Ancient Prayers On The Resurrection

O God, who by your only-begotten Son has overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life, grant us, we ask you, that we who celebrate the solemnities of our Lord's resurrection may by the renewing of your Spirit arise from the death of the soul; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. [Amen.] The Gelasian Sacramentary 

"O God, who for redemption have your only - begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection has delivered us from the power of the enemy, Grant us to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him, in the joy of the resurrection, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."  - Gregory the Great

John Wesley's "Covenant Prayer"

I am no longer my own, but thine.

Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,

exalted for thee or brought low for thee.

Let me be full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

thou art mine, and I am thine.

So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth,

let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen.

(as used in the Book of Offices of the British Methodist Church, 1936).

A Prayer For Repentance by Cyprian

We pray and we entreat God, whom those men [persecutors] do not cease to provoke and exasperate, that they may soften their hearts, that they may return to health of mind when this madness has been put aside, that their hearts, filled with the darkness of sin, may recognize the light of repentance, and that they may rather seek that the intercession and prayers of the bishop be poured out for themselves than that they themselves shed the blood of the bishop.

—Cyprian (d. 258)

Four Prayers For Bible Reading

When we open our Bibles to read, we’re never alone. The Holy Spirit hovers over and in the words of God, ready to stir our hearts, illumine our minds, and redirect our lives, all for the glory of Christ (John 16:14). The Spirit is the X factor in Bible reading, making an otherwise ordinary routine supernatural — and making it utterly foolish to read and study without praying for our eyes, minds, and hearts.

Prayer is a conversation, but not one we start. God speaks first. His voice sounds in the Scriptures and climactically in the person and work of his Son. Then, wonder of all wonders, he stops, he stoops, he bends his ear to listen to us. Prayer is almost too good to be true. With our eyes on God’s words, he gives us his ear, too.

How then should we pray over our Bibles? Here are four verses you might pray as you open God’s word.

1. Psalm 119:18: Open My Eyes to Wonder

“Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (Psalm 119:18). We ask God to open our spiritual eyes to show us the glimpses of glory we cannot see by ourselves. Without his help, we are simply “natural” persons with natural eyes. “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand [see] them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14–15).
“Seeing they do not” was Jesus’s phrase for those who saw him and his teaching only with natural eyes, without the illumining work of the Spirit (Matthew 13:13). This is why Paul prays for Christians, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened” (Ephesians 1:17–18).

Join the psalmist in praying not just for the gift of spiritual sight, but for the gift of seeing wondrous things in God’s word. Wonder is a great antidote for wandering. Those who cultivate awe keep their hearts warm and soft, and resist the temptations to grow cold and fall away.

2. Luke 18:38: Have Mercy on Me

Pray, like the blind man begging roadside, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” For as long as we are in this life, sin encumbers every encounter with God in his word. We fail friends and family daily — and even more, we fail God. So it is fitting to accompany our opening of God’s word with the humble, broken, poor plea of the redeemed: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13).
Bible reading is a daily prompt to own our failures, newly repent, and freshly cast ourselves on his grace all over again. Prayer is the path to staying fascinated with his grace and cultivating a spirit of true humility.

3. James 1:22: Make Me a Doer of Your Word

Pray that God, having opened your eyes to wonder and reminded you of the sufficiency of his grace, would produce genuine change in your life. Ask him to allow the seeds from Scripture to bear real, noticeable fruit in tangible acts of sacrificial love for others. “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22). You need not artificially capture one, specific point of application from every passage, but pray that his word would shape and inform and direct your practical living.

Ask that he would make you more manifestly loving, not less, because of the time invested alone in reading and studying his word.

4. Luke 24:45: Open My Eyes to Jesus

This is another way of praying that God would open our eyes to wonder, just with more specificity. The works of God stand as marvelous mountain ranges in the Bible, but the highest peak, and the most majestic vista, is the person and work of his Son.

As Jesus himself taught after his resurrection, he is the Bible’s closest thing to a skeleton key for unlocking the meaning of every text — every book, every plot twist, the whole story. First, “he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27), then he taught his disciples that “everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44). And in doing so, “he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45).

The great goal of Bible reading and study is this: knowing and enjoying Jesus. This is a taste now of heaven’s coming delights. “This is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). This gives direction, focus, and purpose to our study. “Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD” (Hosea 6:3). This forms great yearning and passion in our souls: “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8).

Keep both eyes peeled for Jesus. Until we see how the passage at hand relates to Jesus’s person and work, we haven’t yet finished the single most important aspect of our reading.
We are desperate for God’s ongoing help to see, and so we pray. - David Mathis

Spiritual Warfare Prayer: Global Prayer Network

HOW TO PRAY UNDER DEMONIC ATTACK AND PRESSURE

How do I pray when I am under demonic attacks? Here are a number of guidelines
that we trust will be useful. Carefully study each of them and apply it to your life.
Much more can be said, but these few pointers are sufficient to lead you into
victory.

1. People often experience heaviness, darkness, despondency, confusion, and
discouragement. Too often we do not recognize it as demonic attacks. The
opposite may also be true: people start to rebuke Satan, but the main cause
is not demonic attacks. Frist and foremost you must make sure it is a
demonic attack. So often people think that the situation is because of
demonic attacks, while there are very logical explanations for it. In many
situations it is God that is dealing with us to show us some fleshly behavior,
un-brokenness, un-forgiveness, bitterness or self-pity in our lives. In every
situation it is important to ask the Holy Spirit to show you what is going on.
He alone can show us what the real situation is.

2. Satan works through feelings, but especially through relationships between
people. Many times there will be friction between people,
misunderstanding, resentment, etc. Too often however we do not recognize
the involvement of demons because all of these things look so “human”.

3. Jesus gained victory over the devil on the cross. In 1 John 3:8 we read: For
this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the
works of the devil (1 Joh.3:8). and that through death He might destroy him
who had the power of death, that is, the devil (Heb.2:14).
Confess the completed work of Jesus on the cross. Do not leave this
spiritual position of faith and trust in the cross. Equally important is to know
that through the resurrection you have the resurrection power of God in
you. Remember that the Holy Spirit lives in you. Our victory is through the
complete work on the cross and the power of His resurrection.

4. Take your stand in Ephesians 2:5-6 where we read that as Christians, we are
seated with God in Christ: made us alive together with Christ (by grace you
have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in
the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We are in Christ: That you may know
what is the hope of His calling…and what is the exceeding greatness of His
power in us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated
Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and
power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in
this age but also in that which is to come (Ephesians 1:18-21). We are with
Christ in the heavens far above all powers.

5. Make much of praise and worship. Praise and worship ignores the devil and
focuses on God. It builds our faith. It complies with God’s command that we
must praise and worship Him. Make much of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving
brings trust, faith and hope. It helps us to see God’s constant provision and
trustworthiness. In Psalm 8:2 we read: Out of the mouth of babies and
infants you have established strength because of your foes to still the enemy
and the avenger.

6. Persevere in prayer until you gain the victory. Much too often we pray and
win a small battle, but do no pray through to complete victory. We see
something of this when Aaron and Hur were lifting the hands of Moses in
Exodus 17:12. As long as they held up the hands of Moses, there was
victory. Sometimes we come into a position of victory, but do not continue
until the enemy is fully conquered.

7. Watch and pray. Remember: eventually he will come back to attack you
again. Sometimes he will focus on the same thing, but other times he will
come from a different angle.

8. Victory does not always come in the same way. Use the sword of the Spirit,
the Word of God. Sometimes it is through Romans 6. In verse 5-6 for
instance it says: Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live
with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no
more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.
Other times victory may come through Revelations 12:11: They overcame
him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they
did not love their lives to the death. Or Romans 8:31-39, etc. Listen to the
Holy Spirit. He will direct you to some definite Scripture verses to pray.

9. It may be that someone cursed you or tried to put a spell on you. Make sure
there is not any known and un-confessed sin in you life. It is only when there
is definite sin in your life that Satan can get a foothold in your life. Do not
fear curses or witchcraft: Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow an
undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim (Proverbs 26:2;
Numbers 23:23a). Make sure you walk in holiness before God. We are
protected against all attacks of the evil one to the extent that we walk in
holiness and are cleansed by the blood of Jesus.

10.Take His name as a place of refuge: The Name of the Lord is a strong
fortress; the godly run to him and are safe (Proverbs 18:1)

11.There is always a battle for your mind: We use God’s mighty weapons, not
worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and
to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps
people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach
them to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). Give attention to the words of
human reasoning, false arguments and rebellious thoughts. Satan gains
much of his victory through false and unbiblical arguments. Bring your
feelings and thoughts and ask the Holy Spirit if they are in line with the
teaching of the Scripture. His lies and false arguments always lead us into
bondage. His arguments will always lead you away from the truth and
through this he will gain spiritual victory.

12.Be careful of vague accusations. Satan will tell you that you are too unholy
to be saved and because you are sinning so often you must accept the fact
that you will always be a second class Christian and that spiritual victory is
not for you. He will come and accuse you of sin, but not of something
specific. When Satan tells us about our sin, it is always in the form of
accusations or vague and general feelings of sinfulness. The Holy Spirit
convicts of sin and never accuses. He is always very specific and will show
you a definite sin. Be careful to be introspective. Ask the Holy Spirit to show
you the things that hinders His work in you. He will show you.

13.You must resist him. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7).
Too often people will say: “O, I am so weak. I cannot resist him. I do not
have power to fight him.“ Remember it is not about your power. It is the
power of the Holy Spirit in you and the resurrection power of Christ that
raised you from spiritual death.

14.Lastly: you may have been involved in occult practices. Confess them,
renounce them, rebuke the evil one and ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with
His fullness. In some cases it may be important to go to someone to pray
with you.

Binding And Loosing Prayer by Tom White

"For those in need of deliverance, I advise a two-track mode of binding and loosing prayer. I ask the Spirit to make the person sick of his or her sin, to plant seeds of truth in the person's mind, and, if for an unbeliever, to stir the person to seek salvation. I also ask the Holy Spirit to silence, subdue and separate demonic influence from the person, thus allowing him/her to respond to truth. Having done this, I wait and watch for God to open doors and bring opportunity to work directly with the one in bondage." - Tom White, The Believer's Guide To Spiritual Warfare, page 202

Answered Prayer: Sermon Notes From Stuart McAlpine

Answered Prayer

Stuart McAlpine

Dearest family,

On Sunday I argued that the lack of our response to asking when it is answered should be as significant a concern to us as our unanswered asking. We need to stop and take stock once in a while. The first thing that should move us, and uncork our gratitude, is how gracious God is in answering us at all, given the inconsistency and infrequency of our asking, or as someone put it,  “the intermittent spasms of our importunity.” Just to realize that our weak asking gets such a strong response, because of the strength of the one asked, not the one asking, should be sufficient to unstop the wells of worship of the character of God.

The more we think about it, the more shocked we should be at the minimal returns from so much answered asking. If our asking is accompanied by thanksgiving anyway, then the lack of it suggests two possible things:

1. There is actually a lot less asking going on than there could be
2. There is a lack of thanksgiving for all the answers received to asking

We are familiar with Jesus’ healing of the ten lepers, only one of whom “came back”. (Lk. 17:11-19) He is described as “praising God in a loud voice.” I am arguing that given the responsiveness of our Father to what we ask of Him, He should be hearing a lot more noise!

The words of Jesus have a disturbing echo: “Was no one found to return…” (Lk. 17:18) If this incident was a rough guide to the return of our responsiveness to the answering response that God returned to us, then we are looking at a 10% return. (Did I say return enough times!) Again, the thought that only one in ten answers may provoke a volley of God-worthy thanksgiving is hard to take and unacceptable. In this case, the non-return of the nine is a bad return on the answer. Speaking of ‘bad returns’, having asked for the answer of forgiveness and received it, let there not be a return of unforgiveness in our hearts towards others, or a return to the confessed sin. Having asked for the answer of deliverance and received it, let us not return to a “yoke of bondage’.Having asked for the answer of guidance and received it, let us not return to a pattern of self-direction. Having asked for the answer of provision and received it, let us not return to any indiscipline that accounted for unnecessary lack. Having asked for the answer of wisdom, let us not return like a fool to his folly. Having asked for a way of escape from ungodly cultural influences and received it, let us not look back like Lot’s wife. These are clearly bad ‘returns’ on good answers.

The return of thanksgiving and praise is what asking has always been about – not the answer per se but the glorifying of God.“Call upon me…and I will deliver you and you shall glorify me.” (Ps. 50:15) His glorification trumps my gratification every time. The psalmist’s ‘return’ of praise is the fact that God “has not turned away my prayer or withheld His love from me.” (Ps. 66:20) We might add, “Therefore I will return my thanksgiving because he has not withheld an answer from me!”  Commenting on this psalm, Spurgeon writes: “What a God is he thus to hear the prayers of those who come to him when they have pressing wants, but neglect him when they have received a mercy; who approach him when they are forced to come, but who almost forget to address him when mercies are plentiful and sorrows are few.”  How is it then that we can be so blessed yet so ‘blah’? How is it that we take for granted what God has granted in answering our asking?

One reason for a lack of sustained expressive affection in response to answers is that our asking is often not imbued with expectation that trustingly lives in anticipation of what God is going to do when we ask. “Petitioning God entails that the petitioner expects an answer.” Sometimes the ‘blah’ begins with our ‘might-as-well’, ‘you-never-know’, ‘can’t-do-any-harm’, and ‘sure-hope-it-gets-through’ kind of asking. How different this is when compared to Solomon’s conviction that his requests would be “near to the Lord our God day and night that he may uphold the cause of his servant.” (1 Kg. 8:59) I have been taught by those like Thomas Goodwin (1600-1680) whose writings providentially ended up on my reading lists as a younger Christian. He was emphatic about the need, once having asked of God, to look earnestly for the answer, and to discern what was going on while the asking continued or while waiting ensued. “It is not enough to pray, but after you have prayed you have need to listen for an answer that you may receive your prayers. The sermon was not done when yet the preacher is done, because it is not done till practiced.” Even so, our asking is not done until we have considered the answers, even if the answer is ‘no answer’.

The fact that we received an answer speaks volumes to us of the loving, purposeful provision of God, but it will also whisper a lot of affirmations and confirmations that perhaps need to be heeded for future spiritual growth and future asking. Did you hear a dog barking? What dog? The asking for deliverance by the enslaved Israelites was raw and raucous: “the Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help…went up to God.” (Ex. 2:23) They are asking to get out of there, and they do not care how, but there are so many exquisite details in God’s answer that served to ‘quietly’ underline his power. On the night of the Exodus, who could forget “the loud wailing in Egypt”? (Ex. 11:30) But imagine a conversation a few years into the wilderness journey between Zak and Zeb:

“Hey Zeb, do you remember that night?” 
“Are you kidding me, Zak? My ears are still ringing with the noise!” 
“You know what’s weird Zeb? It’s not the noise I remember but the silence. Do you remember that antsy dog of mine, Nimrod? He never made a single whining, whimpering sound all night. What do you make of that?” 

The text tells us what they were meant to make of that, if they “observed” the full answer. “This is what the Lord says…among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any man or animal.” But why? “Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Israel and Egypt.” Through the dog’s silence, God speaks loudly about himself. The answer to their asking that was their massive national deliverance included these details, that if considered, conveyed awesome revelations about the power of God in this world, but also about how he feels about what opposes his purposes. Do you not think that Zak and Zeb, having considered how God answered their asking on that Exodus night, would want to be sure that they always stayed on the right side of God’s affections?

The point is that God’s answers, when “observed”, yield so many instructional encouragements, and sometimes, whimsical clues about who He is and how He feels about things, and about what is yet possible if these answers are stewarded well. It is understandable that given the relief of the answer, we are now ready to move ahead where we were once stymied, take care of what was on hold, renew our engagement with what was in limbo. Like the nine lepers, it is the most natural thing to get right on with our lives, now that the brake of our unanswered needs, which did everything from slowing us down to bringing us to a full stop, has made way for the accelerator of answered provision. But the truth remains that “You lose much of your comfort in blessings when you do not observe answers to your prayers.” (Thomas Goodwin) Is there any chance we can improve on the lepers’ 10% return? Do bad returns or good ones characterize your responses to God’s answers to your asking? We got what we asked for. Did He get what He was asking for?

Pastorally yours
Stuart