“Brethren, Pray For Us”
Categories: Sermon OutlinesDate written: January 28th, 2007
Scripture ref: 1 Thessalonians 5:25
SUBJECT: Prayer
TITLE: “Brethren, Pray For Us”
PROPOSITION: In asking for prayer, Paul acknowledged his 1) Need for Divine Help, 2) Dependence upon God’s providence, 3) Belief that God answers prayer, 4) Trust in his brethren to live righteously.
OBJECTIVE: Each should understand that when we ask for prayer we are communicating to others a great spiritual desire.
Aim: That we would appreciate more those who ask for prayer.
INTRODUCTION:
1. Read: 1 Thessalonians 5:25
2. About the Text:
1) Here, in 2 Thessalonians 3:1 and in Hebrews 13:18, we find the expression, “Pray for us.”
2) Paul often asked those with whom he worked to pray for him.
3) Romans 15:30 “Now I beseech you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.”
4) Ephesians 6:19 “And on my behalf, that utterance may be given unto me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel”
5) Colossians 4:3 “withal praying for us also, that God may open unto us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds”
6) Paul asked for prayer.
3. Ref. to S, T, P, O, and A.
DISCUSSION: In asking for prayer, Paul acknowledged his…
I. Need For Divine Help
1. We need Divine help for many reasons.
1) Some things are out of our control.
2) The job is too big to be done without God.
3) Sometimes our own strength is not enough.
4) But, through Christ, we can do all things (Philippians 4:13).
2. And God gives help to those who pray for it.
1) Matthew 7:7-11 says, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, who, if his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone; or if he shall ask for a fish, will give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”
2) Jesus said, “and lo, I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20).
3) 2 Timothy 4:17 “But the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me; that through me the message might me fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.”
3. When we request prayer, we acknowledge our need for Divine help.
II. Dependence Upon God’s Providence
1. Even though Paul lived in a time of miracles, God still didn’t supply all of their wants miraculously.
2. Paul had a thorn in the flesh that God didn’t remove (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).
3. Paul’s coworkers got sick such as Trophimus (2 Timothy 4:20).
4. Paul had to eat (Acts 20:11, Acts 27:35).
5. Paul also need clothing and shelter.
6. Paul depended upon God’s providence to receive these things.
7. Matthew 6:33 is a providential promise, not necessarily a miraculous one.
8. Paul also needed aid in regard to personal safety and protection.
9. 2 Corinthians 11:26 lists some of the perils that Paul faced. “in journeyings often, in perils of rivers, in perils of robbers, in perils from my countrymen, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;”
10. In asking for prayer, we acknowledge the role of God’s providence.
III. Belief that God Answers Prayer
1. The Bible teaches that God answers prayer.
1) Matthew 21:22 “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
2) 1 John 3:22 “and whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.”
3) Asking others for prayer belies this belief.
2. For God to answer prayer, we must ask appropriately.
1) We must ask according to His will. “And this is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us:” (1 John 5:14).
2) We must not ask for our own lusts. “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may spend it in your pleasures” (James 4:3).
3) We must ask in faith. “But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed” (James 1:6).
4) We must ask persistently. “And he spake a parable unto them to the end that they ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1).
3. When we ask others for prayer we are acknowledging that God answers prayer.
IV. Trust in his brethren to live righteously.
1. God answers the prayers of the righteous.
2. They avail much. James 5:16-18 “Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working. Elijah was a man of like passions with us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth for three years and six months. And he prayed again; and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.”
3. The obedient receive that for which they ask. “and whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight” (John 3:22).
4. 1 Peter 3:12 “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers:”
5. Proverbs 15:29 ” Jehovah is far from the wicked; But he heareth the prayer of the righteous.”
6. When someone asks for prayer, they are acknowledging your righteousness before God.
CONCLUSION:
1. In asking for prayer, Paul acknowledged his
1) Need for Divine Help.
2) Dependence upon God’s providence.
3) Belief that God answers prayer.
4) Trust in his brethren to live righteously.
2. Invitation