PRAYING WITH A CLEAR MIND

1 Peter 4:7 NIV  The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.

 Did you notice what the apostle Peter wrote?  Be clear minded and self-controlled SO THAT YOU CAN PRAY.

ESV - therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR PRAYERS.

NASB - therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit FOR THE PURPOSE OF PRAYER.

 He did not say “pray so that you will be clear minded and self-controlled”.  We are to be clear minded and self-controlled so that we will be able to pray.

Notice how we have the tendency to go the opposite way - praying so that we will have a clear mind?  Yes, there are times when we pray and ask God to give us the right understanding of what is happening around us.  But our prayer must first come from a right foundation, a right understanding of what God is doing.  Then, and only then, will we bring the right prayers before God.

Much of our prayers today are lead by emotion, by fear, rather than a sober understanding of God and the life we are to live.  That's why we are to be clear minded and self-controlled SO THAT WE CAN PRAY.

 What did Peter mean when he said that we are to be clear minded and self-controlled first before we pray?

1.  SUFFERING.  Peter wrote:  1Peter 4:1  Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin.

We are to arm ourselves with the same attitude.  What attitude?  The attitude to suffer.  Here, in this chapter, it is suffering with regards to living holy lives.  We suffer so that we will not sin.

But in other parts of Peter’s letter he writes about suffering for the gospel, suffering in the midst of trials and persecution.

A Christian is sober-minded when he understands that suffering is part of our life.  We don’t just pray to take away suffering.  We pray with the attitude of suffering – whether it is with temptation or trials in life.  Shouldn't our prayers be more of God seeing us through the trials, strengthening us so we will continue to live holy and righteous lives?

 2.  GOD’S WILL.

1Peter 4:2  As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.

Here is another sober-minded thinking a Christian is to have – we don’t live for our human desires, but rather for the will of God.

When this fills our minds notice how our prayer will change.  It will be all about God’s will, rather than what we want.  Isn't this what our Lord taught His disciples when they asked Him to teach them to pray?  "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven".

Our prayers become twisted when we pray focused on the kingdom of this earth, and our will, rather than His kingdom and His will.

 3.  THE END IS NEAR.  1Peter 4:7  The end of all things is near.

To be sober minded is to understand that God is bringing an end to this earthly life.  Isn't it becoming obvious - all the sin, corruption, disease, conflicts...these should remind us that things are going from bad to worse, all because of sin.  God is preparing us for eternity.  Our best life is not now, it’s when we live forever with God.

With this understanding our prayers are not just focused on today.  We make the mistake of calling upon God for our needs and problems of  TODAY, praying  for a better life, a more productive life, successful life.  We just focus on today.  We forget that the end of all things is near.

 We pray rightly when we realize the end of all things is near.  So if the end of all things is near, what should we really be praying for?  Look at what Peter wrote:

1 Peter 4:3-6 NIV  For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do--living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.  (4)  They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you.  (5)  But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.  (6)  For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

1 Peter 1:13-16 NIV  Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self- controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.  (14)  As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.  (15)  But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;  (16)  for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

1 Peter 2:11-12 NIV  Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.  (12)  Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

1 Peter 3:15 NIV  But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

In the midst of the trials and persecutions that the church was going through, Peter wrote them to live holy lives, abstain from sinful desires, to set apart Christ as Lord in their hearts and to be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks for the reason of the hope we have - a hope founded in eternity, rather than this life on earth.

 We are living in challenging times today. Everyone is "praying" for the virus to end, for a vaccine to come, for a better life, a better government, etc.   Let’s make sure as disciples of Christ we are praying the right prayers.  Not just those focused on TODAY, but more importantly praying with a sound and sober understanding of the life we are living today.

Are we praying with the attitude of suffering - that God strengthens us as we go through the suffering, so that in the midst of trials we continue to live holy lives?

Are we praying with God's will in mind, rather than our own, or the world's desires?

Are we praying knowing that the end of all things is near, and that God is preparing His people for eternity with Him?

Let us be clear minded, and self-controlled, so that we can pray as God wants us to pray.

POWER IN PRAYER?

Yes, the title has a question mark.  Is there power in prayer?  This is one of the more popular sayings in life, especially today.  It’s a general statement applied to everyone.  The concept is – as long as anyone prays, God will answer.  Many Christians make the mistake of telling just about anyone that if we just pray God will answer.

Proverbs 28:9 NIV If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable.

This is one of the verses of Scripture that should remind us that the phrase "there is power in prayer" is not biblical. God does not listen to just ANYONE or ANYTHING being prayed for. In this proverb it is clear – that God will not listen to someone who does not listen to and obey His law.  And it’s not just that God will not listen, but for someone who turns a deaf ear to God’s law his prayers are DETESTABLE.  Yes, God hears the prayer, but they are detestable to Him, for they come from a person that did not honor Him, and no desire to live according to His Word.

And this is why we need Christ.  ALL OF US turn a deaf ear to the law, which means that in default God detests our prayer.  But when we are in Christ He has taken away this barrier.  His sacrifice has not only forgiven us of our sin, but has destroyed the barrier we had with our heavenly Father.  As we come to Him in Christ, the Father listens to us.  This is why when we pray we come “in Jesus Name”.  He is our High Priest who intercedes for us when we pray.  This is not just something that we mention in our prayers, but something that we believe in our hearts.

Hebrews 4:14-16 NIV  Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  (15)  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.  (16)  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

When someone is in Christ not only is the barrier removed and we are able to approach God, but our hearts are also changed.  Our hearts are now re-focused to God, and not our self anymore.  This is what our Lord reminded us when He taught us how to pray:

Matthew 6:9-10 NIV  This, then, is how you should pray:  'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,  (10)  your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

When a believer prays He knows in his heart that God, his Father, is in heaven, and He is holy.  That He is King, and we are to live in His kingdom.  And in His kingdom it is His will that matters, not ours.  Prayer has nothing to do with us.  It's all about God.

We don’t just pray for anything and everything we want.  A Christian submits to the holiness, the reign and the will of the Father in Heaven.  This is what shapes and leads our prayers day by day.  And this is what makes our prayer powerful – not in the act, but in the One we are praying to.

There is no power in the act of prayer.  God is powerful, not prayer.  All power is with our God, not in anything that we do.  When our prayer is in submission to our Heavenly Father, His kingdom and His will, that is where the "power" is.  That is when our lives are now aligned with what He desires, what He wills, for us.  When He works in our life, according to His kingdom and will, that is when we see the working of His power.  And this is what every believer should desire to see.  It's not just about getting what we desire or ask for, but the blessing of partaking of what our holy God desires for us as we live with Him in His kingdom, and according to His will, seeing Him work in power in our life.