DISCIPLINED FOR PRAYER
STRUGGLING TOWARD THESPIRITUAL EXERCISE OF PRAYER
Session Three
Session Three OBJECTIVES
! Consider prayer as a struggle.
! See the benefits of desperation in the prayer struggle.
! Embrace discipline in the prayer struggle.
The STRUGGLE
The Biblical Reason
The Theological Reason
The Experiential Reason
Colossians 4:12
Pride
We just don’t.
“Both our flesh and our culture scream against spending an hour on our knees
beside a desk piled with papers. It is un-American to be so impractical as to
devote oneself to prayer and meditation two hours a day.”
~ John Piper
“Is it not...true that by and large we are better at organizing than agonizing? Better at
administrating than interceding? Better at fellowship than fasting? Better at
entertainment than worship? Better at theological articulation than spiritual
adoration? Better--God help us!--at preaching than at praying?”
~ D.A. Carson
Little to No DESPERATION
Not Desperate for Help
Pain providentially wroughtthat presses us to pray, oughtin thanks not be forgot.
“A pastor who feels competent in himself to produce eternal fruit--which is the only kind that matters--knows neither God or himself. A pastor
who does not know the rhythm of desperation and deliverance must have his sights set only on
what man can achieve.” ~ John Piper
Little to No DESPERATION
Not Desperate for Fellowship
Our souls languish when we do not linger in God’s presence.
Little to No DISCIPLINE
“We do not drift into spiritual life; we do not drift into disciplined prayer.”
~ D.A. Carson
“O! the starting-holes that the heart hath in the time of prayer; none knows how many bye-ways the heart hath, and back-lanes, to
slip away from the presence of God.” ~ John Bunyan
Little to No DISCIPLINE
Make a Prayer Exercise Program
Procure Some Prayer Exercise Equipment
Find a Prayer Exercise Partner
“The true rich fruit of spontaneity grows in the garden that is well tended by the
discipline of schedule.”~ John Piper
TAKE-AWAYS
• Pray for help to pray.
• Pray for Spirit-driven desperation and discipline.
• Make appointments to pray at a set time, every day, for a minimum amount of time.
Grunts Warriors• Don’t relax. It takes hardly
any work to get out of shape, a much work to get back in shape.