February 24, 2003
LifeWay Family Bible Series for March 9
Prayer seeks kingdom advancement at all times
___Acts 16:6-10; Philippians 1:12-14; 19-26
___By Tim Owens
___First Baptist Church, Bryan
___Prayer is not an attempt to bend God to a human perspective. Prayer is the believer's willingness to bend the human will to God's perspective. To gain the perspective of God, one must pray with the commitment to listen to God and obey. As believers listen to God in prayer, they will inevitably hear his love for all people. The entire world has always been on the heart of God. This is why God sent his Son--he "so loved the world" (John 3:16).
___Christians often practice prayer only for the purpose of making personal requests to God. Maturing Christians allow God to expand their perspective in prayer.
___God is at work in this world enlarging his kingdom. He has chosen to use people to build his kingdom, but the people God uses must be yielded to him, so he can do his work through them. God is looking for people who will listen and obey. Christians who are listening to God in prayer and are willing to obey are the people through whom he can expand his kingdom.
___Enlarge our territory
___The prayer of Jabez shows us the kind of person through whom God can do extraordinary things. Jabez prayed, "Lord, oh that you would enlarge my territory" (1 Chronicles 4:10).
___We live in a world filled with people who are content with mediocrity. Jabez is praying, "Lord, when it comes to my personal investment in the growth of your kingdom, I will not settle for mediocrity. I want my vision for your kingdom to be expanded. I want to be in the middle of what you are doing in this world. I want you to do something in and through my life that represents your greatness. Lord, get me out of my comfort zone. Expand my vision. Stretch my faith."
___When a prayer is prayed from the motive of God's glory--"God, answer this prayer to reveal to this world your goodness and greatness"--one can be confident God will hear and answer.
___Listen and obey
___On Paul's second missionary journey, God revealed to Paul a man from Macedonia begging him to come share the gospel. Because Paul listened and obeyed, the kingdom of God was expanded in Philippi. Acts 16:6-10 reveals how God guides his people as they pray about the growth of his kingdom.
___The Holy Spirit did not allow Paul and his companions to go to Asia and Bithynia. The Holy Spirit led them to go to Troas. This was followed by Paul's vision of the Macedonian man calling for Paul to come and share the gospel. When Christians listen to God in prayer and are willing to obey God, they can trust both the negatives and positives of God's leadership. Some opportunities will shut, and other opportunities will open.
___When Paul and his companions put all the circumstances together, they "concluded that God had called them to preach the gospel in Macedonia" (Acts 16:10). The word "concluded" indicates they thought carefully and prayerfully about the situation.
___One has to be impressed with how Paul brought his companions into the experience of seeking God's will in prayer. He shared his vision with others, so that together they could consider what the circumstances could mean. The most insightful answers to prayer come in cooperation with other believers. It is dangerous not to subject personal impressions in prayer to the evaluation and wisdom of other Christians.
___Use every opportunity
___to advance the gospel
___Philippians 1:12-14 presents the fact every circumstance of life can become a platform from which the kingdom of God expands. Paul says, "Instead of my imprisonment shutting down the gospel, it has actually expanded the gospel. God has used my circumstances to expand his kingdom."
___The prayer of Christians whose focus is the advancement of God's kingdom will be, "Lord, use every circumstance of life for the advancement of your gospel."
___While he was imprisoned, Paul was chained to a Roman soldier 24 hours a day. One after another, select soldiers were forced to be with Paul for hours at a time.
___One can look at this situation in one of two ways. On one hand, Paul was chained to a Roman soldier; but on the other hand, a Roman soldier was chained to Paul. Over the two years in which Paul was imprisoned in Philippi, he could have witnessed to over 4,000 soldiers. These guards had inside access to the emperor and his family. Paul's imprisonment provided the opportunity for the gospel to penetrate the ranks of the most powerful men in the world and from them into the city of Rome itself.
___Believers were certainly praying something like, "O Lord, help us to reach Ceasar's household. Help us to reach the elite core of the palace guard with the gospel. Lord, help us to get the gospel into the high places." The Lord, in his incredible wisdom, made the whole palace guard captive to Paul as he shared Christ with them.
___The way Christians look at their circumstances is much more important than the circumstances themselves. Prayer is seeking the advancement of God's kingdom in all circumstances.
___Questions for discussion
___
Get printer-friendly version of this story
Send this story to a friend
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook
