Go

Contact Us

  • Phone: (509) 747-3007
  • Email:
  • Mosaic Address:
    606 West 3rd Ave., Spokane, WA 99201

Service Times

  • Sunday:  8:30 am, 10 am, 11:30 am
  • Infant through 5th grade Sunday School classes available
  • FREE Parking!

Sermons

FILTER BY:

Back To List

Jul 20, 2014

A Persistent Cough

A Persistent Cough

Passage: 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Series: A Persistent Cough

Category: Prayer

Keywords: prayer, dbs, discovery bible study

Summary:

What it looks like to "Pray without ceasing."

Detail:

A Persistent Cough

1Thessalonians 5:17

 

          Good morning.  It is a pleasure to be here to share with you this morning and I want to thank Pastor John for allowing me this opportunity to speak. Before getting into the meat of the sermon, I’d like to share a little bit about our lives and ministry.  Carol and I have been married for 28 years and have two sons, Joshua (24) and Jacob (21).  We’ve served in 7 churches in 5 states and in more than 25 years of full time ministry I’ve been Christian Education Pastor, Worship Pastor, Children’s Pastor, Youth Pastor, Outreach Pastor, Administrative Pastor, Associate Pastor and Senior Pastor.  About the only position’s I haven’t held are Women’s Ministry Pastor (my gender kind of disqualifies me for that one) and Pastor to Seniors (I’m not yet quite old enough to qualify for that one.

 

          I love the local church and I have always felt called to ministry in the local church.  Because of this, it has come as a great surprise to us to be called to a new ministry planting churches among people who may never step foot in a traditional local church. 

 

          In Oct. of 2012, I was asked to be a last minute replacement speaker for World Venture’s Field Fellowship retreat for their missionaries serving in Indonesia.  So, Carol and I flew off to the Island of Bali for the 5 day conference.  Then we spent the next two weeks traveling with some of those missionaries throughout Indonesia, seeing their work first hand and encouraging the churches there.  As we traveled, we began to see the success they were having with a new outreach tool called Discovery Bible Studies.  As these studies are designed to reach people with no Christian background I began to think that they might be valuable in reaching our post-Christian culture here in the US.

 

          After returning to Spokane, I attended Moody’s Missions Conference and heard about a seminar in January in Vancouver, WA about using Discovery Bible Studies in the U.S.  It was being taught by Dave Watson, the man who developed Discovery Bible Studies and his son Paul.  So off we went to Vancouver for this one-day conference the third week in January.  I don’t have time to share all that we learned there, but it truly was a life changing experience.  Somewhere along the Colombia gorge while driving home the next day, Carol turned to me and said, “I think God wants us to do this.”  I said, “I’ve been thinking the same thing, I was just afraid you’d think I’m crazy!”

 

          We began discussing how we could use Discovery Bible Studies not only to reach the lost of Spokane, but how they might also be used to transform our church.  But, God had other plans.  I less than two weeks I was released from my Senior Pastor position in a rather abrupt manner.  I suppose the transition would have been much more difficult if God hadn’t already given us a vision for a new ministry ahead of time.  It was just not going to happen the way we had planned it.

 

          Our new ministry is called “Discovering Life Ministries” and we are praying that God will begin a Disciple Making Movement here in Spokane through the planting of new churches by the use of Discovery Bible Studies.  A Disciple Making Movement is defined as the establishment of at least 100 churches in 2 to 3 years that go at least four generations deep.  This means that some of the new churches would be planted by a new church that had been planted by a new church that itself had been planted by one of our original Discovery Bible Study Churches.

 

          Starting Discovery Bible Studies is as a five step process.  The first step is to pray extensively, which is the subject of the message today.  The one common denominator of every great spiritual movement in history has been that they started when God’s people came together to pray.  Recently, Paul Watson told us that studies of leaders who are having success in starting Discovery Bible Studies and Disciple Making Movements show that extensive prayer is the only common denominator they can find among these leaders.  They devote a large part of their day to prayer.

 

          The second step is to gain access to a community.  In third world countries, this has meant moving into the area you want to reach, starting a business and developing relationships in that town.  Because we mostly don’t have distinct town’s and villages here in the U.S., we are looking more at existing circles of influence, some of which we may already have access too.  We all have a variety of communities in which we are already involved.  For example, the church is one.  Your workplace is another.  It could be the grocery store you shop at regularly and know some of the workers on a casual basis.  If you have kids in school it could be the parents/teachers organization.  It could be your hobby.  For Eric, square dancing is a community he is already a part of.  Or you might take up a new hobby just to have the opportunity to make new friends.

 

          Once you gain access to a community, you look for a person of peace.  This is one of the things that we pray a lot about in step one.  A person of peace is someone God is already preparing to hear the gospel message.  You find a person of peace by having casual conversations that lead to important conversations that can then lead to spiritual conversations.  When we find a person of peace, we ask them two questions.  First, would they like to know what God says about Himself in the Bible and, second, do they know anyone else who might be interested.  Usually, a person of peace is more than happy to bring their family, friends and neighbors along with them.

 

          The forth step is to start a Discovery Bible Study.  Beginning with Genesis we take the students from creation, through the fall, to God’s plan of salvation in the Old Testament sacrificial system, to God’s ultimate solution to the problem of sin in Jesus Christ.  I don’t have time to go through the elements of a study today, but I will point out that the pattern that Steve used last week of what does it say, what does it mean, and what am I supposed to do about it are among the key components.  We will be using the same pattern in the passage we are going to look at today.  There is one additional component we are going to add at the end of the study that is crucial to the success of the Discovery Bible Study.

 

          The study naturally leads to the final step.  As groups go through the study, many times they become believers, often as a group.  When this happens, you baptize new believers, start a new church and begin the process all over again.

 

          Currently, Carol and I are in steps one through three of this process.  We have spent much of the last year praying and seeking God for which communities to focus or efforts in.  Recently, we have begun praying that He will lead us to persons of peace.  We’d love it if you would join us in these prayer efforts. 

 

          This brings us to our subject for today.  I love Scripture because it is full of practical advise in how to live a God pleasing life.  You could say that it is the road map to the Christian life.

 

          In fact, it is full of a lot of good instructions on how to live a successful life. Instructions that not only prepare us for the life to come, but instructions that are valuable and practical for living a successful life here and now.  Scripture is chock full of good advise for living.

 

          For example:

 

                                      Matthew 7:6         Do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet...

 

                                      Proverbs 15:1       A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

 

                                                          Proverbs 16:18 [Message]       First pride, then the crash — the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.

 

                                      Galatians 6:9        Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

 

          There is good advise like this on just about every page of the Bible.  The problem is, some of it seems to just be hard to understand.  It is either impossible, or we think we must be misunderstanding.

 

          So, when we come to a passage like 1Thessalonians 5:17, we might do a quick double take.  So we are reading along in 1 Thessalonians 5.. “15See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. 16Rejoice always; 17pray without ceasing; 18in everything give thanks; for this is...”  “What, wait a minute.  Did Paul just say that.  Pray without ceasing?  Does God really expect us to do that?  That’s just plain impossible!”  So what do we do?  If you are like me, and I think you probably are, you just shrug and go on reading thinking that’s nice, maybe I figure it out some day. 

 

          But God does not want us to gloss over His commands.  This passage is in the Bible for a reason.  It is important.  God put it there for a purpose so it deserves more than just our passing attention.  I know that John touched on this passage briefly back in March.  He was right on in his analysis.  But, I’d like to spend some time fleshing it out a little bit more this mnorning.  The first step in our study are pretty easy.  We don’t need to spend much time discussing the question “What does it say?”  We will spend a little more time with “What does it mean?”  But the majority of our time this morning we are going to talk about how we can effectively apply this passage to our lives.

 

          First up, what does it say?  The answer is pretty straight forward.  The New American Standard Bible, the version I like to use, says, “Pray without ceasing.”   Sometimes, other translations can be helpful.  In this case, we find they are very similar.  The New International Version says, “pray continually.”  God’s Word Translation has it as, “Never stop praying.”  And in The Message it is, “Pray all the time.”

 

          So the answer to the question, “What does it say?” is, “We are to pray continually, at all times, without stopping!”  The problem is, that on the face of things, we all know that is simply impossible.  There are times we do have to focus our attention on other things.  Some of us have jobs and we have to fulfill the obligations of our positions.  There are times we just need to let our minds relax.  And then, how do you pray when you are asleep? 

 

          The answer to this problem is found in discovering what the passage means.

Some people have suggested that Paul had in mind something some have called P.U.S.H. praying.  The letters of the word push stand for “Pray Until Something Happens.”  This idea picks up on the need to be persistent in our prayers.  It is a them that we can find throughout scripture.  Ephesians 6:18 says “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.” And Romans 12:12 calls us to be “devoted to prayer.”

 

          I remember at our church in Colorado when our Christian Education Team listed as our top goal wanting to start a ministry to College age people.  We also recognized that we needed to have the right people in place, leaders who had a calling to and vision for that ministry for it to succeed.  So we committed to pray regularly for God to provide those leaders.  Three months went by, then six.  The Elders began to ask when I was going to get this ministry going.  After all, everyone else on staff was meeting their goals.  After nearly a year had gone by, even the C.E. teams members began to question if God hadn’t already answered and the answer was no.  But after much discussion, we committed ourselves to continued prayer for this goal. 

 

          It probably wasn’t more than two weeks later that I met a couple at our Sunday Morning welcome class.  They said to me, “Pastor Rich, we really like everything about this church, but we don’t think it is the right one for us.”  When I asked them why, they replied, “We really feel called to college ministry and you don’t have one here!”  After picking myself up off the floor, I explained to them how they might just be the answer to over a year of concentrated prayer by the Christian Education Committee.  They stayed, helped us start the ministry and within 3 months we had over 50 college students attending regularly.

 

          So I am a believer in persistent prayer.  But it is only one aspect of the kind of praying Paul has in mind here.  A little closer look at the wording is helpful.  The sentence has two parts– “pray” and “without ceasing.” 

 

          It probably goes without saying, but prayer is simply communicating with God.  In this passage, pray is in the form of a directive or a command.  It is not a suggestion, it is something we must do.  It is part of our marching orders.

 

          “Without ceasing,” modifies this command.  It tells us in what manner we are to fulfill it.  Here a little understanding of the original Greek language is helpful. Greek writers used the adverb translated "without ceasing" to describe a persistent hacking cough.  Ever had one of those.  You get a tickle in your throat and the only remedy is to cough.  The problem is, the tickle quickly returns and no matter how you try to stop it, another cough is going to happen soon.  Paul did not expect his readers to be in prayer every minute and every second of every day.  But, he wanted prayer to be such an important and natural part of our lives that it would overtake us consistently and without warning, like that nagging cough.  He wants it to be something that we simply cannot avoid, even if we try.

 

          I had my annual physical earlier this week.  At one point, the doctor is listening to my lungs and he say’s take a deep breath and hold it.  He does this several times and then says, “Now breath normally.”  I started to laugh and he asks “what’s so funny?”  I’m like, “What is breathing normally?  As soon as I start thinking about how to do it, I’m pretty sure I’m not doing it right because breathing normally is something you do without thinking about it.”  But not breathing is not a choice, that’s what Paul is suggesting prayer should be like for us.

 

          In the early 1600's there was an English Monk named Brother Lawrence who coined the term “practicing the presence of Christ” to describe this kind of prayer relationship that Paul wants us to have with our Savior.  The idea is to hold a constant awareness of the presence of God in your life.  The lines of communication are always open between God and us.  Any time God can talk to us and we can talk to Him.

 

          Two hundred years after Brother Lawrence, an English Pastor named Smith Wigglesworth dedicated himself to practicing the presence of Christ.  He once said, “I don’t want to build anything about myself, but it is truly true that if you found me outside of conversation with man, I am in conversation in God.”  He took every opportunity to practice the presence of God in his life.

 

          Another good example of someone who practiced prayer without ceasing is Billy Graham.  In 1982, the Today show in New York City scheduled an interview with him.  When he arrived at the studio, one of the program's producers informed Graham's assistant that a private room had been set aside for the reverend for prayer before the broadcast.  The assistant thanked the producer for the thoughtful gesture, but told him that Mr. Graham would not need the room.  The producer was a bit shocked that a world-famous Christian leader would not wish to pray before being interviewed on live national television.

 

          Graham's assistant responded, "Mr. Graham started praying when he got up this morning, he prayed while eating breakfast, he prayed on the way over in the car, and he'll probably be praying all the way through the interview."

 

          Now, if you are a believer, God is constantly present in your life because the Holy Spirit lives in you.  The problem for us in not so much one of getting the presence of God in our lives, but recognizing it.  God wants to have a relationship with us, so much so that He sent His Son to die on the cross to make that relationship possible.  And so He says to us, I want you to share your life with me, all of it, don’t hold anything back.  Pray without ceasing!

          So, the command to pray without ceasing is really about how we work out our relationship with God.  Most people would tell you that the most important component in any healthy relationship is good communication.  Unfortunately, when it comes to prayer, we often fall into unhealthy habits.  We get up early to have our quiet time because it is an obligation.  Or we pray at meals because it is merely a habit. Or we pray only when there is a crisis.  Or, we treat God like he is some cosmic bellhop.  “Lord, I left home late today, please get me to work on time.”  “Lord, I sure would like to have that promotion, could you get it for me?”  “Lord help me pass this test today even though I didn’t study like I should have.”

The idea is that we ask God to bless us here, and bless us there, bless us everywhere… I don’t think that is a very good basis for a good relationship between two parties.

         

          If you are married, how long do you think your marriage would last if you treated your spouse this way, if the majority of the conversations you had with them went something like this:  Honey, could you make the bed.  Would you mind cleaning up the sink? I’m reading the paper, could you bring me my coffee?  Before you leave for work, would you make me some breakfast please?  By the way, on your way home after work would you stop at the store and get a few things for me?  Here I’ve made a list.  At home that evening.  Honey, would you mind bringing my dinner into the family room, I’m watching the football game?  A little while later, “Honey, would you come get the dishes now? Honey could you do a little laundry, I’m out of socks?  What kind of relationship would that be?  Not much of one, and it probably wouldn’t last long.

 

          What kind of relationship does your spouse want with you.  The kind where you share your thoughts and fears, your plans and dreams, your joys and your disappointments.  And a relationship where they feel free to do the same.  And that is the kind of relationship God wants with us. It is the kind of relationship we can have when we practice His presence.  When we pray we are talking with the creator of the universe, sharing our thoughts and feelings both out loud, and in our minds.

 

          There is nothing we can’t or shouldn’t share with our creator.  For example, when was the last time you heard a good joke and then shared it with God?  I’m serious.  God created us with a sense of humor.  I think it reflects a part of His nature.  And I think He enjoys it when His creatures enjoy a good laugh.  And if you don’t think God has a sense of humor just listen to this, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”  Forget what you’ve heard about some gate in Jerusalem called the eye of the needle.  Jesus wanted us to picture how absurd it is to think of a camel fitting through something it is difficult to put a piece of thread through.   It is so absurd that it is impossible.

 

          Have you ever shared what you liked about a movie with the Lord and then asked Him what his favorite part was?  Do you tell God about the songs you like and why. Do you talk to him about your hobbies?

 

          So what does this kind of prayer life look like?  Let me illustrate with an example from a drive home from work I had earlier this week.  I wrote it down when I got home.  It went something like this.  By the way, I was driving in my son’s 65 Mustang convertible listening to oldies music which I especially enjoy when I drive that car.

 

          As I turn on the radio as I start my drive “The Beach Boys ‘Little Duce Coupe.  Well that’s pretty appropriate Lord.”  Now stopped at signal, a young guy in a hopped up Toyota pulls up next to me.  When the signal turns green it is obvious that he’s racing me. “Lord, that guy is racing me.  His engine is all wound up just to keep up with me and I’m not even trying. I think that’s pretty funny, don’t you?”  As he passes me because I’ve reached the speed limit, “Lord he thinks he’s won.  Hilarious.  I don’t know why he feels the need to race, but please keep him safe.  Wow, there’s a water fall over there in front of that apartment.  I wonder why I’ve never noticed it before.  I wonder Lord if you appreciate our attempts to bring the look of nature into our city.  In some ways I guess it brings you glory.  After all, they are just copying what you’ve made and they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, or something like that.”  Passing two young girls, may 14 years old, who are walking along the sidewalk on Division, “Lord, those girls are walking carelessly along that sidewalk while just a few feet away cars are buzzing past at speeds up to 50 miles per hour, please keep them safe.

 

          “Make Love Stay” by Dan Fogelberg. “Lord, this is a pretty meaningful song for a pop song from the 70's.  Its really about keeping love alive in marriages.  So many marriages are on the rocks these days.  Maybe you can use this song to encourage someone who is struggling in their marriage today.”

 

          “Wow, look a that ski boat for sale over there.  It would be nice to be able to afford one.  Thank you for the good childhood I had and the fact that my dad built those ski boats, that we had so much fun on our water skiing trips.  I feel bad that I could not afford to do that for my kids.”  And I get the distinct impression from God, “Yes, but you were able to take your kids places and do things with them that your parents never did with you.”  “Thank you Lord.”   And that was just part of my 15 minute trip home, but you get the idea.

 

          I’m not claiming to be very good at this yet.  I’ve been practicing the presence of Christ in my life on and off for several years.  I can tell you this, though, the times I feel most contented and joyful are those times when I am praying consistently like this.

 

          As we begin to wrap this up, let me share with you three benefits to praying without ceasing, to practicing the presence of Christ in our lives.  First, it is a command from God which means it is part of God’s plan for our lives.  I don’t think it is a stretch to say that if you are not praying continually, you will not be experiencing God’s best for your life.

 

          Secondly, when you're praying continually you will always be ready for whatever Satan might throw at you.   You’ll never  get caught off guard because you're always in the Spirit.  Not only that, but when you constantly pray, pretty much every situation you go into has already been covered in prayer.

 

          And finally, is how much closer you can grow to God when you spend that much time in communion with Him. As it says in 2 Corinthians 3:18, " But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.."  So staying in communion with God and staying in accordance with the Spirit (by being constantly in prayer), also sanctifies us, changing our old sinful nature into a new, Jesus-loving, God-seeking nature, and thus brings us closer to our Lord. After all, your relationship with God is just like any other relationship in that it takes time to grow. But think how well you would get to know someone if you talked to them every second of the day.  I don't know about you, but that's how well I want to know the Lord.  What a great adventure that would be.

          Here we come to our third step, what do I need to do?  How can we apply this to our lives?  In Discovery Bible Studies we ask, assuming this is true what do I need to change in my life in the next 24-48 hours.  What one to three things will I do?

 

          I want to invite you to take what may be a new step in your prayer life. As often as you can, include God in your thoughts. Think your thoughts to God.  And don’t l et this effort to pray without ceasing become a legalistic kind of burden that makes you feel guilty when you fail.  Instead, realize that this is a wonderful opportunity Jesus has offered you.  Jesus invites you and me to walk with Him all day every day.

         

          To begin to train your mind to practice the presence of Christ, let me suggest some prayer triggers to help you get started.  Prayer triggers are simply things you’ve set up in your life that remind you to prayer.  Remember those bracelets that were common a few years ago that had the letters WWJD on them?  There may be a few people here today that are still wearing them.  WWJD stood for What would Jesus Do and this was a reminder to try to react the way Jesus would have in any given situation.  That is a prayer trigger.  Here are a few others:

 

                   *        If you need a password to enter a computer system, choose one that will remind you of God.

 

 

*        If you need a four-digit security code, you could use the reference to a favorite Scripture. For example, 1 Thessaloniasns 5:17 would be 0517.

 

                   *        We tend to take our safety for granted, forgetting that at almost any moment that we are on the road we could end up contributing to road statistics. Every time you enter a means of transport – bus, car or whatever – you could train yourself to remember the danger and say to God, “Thank you for being my Protector.”

 

                   *        Whenever you see yourself in a mirror, pray, “May I radiate (or reflect) your beauty to the world. (I’m thinking of the spiritual beauty of divine compassion, gentleness, patience, goodness, empathy, wisdom, and so on.)

 

                   *        If you feel a jab of pain, tell Jesus, “Thank you for suffering for me.”

 

                   *        Whenever you see sunglasses, pray, “Help me see things through your eyes.”         

         

                        *          Wear a watch that gives a tiny beep every 15 minutes and use that as a reminder to fire a thought heavenwards.

 

          These are just a few suggestions.  Don’t become overburdened with these and start with three or four at the most.  Be creative and enjoy your progress. 

 

          Another thing you can do to begin to practice the presence of Christ is to sing.  Music has a way of moving us into the presence of God in powerful ways that we don’t experience in any other ways.  So, put on some good Christian music and sing along.  Carol does this while she is cooking or doing housework.  I often do this while driving.  And while you are singing, make the song your prayer.

 

          One final suggestion is to pray while sleeping!  Ok, I don’t know if this is really possible but another way to say this is to make God your last thought at night and your first thought in the morning.  You do this by falling asleep while praying.  Just talk to God until you doze off.  Or, what I like even better is to sing worship songs in my head.  Now I don’t know what happens during the night, but when I wake up after doing this, I usually wake up with the same or a similar song in my head.  Not only do I feel rested, but I have a sense of well being like I’ve just spent an extended time in worship.  Anyway, it works for me and you might want to give it a try.

 

          Oswald Chambers wrote “The correct concept of prayer is to think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts.”   Blood flows; breathing continues.  Both are constant.  Both are life-giving.  Both must continue for life to continue.  When prayer stops, our spiritual growth stops and our fellowship with God stops.

 

          Please join me in prayer.  (Blank slide while praying)

 

          Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man, Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree, Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.

 

          When I began, I said that there was one additional step in the process that I wanted to add to the process that Steve shared last week.  I want to leave you with this.  As you begin to practice praying without ceasing, ask God who you can share your experiences with this week.  I don’t mean your spouse or another Christian friend.  I mean who can you share this with that you don’t already know they are a Christian.  This is a key component in the Discovery Bible study process.  It keeps us mindful of always fulfilling the Great Commandment to go and make disciples.  It makes us aware of who might be that person of peace we are asking God for.  Every week in a Discovery Bible Study we ask the question, “who can you share this with this week.”  And when we get back together, we ask “who did you share with and how did it go?”

 

          Often, in Discovery Bible Studies leaders will have someone say, “I’ve been sharing with a friend and he or she wants to come to our study.  Is that ok?”  And the answer is.... NO!  But if you will ask your friend if they would be willing to see what God has to say about himself in the Bible, I will walk you through how to lead the study yourself.  This is how a movement happens.  This is how over 100 churches can be planted in just a few years.  This is how the process can go several generations deep.  This is how the church spread so quickly in New Testament times.  It was because Christians were telling their friends.  Let’s tell our friends.  Thank you.