How To Pray For People You Don't Like

For the last several weeks, we've seen a tremendous response to our invitation on Sunday morning, and now the hard work begins. How many of you know that salvation is not a prayer? Maybe we ought to talk about it. How many of you know that salvation is not a prayer? I mean, it begins with a prayer. But as I think you could tell if you were reading between the lines of some of the testimonies tonight, it was a very difficult journey that some people have been on to establish faith. And I hope you know, especially the Wednesday night family, it turns out, when people get up and walk out back, that's a big step. And I'm really grateful for the numbers of people that are doing that, which is much greater than we used to see coming forward. But as soon as they get back there, that's when the work begins. That's when our work begins to make disciples. With me? And the decision is the first part, and it's a critical part, but that moment can quickly fade into fear and doubt, and people can drift away from the Lord. And you could argue, I suppose, there were some who argued, if they meant that prayer, that's all that mattered. I don't personally believe that. I don't think that's what the Scripture shows or teaches. But what we're attempting to do in the coming weeks, we're going to see more and more people involved in the process of following up on these people that have made these decisions. And hopefully, one of the prayers I want you to pray tonight, and we have an extended time to pray, is that we're going to line people up at this baptistry over the next months who have made that important decision and realize not 1, 3, 5, 10, 15 years later, not that that's invalid, that's wonderful, but that they realize 1, 2, 3 days or weeks later, I'm a new creature and I need to take this step. Acts chapter 8, I think, is a great model for baptism. When the Ethiopian eunuch said, I was taught by Philip that what it meant to trust Christ is I want to do that, and hey, here's some water, can we be baptized? That's the way it should be. So you'll see some things happening a little differently out there coming next, starting this Sunday. More of our cell groups are going to be involved in that process because we know that that's an important ingredient. As is prayer, which we're going to talk about very briefly tonight, and then we're going to pray, which I'm grateful for. So let's pray together right now, shall we? Father, thank you for the five young men and women who just tonight made a statement. Lord, as Scott said, to the community. But most importantly, Lord, made a statement to the powers of the air that they belong to Jesus Christ. And we celebrate that and stand with them. And now, Lord, we'd ask in the few moments that we look into your word tonight that you would stir something in us to recognize how we can bring influence in that realm of the unseen, Lord, through our prayer life. How I would ask you, Lord, just to quicken the brief words you've given to me, and, Lord, that tonight we would be stirred up to believe for people that perhaps we've given up on, perhaps we've turned away from, perhaps we've had bitterness against. Lord, help us to pray tonight as Jesus would pray. We ask it in your name. Amen. Daniel Bly, we'll turn to 1 Samuel, please. Pastor Jeff, are you feeling okay over there? What do you want to... Is that your section? Is that what that is? All right, 1 Samuel. I want to know the story of how Samuel came to be. Remember, his mom was desperate for a child. And what an amazing story, and it's an encouraging story. If you want to read, it's something of the mercies of God. And Samuel's mom cried out, Lord, because she'd been barren and had been unable to have kids. It says in chapter 1, verse 3, year after year, Alcanna would give sacrifices for his wife, Peniah, to all her sons and daughters, but to Henneh he gave a double portion because he loved her. And the Lord had closed the room. And one of the beautiful studies, if you ever have time to really study this or take the time, is to see the heart of Alcanna toward his wife, that he never made her feel inferior for not having a child. But she felt this burden. Henneh felt the burden. But the beauty of this story is that over time, as you read through the first chapter, verse 12 says, she kept on praying. You might want to underline that if you have your Bible. She kept on praying to the Lord. Say that with me. She kept on praying. How many of you have gotten desperate about something and it's so difficult that maybe you've thought about giving up on praying? I want to encourage you tonight. Keep on praying. Keep on praying. And the Lord heard her prayer. And as you know, she gave birth to a son whom she named Samuel. You know what the word named Samuel means? How many of you know somebody named Sam? Well, the next time you see him, you could say, I know what your name means. Your name literally means answered prayer. That's what the name means in Hebrew. Answered prayer. God answered Henneh's prayer and she had a son, Samuel, who was, by the way, born at the tail end of the period of the judges, which was a very tumultuous up and down time in the life of the Israelites. Things would go well and then the bottom would fall out and the people would repent and God would send another judge and deliver them. And it was a difficult time. There was an absence of strong leadership and the people, they were prone to wander. And, you know, you read the stories of the judges and you say, how could they do such crazy things with all of God's revelation? But they did. But clearly Samuel learned his mission as a priest of the Lord and ministered both in the power of the law and clearly spoke almost prophetically of the law, but also time and time again we see Samuel's life as an illustration of the priest who learned how to minister in the mercy of God. Samuel was very effective in encouraging the people to trust God and continue on. And even though they fell again and again. Look at 1 Samuel 7, for example. The ark of the Lord had been given up and the Philistines were on the scene. And by the way, it wasn't just David who fought the Philistines. They were always attacking and always harassing and always bothering the children of Israel. Does that sound like anybody you know? They were just constantly getting the best of the children of Israel. And in chapter 7, it looks like disaster is about to strike again. And I want you to see some things about Samuel here for just a moment. The ark had been taken, and look at verse 2 of chapter 7, 20 years. Now folks, you know, we read that 20 years they've been without the ark of God, 20 years without the manifest presence of the Lord, 20 years of wandering. Some of you haven't lived 20 years yet. I mean, we read something like that, and that's a long time to just be listless and directionless. But 20 years, the ark was separated from the people. And look at verse 2, All the people of Israel mourned and sought after the Lord. They got serious. And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the asterisks, and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve Him only. And He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. So the Israelites put away their bales and asterisks and served the Lord only. Here they are. Those 20 years, they've just taken on whatever God, you know, they said, well, we'll try this one for a while. I mean, such an unfaithful people. And then Samuel said, Assemble all Israel at Mitzpah, and I will intercede with the Lord for you. Again, what does a priest do? Well, he intercedes before God for the people. And they assembled. They drew water and poured it out before the Lord. And on that day they fasted. And there they confessed, We have sinned against the Lord. And Samuel was leader of Israel at Mitzpah. When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mitzpah, the rulers of the Philistines came to attack them. By the way, there's a little principle there. Many times when you've just done something significant for the Lord, expect an attack. Right? I mean, just when you've seen a victory is when you were prone to being attacked. And when the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. They said to Samuel, Do not stop crying out to the Lord, our God, for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines. And Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it up as a whole burnt offering, cried out to the Lord on Israel's behalf, and the Lord answered him. And while sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day, the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. The men of Israel rushed out to Mitzpah and pursued the Philistines and slaughtered them along the way to a point below Beth Car. I don't know how that happened. I mean, when you fight against God, He's got some pretty nifty weapons that you're not likely to overcome. But here, something thundering, whether that was natural thunder or it was something more fearsome than that, we don't know. All we know was that the people got into serious trouble and they entreated Samuel, and Samuel's heart of prayer was such that he interceded for them, and the Lord heard him and delivered him. But still, if you read on, and we won't get into this, they rebelled. But the next thing they did is what I want to focus just briefly on for a couple more moments this evening. In 1 Samuel chapter 8, the people said, You know what, Samuel? We're kind of tired of the way things are going around here. And look at chapter 8. They said, Samuel... Look at verse 5. You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. And that was one of Samuel's downfalls. Now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have. And here we read that the children of Israel decided, You know what, we don't like the theocracy of God. We don't want God to rule us. We want a king to rule us. And imagine Samuel in a position of being a judge, being the intermediary before the Lord, who is seeking to give guidance to the people. And they said, number one, you're old. Number two, your kids aren't getting a job done, and they look like trouble. And number three, and maybe this is the most important reason, Hey, everyone else has a king. We want one too. And I can't tell you how many times the church at large, the kingdom people, have made decisions because everyone else around them is doing it too. I mean, that is a surefire way to miss the blessing of God in your life, is to do it because everyone else is doing it. Samuel was saddened. Look at verse 6. When they said, give us a king to lead us, this displeased Samuel, and so he prayed to the Lord. Look what the Lord said to him, verse 7. Listen to all the people who are saying to you, it's not you they've rejected, but they've rejected me as their king. And friends, what happened in the next chapters is, because God, listen, God does not impose His will on anybody. This is the mystery of free will and sovereignty. God is sovereign, but He says, if that's what you want, and He's stating this to us tonight, if you want to go your way, if you insist on having it your way, if you want to have a king because everyone else has a king, even though that's not my plan for you, if that's what you want, I'm not going to force my way upon you. And so the next several chapters are the story of how the Lord directed Samuel to appoint whom? First king, Saul. Excellent. And it's an intriguing story. Saul didn't know what was going on, but Samuel found him and poured out a flask of oil and anointed him. And the next chapters tell that very intriguing story. But at the end of all this, and here's where we get down to the point for tonight, here's this godly man who has done what the Lord has asked him to do. He served the people well, and the people suddenly realized that they have blown it big time. They have been disobedient. They've been disloyal. They've been rebellious. And now Samuel is about to die in chapter 12. Turn over there, if you would, please. And we can't take the time to read a lot of it, but I do want to focus in on the last several verses. First Samuel 12. The people realized that they have sinned, and here's what happens. Let's begin reading in verse 18. The evil of asking for a king. I'm impressed by the fact that they at least recognized their sin. Here's verse 20. How many of you are grateful that the Lord is the God of the second and the third and the fifth and the tenth chance? And we need to be that same kind of people toward those around us. Now listen carefully. Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. For the sake of His great name, the Lord will not reject His people. If you know where Samuel is saying, look, the Lord, He hears your heart. He sees your sin, but He's not rejecting you, because the Lord was pleased to make you His own. Look at verse 23, and if we'll put that in the overhead, please, Karen. Would you read that out loud with me? Samuel came to the point where he, despite the failures of the people, despite their many rejections of God's leadings, despite their continual idolatry, had to make a point. Would he do as the people had asked? Would he continue to pray for them? Samuel characterizes the principle that we want to act on in a few moments this evening. And by the way, I count Wednesday night prayer, whether it's 5 or 50 or 500 or 5,000 people, Wednesday night prayer is an important reminder of the focal point of where I believe God releases the power in any church, and that's through the life of prayer. But what Samuel tells us is that spiritual maturity is never ceasing to pray for people, even when, in your mind, you don't want to, they don't deserve it, it hasn't seemed to work before. People you may not like. Sunday morning I talked about opposition. Many of you said to me, you know, I've got people in my household that oppose me. I've got people in the workplace that oppose me. I've got family members in my extended family that think I'm wacko. I've got, you know, problem after problem, opposition after opposition. How many of you know it gets a little weariest in praying for those people from time to time? Sometimes you'd like to pray a different kind of prayer, don't you? Oh, Lord, just once, why do you keep blessing my brother? I mean, my brother's successful and he's making a lot of money and he's doing great this and this and that, and I'm following you, Lord, and I just keep struggling along. Just let the bottom fall out of my brother. You ever want to pray that prayer? But Samuel says, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin, if you'll put that up again, please, Karen, that I should sin against the Lord. Now, is that the kind of sin that's going to condemn you to hell? Hello? No. But it is a falling short. That's what sin is, missing the mark or falling short. In other words, the will of the Lord is to continue to pray for those that the Lord puts in your path and on your heart. It is a sin and it's a missing the mark to cease from prayer, but it's not going to send you to hell. Can I say this, though? This may be difficult if you'll catch on to it. It's possible that some people will spend time, eternal time in hell because we cease to pray for them. Let me jot down, if you have a slip of paper, I should have gotten a half sheet when you came in. Here's just three things that motivate us to pray for people. What's on the heading of that? How to pray for EGRs? Know what that says, Walt? What is an EGR? It's a little term we stumbled across some years ago and I hope it's not offensive. It does really typify how some people are in our lives. It stands for Extra Grace Required. Do you know anybody like that? Somebody that you just have a difficult time appreciating and it takes extra grace in your life to love them. If you know someone like that, put your hand up. If you don't, see me afterwards. I'll introduce you to a few people. It'll help you grow in this particular... We all have those people. And if we're not, we're not out there doing what the Lord's called us to do. But here's just three things, and I just conclude with this tonight. Three things that motivate me to pray for people that I don't want to pray for, that I have been offended by, or I've been ignored by, or I've been frustrated by, or perhaps even worse, maybe that I've been deeply hurt by. And I want to say carefully but pointedly tonight, listen please, some of you have been disappointed by other individuals and you've even wanted to give up praying for them because you've been hurt so much by them. And maybe someone very close to you, maybe someone you had a lot of high hopes for, it might be a son or daughter, it might be a relative. Here's what the Lord says to us. Number one, how do you pray for someone like that? Number one, recognize that you are where you are tonight because someone didn't stop praying for you. Romans 5.8 says that in spite of our sin, while we were yet dead in our transgressions, the Father sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, to die for us. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Friend, we're here tonight spiritually able to pray for someone because someone didn't stop praying for us when we maybe didn't deserve it, we were rejecting, we weren't interested, we didn't care. Number one, recognize that you're here because of God's grace. Number two, realize that God sees things differently. He sees it differently than you see it. Turn over, if you still have your Bible, open to 1 Samuel. Look at chapter 15. After this whole long story with Saul, look at 1 Samuel 15. This whole long process of selecting Saul, and anointing Saul, and Saul's leadership, and his family, and all that. Look at verse 11 of chapter 15. The Lord came to Samuel and said, I am grieved that I have made Saul cain, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions. You want to know something? If I had been Samuel, I would have said, Lord, I am sick of Saul too, I've had it with this guy. He's made my life miserable. And right here, God seems to have given Samuel the opportunity to just dump Saul out of his life. And look what Samuel's response is. Look at this, look at the next verse. But Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the Lord all that night. And the word cried out means mourned for. You see, Samuel continued in his intercession. He had reason to abandon him, but he continued to pray. He could have justifiably given up, but rather he chose to keep praying. And listen, you could easily say, well, you know what? He wasn't very good, because what happened with Saul? Did Saul turn it all around to get his act together? No. He continued to be a bozo of a king. But listen, who followed Saul? Is there anyone else here besides Walt? David. David followed him. And I just want to submit to you that possibly what God did through the prayers of Samuel was beyond Saul. It was bringing in, ushering in a new kingdom. And friends, listen. Sometimes the very things we're praying for may not seem to happen, but God sees a bigger picture. And He's moving behind the scenes to bring about something even greater than what perhaps you were perceiving. I could give a lot of personal illustrations about that right here in our church. The principle, I think, is clear. Recognize that God sees differently. So even if that individual, that loved one, isn't changing and you don't see it, understand something. God behind the scenes is moving to bring about His will. As I said on Sunday, one thing you know for sure, He did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all. Will He not also give us with Him all things? See, He'll be working. Recognize that. And then finally, number three. First thing is, pray for someone that's difficult for you. Recognize that you're where you are by someone else's prayer and God's grace. Number two, realize that He sees differently. And number three, raise your eyes to the throne of grace. I guess I want to end this way. I find it difficult at times to sustain prayer for people when I think about the people. But I find it easy to pray for people when I think about God. And so I just want to submit to you that possibly a way to encourage you in praying for difficult people is to get a fresh vision of who Jesus is in your life. And keep that in front of you. Let that revelation of the glory of God be that which you focus your mind and heart and spirit upon. And in the midst of that, you know what? God enlarges you. A fresh vision of who Jesus is enlarges you and enables you to pray for people that you might find difficult. Why? Because something big about God makes something small about another person seem insignificant. Well, that's my best shot. I hope it helps. Those are the three things I would suggest. Take your sheet of paper, please. Turn it over. And make a list. Okay? Go ahead. A private list. Here's your list of EGRs for your life. You can put me on there if you'd like. I can accept that. But maybe it's somebody very close to you. Maybe it's somebody down the street. Maybe it's someone you work with. Who's that person that you find difficult? A lot of you don't have anything. You're not writing anything. Is there a reason for that? Bill, do we give everyone paper? Come on down. There's some people who need to respond here. We're not going anywhere, so might as well help them out a little bit. If you can get some paper, put your hand up, and this wonderful usher will serve you. Folks, this is a workshop. This isn't some, you know, let's get in gear here and do this right. And as soon as you've gotten your list complete, we're going to form some circles of prayer. Just while we're waiting, a couple more moments for the other folks to just get an opportunity to jot down the names of those people that they're going to trust the Lord for. Let me mention one more thing on that last point because Scott and Susie are going to help us to end on focusing on worship. Remember in Acts 16 when Paul's in prison and things are pretty dark and pretty bleak and he's in chains. I've often wondered, how would I respond if I was sitting in a prison someplace, and by the way, most of the ancient prisons were built over top of the place where the sewage would run out of the city just to add insult to injury, so to speak. It was just an awful place. There was really no particular reason for them to hope that things were going to be changed. Being in stocks and being in misery, it says in verse 25, about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. They were worshiping and other prisoners were listening to them. It was in the midst of that experience that the Bible says that suddenly there was a violent earthquake and God shook the walls of the prison, broke their stocks and their chains and set them free. Tonight as we pray and then we spend some moments in worship, if there's something that's a person or a situation that's been difficult for you, I encourage you, worship God, worship God and trust that He and His power can deliver you and deliver them from that which holds you. Let's stand together and form a circle of maybe three or four people. You're going to have to bridge those chairs one way or the other now. Go ahead, reach out to someone, tell them your name and then form a circle. You might slip out of the chairs. It has to be front and back or make a circle in the aisle, something like that. Pray for those people. Maybe just their first name if it's personal. Pray for those people that God's put into your life that need special prayer. Would you do that? Spend about five or six minutes and then Susie and Scott are going to come up and lead us in a few moments of worship before the Lord. Go ahead. Let's pray. Let's pray earnestly for these people that need to be free. Thank you.