Four Prayer Requests For The New Year

Four Prayer Requests For The New Year

J. Mike Minnix

Introduction

Psalm 143

It was Dr. A.J. Gordon who said, "You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed." How true that and because it is true, we must place a priority on prayer.

There is the story told by Vance Havner about an elderly lady who was very sick. I don’t remember the exact details, but the core of the story involved prayer. Every doctor had been sought and visited, and at last nothing more could be done. Her son said, “Mom, we are just going to have to pray.” The sick lady responded, “Has it come to that?” Sadly, many of us try everything but prayer before we decide to pray. It is little wonder that God is reluctant to answer such prayers. It is going to “come to that” so we might as well begin with that. Start with prayer. Remain desperate for God’s presence and His hand to be at work in your life. If we don’t feel that sense of need, we will never pray as we should.

So, I want to speak to you today on the subject of prayer. More specifically, I am going to address how we can address the Lord in such a way as to experience His power and presence in this New Year. I doubt there are many true believers who do not realize just how much we need for the Lord to show up and do great things in the day and time in which we now live..

We turn today to a prayer by David found in Psalm 143. You will note that David is having some problems, one of which is the fact that there were enemies out to get him. How many of you know that there are enemies of your souls and of God’s kingdom who are doing all they can to interupt that which God is seeking to do in your lives. Then how can we pray at such a time as this? How can we see God move in our lives, families and churches in the New Year? There is a great prayer found in our tex today - and prayer that can help us see some needs in our lives and how we can take those to the Lord.

When we pray as we should, we address three realms. We see this is the Lord’s Prayer:

The Divine Realm – "Our Father who art in heaven…"

The Daily Realm – "Thy will be done – give us our bread – forgive us our trespasses…”

The Demonic Realm - "…deliver us from evil…"

Praying properly moves heaven, changes us, and drives back the evil one. So let’s concentrate for a few minutes today on the prayer of David found in Psalm 114:1-11.

David’s prayer contains four important elements. I know there are more than four important issues in this Psalm, but I want us to zero in on the four that need to claim our attention today. David asked for four specific things in this prayer, and some of them he mentioned more than once.

I. Lord, Answer Me

Two times in Psalm 143 David prays to the Lord saying, “Answer me.” David desired to hear a word from the God. Listen to me, my friends, that is our need today. We hear from the national politicians, but who can trust them. We hear from the experts but they are often proven incorrect. We hear from the scientist but they almost always deny God. We hear from the marketplace but it simply says, “Buy more, spend more, have more!” We need a word from God. We need to hear from heaven.

David’s request for God to answer him reveals that he is actually listening for God’s voice. He has his focus on a word from heaven. This is important and often neglected, even in the lives of many believers.

I read the other day about a man who spoke to his aging mother and said, “I am worried about dad’s hearing.” His mother said, “Oh, it doesn’t matter. For forty years he would not listen and now he can’t hear! What's the difference?"

Well, you can be sure that hearing from God is extremely important. To hear from God is to have a divine mandate, a holy fiat. It means to know that God is with you and, after all, that is what matters most in your life.

In order to hear from heaven, we must have the proper attitude. Note the mind and heart of David as he prayed.

A. Notice the Adoration

David calls Him “Lord.” He doesn’t see God as a holy bellhop. He knows that He is God and he honors Him when He calls upon Him. No one can pray properly who does not know the glory and greatness of God. He is God, I am not, and you are not! We are to address Him as the God of creation and salvation.

B. Notice the Realization

Note that David makes mention in this prayer of his enemies. David knew that he had enemies working against him. Do you know that you have them as well? The world, the flesh and the devil are always your enemies. Perhaps you have some human enemies as well, and most of us do. Enemies abound and there is only one protector for us and that is the Lord. He knows what is going on behind the scenes in our lives and can intervene in our behalf.

C. Notice the Desperation

He calls for a response “speedily.” Does God sometimes drive the believer into a corner so that it will drive him to his knees? I believe He does. Whether the Lord is delaying because we are not praying, or for some other reason, every situation is serious without Him. We need to pray with desperation - know that God is our hope, our peace, and our strength.

D. Notice the Expectation

Look at verse 143:9. David calls on the Lord for deliverance. Note that David takes his shelter in the Lord. The word “shelter” in this verse means to be “concealed” or “hidden." David knew his only hope was to be hidden and sheltered from his enemies as if he was wrapped up in the Lord. The songwriter penned the words,

"For I'm sheltered in the arms of God."

Is that where you take your shelter? This word “shelter” in our passage today is written as a Piel Perfect word in Hebrew, which means it is stated as an action already taken. It is something settled in the heart of the speaker. In other words, it is not something David planned to do but it was something he had already done. David has fled in his heart into the protective arms of God.

Have you fled to Jesus? Is it settled? Is He your Lord? He can be today.

But, there is a second way for us to pray as we enter this New Year. Note that David prayed ...

II. Lord, Lead Me

Now we see that David is asking for wisdom and leadership. How important it is for us to follow the Lord from the beginning instead or running into trouble and then asking Him to get us out of it. Now, don't get me wrong - it is okay to pray for help when you are in trouble, even if you got yourself into it. When praying for leadership we can ask ...

A. Lord, Lead Me From Ego

Note that David does not claim to know what he is to do. He has no ego in his relationship with God. He has been through many trials in his life and has learned to wait upon the Lord. A bear, a lion, a giant, capture by the Philistines (extricated by the Lord), and escaping them all did not all make David too proud to bow down and humble Himself in prayer before God. David had faced many enemies within his own house – including his on son Absalom. Yet, David had not developed a self-centered ego because of his previous successes.

Success can be a danger to the Christian. We begin to think that our success is the result of our own abilities and strengths. David humbly asks for God’s leadership. He knows this world is full of minefields and pitfalls. He forsakes his ego and calls upon the Lord with humility.

Note verse 6 in Psalm 143. David states that he lifts up his hands to the Lord. Some may see this as a modern worship position - one of praising God with an uplifted hands. I think it is something else altogether. Picture a small child with his little arms uplifted in the desire for his mother or father to pick him up. That is what I see here. David is like an humble child who desires to be in his Heavenly Father's arms.

We need to remenmber that the ego is a dangerous thing. It causes us to center the entire world and history around our personal lives and accomplishments. I am reminded of a Sunday School class that was asked by the teacher to go into their backyards at night in the coming weekl, to lie down on the ground, and to count the stars they could see in the sky. In the Sunday School class the next Sunday the children reported that some had seen as many as 153 stars while others said it was too many to count. Most of them were fairly in agreement as to the large number of stars, with sthe exception of one little boy who answered very positively that he saw three stars. The teacher asked how it could be that others saw so many and he had only seen three stars. The child thought a minute and said, “Well, our backyard is awfully small.”

Some people are like that in life. Their world is very small. It is all about me and mine. Even in this prayer by David, when surrounded by trouble, did not display a vaulted ego. He was humble. He recognized that no one living is righteous (Psalm 143:2). David is not like the "name and claim it" prosperity preachers of our day. He did not presume upon God. He prayed in humility and honesty.

David prayed in yet another way for God's leadership ...

B. Lord, Lead Me From Evil

Look at Psalm 143:10. David cried out to be delivered in the way of uprightness. He did not want to act in a way that was evil, even though his enemies were doing so toward him. He desired to honor God in every situation.

Only those who pray and pray properly can avoid the tendency to act like their enemies. If we are not in close contact and fellowship with God, when we are smitten we will strike back in like manner. When Jesus said to turn the other cheek, he wasn’t talking about passivity. He was teaching us to know God’s path in each situation. We must have Him lead us in our responses. There are times for us to protect ourselves. But, there are times when God will lead us in a different path – one that honors Him through humility. If we are not talking to Him regularly and properly we will not know how to react. David desires to honor God in this situation.

Now, consider the third way David prayed - and a great prayer for us in this New Year ...

III. Lord, Teach me

A. Teach Me to Understand what Pleases You

The word for “teach” in this passage is the Hebrew word “lamad,” which means to be disciplined and trained. It was used regarding training animals, like cattle, to learn to follow directions. It was also used in the issue of training soldiers who must learn discipline and endurance. David is praying for the wisdom to endure hardship and from it he hopes to learn how sto please God. Knowing God’s will is not always easy and sometimes means enduring hardship to learn God’s path.

B. Teach Me to Undertake what Pleases You

David did not just pray to know what pleases God but to DO what pleases God. In Psalm 143:10 David prays, “Teach me to DO your will, for you are God….”

Just think of what we can accomplish if we simply DO what we already KNOW we are to DO! Why should we follow God’s Spirit and do His will? Well, first we are to follow His will because He is God! But, there is more to it than that. Note that David says that God’s Spirit is GOOD. The word means “beautiful” and “pleasant.” To be sure, doing God’s will doesn’t always seem beautiful and pleasant, but it always leads to that which is beautiful and pleasant.

David is praying for God to lead him onward on the straight path. Now listen, when David prays to be led in the path of uprightness, he does so by using an “imperfect” tense. In other words, David knows he isn’t all he can be or will be. He is seeking to follow the Lord more purely and perfectly into the future.

Now, let's think of the fourth way we can pray as we live in this New Year ...

IV. Lord, Revive Me

The word “revive” used in this passage is the same word used in Habakkuk 3:2 where the prophet prays, “Revive they work in the midst of the years.i” In other words, this request involves revival of the soul, the will, and the godly actions in life.

A. Revival and Remembrance

The word "revive" is a word for breath. Remember that Jesus breathed on His disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, He came as “wind” or “breath.” Oh, how we need to be revived. We need God to breathe on us and revive us. There has not been a point in my lifetime when I feel that the church has needed revival more than right now. Don't you agree? If we know this, we need to act upon our knowledge and begin to pray with urgency for revival to come to us personally, congregationally, and nationally.

Earlier in this Psalm, David spoke of remembering the days of old and the greatness of God’s works. As he ends this Psalm, he prays for revival. David is praying for a return of the mighty power of God that has once been real to the people. That is what we need today.

One of our problems is that we are forgetful. We do not remember the mighty things we have seen God do, or the things we have read about God doing in the Bible and history. We become accustomed to the mundane – the ordinary. I remember the early days of my ministry beginning in the 1960s and throughout the 1980s how God moved in remarkable ways. It was nothing back then to see several people saved in a service or to see dozens of people saved in revival meetings. How long has it been since we have seen anything like that in our churches? Perhaps it is because we are not burdened for it. Perhaps it is because we are not praying and begging God for it.

David prayed for real revival in his life. That is what we ought to be praying for in our lives and in our churches.

B. Revival and Reason

What is the reason we ought to desire revival? David prayed that God would send revival for God’s own sake. David was praying for God to display His power and to reveal His divine honor. We are to pray for revival for God’s sake. Our desire must be for God to be honored and glorified and not just a prayer for our own sake. This is not about us – it is about God’s honor and name.

The reason to desire revival does involve us. David did wish to be delivered, but at the core of his prayer was a desire to see God glorified. You see, when God pushes up the sleeve of His arm and does mighty things, we get to participate in it; but, in the end, it is God who is glorified. He reveals who He is and that we belong to Him. That must be part of our prayer in this New Year, if indeed we are to see some things happen that are so deeply needed in our lives, families, and churches.

Conclusion

How is your prayer life? What kind of difference would it make if we made a commitment to pray for these four things each day for at least two weeks.

Pray for God to Answer You

Pray for God to Lead You

Pray for God to Teach You

Pray for God to Revive You

Wow! Don’t you think God would move upon a people who earnestly prayed like this? David was a man after God’s own heart and we can see that in this wonderful Psalm. There is no pride, no laziness, no arrogance in this prayer. David is laying himself out honestly before God.

“Prayer makes the darkest cloud withdraw,

Prayer mounts the ladder Jacob saw,

Gives exercise to faith and love,

Brings every blessing from above.

Restraining prayer, we cease to fight;

Prayer makes the Christian armor bright;

And Satan trembles when he sees

The weakest saint upon his knees.” (William Cowper)