Sermon Tone Analysis

Prayer

Introduction:

Turn with me, in your Bibles to Colossians 4 and hold your finger there for a few moments.

As you turn there, I’d like to tell the story of Joe Kennedy.

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In 2008, Bremerton High School football coach Joe Kennedy, an 18-year Marine veteran, made a promise to God that he would pray and give thanks after each game he coached, regardless of the outcome.

Kennedy would simply drop to one knee and pray for 15-30 seconds on the 50-yard line at the end of games to "offer a silent or quiet prayer of thanksgiving for player safety, sportsmanship and spirited competition."

Initially, Kennedy prayed quietly and alone.

After several games, some students took notice and joined him.

If students gathered, Kennedy began offering short motivational speeches to players, ending with a brief prayer.

Sometimes no players gathered, and he prayed alone.

He did this for seven years without any complaints by school officials.

Then in 2015, the school district ordered Kennedy to stop, stating his practice violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

When he refused, the district terminated him.

Since then, he has been fighting a legal battle against the school district and just about a month or so ago, the Supreme Court decided they will hear his case later this spring.

He has remained persistent and purposeful in his prayers despite outside opposition.

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Coach Joe Kennedy has set an example of persistent and purposeful prayers.

Joe Kennedy, refusing to cower to threats, resistance, and retaliation, is a good modern day example for us.

Let’s look to Scripture to find a biblical basis for the Spiritual Discipline of persistent, purposeful prayer.

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In Daniel 6, we are given the familiar account of Daniel and the Lion’s Den.

Daniel, a Hebrew exile from Judah had been serving faithfully under the kings in Babylon, and through the early part of the Persian rule after Babylon fell.

Along with his faithfulness to the authorities over him, he remained obedient to the laws and customs of his faith.

In fact, there was sometimes tension between his faith and the Kings orders.

For our purposes today, we want to summarize what took place in chapter 6, and specifically verses 10 through 28, if you’d like to read it later.

Daniel was very successful in the tasks given to him by the kings he served, and though Belshazzar had died, Daniel was given the reward promised to him in chapter 5: That is that he would become the third ruler in the kingdom.

After Belshazzar was killed, Darius the Mede became ruler and he quickly set up 120 provincial governors.

These governors would be responsible for receiving tribute, and providing security.

Over the Satraps (say-traps) as they were called, or Persian provincial governors, would be three high officials.

Daniel was one of these three officials, and seeing that he excelling far above the others, the king wanted to promote Daniel even further.

This, of course, frustrated the others, so they devised a plan.

They wanted to catch him doing something wrong and report him so he would be demoted or even better, for them, killed.

After a period of time, they realized he was a by the book kind of guy and they couldn’t find any fault in him.

So they switched gears, and instead of catching him breaking an existing law, they convinced the king to write a law they knew Daniel wouldn’t obey.

They set up a law stating anyone found to be making petition to any one or any god other than the King, for the next 30 days, would be forced to be thrown into the Lions Den.

The king agreed and the law was signed.

Well, since the name of the story is Daniel and the Lions Den, spoiler alert - their plan worked.

Daniel heard the new law, went up to his room, as he did three times a day, every day, opened the windows and prayed.

Knowing it very well could mean he would be killed, Daniel knelt down and prayed.

He faced toward Jerusalem, where the temple Solomon built had stood and he prayed, persistently.

Now Daniel had served faithfully in a foreign land for 70 years, and yet he still faced toward Jerusalem and remembered God daily in his prayers.

Many of you are familiar with what happened next.

The schemers waited until they saw Daniels windows open, and they pounced.

They ran to the king, reminded him of the law he signed, reminded him that according to Persian tradition, not even the King can rescind a law once it’s been signed, and then told him that Daniel was guilty of breaking that law - they caught him praying to God instead of to the king.

After contemplating how he might save Daniel, the sun was going down and the king had no choice - Daniel would have to go to the lions den.

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Verse 16, gives us a beautiful exchange between King Darius and Daniel, where we’re told:, Daniel 6:16 “16 Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions.

The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!””

That night, the king couldn’t sleep, and at first light, he ran to the Lion’s Den and called out to Daniel, who reported that God had sent an angel and closed the mouths of the lions.

Daniel said that he was found blameless before God and the king.

This is interesting, because the name Daniel means, “God is my judge,” and here God judged him faithful and rescued him from danger.

The king pulled him from the pit, and to shorten the story - those who tried to set up Daniel were thrown into the pit, and let’s just say they were not judged faithful.

The lions had their fill.

I do not tell you those stories to try to say that everything works out in your favor if you just pray.

In fact, with Joe Kennedy’s case, we don’t yet know how that will turn out.

Rather, I tell you those stories because if we’re going to be disciplined, growing from faith to godly love, then we need to understand what it means to be persistent and purposeful in our prayers.

Daniel was persistent.

He prayed daily, and he continued to pray even though it meant he could be killed for it.

He was also purposeful.

When I said that he was turned toward Jerusalem in his prayers, there’s more to it than just reminiscing about home in his advanced years.

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Listen to the words of Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple, from 1 Kings 8:46-50

Solomon was praying that if, at some point, the people were to sin and end up in exile, that if they would repent, turning their hearts toward God and pray facing the land, the city, and the temple that God gave them, that God would hear their prayers, forgive them, and deliver them by letting them find compassion in the sight of those who carried them into captivity.

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Daniel was persistent and purposeful in his prayers.

Daniel knew of Solomon’s prayer, and he was purposefully praying that God would remember that prayer and answer his own.

As I said, Daniel was persistent and purposeful.

We would do well to learn from both the modern example of Joe Kennedy, and the biblical example of Daniel.

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Now, let’s look at the biblical command, found in Colossians 4:2

1. Be Persistent

One commentator says, “Paul begins by saying, "Devote yourselves to prayer," (NASB) or "Continue earnestly in prayer," (NKJV).

In the original language it says, "continue steadfastly in prayer."

The word translated, "continue steadfastly," is one word in the original language.

It can be translated, "persist in, adhere firmly to, or remain devoted to or to give unremitting care to."

It caries with it the idea of dedication.

Of the ten times it is used in the New Testament four of them have to do with being devoted to prayer.

It is a very powerful word and in this verse is given as an imperative, or a command.

In other words, persistence in prayer is not an option for the Christian it is an order from the Lord Himself.”

(Calvin Wittman, January 27, 2014)

When Jesus taught on prayer, he gave two primary parables in Luke’s gospel and with both of those parables, he made sure to explain the importance of being persistent in prayer: first in Luke 11.

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In your prayers, you must be persistent.

The language of asking, seeking, and knocking show us there is a devotion to finding what is sought after.

May our prayers be like that.

Second, we see Jesus teaching on the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18, where we’re told:

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The purpose of His parable was to teach them not to lose heart.

Not to give up.

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1. Be Persistent

That’s what being persistent in our prayers means.

It doesn’t mean we pray long, never ending prayers, but rather that when we pray, we don’t give up - even when it seems hard, or unfruitful.

We must keep persevering in our prayers.

George Muller, a well known prayer warrior, once said, “In order to enjoy the Word, we ought to continue to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit of prayer is to continue praying.

The less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray."

We must be persistent.

But we must also be purposeful.

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