Revival Praying – 3

Revival Praying – 3

Subject – Praying with an Understanding of Who We Are

by Rick Welborne

James 5:13-16 (NLT2)
¹³  Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.
¹⁴  Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord.
¹⁵  Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.
¹⁶  Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. 

--The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Obviously, I believe that, and that is why I am preaching this series.

--Something that has always bothered me as a follower of Christ is when I hear believers boast about their position in Christ and speak so much of their privileges because of that. 

--Don’t misunderstand me, there are plenty of scriptures that tell us who we are in Christ and the blessings that entails, but I have never felt it should be a part of our open dialog.

--I am a king’s kid, I am a son of God or daughter of God, I am wealthy, I am healthy, I am seated in high places, I am lifted up with Jesus, I am, I am, I am. How many of you know there is only one I am?

--Here is my dilemma, I see a contrast is Scripture that shows me a different attitude about who we are and the more I study it, the more I believe it has an impact on our prayers. 

--I cannot escape the verse, If My people who are called by My Name will humble themselves and pray…I see much in the prayers of people who are always confessing who they are but I do not see humility. Look at Paul.

1. The scum of the earth.

 1 Corinthians 4:13 (NIV)
^13…Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world. 

--So what is the scum of the earth. Is it the womb of evil where everything horrible in our world is born? Is it the principalities and powers working against God’s church?

--Could it have been Babylon, Rome, or even be Washington D.C.? Is the scum of the earth sin or sinners? We could go on and on guessing what this scum could be and struggle to get the right answer.

--The scum of the earth is neither humanity nor of devils. It is not bad but good. No, not even good, but the very best. It is not material but spiritual, not of Satan but of God. Not only of the church but a group of believers.

--The apostle Paul was saying we apostles are the scum of the earth and if that were not bad enough, he added that we are the refuse of the world. Evidently, Paul had not read the latest self-help book on positive confession. 

--Paul has assessed himself and the apostles as the scum of the earth. How is that beneficial? This person has no ambitions and really has nothing to be jealous about. Today Christians argue over silliness. 

--He has no reputation and so he has nothing to fight about. He has no possessions so he has nothing to worry about. He has no rights (slave) so he can’t be wronged. He is already dead so no one can kill him.

--Is it any wonder that these guys turned the world upside down? The world saw the humility of these apostles and wanted what they had. Sinners today see the arrogance displayed daily on TV. Turns them off. 

--So interesting to me that it was not the world who hurt the apostles but the “church”.

1 Corinthians 4:7-13 (NIV)
⁷  For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
⁸  Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings--and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you!
⁹  For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men.
¹⁰  We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!
¹¹  To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.
¹²  We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;
¹³  when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world. 

2. The least of the apostles.

1 Corinthians 15:9-10 (NKJV)
⁹  For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
¹⁰  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

--Could there possibly be any connection between Paul’s humility (how he saw himself) and how he was so tremendously used by God? I definitely think so. His humility motivated him to serve God and work harder. 

--If you are not all that, you need all that He has for you. When you see yourself as weak, then you see your need for God’s strength.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (NKJV)
⁸  Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
⁹  And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
¹⁰  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

--I personally believe God has an attraction to those who are the least. Those who are broken, those who are weak, and even those appear to be barren attracts God to them. 

--Hannah was one of the two wives of Elkanah and she was definitely one of those people who felt like the least. Her rival wife taunted her because she was barren and her husband was clueless about her dilemma.

--She goes to the church to pray and find comfort, but the priest Eli accuses her of being drunk. To say she was going thru a time of weakness and a time of feeling like the scum of the earth, understatement for sure.

--God sees Hannah’s despair but more importantly He hears her prayer and willingness to give back to Him whatever He blesses her with…thus, Samuel was born. A prophet and priest of God. She keeps her word. 

1 Samuel 2:1-3 (NKJV)
¹  And Hannah prayed and said: "My heart rejoices in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD. I smile at my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation.
²  "No one is holy like the LORD, For there is none besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God.
³  "Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth, For the LORD is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed. 

--Hannah’s labels…being called barren by the other wife (I can’t begin to imagine the dysfunction in a home with two wives) and to be called a drunk by your pastor when you are praying.

--Adversity has a way of pushing us away from God or pushing us into a deeper relationship with God. Before their salvation, my parents were brutal in their dealings with me. 

--They said…There is no hope for you but I met the God of all hope. You were an accident…God says I know the plans I have for you to give you a hope and a future.

--You will never be anything…God took me into His arms, saved me, filled me with Holy Spirit power, and called me into His ministry. I am the least in the family, the scum, the weakest but Jesus has made me strong. 

 2 Corinthians 4:6-10 (NKJV)
⁶  For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
⁷  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
⁸  We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
⁹  persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed--
¹⁰  always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 

--I feel I am the least of the pastors in our section and I still am not sure about what I am doing. I am an empty vessel and I hope I stay that way so God can fill me with His power and wisdom. 

3. Esteem God and others above yourself.

Philippians 2:1-9 (NKJV)
¹  Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,
²  fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
³  Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
⁴  Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
⁵  Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
⁶  who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
⁷  but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
⁸  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
⁹  Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 

--Dr. Duke and I were talking a few weeks back about how the Word of God will show us patterns if we are willing to look for them and discern them. I see a pattern here in Philippians. 

A. Put Jesus first and be like Jesus.

B. Put others next. Esteem others better than yourself.

C. Humble yourself before God. Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus.

D. Let God be the One Who exalts you. Jesus was given a Name above every name.