Sermon for Sunday morning, August 11, 2024 at Unionville Presbyterian Church, BPC
Old Testament reading:
[Gen 3:8-13 ESV] 8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
New Testament reading:
[1Ti 4:1-5 ESV] 1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, 3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
Gospel reading:
[Luk 11:1-13 ESV] 1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” 5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Introduction
Of all the sermons you’ve ever hear which ones do you most remember? What sermons, years ago, or perhaps only weeks ago, affected your heart and mind like none other? You’ve possibly heard THOUSANDS of sermons. But which ones have stuck?
One that has stuck in my mind was one I heard in about the year 2009. And it wasn’t even in English!
I had followed my brother on a trip to the Netherlands where he was studying, and he was my guide. I had taken Dutch 101 and Dutch 102 in college, but he had lived in the country and so had learned actually converse in the language. And we made it up to Friesland in the North and stayed with another Douma, a relative something like a 2nd cousin once removed.
Now that area of the Netherlands I’ve since learned has long been particularly Christian, and the faith remains there to a degree despite the strong falling away more generally in the Netherlands and indeed all of Europe. They are strong Reformed churches, believing the truths of the Bible. And my relative read the Bible at the dinner table. And he brought us to church.
There were a number of old churches in the area, but just one pastor who would alternately preach at 4 of them. So we went to the little church at Morra. We were there early and I literally walked across the grave of one of my ancestors! It was pretty hard not too. He was buried in the aisle of the church! A number of graves were and they were covered with metal engraved plaques. And I had the opportunity to climb up into the pulpit — one of those “in the air” pulpits — and get my picture taken. I had thoughts of going into the ministry in those day, but honestly felt like a fraud standing in that pulipt.
Anyways, the preacher arrived a gave a sermon that I remember.
He spoke in Dutch but switched to English to welcome “out visitors from America.” He must have been tipped off as to our presence. It was a special service, called to ask for the Lord’s blessing on the crops that season and the place was nearly full.
As he preached, he repeated a phrase which surely was the title of his sermon. And it was so clear that even a child — even an American like myself — could understand.
BIDDEN IS PRATEN MET GOD
(Prayer is conversation with God)
REPEAT: prayer is conversation with God.
I heard — or rather understood — nothing else in the sermon. But over and over heard “Bidden is praten met God.” Prayer is conversation with God.
That is the subject that I shall develop and unfold for us today. Prayer is conversation with God.
I. Prayer is Conversation with God
Let us prove this point Biblically.
Early in the book of Genesis we find that man can and does converse with God. God is not so distant physically that he cannot hear us. Nor is He so distant spiritually that he does not care for us.
Rather, we find God — though eternal and all-powerful — to be yet loving of people, the crown of His creation.
God SPEAKS to Adam and Eve in the garden:
“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
And He said,
“Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.”
This is remarkable.
Not only does the God of the universe speak with little old Adam and Eve, but …
THEY UNDERSTAND HIM!
God has giving them the power of language.
It seems that is part of the image of God in man. The image of God in man is “righteousness, holiness, and knowledge.” Well, language is no dobut part of knowledge. And so language is part of the image of God in man.
So that God can have conversation with us, He gives us the power of language. That makes it possible for us to pray to Him.
There is then recorded in Genesis an actual conversation; not just God speaking (and Adam and Eve hearing), but God speaking and Adam SPEAKING BACK.
9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
That is a conversation. Not yet a prayer. And not, at first sight, a very good conversation. Adam has sinned. But, consider this: the very fact that God answers is astounding. He could have just been done with Adam; but there is grace. He speaks to Adam. And though the curse comes, so also does the promise of God’s grace come to Adam. As soon as humankind needed the gospel, God announced the gospel, declaring that the seed of the serpent will be crushed by the offspring of man.
Well, I’m seeking to prove that prayer is conversation with God. We’ve seen that man can understand God, and that God hear’s man, and that they can have a conversation together.
There is a dictionary — Easton’s Bible dictionary —that makes the conclusion I’m trying to reach. It says “prayer is converse with God.”
And that’s what we see in the Scriptures. Prayer, each time it is made, is TO GOD.
REPEAT: prayer is TO GOD.
It is never TO Mary or TO the saints, or anyone else. By definition, and by all example, prayer is conversation with God.
And therefore there is always someone to talk to. I’ve long liked the joke when people say “why are you talking to yourself” you answer “I wanted an intelligent conversation.” Well, there is no one more intelligent that God; so talk to him!
II. Prayer is to be natural.
Now, when we pray it is to be natural.
Since prayer is conversation, and we conserve in normal English, let us pray in normal English.
When you pray, speak NORMALLY! You don’t need to pray in King James’ English, or in Latin, or have the word of a Puritan poet. You can (and should) pray “just as you are.” Use the language the Lord has given you. Of course, leave out the bad language, and use the good language, but use REGULAR language.
That may help you in your prayer, to see it has a conversation with God using the same words which you would use when conversing with people you know.
Speak to God truly, honestly, and in normal, natural language. For us that is American English most likely.
Years ago, I was a camp counselor and the junior high boys in my group were being quite uninspiring, quite dull with their prayers. In a moment of frustration and then gusto I said “pray to God AS IF HE WERE RIGHT HERE.” Pray to him in normal words. And I’m glad to say their prayers grew in intensity and thoughtfulness.
They may be a great relief to you. If you don’t have Scripture memorized, if you don’t think you know how to pray, be assured; you DO know how to pray. If you can talk, you can pray. So have a conversation with God.
From this idea of “speaking naturally/normally in prayer” we can understand why the Scriptures teach us not to be repetitious. Those repeated chants and prayers that you might associate with the middle ages; they are not normal speech. It is better that we pray directly (and once) to God since He can hear us the first time and knows our hearts.
III. Prayer is to be frequent
And do so frequently. That is our next point. Prayer is to be frequent.
Since prayer is conversation, it is to be frequent.
A friendship with infrequent conversation is not a very good friendship usually. All such relationships require conversation. Our relationship with God is no different.
Prayer is to be frequent. How frequent? All the times, says Paul. Constantly.
[1Th 5:16-18 ESV] 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
This is not as a burden, but a joy. Morning prayer, every prayers, and WHENEVER prayers. All the time; in good times and on “bad days.” Pray frequently.
IV. Prayer is making requests.
Now, prayer as “conversation” is a description of it, not a definition.
The definition of the Hebrew word for prayer is actually more like “entreaty” or “petition.” That is what we do when we speak to God; we petition; we make requests.
It is a conversation with God in which we make requests.
Consider the Lord’s prayer. It is (almost) all requests:
The first line might better be called praise: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Then comes request:
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
So it is good and right to ask God for things in prayer.
In fact, Jesus emphasizes that:
[Mat 7:7-11 ESV] 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
And Paul wrote,
[Phl 4:6ESV] 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
In the Lord’s prayer we see God being likened to a good friend and to a good father. So just as conversation can be had with a friend and a father, so also with God.
V. Prayer is responded to in the Word.
Now, our final point, “prayer is responded to in the word.”
I’ve said (and have titled the sermon) “prayer is conversation with God.” Technically, that is not correct.
Technically, prayer is PART of the conversation with God. It is the outgoing part. What then of the incoming part?
Since conversation goes both ways, how do we hear back from God?
Through His word.
We pray to God, and we hear from Him in the holy Word that He has revealed to us.
But a man once said “Pastor, I want to hear audibly from God.”
And the pastor said “Then read the Bible OUT LOUD!”
If we fail to pray we leave out half of the conversation.
If we fail to read the Bible we leave out the other half.
Paul connects prayer and the Bible reading in 1st Timothy saying,
[1Ti 4:4-5 ESV] 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
We perhaps see that conversation, that interplay between God and man in the Psalms as well.
[Psa 27:8 ESV] 8 You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, LORD, do I seek.”
The Lord tell us something in His word. We pray to him from our heart. And the cycle is to repeat over and over, drawing us ever closer to him.
That, ultimately is the purpose of prayer; in conversation with God we are drawn closer to Him. And for that God has made us. He has made us to know Him and to enjoy Him forever.
You were made for conversation with God. Adam and Even didn’t even have to learn but could speak with God and understand right away. Language is a gift from God which He implanted in our nature. And prayer is a privilege of the believer.
Let us therefore make good use of that privilege and have a conversation with God.
So let us pray.