wet clothes – felt good to change into dry clothes – wet clothes hanging up – could choose to put them back on again – cold and wet!

The devil’s plan for you is that you put your old clothes on again!

He would like to persuade you that you don’t deserve your new robes of righteousness and need to wear your old rags of sinfulness again

If he can move you from the hope of the Gospel and get you to concentrate on your sin then he can bring you back to the place where you become an enemy of God in your mind

Have you been there?

You’ve sinned and then accusations start to enter in

Where do they enter?

Into your mind!

Your mind now reasons that because of sin you are alienated from God

In your mind you now become an enemy of God and of course your ability to pray is severely restricted

Remember, as I have said before, prayer is a relational activity – if the devil can attack the relationship then he can stop us praying

Your relationship with God is the precious thing that is under attack – need to understand what is going on when you sin:

The devil is wanting you to be alienated from God

God your Father is wanting you to be reconciled to him

1 John 1:5-9

When you are born again you begin to walk in light not darkness

You will stumble and trip on occasions

Confess your sin and receive forgiveness then get walking again

When there is accusation in your mind you will not pray with faith – come back to the truth of the Gospel, receive forgiveness, confess your salvation, remember that it is all by grace through faith

Deal with double mindedness, deal with accusation – what’s next?

3. Romans 12:1-2

Be transformed by the renewing of your mind

The reason why your mind needs to be renewed?

So that you can know God’s will

1 John 5:14-15 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us— whatever we ask— we know that we have what we asked of him.

The mind that is not transformed will always be struggling to determine God’s will and will always be uncertain in prayer

Inspired prayer does not qualify itself with “if it be your will Lord” – inspired prayer tests and approves God’s will and then prays it

Remember the prayer circle – originates with God the Father, comes to us through God the Holy Spirit, returns from us to God the Father in the name of God the Son

God is not uncertain about his will!

1 Cor. 2:11-16

The Spirit of God knows the thoughts of God and he is the Spirit who lives in the believer and gives us the mind of Christ!

This is amazing stuff! The ability to think the thoughts of God!

When this works as it should prayer becomes amazing

If you have received the Holy Spirit then this is what is available to you, but you can be robbed – you can be robbed by conforming to the pattern of this world

The problem with the worldly mind is that it thinks according to the pattern of this world – mankind’s desires, mankind’s intelligence, mankind’s solutions

When your head is full of these you will miss the thoughts of God or find that there is discord – confusing thoughts – confusion leads to doubt – doubt destroys faith – without faith prayer is powerless

Factory conveyor belt – biscuits, metal parts etc stamped into shape – all in conformity

Are you going to be pressed into shape the same as everyone else?

All too easy to go with the flow and be the same as everyone else – you are called to be different!

It is a choice – choose to reject human wisdom, test everything against the Bible, ask for the mind of Christ – ask the Lord to renew your mind