John Piper you had me tear up. As The Lord awakened me while we attended our previous church, my desire to learn about and serve Christ was frequently scoffed at and mocked by church leadership and I was made to feel as if it was legalism. I know how evil and untrue that is but even still now in weak times the enemy will whisper that lie to me.. thank you for your faithfulness to the truth. Your preaching has helped me in times of much loneliness after leaving that “church.”
Don't feel alone, sister, feel honored. It means your submission to the Lord exposes their lukewarmness. Been there. I'm 70 years old and I've been through the wringer more than a few times. You just take it as a compliment that your humility exposes their pride. Read Acts 7 again and be encouraged. Everything is going to be all right. I'm alone, too, but we'll soon be with our real family with Him forever. It's worth it all.
Good sermon. Top booktip on this topic "Prayer, the Ultimate Conversation" by Charles F. Stanley. Among the very best to date on this topic. God bless. Amen
Pastor John, the Spiritual battle is upon us all in great numbers. The season in which we lay down the plow and prepare for battle. There is scripture for this, is it Elijah who in his time & in his hour, girded himself with our Lord's armament: the breastplate, the helmet, the sword? God's word, knowledge, truth, justice? Do any of you, my brothers, sisters in Christ, recall the passages I refer? Must prepare now for battle, glorifying our King of kings, in the name of Christ Jesus, Amen!
The Armor of God - Ephesians 6:10-18 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people."
Just before he says "spiritual means of grace", he said, "Just as there are physical means of life..." (like your lungs pulling in oxygen to keep your body going), so there are "spiritual means" of God's enabling. For example, if you're doing the most you can to follow His Word and you know it pretty well and read it often, then WHEN you blow it, that Word will hit your heart and you'll be convicted and repent. I do it all the time. I blow it all the time even at the ripe age of 70. I let a gossip slip out of my mouth and then I just cringe inside. "Why did I do that!?" and next time I'm a bit more careful because my sin nature will pop right out if I'm not prayerful when I open my mouth. Verses come at me like, "He that openeth wide his lips shall have many a curse." and the zinger where the Lord said, "I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." Matthew 12:36 Now that's scary. I tremble at times just thinking about that, but the Lord also said, "... to this man (or woman) will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." We don't have to worry about it because the Word also says, "Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you." So Him drawing nearer to us to make up the gaps we have in our imperfection, is a "spiritual means of grace". God bless you.
Programmed or planned prayer is not recommended, you should always pray without ceasing & with real meaning of sorrow & need & love for our God- We are not robots who pray on a timetable etc 3pm everyday
You need to listen carefully to what Piper says. It's a duty like how breathing is a "duty". Otherwise you'll die. And God doesn't want you to die physically. Therefore, to stay alive, it's your "duty" to breathe, lest you be committing suicide. But God also doesn't want you to die spiritually. You NEED to pray otherwise you'll eventually start to die spiritually. How can a Christian live without communion and fellowship with God?
slamer2000 With all due respect.....Breathing is not something that is done consciously so it’s not a duty...it’s a subconscious reaction to the distress of not doing so. Totally involuntary. In addition, prayer isn’t something that we make time for. That’s religion talking again.
@@mr.c2485 Let's not get lost in analogies or metaphors. Prayer is definitely something we make time for, and we see that clearly in the lives of the believers of the bible. Jesus is the best and clearest example. "But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray." -Luke 5:16 This is just one example from the gospels. "About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray." - Acts 10:9 Then there's Daniel 6:10 "When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously." And then Jesus gives an example of corporate prayer in Matthew 18:19-20 "Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” The above is just one example of corporate prayer. Clearly from scripture, we are to make time for prayer whether just by ourselves and God or corporately. Without setting a time, place and a plan, other things can easily distract us or we can easily make excuses to not pray. Making prayer a habit is one of the means through which we fight against distraction and a lack of motivation to pray. Sometimes I don't feel like praying at all, but I know I still need to commune with God. And so when I do make the effort to pray after reading my bible, there are times when I feel really encouraged and glad that I did pray because I'm drawing closer to him and having fellowship with him.
@@slamer2000 well said. Mr C just doesn't like PJP and follows him around on RU-vid looking for any reason to bash him and never tries to really interact with what JP says. Pray for him...
slamer2000 That’s all well and good, but praying “amiss” is very much a reality. Legitimate prayer is the conscious capture of ALL thought filtered through the understanding of weakness. Yes...corporate and specific personal prayer are necessary, but on a very limited basis. Both require considerable discernment. Nothing is more damaging to prayer than doubt. We don’t doubt that god can do anything...we doubt that our personal requests deserve a response. Few are those who have the ability to pray doubtlessly.
Make time for prayer or you make time for everything else. Time doesnt happen to us, we are to be stewards of it. Why would paul command to pray without ceasing if it was just naturally an inclination for the believer?
Dylan Bailey It IS a natural inclination. And that’s exactly why he says pray without ceasing. Programmed prayer ceases..real prayer is something that NEVER ceases. It’s a capture of ALL thought, motive, and intention filtered through our god given desire for evil...which is temptation. Any thought that goes uncaptured is potentially dangerous. There are no distractions.
