Abiding Prayer

James Weidner III   -   June 11, 2023

1 John 2:27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. 28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.

Picking up from the end of last week’s message.

  • Our need for anointing.
  • His anointing abides in us.
  • We abide in Him:
    • Place: Stay, tarry, continue to be present.
    • Time: to continue, endure, not perish
    • Condition: not to be another
  • Abiding prayer:

1. When we pray.

Matthew 6:5-8 (ESV) 5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

1.1. We pray not to be seen or heard.
1.2. We go into a secret place.
1.3. Not with many words but with few Words.

2. There is no authentic prayer that eclipses Calvary.

1 Timothy 2:5 (KJV) 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

2.1. We pray to Jesus.
2.2. We pray in Jesus Name.

Acts 2:38 (ESV) And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 3:6-7 (ESV) 6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.

2.3. Jesus is the mediator between God and man.
2.4. All prayer has to be routed through the empty cross.
2.5. All prayer is goes through Jesus who is the Christ.
2.6. We do not pray to or through those we call saints or through people historically used of God or people who claim to be the way to God.
2.7. Prayer is not a meditation of getting one’s mind over the matter in their life.
2.8. Prayer is getting one’s mind on the Kingdom of God.

2.9. through the Word of God, and help of the Holy Spirit.

3. The firstfruits of the Spirit helps us pray.

Romans 8:23 (ESV) And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Romans 8:26 (ESV) Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

3.1. The firstfruits of the Spirit in our life results in a groaning after Christ.

3.2. (Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible) Our having received the first-fruits of the Spirit, quickens our desires, encourages our hopes, and raises our expectations.

3.3. Ela… A weakness of many Christians is the desire to or knowing what to pray.

3.3.1. The term firstfruits:

  • Used here is a concept Paul takes from the Old Testament and applies here to the Holy Spirit.
  • The first fruits were the first fruit of the harvest, which God commanded be offered to Him. When this was done in obedience to God, He then guaranteed that the rest of the harvest would come in.
  • In using the term first fruits here, Paul is telling us that the presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer is God’s guarantee of the fullness of the harvest of redemption.
  • The Spirit Himself is the firstfruits given from the Father into our Christian life.

    3.4. Some firstfruits:

  • Firstfruits of the crop as an offering.
  • Firstfruits of our children to be dedicated to the Lord.
  • Christ has been raised as the firstfruit of a new and living way.
  • The firstfruits of the Spirit’s work in our life.

    3.5. Te firstfruits of the Spirit produce an eagerness for the things of God ultimately our redemption to be completed.

    3.6. Let’s be honest with ourselves… how eager are you today? What are you eager about?

4. The baptism of fire ignites the incense of our prayer life to rise before the Lord.

Luke 3:16 (ESV) John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

4.1. The fire of God lights up our passion for God.
4.2. “no incense rises without fire” Leonard Ravenhill
4.3. Ela… like light bulbs without electricity Or a hot air balloon without the hot air is a Christian without the fire of God burning within them.

4.4. The fire of God also ignites a passion in our heart that otherwise remains room temperature.

4.5. Ela… try putting a turkey in the oven at room temp and see if it cooks. .

4.6. Fire comes from the heavenly altar.

5. People willing able and available to build a hedge and stand in the gap.

Ezekiel 22:29-30 (KJV) 29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. 30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

5.1. Being a gap filler.
5.2. Gap filling prayer.
5.3. Elijah “He prayed”
5.4. To pray like the prophets of old.
5.5. Ela… We all admire and hold in high esteem the memory and deposit of the Prophets of old, yet guilty of not walking in their foot steps for even a minute.

5.6. Men like John the Baptist did well to evade the prison cell for the 6 months he did. However men like John and Elijah and many of the other prophets of old would not last 6 weeks in the streets of our modern generation.

5.7. It is said “where is the God of Elijah” and today we can say “where are the Elijah’s of God”

Conclusion:

The fire of God igniting abiding prayer results in a singularity of purpose and mission for Glorifying God, a hunger for the Word, evangelizing and reaching the lost through missions, discipleship, and after all that ………. more prayer.