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Pray and Have Peace of Heart!
Bible texts: Mt. 6: 6-13; Mt 6.33; Mk. 11.24; 1 John 5: 13-15
“Prayer changes the world because it touches God's heart and moves his arm." (Tillmann Krüger)
"Prayer is the most important work in God's kingdom." (Ole Hallesby)
"Christians who pray are like pillars that support the roof of the world." (Martin Luther)
The first problem with prayer is neglecting to pray.
You give priority to your current concerns, such as work, studies or other things. Because of this, there is hardly any time to pray.
This can also happen with church work, for we think we should act. That is why we can talk or act a lot and have little time to pray.
A second problem with prayer is what we pray for.
It is easy to find ourselves praying mainly for our everyday needs, forgetting about important issues.
A third problem is that even though we have prayed, we do not believe in God's answer to prayer and therefore we have no peace of heart.
I want to address these problems today and find correct solutions from God.
May God use each of us and our church as blessed prayers.
1. God's childship and privileges
Joh. 3,3: "Jesus answered and said to him: Verily, verily, I say to you: Unless someone is born again, he cannot see that of God."
Rom. 8.15: “ The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to childship. And by him we cry, <Papa, Father.>! "
These verses tell us that if we believe in Jesus Christ, we are children of God.
What privilege do we have as God's children?
As God's children, we have privileges to have fellowship with God, to have eternal life and God's kingdom, and to pray to God.
Do we really enjoy these privileges?
Today I just want to talk about the third privilege, which is to pray to God.
Let us assume, for easy understanding, that one person of you received a bank account of one million euros from his father.
Unfortunately, he does not know that he has a million euros at his disposal and that he can withdraw any money from the bank. That's why he only eats something very cheap, puts on rags and lives in an ugly apartment. Isn't he stupid?
Our God has already given each of us a large bank account because we are his children. When we withdraw money from the heavenly bank, we can put the money to good use.
We can also act stupidly like this person, although we are God's children and each of us has a big bank account.
Are we all clearly aware that everyone has such a big bank account?
Or do we want to continue to live meagerly because we do not know to take advantage of the large bank account?
Now, on the basis of biblical teaching, I would like to explain how we withdraw money from the heavenly account for.
2. What should we pray for?
Prayer is withdrawing the money from the heavenly bank account.
Jesus taught us the Lord's Prayer how we withdraw money from the heavenly bank account:
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Your kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread and
forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen. "(Mt 6: 6-13)
The Lord's Prayer shows us our important prayer topics:
First we should pray for God's name, his kingdom, and his will.
We are to pray for the glorification of the name of God.
This means that everyone and the world recognize God as God and give him glory.
1. When we believe in the existence of God. Her 11.1.
2. We should know God, who he is and what character he has. If we know him, we will imitate him.
3. We should always feel his presence.
David: "I have the Lord always before my eyes" (Ps 16.8a)
4. We should give glory to God.
5. We should obey God.
Martin Luther: If our catechism and our lives are properly Christian, God's name will be glorified.
Praying for God's kingdom means establishing the rule of God in our personal lives, in the church, and in society.
That means, not my ego or the opinions of the people will determine, but God.
1. Through repentance or conversion (“Repent, for God's kingdom is at hand”, Mk 1: 14-15)
2. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Mt 6:33)
3. Announce God's kingdom (devotion to the rulership of God
4. Longing for and proclaiming the second coming of Christ (Revelation 20: 6)
Your will be done in heaven on earth too.
“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” means that we pray that it is not my will or the will of any person that may be done, but God's will.
Jesus left a good example through his prayer in the Garden of Getsemane.
(1) God's comprehensive will:
His will, fulfillment of the time, establish God's kingdom, heaven and hell
/ Isa 14: 24-27 God's thought will be fulfilled / Eph 1,9 his will revealed through Christ, / Gentiles and Jews all one become (Jo 17)
(2) Christians should trust and obey Christ Saving the people
(3) salvation of the world
After these prayers we can also pray for our needs, “Give us this day our daily bread!” Our daily bread can mean income, passing the test, healing from illnesses, and so on.
After this Prayer one can ask God for forgiveness. For this one should also forgive others of their guilt.
We should not forget to ask: "Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the wicked!" Because temptations lurk everywhere in the world, we need this prayer. In the world non-biblical and sinful things are accepted as right.
The couple of my first son in Chicago sent their children to a Christian private school because students in public schools are not allowed to say right things as right.
It would be edifying to think and pray of the Lord's Prayer. And it would also be edifying that our thanksgiving and prayer requests on Sunday and prayers during the divine service would look somewhat similar to the Our Father.
3. Confidence of God’s answer for our prayer and peace of heart
“14 And whoever believes in Jesus can turn to God with confidence; because when we ask him for something that corresponds to his will, he hears us. 15 And because we know that he will hear our requests, we can be sure that he will give us what we ask - as sure as if we had already received it. ”(1 John 5: 13-15)
"Anything you pray and ask for - just believe that you have already received it, and it will be yours." (Mark 11:24)
After we have prayed to God, we can be confident that God will surely answer our prayer.
Of course, God will answer our prayer according to His holy, benevolent character. Sometimes a little later he will answer our prayer.
Occasionally, outwardly, he will answer something differently than what we asked him.
Did you notice when I actually wanted to fly to Germany in 1977 and when I actually did?
I wanted to fly to Germany on December 20, 1977. For this I persisted in praying and doing my best. Esther also did her best to grant my wish.
When did I leave Korea? Why?
Because Esther could only buy the December 31st ticket.
What did Esther write about this departure date?
She reminded me of my letter of June 2nd, 1977, when we hadn't even thought about the Herat.
In the letter I had written to her that I had resolved before God that I would devote myself to sharing the gospel in Daejeon through Bible study until the end of 1977.
Isn't that wonderful?
Wasn't Esther attentive to God's will?
What I mean to say is that God's good will will certainly be fulfilled when we ask for something according to God's will. That is why we should have peace of mind when we have asked God for something.
Confidence in answering prayer and peace of heart are important for those who pray.
You know Hannah, the mother of Prophet Samuel. When she prayed, she cried. But after praying, she felt confident and calm of heart. And Samuel was born.
To be praying means having confidence and peace of heart after prayer.
I want to show you a Korean song. I tried to translate the lyrics of the melody appropriately into Korean. But I didn't make it. I couldn't find a translation on the Internet either. That's why I will only show you the corresponding translation of the song text.
You can listen to Korean song and see the translation of the lyrics.
song
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